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ICANN Announces Conclusion of 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement Whois Accuracy Program Specification Review

16 November 2015

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ICANN announces the completion of the first formal review of the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement's Whois Accuracy Program Specification ("Specification").

The Specification includes requirements for ICANN-accredited registrars to validate and verify certain Whois data and customer account holder information and calls for a review of its terms by ICANN and the Registrar Stakeholder Group (RrSG).

ICANN and the Registrar Stakeholder Group each proposed a handful of topics as candidates for possible updates. A summary of these topics was posted for public comment in May 2015. Twenty-two comments were received from community members.

In light of the public comments received and negotiations between ICANN and the RrSG, ICANN and the RrSG have reached agreement that no amendments should be made to the Specification at this time. Instead, the Specification will be subject to an additional review in approximately one year. This future review will have the added benefit of being informed by the data compiled via the Whois Accuracy Reporting System initiative.

A clarifying advisory has been posted to ICANN's website.

ICANN and the RrSG wish to thank the many community members who contributed comments in furtherance of this review.