ICANN AT-LARGE MONTHLY ANNOUNCEMENT
Date:
31 July, 2004
In this issue:
- CANDIDATES SOUGHT FOR ICANN LEADERSHIP POSTS – If you (or a
member of your group) are interested in serving in a leadership position
in ICANN, or would like to recommend someone for a position, ICANN's
Nominating Committee is seeking recommendations and statements of interest
by 25 August 2004. The Nominating Committee will be filling the following
positions:– Three members of the ICANN Board of Directors
– One member of the Generic Names Supporting Organization
(GNSO) Council– Three members of the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization
(ccNSO) Council– Two members of the At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)
More information is posted at <http://www.icann.org/committees/nom-comm/formalcall-30jun04.htm>.
- DOMAIN NAME TRANSFERS – ICANN issued a new transfer policy
intended to help domain name holders (registrants) transfer domain names
from one registrar to another. An At-Large liaison served on the Transfer
Assistance Group to coordinate implementation of the new transfer procedures,
which will take effect 12 November 2004. This is the result of a consensus
policy developed by the Transfer Task Force, accepted by the GNSO Council,
and adopted by the ICANN Board in early 2003. The Task Force found problems
with the “portability” of domain registrations, noting that
customer choice was limited because there was not a consistent process
ensuring that transfers were easy, fluid, transparent, and inexpensive.
More information is available at <http://www.icann.org/announcements/advisory-12jul04.htm>. - WHOIS WORK ADVANCES – The GNSO Council agreed at its July meeting
in Kuala Lumpur to combine two of the three task forces working on new
policies for privacy and access to the “WHOIS service,”
and charged the groups with prioritizing recommendations, proposing
implementation guidelines, and suggesting ways of measuring results.
At-Large liaisons will continue to seek community input and offer an
“At-Large perspective” on the task forces’ work. Additional
information is posted at <http://www.alac.icann.org/whois/>. - RENEWED FOCUS ON INTERNATIONALIZED DOMAIN NAMES – A Workshop
on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), which the ALAC helped organize
at the July ICANN meeting in Kuala Lumpur, showcased the progress and
challenges involved in implementing IDNs to enable communication and
information sharing on the Internet in a variety of languages and scripts.
To follow-up on the issues identified in the Workshop, ICANN’s
Board will create an advisory group to “engage the global Internet
community in the use of [IDNs] … to further Internet growth in
new languages and regions of the world.” Share your thoughts on
what ICANN should be doing to advance IDNs by sending an email to <forum@alac.icann.org>.
More information on IDNs and the Workshop are available at <http://alac.icann.org/idn/>.
- CANDIDATES SOUGHT FOR ICANN LEADERSHIP POSTS – If a member
of your group is interested in serving in a leadership position in ICANN,
or would like to recommend someone for a position, ICANN's Nominating
Committee is seeking recommendations and statements of interest by 25
August 2004. The Nominating Committee will be filling the following
positions:– Three members of the ICANN Board of Directors
– One member of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)
Council– Three members of the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization
(ccNSO) Council– Two members of the At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)
More information is posted at <http://www.icann.org/committees/nom-comm/formalcall-30jun04.htm>.
Those individuals selected by the Nominating Committee (NomCom) will
have “a unique opportunity to work with accomplished colleagues
from around the globe, address intriguing technical coordination problems
and related policy development challenges with diverse functional, cultural,
and geographic dimensions, and gain valuable insights and experience from
working across these boundaries of knowledge, responsibility and perspective.
Additionally, those selected will gain the satisfaction of making a valuable
public service contribution. Placing the broad public interest ahead of
any particular interests, they will help ensure the stability and security
of the Internet for critically important societal functions.”
The NomCom, which includes five “At-Large delegates,” is
an independent committee charged with populating the ICANN Board, as well
as the Councils of the GNSO and ccNSO, and the Interim ALAC. The NomCom
complements the other means for filling a portion of key ICANN leadership
positions.
Selection criteria, eligibility factors, roles of each position, application
procedure, and contacts are posted at <http://www.icann.org/committees/nom-comm/formalcall-30jun04.htm>.
Applications will be handled confidentially and should be received by
12:00 GMT on 25 August 2004 for full consideration. Selections will be
made in October with service beginning in December 2004.
