In order to achieve the above objectives, DTEC-MFZA is authorized:

(1) to procure infrastructure, buildings, management and any other services required to achieve DTEC-MFZA’s objectives;

(2) to regulate business and activities with DTEC-MFZA;

(3) to provide telecommunications and Internet services;

(4) to engage in the authentication of Internet and e-commerce sites and the issuing of the necessary terms and conditions in relation thereto, or the licensing of other establishments with DTEC-MFZA to perform such authentication;

(5) to establish and license establishments in DTEC-MFZA;

(6) to regulate commerce between establishments in DTEC-MFZA and any other parties outside DTEC-MFZA;

(7) to enter into agreements with other free zones in order to enable DTEC-MFZA establishments to conduct business in such other free zones;

(8) to provide DTEC-MFZA establishments, upon request, with executives, managers, technicians, craftsmen and other workers in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 1 of 2000, the relevant regulations and any additional terms and conditions agreed between DTEC-MFZA and these establishments;

(9) to enter in to leases of plots and buildings that may extend to periods up to fifty years, with any establishment in DTEC-MFZA to enable it to carry on its activities according to the terms and conditions agreed upon;

(10) to provide all kinds of services;

(11) to levy and charge fees for the services provided;

(12) to establish an investment fund for providing capital to DTEC-MFZA establishments and for investing DTEC-MFZA’s funds in the manner and method and the activities and projects which the Chairman deems fit.

 In accordance with Article 4 of Law No. 1 of 2000, at present, DTEC-MFZA’s organizational structure consists of a:

In addition, it is to be noted that, at present, there are more than 100 personnel working for DTEC-MFZA, including full-time staff and consultants.

DIC is a USD700 million technology infrastructure project sponsored and underwritten by the Dubai Government,[3] with the following mission:

To provide an infrastructure, environment and attitude that will enable New Economy enterprises to operate locally, regionally and globally from Dubai with significant competitive advantages.

A further articulation of the vision underlying DIC is provided by the following quote extracted from a speech given by H.H. Sheikh Rashid Al-Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defense Minister:

“Telecommunication and the Internet will be at the heart of this world.  Only those who develop competitive strength in these two areas and who have creative ideas and the ability to accommodate with the changes in world economy will achieve leadership.

If the UAE is the hub for transportation of goods across the world, why can’t it be an information hub too?

My vision is simple.  In the future all commercial action will be in cyberspace.  But the cyber world will need a ground base on this physical world.  Internet companies will need physical offices, a community, and on the ground technology.  And I want Dubai to be the best physical location in the world for any and every virtual company.”

DIC provides an ideal location for New Economy businesses seeking to exploit the potential markets of and serve a region that stretches from Egypt to the Indian sub-continent and from South Africa to the CIS.

DIC consists of a physical complex of buildings, complete with all support mechanisms vital for IT-business.  To be operational in October 2000, the DIC building complex occupies a part of the 325 acres of land allocated for the project and is the first of a three-phase expansion program.  However, the physical structure forms only part of the concept of DIC.  

The technical infrastructure of DIC is being designed to world-class standards of capacity, reliability, costs and service levels.  In July 2000, DTEC-MFZA awarded the first major contracts for the building of a state-of-the-art technical infrastructure for DIC to Siemens Business Systems, Sun Microsystems and Cisco Systems.  These companies are presently designing, building and will eventually operate advanced systems in four key areas of DIC’s operational infrastructure, including a data center, telecommunications and network infrastructure, Internet connectivity and ISP infrastructure and billing solutions. Thus, businesses operating out of DIC will be able to rely on and utilize the most advanced and innovative technological solutions, high bandwidth, low cost telecom infrastructure, redundant connections to Internet primary backbone providers and secure high speed support infrastructure.[4] 

Dubai Media City (DMC), another of DTEC-MFZA’s currently established operating divisions, will be one of the primary beneficiaries of this infrastructure.  The purpose behind DMC is to establish in Dubai the entire value chain of media services for the Pan Arab region.

