ICANN Staff to WHOIS Task Force

ICANN Staff has sent this message to the combined WHOIS Task Force. Essentially, they disagree with much of the group’s recommendations on how to deal with a conflict between the RAA’s WHOIS provisions and applicable law.Timing of this move is poor; procedurally, it amounts to a staff attempt to veto a Task Force’s decisions: The criticism comes after almost a year of work; the thrust of the group’s recommendations was visible by the time of the ICANN meetings in Kuala Lumpur.On the substance, though, there’s one point where I find myself in agreement with the staff document: Fixing WHOIS, globally, is certainly preferable over tinkering with compliance mechanisms.