Removal of Searchable Whois Service From .MEET Registry Agreement

Purpose: This public comment period aims at gathering community input on the proposed amendment to the .MEET Registry Agreement to remove Searchable Whois service from the Exhibit A (Approved Services) of the .MEET Registry Agreement. This amendment is intended to implement the request from the registry operator to remove this service from their registry agreement, which is submitted through the Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP) process. Also, this public comment period aims at gathering community input on this type of requests submitted for “open gTLDs” in general, so that the public comments can be used to consider similar future requests.

Current Status: As per the New gTLD Program Applicant Guidebook, provision for Searchable Whois capabilities; and a description of potential forms of abuse of this feature, how these risks will be mitigated, and the basis for these descriptions is associated with 2 points in the Initial Evaluation of the application.

As required by the Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP), ICANN has undertaken a preliminary determination on whether the proposal might raise significant competition, security or stability issues. ICANN's preliminary review (based on the information provided) did not identify any such issues for this proposal.

ICANN is seeking public comments on the proposed amendment that will remove the required Searchable Whois service from the Exhibit A (Approved Services) of the .MEET Registry Agreement.

Next Steps: ICANN will prepare a Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report at the conclusion of the comment period. ICANN will consider these comments as it considers approval of the proposed registry agreement amendment.

On 3 September 2015, Charleston Road Registry Inc. d/b/a Google Registry, Registry Operator of .MEET TLD submitted a Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP) request to remove Searchable Whois service currently required in the Exhibit A (Approved Services) of the .MEET Registry Agreement.

Exhibit A of the .MEET Registry Agreement states the following:

Registry Operator must offer a searchable Whois service compliant with the requirements described in Section 1.10 of Specification 4 of this Agreement.  Registry Operator must make available the services only to authenticated users after they logged in by supplying proper credentials (e.g., user name and password).  Registry Operator must issue such credentials exclusively to eligible users and institutions that supply sufficient proof of their legitimate interest in this feature (e.g., law enforcement agencies).  Registry Operator shall use rate-limiting to prevent abuse of the searchable Whois service.

It should be noted that "A Searchable Whois service: Whois service includes web-based search capabilities by domain name, registrant name, postal address, contact names, registrar IDs, and Internet Protocol addresses without arbitrary limit. Boolean search capabilities may be offered. The service shall include appropriate precautions to avoid abuse of this feature (e.g., limiting access to legitimate authorized users), and the application demonstrates compliance with any applicable privacy laws or policies" is associated with 2 points in the Initial Evaluation of the application as indicated in the New gTLD Program Applicant Guidebook. The proposed amendment, which is being posted for comment, would remove Searchable Whois service from Exhibit A (Approved Services) of the .MEET Registry Agreement, which was signed on 16 January 2014, originally between ICANN and Afilias Limited. Effective 6 February 2015, the Registry Agreement was assigned by Afilias Limited to Charleston Road Registry Inc. d/b/a Google Registry, which now operates the .MEET top-level domain. It should also be noted that .MEET is an "open gTLD".

The RSEP request was posted for public information on the Registry Service Evaluation Process webpage, available at https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/rsep-2014-02-19-en.

In their RSEP request, Charleston Road Registry Inc. d/b/a Google Registry, the Registry Operator of .MEET TLD, explained that "On February 6, 2015, Afilias Limited assigned Charleston Road Registry d/b/a Google Registry ("Google Registry") the rights to operate the .MEET TLD. The .MEET application and Registry Agreement originally executed between ICANN and Afilias Limited currently specifies that a searchable WHOIS Service must be offered for the .MEET TLD. We are now proposing that the requirement to operate a searchable WHOIS service be removed from Exhibit A of the .MEET Registry Agreement. We note that operating a searchable WHOIS service is not mandatory for new gTLD registries and that Google Registry will continue to comply with all other WHOIS requirements set forth in the .MEET Registry Agreement."

As provided by the Registry Services Evaluation Policy, ICANN has undertaken a preliminary determination on whether this proposal might raise significant competition, security or stability issues. ICANN's preliminary review (based on the information provided) did not identify any such issues for these requests.

Following ICANN's preliminary determination that the proposal does not raise significant competition, security or stability issues, it was further determined that the change would require a material change to the respective Registry Agreement and that an amendment is needed in order to effect the change.

On 16 January 2014, ICANN and Afilias Limited entered into a Registry Agreement under which Afilias Limited operated the .MEET top-level domain. Effective 6 February 2015, the Registry Agreement was assigned by Afilias Limited to Charleston Road Registry Inc. d/b/a Google Registry, which now operates the .MEET top-level domain. The .MEET Registry Agreement is available for review here: https://www.icann.org/resources/agreement/meet-2014-01-16-en.

It should also be noted that on 30 July 2015, a similar public comment period regarding an amendment for the removal of Searchable Whois service from the .SHARP Registry Agreement, which includes Specification 13 provisions, was opened. The public comment summary and analysis report for this public comment announcement can be found here: https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/report-comments-sharp-whois-17oct15-en.pdf

• RSEP Webpage: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/rsep-2014-02-19-en
• RSEP Policy: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/policy-bd-2012-02-25-en
• Charleston Road Registry Inc. d/b/a Google Registry RSEP Request

• .MEET Proposed Amendment [PDF, 60 KB]

• Report