Editing ICANN (section)

==Activities==
===Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)===
One task that ICANN was asked to do was to address the issue of domain name ownership resolution for [[generic top-level domain]]s (gTLDs). ICANN's attempt at such a policy was drafted in close cooperation with the [[World Intellectual Property Organization]] (WIPO), and the result has now become known as the [[Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy|Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy]] (UDRP). This policy essentially attempts to provide a mechanism for rapid, cheap and reasonable resolution of domain name conflicts, avoiding the traditional court system for disputes by allowing cases to be brought to one of a set of bodies that arbitrate domain name disputes. According to ICANN policy, domain registrants must agree to be bound by the UDRP—they cannot get a domain name without agreeing to this.

Examination of the UDRP decision patterns has caused some<ref name="vjolt" /> to conclude that compulsory domain name arbitration is less likely to give a fair hearing to domain name owners asserting defenses under the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] and other laws, compared to the federal courts of appeal in particular.

===Proposed elimination of public DNS whois===
In 2013, the initial report of ICANN's Expert Working Group has recommended that the present form of [[Whois]], a utility that allows anyone to know who has registered a domain name on the Internet, should be "abandoned". It recommends it be replaced with a system that keeps most registration information secret (or "gated") from most Internet users, and only discloses information for "permissible purposes".<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 24, 2013 |title=Initial Report from the Expert Working Group on gTLD Directory Services: A Next Generation Registration Directory Service |url=https://www.icann.org/en/groups/other/gtld-directory-services/initial-report-24jun13-en.pdf |access-date=September 23, 2013 |publisher=ICANN Expert Working Group}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Murphy |first=Kevin |date=June 13, 2014 |title=Whois "killer" is a recipe for a clusterfuck |publisher=Domain Incite |url=http://domainincite.com/16855-whois-killer-is-a-recipe-for-a-clusterfuck |access-date=June 21, 2014}}</ref> ICANN's list of permissible purposes includes domain name research, domain name sale and purchase, regulatory enforcement, personal data protection, legal actions, and abuse mitigation.<ref>[http://www.cpaglobal.com/newlegalreview/5558/icann_earmarks_domains_record_ Intellectual Property Solutions & Legal Support Services] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054828/http://www.cpaglobal.com/newlegalreview/5558/icann_earmarks_domains_record_ |date=September 21, 2013 }}. CPA Global. Retrieved April 28, 2014.</ref> Whois has been a key tool of investigative journalists interested in determining who was disseminating information on the Internet.<ref>[http://jour.sc.edu/news/csj/CSJNov04.html Sjmc: Common Sense Journalism]. Jour.sc.edu. Retrieved April 28, 2014.</ref> The use of whois by journalists is not included in the list of permissible purposes in the initial report.