In order to support technological innovation and advancement and to help create the right environment for Internet commerce to flourish regionally, DTEC-MFZA has a established USD40 million dollar fund, to be managed by the Dubai Incubator Oasis (DIO).

An Internet University is also being planned, which will house state-of-the-art training facilities.  It is expected that major IT firms will use this facility as a regional training center.  The University will offer a curriculum that covers all areas relevant to Internet-related commerce and will offer a variety of information technology specializations.

DTEC-MFZA also expects DIC to become a major center for research and development. Major software developers, for example, are being encouraged to test new products within various government agencies and public sector firms.  By offering itself as a testing ground, Dubai hopes to attract software firms that wish to perfect new software in real life environments before an initial product launch.

E.        Establishment of Dubai Internet Domains Registration Authority

In the event that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) provides a positive indication in respect of the present application, DTEC-MFZA intends to establish a fourth operating division that will be known as the Dubai Internet Domains Registration Authority (hereinafter DIDRA).

DIDRA’s mandate and mission will be to serve the global Internet community in the most reliable, efficient, effective, transparent and professional manner possible, consistent with the charter of the New TLDs .  

As mentioned above, it is intended that DIDRA shall have policy-making functions in relation to the New TLDs.  In this connection, it is DTEC-MFZA’s intention to establish a Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) to assist DIDRA in its policy-making activities.  In order to ensure that the global Internet community is well-represented in the policy-making infrastructure for the New TLDs, DTEC-MFZA intends to invite all constituencies that currently comprise the Internet community to join PAC or to contribute to PAC through a variety of consultative processes.  

DTEC-MFZA intends to establish detailed procedures regarding the manner in which PAC will work, including setting out the procedures for communications between DTEC-MFZA and PAC, when meetings will be held and how they will be conducted, how meetings will be notified, the meeting procedures, how minutes will be taken and posted.  Among the measures being considered by DTEC-MFZA to ensure that the policy proposals made by PAC to DTEC-MFZA are reflective of the predominant views of the Internet community, is the requirement that no policy proposals will be considered by DTEC-MFZA unless they have the support (as reflected through a voting procedure) of at least two-thirds of the members of PAC.

In addition to the measures identified in other parts of this document, DIDRA intends to implement the following measures to promote participation in the New TLDs, as well as to foster openness and transparency, inter alia:

In the initial stages, the directors and staff of DTEC-MFZA will be shared with the other operating divisions of DTEC-MFZA.  It is presently contemplated that the day-to-day operations in the start-up phase of DIDRA will be managed by Mr. Lars Olof Kanngard, Business Development Manager and Executive Project Manager for DIC, who was also responsible for conceiving the <.go> TLD name and concept.  Mr. Kanngard’s resume is provided as Attachment D.

As has been the case with the establishment of the other operational divisions, DTEC-MFZA will spare no expense in identifying and hiring world-class business, administrative and technical professionals to manage the administration and operations of DIDRA.  Assisted by its strategic partners (see Section III), DIDRA will also design and implement a rigorous and high-quality training program for all staff.

Article 7 of the DTEC-MFZA law provides that

“The Chairman shall issue a special regulation governing the recruitment and appointment of employees of the Authority’s Executive Body, and the terms and conditions of their employment, dismissal, salaries, duties, rights and other matters involving them.”

It is presently intended that a specific regulation will be issued by DTEC-MFZA for DIDRA, following a positive indication by ICANN regarding the present application.  

It is to be noted that no restrictions will be placed concerning the directors, officers, members, staff, etc. of DIDRA in terms of gender, nationality, religion, ethnic background, physical disability, sexual orientation or other discriminatory factors.

Subject to further consultation with ICANN, set out below are the broad outlines of the policy-making procedures that DIDRA presently intends to implement. 

The initial operating capital for DIDRA will be provided by DTEC-MFZA and the Dubai Government, as has been the case with the other operating divisions of DTEC-MFZA.  It is to be noted that DTEC-MFZA is fortunate to benefit from the considerable oil wealth and financial resources at the disposal of the Dubai Government and the Government’s strong commitment to the success of DTEC-MFZA.  

