ICANN | ICANN Policy Update Background - Registration Abuse Policies

On 25 September 2008, the GNSO Council adopted a motion requesting an issues report on registration abuse provisions in registry-registrar agreements. The issues report seeks to identify existing provisions in registry-registrar agreements relating to abuse as well as to identify and describe potential options for further Council consideration.

At its meeting on 20 November, the GNSO Council reviewed and discussed the Registration Abuse Policies Issues Report and decided to vote on whether to initiate a policy development process (PDP) at the following meeting.

The GNSO Council voted on 18 December to form a drafting team to create a proposed charter for a working group charged with investigating the open issues identified in Registration Abuse Policies report. The drafting team was formed and met for the first time on 9 January 2009. They finalized a charter, which was adopted by the GNSO Council on 19 February 2009, for a Working Group to investigate further these open issues, such as the difference between registration abuse and domain name use abuse; the effectiveness of existing registration abuse policies; and which areas, if any, would be suitable for GNSO policy development to address registration abuse. The RAP WG is expected to report back to the GNSO Council within 90 days. The GNSO Council will not make a decision on whether or not to initiate a PDP on registration abuse policies until the RAP Working Group has presented its findings.

The RAP Working Group held its first meeting at ICANN’s Mexico City meeting, in conjunction with a public workshop. The workshop encouraged community discussion and input on some of the issues outlined above. This initial exchange of views will serve as a basis of knowledge and information from which the Working Group can continue its deliberations.