ICANN AT-LARGE MONTHLY ANNOUNCEMENT

Date: 
30 June, 2004

In this issue:

  • WHOIS – The public comment period for the Preliminary Reports
    of three WHOIS Task Forces has been extended to 5 July. According to
    ICANN policy, registrars and gTLD registries must publish domain name
    registrants' names and addresses online, through the WHOIS service.
    Three task forces formed by ICANN's GNSO (Generic Names Supporting Organization),
    which include At-Large liaisons, posted preliminary findings on how
    to address privacy, accuracy, access, and use of WHOIS at <http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/index.shtml>.
    Detailed comments were contributed by the At-Large liaisons and are
    posted at <http://www.alac.icann.org/whois/>,
    along with background information on the Task Forces’ efforts.
    Please share your views.
  • ICANN KUALA LUMPUR MEETING – ICANN's meeting in Kuala Lumpur,
    Malaysia 19-23 July 2004 will feature an At-Large meeting with end-users
    from the Asia/Australia/Pacific region on Tuesday, 20 July, 11:00 –
    12:30 at the Shangri-La Hotel. Policy discussions and workshops of interest
    to the At-Large community also have been added to the schedule: a Workshop
    on WSIS will be held on 20 July, 08:30 - 10:00, and a Workshop on Internationalized
    Domain Names has been scheduled for 21 July (all day) – both at
    the Shangri-La Hotel. All of these events are open to the public and
    interested individuals are encouraged to attend. The full Kuala Lumpur
    schedule is posted at <http://icann.org/meetings/kualalumpur/#ScheduleandAgenda>.
  • MORE GROUPS JOIN AT-LARGE IN ASIA/AUST/PAC REGION – Four organizations
    in the Asia/Australia/Pacific region have been certified as At-Large
    Structures: Internet Society Vasudhay Kutumbhkum (based in in India);
    ISOC Taiwan Chapter (based in Taiwan); At Large@China (based in P.R.
    China); and National Information Infrastructure Enterprise Promotion
    Association (based in Taiwan). This brings the total number of groups
    certified as At-Large Structures to 16, and ALS applications are pending
    from organizations in Asia, Africa and North America. Join a group or
    form a new one. Information is posted at <http://www.alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-24sep03.htm>
    and <www.alac.icann.org/applications/>.
  • PUBLIC COMMENTS SOUGHT ON .NET – The GNSO issued a “new
    version” of an initial draft report on establishing an open and
    transparent procedure for designating a successor operator for the .net
    registry (the current .net registry operator is VeriSign, Inc.). More
    information is posted at <http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-25jun04.htm>.


  • WHOIS – The public comment period for the Preliminary Reports
    of three WHOIS Task Forces has been extended to 5 July. According to
    ICANN policy, registrars and gTLD registries must publish domain name
    registrants' names and addresses online, through the WHOIS service.
    Three task forces formed by ICANN's GNSO (Generic Names Supporting Organization),
    which include At-Large liaisons, posted preliminary findings on how
    to address privacy, accuracy, access, and use of WHOIS at <http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/index.shtml>.
    Detailed comments were contributed by the At-Large liaisons and are
    posted at <http://www.alac.icann.org/whois/>
    along with background information on the Task Forces’ efforts.
    Please share your views.

    ICANN’s GNSO initiated a policy development process in October
    2003 to address three issue areas relating to the WHOIS database. Three
    separate task forces – each with a liaison from the ALAC –
    are addressing these issues, and the ALAC has provided advice on: Restricting
    Access to WHOIS Data For Marketing Purposes (WHOIS Task Force 1); Review
    of Data Collected and Displayed (WHOIS Task Force 2); and Improving Accuracy
    of Collected Data (WHOIS Task Force 3). ALAC advice submitted to the task
    forces is available at <http://www.alac.icann.org/whois/>.

