ICANN | Letter from Karen Rose, NTIA to Michael Roberts | 28 September 2000

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Letter from Karen Rose, NTIA to Michael Roberts

28 September 2000

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Telecommunications and
Information Administration
Washington, D.C. 20230

SEP 28 2000

 

Michael Roberts
Chief Executive Officer
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
Marina del Rey, CA 90292

Dear Mr. Roberts:

I am writing to express the concern of the Department of Commerce regarding the lack of progress by ICANN accredited registrars in implementing a capability that permits query-based Whois search functionality across all registrars.

If electronic commerce is to reach its full potential, Internet consumers must have web-based access to complete, accurate, and up-to-date registrant contact information. Likewise, businesses must have confidence that their trademarks and other intellectual property can be protected in the online environment. For these reasons, the Department of Commerce has expressed strong support for Section II.F.4 of the ICANN Accreditation Agreement that requires registrars to:

abide by any ICANN-adopted Policy that requires registrars to cooperatively implement a distributed capability that provides query-based Whois search functionality across all registrars.

To date, ICANN's Registrar Constituency has not proposed such a policy. Technology exists to enable this distributed capability across registrars -- and, indeed, across registries – and we are aware that at least one such service is under development and has been made available to registrars free of charge. Moreover, Section II.F.4 of the Accreditation Agreement is intended to minimize delays in the adoption of a consensus policy by further providing:

If the Whois service implemented by registrars does not in a reasonable time provide reasonably robust, reliable, and convenient access to accurate and up-to-date data, the Registrar shall abide by any ICANN-adopted Policy requiring Registrar, if reasonably determined by ICANN to be necessary (considering such possibilities as remedial action by specific registrars), to supply data from Registrar's database to facilitate the development of a centralized Whois database for the purpose of providing comprehensive Registrar Whois search capability.

We urge the ICANN Board to consider whether the registrars have had a reasonable time period in which to act. If the Board concludes, as we have, that the time for action has come and gone, it is incumbent on the Board to move this process forward by, as appropriate, (1) imposing an early deadline for cooperative implementation of this requirement by registrars, (2) insisting that registrars work to further the development available or proposed approaches, or (3) requiring registrars to supply data to facilitate the development of a centralized Whois database.

I would be happy to discuss our concerns in greater detail with ICANN staff and/or members of its Board of Directors.

Sincerely,

 

Karen Rose


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