.POST TLD Application

Sponsoring Organization's Proposal – cover sheet

By signing this proposal, the undersigned attests, on behalf of the applicant(s), that the information contained in this application, and all supporting documents included with this application, are true and accurate to the best of applicant's knowledge.

_______________________________

Signature

Thomas E. Leavey

Director General

International Bureau

Universal Postal Union

_______________________________

Date

I. SPONSORING ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

C1. Please submit a comprehensive description of the structure and nature of the sponsoring organization and the manner in which that organization will conduct its operations, including policy‑formulation activities. We strongly recommend retaining professional legal assistance to aid in the formulation of your Sponsoring Organization's Proposal and accompanying documents.

The following documents should be attached to the description:

• articles of incorporation, association, etc.;

• bylaws or any similar organizational document;

• list of persons presently on the supervising Board of the organization (or to be initially on the Board); and their resumes.

• To the extent applicable and not clear from the attached documents, the description should address the following topics in detail.

Postal services and the Universal Postal Union (UPU)

Today postal services throughout the world are making a determined effort to revitalize the postal business. As part of a communications market that is experiencing explosive growth, their future depends on how they are able to adapt to a rapidly changing environment. Some postal services have already started on a process of restructuring and have become more independent, self-financing and commercial enterprises. Everywhere, they are seeking to provide higher quality postal service at reasonable rates and to provide a wider range of products and services that meet their customers' growing expectations.

One of the key responsibilities of the Posts is to keep and maintain the postal addresses of the population of each country. This has meant street addresses. Electronic addresses are no different in keeping and updating. The combined service of directories as well as deliveries of physical - as well as electronic addresses at the owners discretion will be most appreciated by internet users and improve its feasibility.

At the same time, postal services continue to fulfil the public service obligations mandated by their governments. Their role in the development of communications is therefore vital, not only as a means of exchanging information but also as a way of maintaining and promoting social cohesion.

Thus, by virtue of its mission to promote and develop communication between the people of the world, the UPU is called upon to play an important leadership role in promoting the continued revitalization of postal services.

The UPU as a United Nations (UN) specialized agency

The UPU became a specialized agency of the United Nations on 1 July 1948. Since then its relations and active cooperation with other international bodies have grown and intensified. The UPU maintains particularly close ties with United Nations programmes such as UNDP (UN Development Programme), UNIDCP (UN International Drug Control Programme) and UNEP (UN Environment Programme) with specialized agencies including ITU (International Telecommunication Union), ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), WHO (World Health Organization), UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and WTO (World Trade Organization); and with such non-governmental international organizations as IATA (International Air Transport Association), ISO (International Organization for Standardization), WCO (World Customs Organization), and INTERPOL.

As an example of its relations with international financial institutions, the UPU has collaborated with the World Bank on an important study of postal sector reform, which contains key strategies for governments and postal administrations to take into account when embarking on postal reform movements.

The UPU looks toward the future

Postal services, and mail as a communications medium, have shown over time a remarkable ability to cope with, and even prosper in the midst of, change. When postal administrations combined forces to create the UPU in 1874, they started the world's largest physical distribution network. Despite the enormous technological progress since that time, mail volume, in real terms, continues to increase and the postal network remains today the largest and densest in the world.

The UPU is a modern institution with a proud history and tradition. It has an enviable record of accomplishment. Postal customers around the world can look forward to increasingly responsive and reliable postal services, which will continue to be the most accessible and affordable means of communication and message delivery available. And the UPU will continue to be the primary vehicle for cooperation between postal services and for providing a truly universal network of up-to-date products and services.

How the UPU is organized

The International Bureau, established by the Treaty of Berne in 1874, is located in Berne and provides secretariat and support facilities for the UPU's bodies. It serves as an organ of liaison, information and consultation, and promotes technical cooperation among Union members. It also acts as a clearing house for the settlement of accounts between postal administrations for inter-administration charges related to the exchange of postal items and international reply coupons.

The International Bureau is responsible for ensuring the representation of the Union in its external relations, notably with international organizations. However, it does not intervene in relations between postal administrations and their customers.

The International Bureau has in recent years taken on a stronger leadership role in certain activities, including the application of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) technology and the monitoring of quality of postal service on a global scale. To carry out its activities, the International Bureau has implemented modern management techniques including total quality management, a strategic planning process and a performance evaluation system based on the setting of individual objectives.