    On 28 May, the three GNSO WHOIS Task Forces submitted Preliminary Reports
    on their findings, and extended the comment period to 5 July. The reports,
    e-mail archive of comments, and additional information is posted at <http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/index.shtml>:
    A recording of a public forum held by Task Force 3 is posted at <http://gnso-audio.icann.org/WHOIS-20040623-tf3.mp3>

  • ICANN KUALA LUMPUR MEETING – ICANN's meeting in Kuala Lumpur,
    Malaysia 19-23 July 2004 will feature an At-Large meeting with end-users
    from the Asia/Australia/Pacific region on Tuesday, 20 July, 11:00 –
    12:30 at the Shangri-La Hotel. Policy discussions and workshops of interest
    to the At-Large community also have been added to the schedule: a Workshop
    on WSIS will be held on 20 July, 08:30 - 10:00, and a Workshop on Internationalized
    Domain Names has been scheduled for 21 July (all day) – both at
    the Shangri-La Hotel. All of these events are open to the public and
    interested individuals are encouraged to attend. The full Kuala Lumpur
    schedule is posted at <http://icann.org/meetings/kualalumpur/#ScheduleandAgenda>.

    Other meetings and events in Kuala Lumpur that may be of interest to individual
    Internet users include a GAC Regional Forum on 18 July, a series of ICANN
    constituency meetings on 19 July, an ICANN Orientation and a meeting of
    the new ccNSO (Country Code Names Supporting Organization) on 20 July, a
    public forum on 22 July and an ICANN Board meeting on 23 July. Information
    on these meetings is posted at <http://www.icann.org/meetings/kualalumpur/>

  • MORE GROUPS JOIN AT-LARGE IN ASIA/AUST/PAC REGION – Four organizations
    in the Asia/Australia/Pacific region have been certified as At-Large
    Structures: Internet Society Vasudhay Kutumbhkum (based in in India);
    ISOC Taiwan Chapter (based in Taiwan); At Large@China (based in P.R.
    China); and National Information Infrastructure Enterprise Promotion
    Association (based in Taiwan). This brings the total number of groups
    certified as At-Large Structures to 16, and ALS applications are pending
    from organizations in Asia, Africa and North America. Join a group or
    form a new one. Information is posted at <http://www.alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-24sep03.htm>
    and <www.alac.icann.org/applications/>.

    The following organizations have been certified as At-Large Structures
    (ALSs) to help individual Internet user communities throughout the world
    participate in ICANN activities and decision-making that effect them:

    • Società Internet (based in Italy; Europe region)
    • Arab Knowledge Management Society (based in Jordan; Asia/Australia/Pacific
      region)
    • Alfa-Redi (based in Peru; Latin America/Caribbean Islands region)
    • FITUG (based in Germany; Europe region)
    • Internet Society Luxembourg A.S.B.L. (based in Luxembourg; Europe
      region)
    • Internet Society Bulgaria (based in Bulgaria; Europe region)
    • Moroccan Internet Society (based in Morocco; Africa region)
    • Anais.AC (based in Cameroon; Africa region)
    • Sudan Internet Society (based in Sudan; Africa region)
    • Internet Society - Finland (based in Finland; Europe region)
    • Catalan Chapter of the Internet Society - (based in Spain; Europe
      region)
    • Asociación Costarricense de Derecho Informático (based
      in Costa Rica; LatinAmerica/Caribbean Islands region)
    • Internet Society Vasudhay Kutumbhkum (based in India);
    • ISOC Taiwan Chapter (based in Taiwan);
    • At Large@China (based in P.R. China); and
    • National Information Infrastructure Enterprise Promotion Association
      (based in Taiwan)

    These organizations represent a variety of individual users, and are
    wholly independent from ICANN. Certification simply recognizes that these
    groups meet ICANN's criteria for involving individual Internet users at
    the local or issue level in ICANN activities, and for promoting individuals'
    understanding of, and participation in, ICANN. Organizations interested
    in promoting individuals' informed, structured participation in ICANN
    efforts that effect end-users are encouraged to apply for ALS certification.
    Ultimately, the ALSs in each of the five geographic regions are expected
    to work together in a Regional At-Large Organization (RALO).

  • PUBLIC COMMENTS SOUGHT ON .NET – The GNSO issued a “new
    version” of an initial draft report on establishing an open and
    transparent procedure for designating a successor operator for the .net
    registry (the current .net registry operator is VeriSign, Inc.). More
    information is posted at <http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-25jun04.htm>.

The Interim At-Large Advisory Committee
<alac@icann.org>
<www.alac.icann.org>