The selected successor operator for the .org registry will be required to provide all ICANN-accredited registrars having registry-registrar agreements in effect with equivalent access to registry services through a shared registry system, under which those registrars will provide services (either directly or through resellers) to registrants. This section of the .org Proposal covers the applicant's proposed arrangements for interacting with registrars in a manner that provides equivalent access.

Organic Names will ensure that:

1. All ICANN-Accredited Registrars connect to the System using the same protocols and with the same limitations and security measures.
2. All ICANN-Accredited Registrars have the same access to customer support, administrative and business services.
3. All ICANN-Accredited Registrars have the same access to the tools required to access their data through the System including billing, account management and other similar services.
4. With the exception of systems designed to enforce Organic Names or ICANN's terms of service, contract or policy, the system does not include any features or systems designed to perform prejudicially or favourably towards any specific ICANN-Accredited Registrar.

RRP will be supported as given in RFC2832. If there are instances where the VeriSign implementation of RRP is non compliant then in consultation with ICANN Organic Names will seek to emulate that non-compliance in the interests of a seamless transition. The imminent adoption of EPP will probably make a change to a compliant version an unnecessary operation.

An email automaton will be provided for use by those registrars who do not wish to implement RRP or EPP. This will queue requests and process them on a first-come first-served basis.

A web-based registrar console will be provided for registrars to register domain names, create, modify and delete objects, and carry out basic account management.

Public information that is available via Whois will also be available via RRP - this is not addressed in the current VeriSign system.

Describe in detail your proposed methods of providing registry services on an equivalent basis to all accredited registrars having registry-registrar agreements in effect. Your description should include any measures intended to make registration, technical assistance, and other services available to ICANN-accredited registrars in different time zones and relevant languages. In addition, describe the Registry Code of Conduct and other commitments you propose to make to ensure that all such registrars receive equivalent access to registry services. In preparing your response to this item, you may wish to refer to Appendices H and I of the registry agreements ICANN has entered for unsponsored TLDs (e.g., .biz, .com, .info, .name, and .org).

Registry operations will be automatically carried out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without human intervention.

Organic Names will provide 24-hour registrar support via telephone, ticketing system and email in the following languages:

• English
• French
• German
• Spanish

It should be noted that CentralNic already provides user support in these languages.

Organic Names will adhere to the following Registry Code of Conduct:

• Registrations will be carried out on a strict first-come-first-served basis in line with the registry policies of Nominet UK and CentralNic.
• Organic Names will not show any preference or provide any special consideration to any one ICANN-accredited registrar or group thereof above any other with regard to Registry Services provided for the .org TLD.
• Organic Names shall not in any way attempt to warehouse, or register domain names in its own right other than through an ICANN-accredited registrar, except for names designated for operational purposes, or actions taken on names blocked from the register for bona-fide legal reasons.
• Organic Names will take appropriate precautions to prevent the disclosure of confidential user data or proprietary information from any ICANN-accredited registrar, except as necessary for registry management and operations.
• Confidential information about Organic Names business services will not be shared with employees of any DNS services provider, except as necessary for registry management and operations.
• The Organic Names Advisory Board will conduct internal neutrality reviews on a regular basis, the results of which will be made available to ICANN.
• Organic Names will apply uniform pricing to its registrars.

VeriSign, Inc., the current operator of the .org registry uses a registry-registrar protocol (RRP) documented in RFC 2832. At the time of the transition, the selected successor operator will be required to continue to support the RRP (unless a migration of registrars in .org to another protocol has already been completed by that time). In addition, the selected successor operator will be required to implement support for the IETF provreg working group's protocol specification for an Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) no later than 135 days after it is adopted as a Proposed Standard (RFC 2026, section 4.1.1). Provide a detailed description of your plan for supporting RRP at the time of transition, for supporting EPP within the required time frame, and for providing registrars with a smooth, low-cost migration path from RRP to EPP.

Organic Names is committed to the new EPP standard, as well as supporting the existing RRP standard for all registrars, and the system software currently supports the prototype EPP system - this is given in more detail in section C17.2.

Organic Names will develop and publish a Registrar Toolkit in order to assist registrar integration through the EPP protocol. The toolkit will be made available in the public domain, using a variety of diverse languages and programmer interfaces reflecting on the diversity of Internet systems. These methods of access will include, but not be restricted to:

• Perl
• ActiveX
• PHP
• .NET

The company will provide a server to enable registrars to test transactions with the new EPP system, which will mimic the live registry system. This will be available from milestone 5 onwards as described in section C18.1.

Additionally:

• Key technical staff will actively participate in the IETF process though the provreg mailing list as well as attend IETF meetings (CentralNic already closely follows and works with the provreg working group and has a policy aim of becoming an early adopter of the EPP protocol).
• Technical staff will be given regular training on new protocols and technologies, and encouraged to participate in the creation of new standards.
• Organic Names will regularly update the Registrar Toolkit to support changes to the protocol.