1 May, 2008: New Canadian Internet Registry Association (CIRA) Whois Policy Strikes a Balance Between Privacy and Access (Michael Geist)
"Under the new policy, CIRA will continue to collect the same contact information from registrants as under its current policy. However, it will no longer require that such information be publicly available through its whois directory. In its place, CIRA will only require the public disclosure of limited technical information, though individual registrants may voluntarily "opt-in" to providing more ...

13 Nov, 2007: Robin Gross’ Remarks at IGF 2007 on Internet Bill of Rights
Today I’d like to address a few issues that are specifically relevant to the positive development of the Internet and a healthy information society. 1. Freedom of Expression Rights. 2. Access to Knowledge Rights. 3. Communication Rights. 4. Privacy Rights and Data Protection. 5. Anonymity. 6. Excessive and ...

4 Nov, 2007: Explanation of NCUC’s Votes on Whois at LA ICANN Meeting - “Halloween Vote” on Whois
NCUC strongly supported Motion #3 because it provided a mechanism to spur uncompromising parties to the negotiating table on Whois in good faith. Without a mechanism to bring to the negotiating table parties who already have what they want, there is no incentive to voluntarily agree to any changes to the status quo with whois. NCUC continues to ...

30 Oct, 2007: EPIC & NGO Letter to ICANN Board on Need for Whois Reform
"The purpose of this letter is to express our support for changes to WHOIS services that would protect the privacy of individuals, specifically the removal of registrants' contact information from the publicly accessible WHOIS database. It is also to propose a sensible resolution to the long-running discussion over WHOIS that would establish a bit of "policy stability" and allow ...

30 Oct, 2007: IP Community Critical Of Proposals On ICANN Agenda (IP-Watch)
"A draft by ICANN’s Generic Name Supporting Organisation (GNSO) on ICANN’s necessary evaluation of new TLD application requests also proposes checks on moral and public order - a task for which ICANN’s not fit, according to the Keep the Core Neutral Coalition (KTCN). KTCN wants ICANN to “stay within its technical mandate and refrain from embedding particular national, regional, ...

18 Oct, 2007: ICANN Public Comment Period on Whois Reform to Protect Privacy
Whois changes Open: 14 Sep 07 Closed: 30 Oct 07 Explanation: A Whois taskforce convened in June 2005 completed its work and sent a final ...

22 Aug, 2007: Whois Privacy Stalemate Again (IGP Blog)
"The ICANN Working Group that was trying to reconcile data protection and privacy principles with the domain name system’s legacy Whois directory, which publishes the name and full contact details of all domain name registrants, was finished today. “Finished off” might be a better term. Despite flirting with the kind of compromises and reforms that might actually reconcile privacy rights ...

20 Aug, 2007: Final Outcomes Report of the WHOIS Working Group

22 May, 2007: Debate Over Confidentiality of Web Site Registration Information Continues (Law.com)

27 Mar, 2007: Internet Governance Project Blog

16 Mar, 2007: FINAL Task Force Report on Whois Services
The Whois Task Force has submitted its Final Task Force Report on Whois Services to ICANN's GNSO Policy Council.

12 Mar, 2007: Letter from Chairman of EU’s Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection Regarding Whois
"... As regards the “special circumstances proposal”, it remains totally unclear how this proposal is related to the purpose definition on which the task force has grounded its work. The very narrow justifications for eligibility to not having data published seems totally unsatisfactory from a privacy perspective, and is only acceptable if limited to commercial users. It would clearly not ...

28 Feb, 2007: Web Site Owners May Get Tougher to Find (National Law Journal)
"An organization that polices the domain name system is likely to decide this year -- after several years of debate -- to adopt a new policy that would let Web site owners keep most of their contact information confidential when they register for a name. Instead, they would be allowed to list a separate go-between point of contact. The ...

15 Jan, 2007: NCUC Comments on Whois Task Preliminary Report
The Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) believes that ICANN policies governing the publication of Whois data must be reformed, and quickly. The Operational Point of Contact Proposal ("OPoC Proposal") presented in this Whois Task Force Report is not perfect, but it is the only way to bring some consensus and closure to a problem that has festered for too long. ....

15 Jan, 2007: A Development Analysis of the Proposed WIPO Broadcasting Treaty (SouthCentre)
The research paper concludes that there is a lack of evidence indicating that the array of additional rights and protection for broadcasting and cablecasting organizations, as incorporated in the text of a Revised Draft Basic Proposal for a WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, are either necessary or desirable from a developing country perspective. On the other hand, evidence ...