[NA-Discuss] Conversation with Dave Piscitello

[Brendler, Beau]

Hello, everyone...

A little while ago I had a conversation with Dave Piscitello of the SSAC
and Nick Ashton-Hart. The substance of the conversation was, what could
WebWatch do, and/or what could be done in general, to connect consumers
to some of the ICANN discussions about security and stability issues. As
you know, one of the issues I am trying to confront is how to interest
and educate consumers about the work ICANN is doing and what its role in
Internet governance is, while trying to represent their interests as
best and appropriately as possible.

The conversation was to determine if there are studies WebWatch might
undertake in the area of consumer protection and domain names. We also
talked about some of the work SSAC is doing with the Anti-Phishing
Working Group and discussed the possibility of convening some people
from these groups in Los Angeles. We're also trying to address questions
like, if consumers knew more about things like DNSSEC and signed domains
and the like (and their cost), would consumers want to somehow pay to
participate in an Internet with more secure domain names?

I've also begun talking with Nick about some possibilities for consumer
education, that would include creating some consumer-friendly content.
Would be happy to hear your comments about this and other security
issues. As soon as a public version of the SSAC August report is
available we can post it here.

Regards,

Beau Brendler, Director
Consumer Reports WebWatch
http://www.consumerwebwatch.org