A provisional allocation of USD35 million for the next three years has been made by DTEC-MFZA solely for the technical infrastructure build-out of DIDRA.  Upon the commencement of negotiations with ICANN regarding the New TLDs, DIDRA will develop and have approved a provisional operating budget.  Thereafter, a formal budgetary procedure will be established.

All financial auditing and reporting for DIDRA will be in accordance with Law No. 1 of 2000 and internationally accepted standards.

Pursuant to Article 3 Law No. 1 of 2000, the Authority may sue or be sued in its capacity as a financially and administratively independent corporate entity, notwithstanding the fact that it is a part of the Dubai Government.  By virtue of Article 3, DTEC-MFZA is deemed to have waived any defenses based on sovereign immunity.

It is to be noted that under Article 22 of the DTEC-MFZA Law:

“The Chairman, the Director General, the employees and workers of the Authority shall not be liable to any third party for the operations or obligations of [companies established in the Free Zone] or their employees.”

II.          PROPOSED EXTENT OF POLICY-
             FORMULATION AUTHORITY

In the initial stages of the establishment of the New TLDs, it is DIDRA’s full intention to work as closely as possible with ICANN in all policy-making matters.  DIDRA recognizes the extensive experience that ICANN has both in policy formulation and policy implementation processes and wishes to be able to benefit from ICANN’s experience in these areas.

With the full intention of working with ICANN in partnership at all times, DIDRA respectfully requests that it be granted supplementary policy-formulation authority in the following areas:

In order to present the justifications for the supplementary policy-formulation authority sought, it is necessary to describe briefly the concept behind the New TLDs.

The purpose behind the proposed <.go> unrestricted TLD may be stated as follows:

A next generation TLD that signifies reliability, integrity, safety and soundness based on the following principles: 

(i)         The implementation of sound registrar accreditation policies based on the criteria and policies established by ICANN;

(ii)        The on-going verification of accredited registrars to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of the accreditation;

(iii)       The development of registration criteria intended to reflect the above goals;

(iv)       The rigorous implementation by registrars of those registration criteria;

(vi)       The introduction of fair and balanced measures to safeguard  intellectual property rights;

(vi)       On-going monitoring to ensure that the second-level domain is being used in a manner consistent with the representations made at the time of application;

(vii)      Cost-effective, expeditious, fair, balanced, neutral and transparent conflict resolution procedures.

The purpose behind the proposed <.dubai> restricted TLD may be characterized as encompassing all of the foregoing and, in addition, the requirement of a nexus between the applicant/domain name holder and activities being carried out in or with or arising out of or relating to the Emirate of Dubai or Dubai Internet City. 

DTEC-MFZA has thoroughly reviewed ICANN’s registrar accreditation requirements and considers that these requirements both support and promote the objectives underlying the New TLDs.  DTEC-MFZA thus intends to implement those requirements in evaluating accreditation requests by registrars.

DTEC-MFZA intends to supplement its accreditation procedures by introducing contractual and administrative procedures that would allow it to verify that accredited registrars are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the accreditation  (e.g., Whether the registrar is processing registration requests in accordance with the registration criteria for the New TLDs?  Whether the registrar is acting in accordance with the procedures established for resolving domain name registration conflicts).

2.         Domain Name Registration Procedures and Criteria

DTEC-MFZA does not intend to use this application for a discourse on the importance of the domain name system for the phenomenal growth of the Internet.  Suffice it to say that, in large part, the Internet has grown because of the ease with which it has been possible to register a domain name and thereby establish an on-line identity.  This has resulted in remarkable benefits for the global community:  e-commerce, social and cultural interchange, information dissemination, to mention a few.  At the same time, this has also led to gross abuses of the Internet:  child pornography, financial fraud, trademark and copyright abuse, again, to mention only a few.

DTEC-MFZA, thus, believes that the time has come for “[N]ext generation TLDs that signify reliability, integrity, safety and soundness” and that it has the resources and partnering relationships to sponsor such TLDs.  To achieve this objective, however, will require that ICANN grant to DTEC-MFZA supplementary policy-formulation authority in the development and implementation of registration criteria.

