ICANN AT-LARGE MONTHLY ANNOUNCEMENT
Date:
28 February, 2004
In this issue:
- AT-LARGE EVENTS IN ROME -- ICANN's meeting in Rome (1-6 March) will
feature several At-Large events, including regional At-Large meetings and
policy discussions on WHOIS, new domain names, and registry services. All
interested individuals are welcome to attend
<http://www.alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-rome-25feb04.htm>. - MORE AT-LARGE STRUCTURES CERTIFIED -- Another set of At-Large Structures
has been certified by the ALAC to advance the individual user community's
informed, structured participation in ICANN. More certification requests are
pending. Join a group or form a new one. - ALAC MOBILIZING ICANN STAKEHOLDERS ON WSIS -- A Workshop on WSIS,
organized by the ALAC and others, will be held on 4 March in Rome to advance
understanding of the "World Summit on the Information Society" and encourage
ICANN stakeholder involvement in this process. Participation is encouraged.
The ALAC also recently sent a statement on WSIS to the United Nations.
<http://www.icann.org/meetings/rome/wsis-workshop-04mar04.html>
<http://www.alac.icann.org/wsis/statement-wsis-20jan04.htm>. - REGISTRY SERVICES & WHOIS DATABASE -- Input is needed on several pending
policy issues -- How should ICANN handle Verisign's "Sitefinder" and similar
registry changes? <http://www.alac.icann.org/registry/> What should be done to
address privacy, accuracy, access, and use of the WHOIS database?
<http://www.alac.icann.org/whois/>
- AT-LARGE EVENTS IN ROME -- ICANN's meeting in Rome (1-6 March) will
feature several At-Large events, including regional At-Large meetings and
policy discussions on WHOIS, new domain names, and registry services. All
interested individuals are welcome to attend
<http://www.alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-rome-25feb04.htm>.ICANN's Interim At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) invites all interested
individuals to attend a series of open meetings on 1 - 2 March at Rome's
Meliá Roma Aurelia Antica Hotel to advance the interests of individual
Internet user communities (At-Large) in ICANN. At the ALAC meeting on
Tuesday, 2 March from 14:00 - 16:00, we will discuss efforts throughout the
world to involve, and represent in ICANN, a broad set of individual user
interests. Attendees also will receive briefings on and discuss key issues
of interest to Internet users, including how to address privacy, accuracy,
access, and use of the WHOIS database, ICANN's progress on the introduction
of new domain names, and developing procedures for handling registry changes
that may affect Internet users. Break-out sessions also have been scheduled
in Rome to enable members of At-Large communities to discuss local/regional
activities. Regional meetings will be held on 1-2 March for At-Large
groups in Europe, Asia/Australia/Pacific, and Latin America/Caribbean
Islands. - MORE AT-LARGE STRUCTURES CERTIFIED -- Another set of At-Large Structures
has been certified by the ALAC to advance the individual user community's
informed, structured participation in ICANN. More are pending. Join a group
or form a new one <http://www.alac.icann.org/applications/>.The ALAC certified four organizations in the African and European regions as
"At-Large Structures" this month. They join six groups that were certified
in December as At-Large Structures and that are helping individual Internet
user communities in various regions participate in ICANN.The newly certified groups are:
- Moroccan Internet Society (Region: Africa)
- Anais.AC (Region: Africa)
- Sudan Internet Society (Region: Africa)
- Internet Society - Finland (Region: Europe)
In addition, the ALAC is conducting due diligence on six more ALS
applications (as of 27 February):- Internet Society Vasudhay Kutumbhkum (ISVK)- India (Region:
Asia/Australia/Pacific) - ISOC Taiwan Chapter (Region: Asia/Australia/Pacific)
- At Large @ China (Region: Asia/Australia/Pacific)
- National Information Infrastructure Enterprise Promotion Association
(Region: Asia/Australia/Pacific) - Internet Society - Catalan Chapter (Region: Europe)
- Asociación Costarricense de Derecho Informático (Region: Latin
America/Caribbean Islands)
The purpose of this certification is to recognize that these groups meet the
Board's criteria to involve individual Internet users at the local or issue
level in ICANN activities, promoting individuals' informed, structured
participation in ICANN efforts that affect end-users. - ALAC MOBILIZING ICANN STAKEHOLDERS ON WSIS -- A Workshop on WSIS,
organized by the ALAC and others, will be held on 4 March in Rome to advance
understanding of the "World Summit on the Information Society" and encourage
ICANN stakeholder involvement in this process. Participation is encouraged.
The ALAC also recently sent a statement on WSIS to the United Nations.
<http://www.icann.org/meetings/rome/wsis-workshop-04mar04.html>
<http://www.alac.icann.org/wsis/statement-wsis-20jan04.htm>.All individuals interested in the Internet and management and coordination
of the domain name system (DNS) are encouraged to attend the "Workshop on
the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS): Issues of Relevance to
ICANN and Next Steps" on Thursday, 4 March, 11:00 - 13:00, in the Goya Room
at Meliá Roma Aurelia Antica Hotel in Rome, Italy.The workshop will provide information on the United Nation's World Summit on
the Information Society (WSIS) and issues of direct impact to ICANN.
Positions and actions taken at the Summit by various stakeholders on
technical coordination and management of the domain name system (DNS) also
will be presented. "WSIS" is a process in which governments are attempting
to address a broad range of international legal, regulatory, economic, and
policy issues related to the Internet. During this process, some governments
proposed that an intergovernmental organization be responsible for "Internet
governance," a phrase that remains undefined and some consider to include
and/or mean the administration and coordination of the DNS.The workshop is open to the public and has been organized by the At-Large
Advisory Committee, Business Constituency, and the Internet Service
Providers Constituency. Internet community leaders will brief participants
on WSIS activities and discuss next steps, and a panel discussion will
feature perspectives of a variety of Internet user and provider
representatives.In advance of the workshop, the ALAC sent a statement to the United Nations
urging that technical management of the Internet should remain the
responsibility of the private sector and civil society. - REGISTRY SERVICES & WHOIS DATABASE -- Input is needed on several pending
policy issues -- How should ICANN handle Verisign's "Sitefinder" and similar
registry changes?What should be done to
address privacy, accuracy, access, and use of the WHOIS database?
<http://www.alac.icann.org/whois/>The ALAC is participating (and representing individual Internet users) in
the GNSO Task Force on Registry Services, which is creating a proposed
policy for the process by which ICANN considers requests to allow changes in
the architecture or operation of a gTLD registry. This policy development
process was launched as part of ICANN's further evaluation and study of the
issues surrounding Verisign Registry's re-direction of queries for
non-existent domain names ("Sitefinder"). To share your views, send an email
to the At-Large public forum <forum@alac.icann.org>.The ALAC also is representing individual Internet users on three task forces
addressing various issues related to domain name registrant data known as
"WHOIS" data. WHOIS Task Force #1 is examining the uses of WHOIS information
obtained through Port 43 and the Web (provided by top-level domain
registries and registrars). WHOIS Task Force #2 is chartered with reviewing
the current ICANN WHOIS policy regarding the collection, disclosure and
transmittal of data. One of the milestones of this Task Force is to
determine whether the data which is collected and disclosed at present
should be changed. WHOIS Task Force #3 is working to determine appropriate
practices to verify the accuracy of domain name registrant data. To offer
input on these issues, send an email to the At-Large public forum
<forum@alac.icann.org>.
The Interim At-Large Advisory Committee
alac@icann.org
http://www.atlarge.icann.org/
