[PC-NCSG] [] Draft comments on Misuse of Whois Study - timely

Avri Doria avri
Sun Jan 19 01:17:26 EET 2014


Hi,

Well  NCUC has submitted

http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-whois-misuse-27nov13/msg00012.html

But I still have not heard from anyone in NPOC.
I have less than hour left.
Though I am fine with submitting late.

Or not submitting at all if that is the upshot of this last minute 'process'

avri


On 18-Jan-14 15:05, avri doria wrote:

> Hi
>
> Well if NCUC send this in, it will be safe to assume NCUC supports it.
> But I still feel I need at least one of the npoc members to endorse the
> ncsg-pc endorsement since we do not have enough time for the 'speak now
> or we will assume support' consensus process.
>
> I haven't seen one yet unless I missed it.
>
> avri
>
> Sent from a T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: William Drake
> Date:01/18/2014 14:35 (GMT-05:00)
> To: Avri Doria
> Cc: NCSG-Policy Policy NCSG-Policy
> Subject: Re: [PC-NCSG] [NCUC-DISCUSS] Draft comments on Misuse of Whois
> Study - timely
>
> Hi Avri
>
> There?s been a lot of comm on this...NCUC has been working to get a full
> slate of volunteers to fill all open slots.  We are almost there and
> will then convene an EC meeting to approve them.  So until then yes
> please you and Nuno are still the reps to NCSG PC.  By end of month this
> should be fixed.
>
> Thanks
>
> Bill
>
> On Jan 18, 2014, at 5:11 PM, Avri Doria <avri at ACM.ORG> wrote:
>
>  > Hi,
>  >
>  > No, they haven't as far as i know.  I was one of the 2013 NCUC
> appointees, and may still be until repaced. Nuno is listed as the
> remaining NCUC, he replaced Mary when she went into the staff.  So it
> would be good to hear from him
>  >
>  > For NPOC, it would be good to have Marie Laure or Rudy to agree.  Not
> enough time to do a timed call at this point.
>  >
>  > avri
>  >
>  >
>  > On 18-Jan-14 11:01, Amr Elsadr wrote:
>  >> Has the NCUC-EC made its final appointments to the NCSG-PC? In any case,
>  >> I second Avri?s request for support of this statement by this committee.
>  >> I apologise for the short notice, and I feel I have some responsibility
>  >> to bear on this. Until very recently, I was mistakenly under the
>  >> impression that we had another week to submit this statement.
>  >>
>  >> Thanks.
>  >>
>  >> Amr
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >> On Jan 18, 2014, at 4:39 PM, Avri Doria <avri at acm.org
>  >> <mailto:avri at acm.org>> wrote:
>  >>
>  >>>
>  >>> Any chance we can endorse this as well in the few hours left?
>  >>>
>  >>> I would just send a last minute note endorsing the NCUC statement once
>  >>> it was made, assuming it is made.  i think i can still call myself
>  >>> alternate chair.  Or the NCSg chair can send the note.
>  >>>
>  >>> "The NCSG-PC endorse the reply statement submitted by the NCUC
> url-here."
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>> At this point I would need to hear at least one voice from each of the
>  >>> constituencies with no objections to feel free to do this.
>  >>>
>  >>> avri
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>> -------- Original Message --------
>  >>> Subject:Re: [NCUC-DISCUSS] Draft comments on Misuse of Whois Study -
>  >>> timely
>  >>> Date:Sat, 18 Jan 2014 16:31:38 +0100
>  >>> From:Amr Elsadr <aelsadr at egyptig.org <mailto:aelsadr at egyptig.org>>
>  >>> To:William Drake <wjdrake at gmail.com <mailto:wjdrake at gmail.com>>
>  >>> CC:NCUC EC <ncuc-ec at lists.ncuc.org <mailto:ncuc-ec at lists.ncuc.org>>,
>  >>> "ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org <mailto:ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org>"
>  >>> <ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org <mailto:ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org>>
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>> Hi Bill and all,
>  >>>
>  >>> I have gone through the study as well as attended the webinar with the
>  >>> researchers who performed it and find that Kathy?s comments are
> spot on.
>  >>> The statistical significance she (and the report) mention were found to
>  >>> be with a 95% confidence rate, which is the standard accepted
> confidence
>  >>> of an accurate study based on quantitative analysis.
>  >>>
>  >>> I am happy to endorse this statement and am grateful to Kathy for
> taking
>  >>> the time to draft it.
>  >>>
>  >>> Thanks Kathy.
>  >>>
>  >>> Amr
>  >>>
>  >>> On Jan 18, 2014, at 2:57 PM, William Drake <wjdrake at gmail.com
>  >>> <mailto:wjdrake at gmail.com>
>  >>> <mailto:wjdrake at gmail.com>> wrote:
>  >>>
>  >>>> Hi Folks
>  >>>>
>  >>>> As Kathy has indicated, the timeline on this is rather short, 11:59pm
>  >>>> UTC today, and she?s asking that it be approved as a NCUC statement in