3.         Dispute Resolution

DTEC-MFZA recognizes that regardless of the safeguards that are put in place to minimize the risk of improper and abusive (not just in the trademark/servicemark sense) registrations, that undermine the integrity, reliability, safety and soundness of the Domain Name System, situations will arise requiring the involvement of an impartial and independent third-party neutral to resolve conflicts.

DTEC-MFZA has carefully followed from the very outset the process that ultimately led to ICANN’s adoption of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy.  It has also observed and studied the implementation of the UDRP, as reflected in the decisions of administrative panels and in the many commentaries that have been published (on-line and off-line) assessing the effectiveness of the UDRP.

DTEC-MFZA believes that the UDRP administrative procedure provides a sound model for domain name dispute resolution.  However, DTEC-MFZA believes that certain procedural modifications could be made to expedite the process and to introduce additional safeguards to protect the interests of the parties.  The proposed amendments would be developed and would complement the registration criteria and procedures for the New TLDs.

As DTEC-MFZA contemplates that the procedural amendments would be developed in consultation with ICANN and to ensure consistency with the UDRP, the dispute resolution procedure for the New TLDs could be used as a testing ground for future modifications to the UDRP.

C.        Methods of Guaranteeing that DIDRA will Administer Policies in the Interest of the Internet at Large (C16.3)

DTEC-MFZA gives its public commitment by this application regarding the mandate and mission of DIDRA:

To serve the global Internet community in the most reliable, efficient, effective, transparent and professional manner possible, consistent with the charter of the New TLDs.

Backing up this commitment are a variety factors that are already or will also be in place, including:

• The terms and conditions of the TLD operator licenses that shall be agreed with ICANN;
  

• Continuous close interaction with ICANN and progress reports;

• The hiring of staff and consultants with solid experience and expertise in domain name related matters, whether policy-making, legal affairs, administration or operations;
  

• Through the consultative processes of the Policy Advisory Committee (PAC);
  

• By virtue of the involvement of globally-recognized enterprises in the implementation of the project plan for the New TLDs, as a result of significant partnering relationships that are currently being negotiated (see Section III below);
  

• The state-of the art technical infrastructure provided by DIC, which will serve as the backbone for DIDRA’s technical operations;
  

• The significant commitment of financial resources to DIDRA by DTEC-MFZA and the Dubai Government.

D.        Whether Variation from Existing ICANN Policies is Intended at the Opening of the New TLDs (C16.4)

DTEC-MFZA does not anticipate deviating from existing ICANN policies at the opening of the New TLDs.  In this connection, DTEC-MFZA wishes to note that it does not consider the supplementary policies it is proposing for the New TLDs to be deviations from existing ICANN policies, but rather, extensions thereof.  The proposed supplementary policies are described in the “Description of TLD Policies” and are not discussed here in the interests of conserving space. 

III.         CONTRACT TERMS WITH REGISTRY OPERATOR

Identification of Registry Operator (C17)

It is DTEC-MFZA’s current intention that DIDRA will be the entity that is responsible for the actual operation of the registry for the New TLDs, including accepting registration requests (whether from registrars or registrants), maintaining a database of the necessary registration data, generating zone files and providing nameservers to publish the zone file data over the Internet.  

Once in place, DTEC-MFZA will have a scalable architecture capable of supporting the growth anticipated in the New TLDs.  The architecture and processes resulting from DTEC-MFZA’s relationship with VeriSign will position DTEC-MFZA as a premier provider of TLD registry services. By 

teaming with VeriSign, DTEC-MFZA will be assured of a technical and service solution second to none.

For the purposes of this application, it is important also to identify the following critical benefits of DTEC-MFZA’s strategic alliance with VeriSign:

The contact details provided by VeriSign for the purposes of this application are as follows:

A copy of the terms and conditions that have been agreed in principle with VeriSign for the provision of registry services to DTEC-MFZA are provided as Attachment F (deemed confidential by applicant).

DTEC-MFZA and  VeriSign are committed to formalizing their agreement for the provision of the technical registry services.  A copy of the final agreement will be provided to ICANN upon request.

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