The counter-effort of the USG comes as a new GNSO Task Force has been formed to "Define the purpose of the WHOIS service in the context of ICANN's mission and relevant core values, international and national laws protecting privacy of natural persons, international and national laws that relate specifically to the WHOIS service, and the changing nature of Registered Name Holders." The agenda of the meeting as of June 7 is set out below:

THE USE OF DOMAIN NAME AND IP ADDRESS DATA IN COMBATTING ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES ON THE INTERNET

Purpose: Broaden understanding of the diverse aspects of domain name and IP address data maintained by registries and registrars, the public display of this data via WHOIS services, and the impact of the data on combating illegal activities on the Internet.

Format: Panels of speakers drawn from the ICANN community who are involved in combating illegal activities, including governments/law enforcement agencies, registrars, registries, and ISPs.

Session is an invitational working session, intended for all GAC members, with invitation to the Councils of the relevant ICANN Supporting Organizations, relevant ICANN staff and invited guest speakers/participants. The session will not be open to other attendance.

Timeframe: 1400 - 1800 [4 hours] Welcoming Comments and Overview of Purpose of the Working Session: GAC WG 1

Convenor, 10 minutes

14:10 - 15:00
SESSION 1 - Setting the Stage: The GNSO past and present work on WHOIS service
(this session will provide background on the domain name and IP address data collected and maintained by registries and registrars [and RIRs?], and the evolution of public access to this data via WHOIS services)

Opening Speaker: Bruce Tonkin, CTO, Melbourne IT

Time: 20 minutes
Panel: Past and Present Work of GNSO on WHOIS Policy Past Task Force Co-chairs Marilyn Cade and Antonio Harris will report on previous TF work and resulting consensus policy; and the Current Task Force Chair Jordyn Buchanan will present an overview of the present Task Force's work to date and work in progress

Time: 20 minutes
Discussion - Questions for Clarification from audience: Facilitator: Chair/Panel
Time: 10 - 15 Minutes
Session Closure/ Continuity (Chair Summary and introduce second session)

1500-1600: SESSION 2 - Law Enforcement: Experiences and Perspectives (50-60 minutes)
NOTE: All proposed organizations/country representatives are tentative/pending

Speaker 1 - Interpol (pending) summarise the extent of criminal activity and international collaboration in areas such as child pornography, illegal drug sales, money laundering, trafficking in persons, etc.

Speaker: T.B.A.
Time: 10 Minutes
Speaker 2 - UK law enforcement agency rep (pending)

Speaker: T.B.A.
Time: 10 minutes
Speaker 3 - Australian Law Enforcement
(Australian High Tech Crime Centre) describing range of criminal activity (pornography, paedophilia, etc.) (pending)

Speaker: T.B.A.
Time: 10 Minutes
Speaker 4 ?- Other GAC Law enforcement agency (Netherlands, Spain, Japan..?)

Discussion: Law enforcement representatives attending share experiences

Time: 20 minutes
Session Closure/ Continuity (Chair Summary and introduce third session)

16:00 - 17:00
SESSION 3 - The Experiences and Perspectives of Registries, Registrars and ISPs as intermediaries in investigations NOTE: This portion of the agenda remains under development, pending input from the GNSO Council Chair, the ccNSO Council Chair and other potential invited speakers/attendees

Panel 1: Registrar and ISP Speakers T.B.A. (up to three) describing the kinds of illegal activities that are being combated, experiences and discussions about steps taken in response, including interactions with law enforcement, pursuing take-down of illegal content, ooperating in investigations, etc.

Time frame: 25 minutes [ five to eight minutes each]
Panel 2: Registry speakers providing information on data collection/storage policies and public display of some of this data via WHOIS service, experiences with illegal activities and typical requests received from law enforcement agencies. Tentative list includes CENTR representative and European ccTLD representative (e.g. Nominet); possible speakers from .CA, .AU, others?

Time: 30 minutes [five min each]
1700-1720: Roundtable responses by Presenters to Questions from Audience/participants
Facilitator: Chair and all Presenters
Time: 20 Minutes

Workshop Closure/Wrap Up: Tour de Table from GAC members regarding their experiences balancing policy goals/relationships/tensions
Time: 30 Minutes

Summary: GAC GNSO WG Convenor
Rapporteur(s): GNSO Secretariat, ICANN staff, and/or GAC Secretariat (need to confirm availability)

...time is running out on unrestricted access to Whois data...

This is news to me. I thought those wanting a less public WHOIS were in the (presumably losing) minority insofar as ICANN is concerned. -g

Most affiliate programs pay at most five cents (and often much less), not 10 cents.

There is no evidence that such individuals are controlling the CIRA board. And while such a mythical registrant could register ten thousand names they would need to appear to be ten thousand different registrants to vote more than once, this would include using different addresses, email addresses, and credit card numbers. Hardly seems worth the bother. -g