Contractual Compliance Monthly Update | March 2012
Purpose
This newsletter is to inform readers and encourage community dialogue regarding ICANN's Contractual Compliance program.
In This Issue
- Compliance Team Gains Four
- Suspension Commences for ICANN-Accredited Registrar
- More than 90% of Registrars Responded to Whois Data Reminder Policy Audit
- Registrar and Registry Self-Assessment Questionnaire Pilots
Compliance Team Gains Four
Since the ICANN 42 Public Meeting in Dakar, the Contractual Compliance department has added four team members. The 12-person team collectively speaks seven languages: Arabic, English, French, Hindi, Mandarin, Spanish and Urdu. The new staff members fill key roles in Performance Measurement and Reporting, Risk and Audit Management and Compliance Complaint Analyst and Manager.
Suspension Commences 8 March 2012 for ICANN Accredited Registrar
On 16 February 2012 ICANN issued a 30-day suspension [PDF, 310 KB] to registrar, Alantron Bilişim Ltd, for failure to maintain adequate domain registration records and to make those records available for inspection by ICANN.
The suspension effectively means the ICANN-accredited registrar cannot create any new domain names, nor accept inbound transfers of any registered domain names during the suspension period. Alantron has until 28 March 2012 to cure these breaches to have the suspension lifted. Failure to cure these breaches in a timely manner will result in termination of Alantron’s RAA.
More than 90% of Registrars Respond to Whois Data Reminder Policy Audit
The 2011 Whois Data Reminder Policy Audit was launched on 26 January 2012. Preliminary audit results show that 846 out of 920 registrars that are under the 2009 RAA, or 91%, responded to the audit. Failure to respond to an ICANN audit request may amount to a breach of the 2009 RAA. Contractual Compliance is following up with those registrars that did not respond, in accordance with our process and the RAA.
Registrar and Registry Self-Assessment Questionnaire Pilots
The Registrar RAA self-assessment audit questionnaire pilot was completed on 20 February 2012. The Registry self-assessment questionnaire pilot was launched on 24 February 2012. The pilots are intended to evaluate the tools, the clarity and appropriateness of the questions, ease of data collection, time required for compliance assessment and reporting of results. Contractual Compliance will be evaluating the results and feedback received from participating registrars and registries to determine the formal launch dates of these new initiatives.