So, there's been a lot of fuss lately about the Whois databases of registry and registrar companies going dark due to European data privacy laws. This led to some panic among the internet community, but don't worry, it's not as bad as it seems. The EU legislators were trying to protect critical infrastructure and economies, so they included DNS industry actors in a Directive. However, some people are misinterpreting this as mandating registrars and registries to maintain complete domain name registration information databases. But that's not true, and the Directive's ambiguity poses a risk of fragmentation between the 27 national legislations.

When GDPR came into force in 2018, the redaction of whois databases caused a lot of concern about internet security. To solve the problem of getting non-public registration data without breaking privacy laws, the EPDP Team suggested a complex system called the Standardised Access System for Non-public Registration Data (SSAD). But it was too costly and complicated. So, ICANN is testing a simpler system called the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS), which connects users with ICANN-accredited registrars.

The article discusses a group of registrars at ICANN working to address DNS abuse, which includes publishing white papers and developing an Abuse Contact IDentifier tool. The group has conducted outreach sessions with other ICANN stakeholder groups and law enforcement agencies. The article concludes that the group will likely become permanent due to the ongoing issue of online abuse.

ICANN operates on a multi-stakeholder model, where every internet community has a voice in developing policies. However, it also relies on contractual instruments negotiated between ICANN and the contracted parties. These contracts include the Registry Agreement, the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, and the Registry-Registrar Agreement, which are negotiated directly between ICANN, registries, and registrars. The following focusses on the recent amendment to these agreements, which requires contracted parties to take reasonable and appropriate action to mitigate or disrupt domain registrations engaged in DNS Abuse.

The ICANN community is trying to start the next round of new gTLD applications, but their quest for perfection has caused delays. They have initiated several policy development processes to ensure the next round is flawless, but this has led to setbacks. However, the Subsequent Procedure working group has acknowledged this issue and proposed a model where new gTLD procedures would be handled in rounds, allowing policy development to continue without halting the program.

Last week in Berlin the 14th Internet Governance Forum of the United Nations annual meeting was held. The IGF’s goal is to bring people together to discuss public policy issues relating to the Internet. However, there is no negotiated outcome at the IGF; it serves only as a place for policy-makers to discuss, exchange information and share good practices.