>  >>>> the (probably likely) event it can?t be at the NCSG level in time.
>  >>>> The challenge here is that, per previous, we have not for some time
>  >>>> had the NCUC policy committee called for in our dated bylaws to
>  >>>> approve constituency-level statements. So the way we?ve done such
>  >>>> things in recent years is pretty much rough consensus after hearing
>  >>>> from as many folks as possible in the time frame?certainly elected
>  >>>> (EC) or appointed (NCSG PC) representatives, and regular members as
>  >>>> well.  Admittedly, this is not quite a satisfactory approach given
>  >>>> that NCUC is now much bigger and more diverse when that model set it,
>  >>>> but in lieu of a formal PC a broader and virtual PC is what we have to
>  >>>> work with at the moment.
>  >>>>
>  >>>> So, it?d be really helpful if we could hear back either way from
>  >>>> whoever?s online and can get their head around this in the next few
>  >>>> hours.
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Thanks
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Bill
>  >>>>
>  >>>>
>  >>>> On Jan 16, 2014, at 11:52 PM, Kathy Kleiman <Kathy at kathykleiman.com
>  >>>> <mailto:Kathy at kathykleiman.com>
>  >>>> <mailto:Kathy at kathykleiman.com>> wrote:
>  >>>>
>  >>>>> Hi All,
>  >>>>> I need your help. There is an amazing study done by two researchers
>  >>>>> (a PhD and an almost-PhD) at Carnegie Melon University.  They tested
>  >>>>> the hypothesis of whether "public access to WHOIS data leads to a
>  >>>>> measurable degree of misuse of certain kinds of gTLD domain name
>  >>>>> Registrant identity and contact information."  They did both a
>  >>>>> descriptive study (surveys of law enforcement and privacy people,
>  >>>>> registrants and registrars) and an experimental study (registering
>  >>>>> domain names with no other traceable source and seeing how much spam,
>  >>>>> and unsolicited phone calls and emails they received).
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> They found what we have been telling ICANN for years: "there is a
>  >>>>> statistically significant occurrence of WHOIS misue affecting
>  >>>>> Registrants' email addresses, postal addresses, and phone numbers,
>  >>>>> published in Whois."
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> Great and let's tell them so! I've drafted some comments that not
>  >>>>> only support the findings (and review the great effort dedicated to
>  >>>>> the study), but also draw on abuse cases we have discussed and shared
>  >>>>> from the NCUC over many years, including political persecution,
>  >>>>> chilling effects, anti-competitive activity, and stalking.
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> Since these are Reply Comments, it is traditional to not only share
>  >>>>> your own views, but comment on those of others.  Our views are, in
>  >>>>> many way, close to those of ALAC on this issue. ALAC's comments note
>  >>>>> that the Study's results "align with individual experience of
>  >>>>> At-Large constituents" and also research ALAC has done.  So the
>  >>>>> noncommercial and individual registrant groups are aligned on this
>  >>>>> issue - and that is key.
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> Below and attached please find the draft comments. Please feel free
>  >>>>> to send me edits with Track Changes (if you use the attached file).
>  >>>>> To avoid a flood on the list, feel free to share small edits with me
>  >>>>> privately.  Big edits and changes are probably up for discussion.
>  >>>>> DEADLINE: SATURDAY (but I am judging my son's debate team, so
>  >>>>> tomorrow if possible).
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> Best and tx,
>  >>>>> Kathy
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> *[DRAFT] Comments of the Noncommercial Users Constituency of ICANN*
>  >>>>> *Study on Whois Misuse*
>  >>>>> *Due: January 18, 2014*
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> The Noncommercial Users Constituency of ICANN submits this document
>  >>>>> in response to the call for public comments on the*/Study on Whois
>  >>>>> Misuse/*posted on the ICANN website. We respectfully submit that this
>  >>>>> Study is a very important one for ICANN and for the GNSO policy work
>  >>>>> ahead.
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> We note that the study seems thorough and professionally done. Its
>  >>>>> named researchers were Dr. Nicolas Christin and Nektarios Leontiadis.
>  >>>>> Dr. Christin received his PhD in Computer Science from the University
>  >>>>> of Virginia, and is an Assistant Research Professor of Electrical and
>  >>>>> Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.Nektarios
>  >>>>> Leontiadis is a PhD candidate at Carnegie Mellon University, in the
