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Continued Recognition of the gTLD Registries Constituency

One of the topics scheduled for discussion at the 9 September 2001 ICANN Public Forum in Montevideo and possible action by the ICANN Board at its meeting on 10 September 2001 is continued recognition of the gTLD Registries Constituency of the ICANN Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO). The gTLD Registries Constituency was recognized by the Board on 18 October 1999, at a time when the only operator of an ICANN-recognized gTLD was Network Solutions, Inc. In giving its recognition to the constituency in resolution 99.98, the Board required an additional submission once an operator of another ICANN-recognized gTLD sought to join the constituency:

RESOLVED [99.98] that the gTLD Registries Constituency Group of the DNSO is recognized for all purposes under Article VI-B, Sec. 3(a) of the ICANN Bylaws to operate in accordance with the letter submitted to the Secretary and ordered attached to these minutes as Exhibit E, provided that, within 30 days of a request of any other ICANN-recognized gTLD Registry that seeks to join it, the Constituency must submit to the Board for its approval a formal consensus proposal for continued recognition.

On 11 May and 1 August 2001, ICANN signed registry agreements recognizing the operators of the .biz, .info, and .name top-level domains. (Agreements concerning four other top-level domains are ongoing or awaiting approval.) The operators of those ICANN-recognized top-level domains have sought to join the constituency and, accordingly, the gTLD Registry Constituency has submitted the following proposal. The constituency has also submitted its proposed Articles of Operation.

Comments are invited on the proposal for continued recognition.

Click here to enter the Public Comment Forum on continued recognition of gTLD Registries Constituency.

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Proposal for Continued Recognition of the gTLD Registry Constituency

August 27, 2001

Ref: ICANN Board Resolution 99.98

Considering that additional gTLD registries have requested membership in the constituency, the gTLD Registry Constituency submits this proposal to ICANN for continued recognition as required by the above referenced resolution. In particular, the following gTLD registries have requested membership:

1. Afilias - .info
2. Neulevel - .biz
3. The Global Name Registry - .name
4. MuseDoma - .museum (pending execution of an ICANN TLD Agreement)
5. RegistryPro - .pro (pending execution of an ICANN TLD Agreement)
6. SITA - .aero (pending execution of an ICANN TLD Agreement)
7. NCBA - .coop (pending execution of an ICANN TLD Agreement).

In support of this proposal, a copy of the gTLD Registry Constituency Articles of Operation is attached for your information. The Articles were developed and approved by all of the eight currently identified ICANN gTLD registries (the seven listed above plus the VeriSign Registry for .com, .net and .org).

All eight registries have been working together since early this year to plan and implement a smooth transition from a one-member constituency to a multimember constituency. We believe that the transition has been very successful, including an effective integration into the Domain Name Supporting Organization. In addition to the VeriSign Registry representative (Roger Cochetti) elected in March 2001, the Constituency also elected two additional representatives in June: Richard Tindal (Neulevel) and Cary Karp (Musedoma). It should be noted that geographic diversity requirements are met as follows: Roger Cochetti - North America (USA); Richard Tindal - Asia Pacific (Australia); and Cary Karp - Europe (Sweden).

We would be more than happy to provide additional information and to answer any questions you may have.

Respectfully,

Chuck Gomes
Chair, gTLD Registry Constituency

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