- DOMAIN NAME TRANSFERS – ICANN issued a new transfer policy
intended to help domain name holders (registrants) transfer domain names
from one registrar to another. An At-Large liaison served on the Transfer
Assistance Group to coordinate implementation of the new transfer procedures,
which will take effect 12 November 2004. This is the result of a consensus
policy developed by the Transfer Task Force, accepted by the GNSO Council,
and adopted by the ICANN Board in early 2003. The Task Force found problems
with the “portability” of domain registrations, noting that
customer choice was limited because there was not a consistent process
ensuring that transfers were easy, fluid, transparent, and inexpensive.
More information is available at <http://www.icann.org/announcements/advisory-12jul04.htm>.
On 12 July 2004, ICANN announced the adoption of the “Inter-Registrar
Transfer Policy,” which is posted at <http://www.icann.org/transfers/>.
All ICANN-accredited registrars have adopted the policy and all requests
to transfer a domain name to a new registrar must be handled according
to the procedures detailed in this policy, including the use of Standardized
Forms (see <http://www.icann.org/transfers/text.htm#Forms>).
Disputes arising from a registrar’s alleged failure to abide by
this policy may be initiated by any ICANN-accredited registrar under the
Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy. Following implementation, the policy
will be reviewed at three, six, and twelve-month intervals.
If you wish to transfer your domain name from one ICANN-accredited registrar
to another, you may initiate the transfer process by contacting the registrar
to which you wish to transfer the name. This registrar is required to
confirm your intent to transfer your domain name using a Standardized
Form (noted above). If you do not respond or return the form, your transfer
request will not be processed.
You may not transfer your domain name to a new registrar within the first
60 days after initial registration, or the first 60 days after a transfer.
More information is available at <http://www.icann.org/transfers/text.htm#TransferDomain>.
If you have comments to share about the new transfer policy, or other
domain name registration issues, send an email to <forum@alac.icann.org>.
- WHOIS WORK ADVANCES – The GNSO Council agreed at its July meeting
in Kuala Lumpur to combine two of the three task forces working on new
policies for privacy and access to the “WHOIS service,”
and charged the groups with prioritizing recommendations, proposing
implementation guidelines, and suggesting ways of measuring results.
At-Large liaisons will continue to seek community input and offer an
“At-Large perspective” on the task forces’ work. Additional
information is posted at <http://www.alac.icann.org/whois/>.
According to ICANN policy, registrars and gTLD registries must publish
domain name registrants' names and addresses online, through the WHOIS
service. ICANN’s GNSO (Generic Names Supporting Organization) initiated
a policy development process in October 2003 to address three issue areas
relating to the WHOIS service. Three separate task forces – each
with a liaison from the ALAC – have been 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). The task forces posted preliminary reports
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 via email: <forum@alac.icann.org>.
- RENEWED FOUCS ON INTERNATIONALIZED DOMAIN NAMES – A Workshop
on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), which the ALAC helped organize
at the July ICANN meeting in Kuala Lumpur, showcased the progress and
challenges involved in implementing IDNs to enable communication and
information sharing on the Internet in a variety of languages and scripts.
To follow-up on the issues identified in the Workshop, ICANN’s
Board will create an advisory group to “engage the global Internet
community in the use of [IDNs] … to further Internet growth in
new languages and regions of the world.” Share your thoughts on
what ICANN should be doing to advance IDNs by sending an email to <forum@alac.icann.org>.
More information on IDNs and the Workshop are available at <http://alac.icann.org/idn/>.
On 27 March 2003, the ICANN Board endorsed the IDN implementation approach
set forth in proposed guidelines for the implementation of internationalized
domain names (which are posted at <http://www.icann.org/riodejaneiro/idn-topic.htm>),
and authorized ICANN's President to implement the guidelines by authorizing
registration of IDNs in registries with agreements with ICANN on the basis
of those guidelines. The Board also recommended the guidelines to other
registries, and encouraged broad participation by registries, language
experts, and others in consultative, collaborative, community-based processes
to study and develop appropriate language-specific IDN registration rules
and policies.
The IDN workshop held last month in Kuala Lumpur highlighted practical
experiences with developing and implementing IDNs, and included a presentation
on “Asian Users Experience and Requirements,” by Mr. Zuo Feng,
Chairman of At Large @ China. The workshop also included a tutorial on
IDNs, as well as presentations on IDN initiatives in the Asia-Pacific
and other regions. A full transcript of the day-long workshop, workshop
presentations, and IDN background information is available at <http://www.alac.icann.org/idn/>.
The Interim At-Large Advisory Committee
<alac@icann.org>
<www.alac.icann.org>