>  >>>>> department of Engineering and Public Policy, with research focused on
>  >>>>> the economic modeling of online crime. Both are affiliated with
>  >>>>> CMU?s/CyLab/security lab.
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> This study stayed close and tight to the Terms of Reference set out
>  >>>>> for it --terms set and designed by members of the GNSO and approved
>  >>>>> by the GNSO Council.
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> The key question of the study was:/Does public access to
>  >>>>> WHOIS-published data lead to a measurable degree of misuse?/The
>  >>>>> answer was an unequivocal yes:
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> The main finding of the descriptive study is that there is
>  >>>>> a*statistically significant occurrence of WHOIS misuse affecting
>  >>>>> Registrants? email addresses, postal addresses, and phone numbers,
>  >>>>> published in WHOIS*when registering domains in these gTLDs.*Overall,
>  >>>>> we find that 44% of Registrants experience one or more of these types
>  >>>>> of WHOIS misuse.*[Emphasis added, WHOIS Misuse Study, p. 6]
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> We appreciate the extensive efforts the CMU team undertook to test
>  >>>>> the hypothesis it was given by ICANN and the GNSO.First, it conducted
>  >>>>> a descriptive study reaching out to Experts, Registrants and
>  >>>>> Registries/Registrars. Specifically, the team surveyed a ?diverse
>  >>>>> group of experts in the fields of security and privacy affiliated
>  >>>>> with research institutes, academia, law enforcement agencies,
>  >>>>> Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and national data protection
>  >>>>> commissioners.? [Study, p. 13]
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> The team surveyed Registrants for a ?better understanding of their
>  >>>>> direct experiences with Whois misuse? and found that 43.9% reported
>  >>>>> ?some kind of misuse of their WHOIS information,? including/postal
>  >>>>> address misuse, email address misuse/and/phone number misuse/tied to
>  >>>>> the Whois data, as well as/Identity theft, unauthorized intrusion to
>  >>>>> servers/and/blackmail/to which publicly-published Whois data may have
>  >>>>> been a contributing factor.
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> Then the team surveyed Registrars and Registries about Whois
>  >>>>> harvesting attacks, and the deployment and effectiveness of WHOIS
>  >>>>> anti-harvesting techniques.
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> Second and perhaps most interestingly, the CMU team conducted its own
>  >>>>> experimental study in which they registered a set of domain names in
>  >>>>> the top five gTLDs through a representative set of Registrars, with
>  >>>>> unique Registrant identities. Over the course of six months, they
>  >>>>> tracked emails, voicemails and postal mail received by the
>  >>>>> registrants of these experimental domain names. The purpose of the
>  >>>>> study was to eliminate ?any extraneous variables,? e.g. the
>  >>>>> publication of a postal address in both the Whois and an outside
>  >>>>> directory.
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> The conclusions of the study are Striking ? and answer questions
>  >>>>> floating in the GNSO for over a decade./Yes, there is abuse of
>  >>>>> publicly-published Whois data. Yes, that abuse is statistically
>  >>>>> significant./We share again the main finding of the Study for
>  >>>>> additional review in this comment period:
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> The main finding of the descriptive study is that there is a
>  >>>>> statistically significant occurrence of WHOIS misuse affecting
>  >>>>> Registrants? email addresses, postal addresses, and phone numbers,
>  >>>>> published in WHOIS when registering domains in these gTLDs.Overall,
>  >>>>> we find that 44% of Registrants experience one or more of these types
>  >>>>> of WHOIS misuse.[Emphasis added, WHOIS Misuse Study, p. 6]
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> We thank CMU for the extensive efforts it devoted to this study, and
>  >>>>> the extra efforts made and extra time spent to expand studies to
>  >>>>> include more experts from Latin America and overall go above and
>  >>>>> beyond the requirements for arounded and complete study.
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> _Reply to Other Commenters:_
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> *ALAC Comments:*
>  >>>>> ALAC published the following comment in their comments: ?We note the
>  >>>>> study has returned findings that align with individual experience of
>  >>>>> At-Large constituents plus the evidence of widespread occurrence has
>  >>>>> validated similar research undertaken by At-Large connected
