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Technical Study Group Publishes TSG01: Technical Model for Access to Non-Public Registration Data

2 May 2019
By Ram Mohan

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We are pleased to inform you that the Technical Study Group on Access to Non-Public Registration Data (TSG) completed its work, on schedule. In March, the TSG published a Draft Technical Model for community review, which received substantive feedback at ICANN64 in Kobe, Japan and via written comments after ICANN64. The TSG's final output, "TSG01, Technical Model for Access to Non-Public Registration Data," reflects updates and revisions to its prior work.

We reviewed and considered all comments and feedback. These comments allowed us to clarify our intent, simplify the Technical Model, remove extraneous or misleading material, update every section, add frequently asked questions and a Future Work section, and integrate new concepts. We engaged with representatives from Europol, who provided feedback on implementation considerations of the Technical Model. Further, ICANN President and CEO Göran Marby briefed us on his meetings in Brussels with the European Commission.

In addition to TSG01, the TSG is also publishing a report that provides specific responses to all written feedback received prior to April 29, 2019.

We have now submitted TSG01 to the ICANN CEO. Göran and his team at ICANN org will use the model in discussions with the European Commission and the European Data Protection Board to determine whether a unified access model based on the Technical Model reduces legal liability for the contracted parties. The TSG will remain available for a few months to clarify or answer questions that arise from Göran's consultations, if necessary.

Completing such a significant piece of technical work in four months demanded dedication, discipline and focus. I am deeply grateful to the subject matter experts who constituted my team, and to the amazing staff members at ICANN org who enabled the TSG to work without impediment. To paraphrase Göran, the work of our team was possible because we were delivery driven, rather than agenda driven. In March, community members and leaders approached us to share what made the TSG effort successful. We plan to provide a "What Worked" document that might serve as a model for success in future technical work inside the ICANN community.

Personally, this has been a satisfying project, especially because we have now laid to rest skepticism about the technical feasibility of the access model. Much more work, especially on the policy side, remains to be done, and we wish those tackling this complex yet vitally important problem in the domain name system all the best.

Authors

Ram Mohan