Public Comment
Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) Study 1: Proposed Final Report
Open Date
8 May 2020 23:59 UTC
Close Date
17 June 2020 23:59 UTC
Staff Report Due
1 July 2020 23:59 UTC
Brief Overview
Purpose: This Public Comment proceeding seeks input on the proposed final version of the Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) Study 1 report produced by the ICANN organization's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO).
Current Status: The report presents the findings for Study 1 of the NCAP. The purpose and scope of Study 1 were defined in a July 2019 Request for Proposal (RFP). This report addresses the first two goals of Study 1, as stated in the RFP:
- "Production of a summary report on the topic of name collision that brings forth important knowledge from prior work in the area. The report will be a primer for those new to the subject. The report will be based on an examination of all relevant prior work on the issue of name collisions."
- "Creation of a list of datasets used in past name collision studies; an identification of gaps, if any; and creation of a list of additional data sets that would be required to successfully complete Studies 2 and 3."
This report contains the following sections addressing tasks from the RFP:
- a name collision primer (task 2a)
- a review of pertinent previous work (tasks 1 and 2c)
- evidence of harm caused by name collisions (task 2b)
- mitigation techniques and their technical impact (task 2d)
- an initial list of data sets that would be needed for Studies 2 and 3 (tasks 3, 4, 5)
- a recommendation regarding Studies 2 and 3 (task 8)
Next Steps:
This report will be presented to the ICANN Board
Section I: Description and Explanation
Name Collision refers to the situation where a name that is defined and used in one namespace may also appear in another. Users and applications intending to use a name in one namespace may actually use it in a different one, and unexpected behavior may result where the intended use of the name is not the same in both namespaces. The circumstances that lead to a name collision could be accidental or malicious.
The ICANN Board asked the ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) to study the impact of name collisions and advise the Board on their effects and possible mitigation. In response, SSAC started the NCAP effort and designed Study 1, the first of three name collision studies intended to address the Board's request.
The scope of NCAP Study 1 is larger than usual work undertaken by SSAC, so OCTO is facilitating the work and has engaged a contractor to perform Study 1.
ICANN org seeks community input on the report resulting from Study 1.
Section II: Background
Study 1 concerns name collisions in the context of top-level domains (TLDs), where the conflicting namespaces are:
- the global Internet Domain Name System (DNS) namespace reflected in the root zone overseen by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Function; and
- any other namespace, regardless of whether that other namespace is intended for use with the DNS or any other protocol.
On 2 November 2017, the ICANN Board passed resolutions (2017.11.02.29 – 2017.11.02.31) requesting the SSAC to conduct studies to present data, analysis, and points of view, and provide advice to the Board.
Following the Board resolution, the SSAC began project planning in December 2017 for the work necessary to address the Board's request. In January 2018, the SSAC NCAP Work Party ("NCAP WP") was formed and prepared a plan calling for three studies. Also created was the NCAP Administration ("NCAP Admin"), a smaller group comprising the NCAP WP leadership and SSAC leadership, which guides the NCAP effort both within SSAC and in the larger ICANN community.
In June 2018, the ICANN organization's CEO, after input from the Board, assigned OCTO to be responsible for completing the NCAP studies since SSAC does not have the resources to undertake and manage such a large project.
In September 2018, SSAC published "SSAC Proposal for the Name Collision Analysis Project", which proposed three consecutive studies to address the Board's request. OCTO proposed minor changes to the proposal and, after discussion between SSAC and OCTO, an updated version of the proposal was published in February 2019.
In April 2019, the NCAP Discussion Group ("NCAP DG") was formed to allow interested members of the larger ICANN community to also participate in the NCAP project. This group consists of both the SSAC NCAP WP and any interested community members.
Because of resource constraints, OCTO has outsourced the production of Study 1 to a contractor. The contractor was engaged by and has reported to OCTO and has also had frequent interaction with the NCAP DG.
The initial draft of this report was presented in an earlier Public Comment. The report was then revised based on community feedback from that Public Comment as well as subsequent feedback from the NCAP DG.
The proposed final version of the Study 1 report is presented in this Public Comment.
Section III: Relevant Resources
Section IV: Additional Information
- Public Comment Proceeding on NCAP Study 1 Draft Report: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ncap-study-1-2020-02-13-en
Comments Closed
Report of Public Comments