ICANN|ARCHIVES

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

Registrar Constituency Workshop: Announcement and Call for Papers

Workshop Purpose:	Jointly sponsored by the Registrar Constituency and ICANN to develop solutions to the contention for domain names made available by a gTLD registry (i.e., the deleted names or batch pool market).
Date:	1 Dec 2004, 14:00 – 16:00.
Location:	ICANN Meeting, Cape Town, South Africa, room to be announced.
Due date for papers:	24 Nov 2004

Overview:
When a domain name is cancelled, the registry releases the domain name for re-registration following a redemption grace period and a notice period of pending delete. In many cases there is more than one entity that wishes to re-register the domain. The time at which a particular domain name will be available for re-registration is known to registrars. This causes contention at the registry, with many registrars sending add commands to seek to register the name at the same time. This process is an inefficient use of both registry and registrar resources. This problem has been most noticeable for the com/net registry due to its large volume of names, but may equally apply to other registries as the number of names under management grows.

The purpose of the workshop is to receive industry input on possible long-term solutions to the contention problem. This discussion is also timely because the contention problem also applies at the time a new TLD is created, and a new set of domain names becomes available for registration. Therefore, the workshop results and ensuing steps will become part of the process for introducing new TLDs.

The workshop will not discuss the various mechanisms introduced by some registrars for re-allocating registered domain names after expiry to different registrants, and the workshop will not discuss the proposed WLS service. Although these mechanisms may limit the number of names that are made available for re-registration, domain names will still be released by the registry for re-registration, and thus the contention problem will still exist.

Agenda:
The agenda will consist of short presentations (10 minutes each) from those wishing to present a proposal, followed by discussion, with the aim to identify via straw poll the most favored solution for further work. The workshop will be run in the style of IETF meetings where written proposals are discussed prior to converging on a particular solution.

All those wishing to present MUST submit a paper in advance (not later than 24 Nov 2004). All submitted papers will be published in advance so that workshop participants may read the papers in advance and consider questions in advance.

Details:
The meeting will be co-chaired by the Registrar Constituency and ICANN. Representatives from other constituencies may be invited; the list of invitees is being determined.

Papers should be submitted to Registrar Constituency Chair Bhavin Turakhia [bhavin.t@directi.com] and ICANN Chief Registrar Liaison Tim Cole [cole@icann.org]. Questions should be addressed to those individuals.

The meeting will probably occur the afternoon of 1 December, the precise time depending upon room availability. The time will be settled within the next several days.

Submitted Documents:

• Document 1: Richard Henderson
• Document 2: Danny Younger
• Document 3: Paul Stahura
  • Ratio Model Proposal
  • Signatures
  • Signatures
• Document 4: Ray King & Susan Crawford
• Document 5: Bruce Tonkin
• Document 6: Taryn Naidu
• Document 7: Dave Stewart