US Government Uses GAC to Combat Privacy Push in WHOIS
http://www.icannwatch.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/10/1525227&tid=
At the Luxembourg ICANN meeting, the US Government is organizing a 4-hour
session of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) on how public display
of Whois data supports "combating illegal activities on the Internet."
Perhaps sensing that time is running out on unrestricted access to Whois
data, the US GAC representative and US-based business/IPR interests have
organized the meeting to propagandize the idea that compulsory, public
display of domain name registration data and intrusive measures to enforce
the accuracy of the data should be retained. The meeting is not open to the
public and contains no representation of privacy or civil liberties
perspectives.
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:
PROPOSED AGENDA FOR GAC WORKING SESSION LUXEMBOURG, 10 JULY 2005-06-01
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)
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