To the Protocol Council:
Subject: Names Council Recommendations on new gTLDs
On 18-19 April, the Names Council of ICANN's Domain Name Supporting
Organization approved a statement recommending that the ICANN Board
adopt a policy for "measured and responsible" introduction of new
generic top-level domains. (This is a very brief summary of the
statement--please read the copy that appears below for details.)
The Names Council's statement indicated that it would consider making
supplemental recommendations on this topic, and the Names Council
has scheduled a meeting on 17 May for this purpose.
Under ICANN's bylaws, recommendations of one supporting
organization's council are to be distributed to the other supporting
organization councils so that they may advise the Board on any
considerations arising within the other councils' areas of expertise:
"(d) Any recommendation forwarded to the Board by a Supporting
Organization shall be transmitted to all other Supporting
Organizations so that each Supporting Organization may comment
to the Board regarding the implications of such a
recommendation on activities within their individual scope of
primary responsibility."
(From Article VI, Section 2(d) of ICANN Bylaws.)
The ICANN Board is scheduled to consider the Names Council's
recommendations at its meeting (to be held in connection with INET)
on 15-16 July in Yokohama. It would be helpful if the Protocol
Council could provide the Board any comments it may have on any
protocol-policy implications of the Names Council recommendations
by the end of June. In accord with the tenor of Section 4(b)(iii)
of the PSO MOU, I understand that the members of the Protocol Council
may wish to confer with the PSO member SDOs.
As noted above, the Names Council may forward supplemental
recommendations to the Board in the near future. If I receive any,
I will forward them to you at that time.
Best regards,
Louis Touton
ICANN Secretary
cc: Steve Coya, PSO Secretariat
Ken Stubbs, Names Council Chair
Michael Roberts, ICANN President
Andrew McLaughlin, ICANN Senior Adviser
=======================================================
DNSO Names Council Statement on New gTLDs
(approved 18-19 April 2000)
The Names Council determines that the report of Working
Group C and related comments indicate that there exists
a consensus for the introduction of new gTLDs in a measured
and responsible manner. The Names Council therefore
recommends to the ICANN Board that it establish a policy
for the introduction of new gTLDs in a measured and
responsible manner, giving due regard in the implementation
of that policy to (a) promoting orderly registration of
names during the initial phases; (b) minimizing the use of
gTLDs to carry out infringements of intellectual property
rights; and (c) recognizing the need for ensuring user
confidence in the technical operation of the new TLD and
the DNS as a whole.
Because there is no recent experience in introducing new
gTLDs, we recommend to the Board that a limited number of
new top-level domains be introduced initially and that the
future introduction of additional top-level domains be done
only after careful evaluation of the initial introduction.
The Names Council takes note of the fact that the WG C
report indicates that several types of domains should be
considered in the initial introduction, these being:
fully open top-level domains, restricted and chartered
top-level domains with limited scope, non-commercial
domains and personal domains. Implementation should promote
competition in the domain-name registration business at the
registry and registrar levels. The Names Council recognizes
that any roll-out must not jeopardize the stability of the
Internet, and assumes a responsible process for
introducing new gTLDs, which includes ensuring that there
is close coordination with organizations dealing with
Internet protocols and standards.
To assist the Board in the task of introducing new gTLDs,
the Names Council recommends that the ICANN staff invite
expressions of interest from parties seeking to operate
any new gTLD registry, with an indication as to how they
propose to ensure to promote these values.
We would like to extend our deep appreciation to the
substantial number of participants who worked so diligently
in Working Groups B and C, and want to thank them for their
significant efforts in evaluating the issues that were
referred to them. Recognizing the Working Group C has
recently approved additional principles and that Working
Group B's formal report was provided to us yesterday, we
advise the Board that we will be providing supplemental
recommendations in the near future.
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Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 14:14:02 -0400