ICANN Staff Scolded by COA, again

The Coalition for Online Accountability (COA) is justifiably upset by previously unrevealed ICANN Staff initiatives found in the Plan for Enhancing Internet Security, Stability & Resilience (FY11).  The Coalition writes:

"COA (and other members of the Intellectual Property Constituency) were surprised to learn that “a system to publically [sic] identify compliant parties” with regard to Whois data accuracy and use of privacy and proxy services was under development. We work closely with ICANN contract compliance staff and were unaware of this proposal, which was not mentioned in the current ICANN operational plan or in recent contract compliance newsletters.

Finally, we note with dismay, but not with surprise, that ICANN staff continues to take the position that the development of a program with the ostensible goal “to encourage contract compliance and to provide public confidence” is a matter of concern only to “the registrar and registry communities,” and that only these contracted parties are to be consulted in its development.  This seems to be ICANN’s invariable default position, subject to correction only after other affected parties – including, in this case, COA and other members of the Intellectual Property Constituency – point out yet again that it is contrary to ICANN’s purported objective to serve the public interest above the narrow business interests of the registrars and registries. ICANN’s addiction to this approach speaks volumes."