>  >>>>> researchers.?
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> We note that NCUC, too, has directly experienced deeply concerning
>  >>>>> misuses of WHOIS data. In particular, attorneys in NCUC have directly
>  >>>>> experienced and directly worked with clients who have experienced:
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> -Stalking, for which the Whois was the only published source for the
>  >>>>> location of an online, home-based business by which an ex-spouse
>  >>>>> found his wife and stalked her.
>  >>>>> -Political persecution, by which Whois data was used not only to
>  >>>>> track dissenters (some located in the US and protected by the First
>  >>>>> Amendment), but also their families located in the countries about
>  >>>>> whose corruption the websites were devoted (and who were not
>  >>>>> similarly protected);
>  >>>>> -Chilling effects, by which Whois data was used to track down and
>  >>>>> intimidate or silence those who have a different political, religious
>  >>>>> or moral view;
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> -Anticompetitive activity ? by which competitors used Whois data to
>  >>>>> track down entrepreneurs and small businesses owners and seek to
>  >>>>> intimidate them to set businesses plans and services aside.
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> We further share with ALAC the deep concern that ?WHOIS misuse is
>  >>>>> factual and widespread, as the evidence from 44% of sampled
>  >>>>> registrants across the several domains attest.?We further agree that
>  >>>>> thisposes a ?continued threat? to the ?security and confidence in the
>  >>>>> use of the Internet, [and] the public interest demands measures to
>  >>>>> address and abate its impact.?ALAC
>  >>>>>
> Comments,http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-whois-misuse-27nov13/msg00006.html
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> We have the evidence, and measures must now be taken to protect
>  >>>>> Registrants, and the speech, work, expression, hobbies, research,
>  >>>>> business, education and communication they conduct using their domain
>  >>>>> names.
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> Respectfully submitted,
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> [if approved]
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> NONCOMMERCIAL USERS CONSTITUENCY
>  >>>>>
>  >>>>> <NCUC DRAFT Comments - Misuse of Whois
>  >>>>> Study.docx>_______________________________________________
>  >>>>> Ncuc-discuss mailing list
>  >>>>> Ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org
>  >>>>>
> <mailto:Ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org><mailto:Ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org>
>  >>>>> http://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss
>  >>>>
>  >>>> ***********************************************
>  >>>> William J. Drake
>  >>>> International Fellow & Lecturer
>  >>>> Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ
>  >>>> University of Zurich, Switzerland
>  >>>> Chair, Noncommercial Users Constituency,
>  >>>> ICANN,www.ncuc.org <http://www.ncuc.org/><http://www.ncuc.org/>
>  >>>> william.drake at uzh.ch
>  >>>> <mailto:william.drake at uzh.ch><mailto:william.drake at uzh.ch> (direct),
>  >>>> wjdrake at gmail.com
>  >>>> <mailto:wjdrake at gmail.com><mailto:wjdrake at gmail.com> (lists),
>  >>>> www.williamdrake.org
>  >>>> <http://www.williamdrake.org/><http://www.williamdrake.org/>
>  >>>> ***********************************************
>  >>>>
>  >>>> _______________________________________________
>  >>>> Ncuc-discuss mailing list
>  >>>> Ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org
>  >>>>
> <mailto:Ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org><mailto:Ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org>
>  >>>> http://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>> <Attached Message
> Part.txt>_______________________________________________
>  >>> PC-NCSG mailing list
>  >>> PC-NCSG at ipjustice.org <mailto:PC-NCSG at ipjustice.org>
>  >>> http://mailman.ipjustice.org/listinfo/pc-ncsg
>  >>
>  >
>  > _______________________________________________
>  > PC-NCSG mailing list
>  > PC-NCSG at ipjustice.org
>  > http://mailman.ipjustice.org/listinfo/pc-ncsg
>
> ***********************************************
> William J. Drake
> International Fellow & Lecturer
>    Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ
>    University of Zurich, Switzerland
> Chair, Noncommercial Users Constituency,
>    ICANN, www.ncuc.org
> william.drake at uzh.ch (direct), wjdrake at gmail.com (lists),
>    www.williamdrake.org
> ***********************************************
>
>




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