Historical background

The origin of the Post is lost in the mists of time. In ancient lands such as China, Persia, Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire, we find traces of a communication system operating by word of mouth or writing and based on relays of men and horses stationed at different points along the highways. The Post as such was the monopoly of monarchs and princes, whose main concern was that their orders should reach the farthest corners of their vast domains. Later, monasteries had their own courier system, the ramifications of which spread as religion gained ground. And eventually, as social life developed under the stimulus of the guilds and merchants, private individuals were allowed to communicate with one another by means of the couriers of princes and monasteries.

This rudimentary organization, half official and half private, lasted until the end of the Middle Ages, but before long it was found to be inadequate to meet the needs of a continually changing society. With the advent of printing, education penetrated into all social strata, while the discovery of new worlds and the consequences of that event extended relations between nations. Thus communications steadily increased.

Under the pressure of these needs, the Post inevitably developed. During the sixteenth century, thanks to the impetus given to it by Franz von Taxis, who for the first time created a postal service operating in several European States, it began to extend beyond national frontiers. Later, in the eighteenth century, it definitively became a public service and gradually assumed its present form.

International postal communications were originally governed by bilateral agreements which answered the particular needs of each country. This system, involving as it did a great variety of rates calculated in different currencies and according to different units of weight and different scales, made it complicated to operate the service and hampered its development. The invention of steam navigation and the railway brought about a change in the postal system. The administrations began to realize that, if international communications were to keep pace with the means of transport, formalities would have to be standardized and reduced.

A first step in that direction was taken in Great Britain in 1840. On the proposal of Rowland Hill, the rate for letters in the internal service was reduced to a penny (penny postage); that reform was accompanied by the creation of the postage stamp. In 1862, Montgomery Blair, Postmaster-General of the United States of America, took the initiative of convening the first international meeting with a view to reaching a common postal agreement. The conference, which met in Paris on 11 May 1863, was attended by delegates from fifteen European and American countries: Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Great Britain, the Hanseatic Towns, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia, the Sandwich Islands, Spain, Switzerland and the United States of America. It adopted a number of general principles which administrations were recommended to bear in mind when concluding postal conventions with other administrations.

The foundation of the Union

The attempts made to improve the service by applying uniform principles in the bilateral agreements could not long meet the growing needs arising from the rapid development of international relations. This prompted Heinrich von Stephan, a senior official in the postal administration of the North German Confederation, to draw up the outline of a plan for a postal union of civilized countries, in 1868. He proposed to his Government that the plan be submitted to a Plenipotentiary Conference, which, at the invitation of the Swiss Government, met at Berne on 15 September 1874. Plenipotentiary delegates from the following twenty-two countries attended the conference: Austria and Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States of America. The Congress resulted in the signing of the 1874 Treaty of Berne, which established the first collective Convention governing the international postal service and founded the "General Postal Union". The Convention went into force on 1 July 1875. Three years later, in view of the numerous accessions which had taken place since the coming into force of the Treaty of Berne, the title "General Postal Union" was changed to "Universal Postal Union".

Universality

One of the essential features of the Union is its universality. The number of member countries, originally twenty-two, had increased to 189 at 21 September 2000. The title "Universal Postal Union" is thus fully justified.

The task of the Union is essentially functional, which is one of the primary reasons for its success. Another reason lies in the eminently humanitarian aim which it pursues: that of serving the public by constantly improving its methods of operation. Moreover, the expansion of its work has not been hampered by difficulties comparable with those encountered by other international organizations. Lastly, the UPU's universal nature is not incompatible with the defence of regional interests, and this is a task to which the Restricted Unions in particular apply themselves. The UPU maintains the closest relations with the latter and cooperates with them in many fields, especially that of technical assistance.

Please refer to Annex C1 of this document for a complete copy of the Constitution of the UPU.

C2. Organization Information. Principal location, legal status of the organization, laws under which it is organized, type of organization (for profit, non‑profit, corporation, association, etc.).

Seat of the Union

The seat of the Union and of its permanent organs are located at:

Weltpoststrasse 4

3000 Berne 15

Switzerland

The legal status of the Union in Switzerland and in certain other States

In view of the status of the Universal Postal Union as a United Nations specialized agency, the Swiss Government decided on 3 February 1948, that, as from 1 January 1948, the Interim Arrangement on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, concluded on 1 July 1946 between the Swiss Federal Council and the Secretary-General of the United Nations and revised in 1963, would by analogy apply to the Universal Postal Union, its bodies, the representatives of member countries, and the Union's experts and officials. The decision was approved by both Chambers of the Federal Parliament in a Federal Decree dated 29 September 1955.

Outside Switzerland the Union's legal status is governed by the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies - approved on 21 November 1947 by the United Nations General Assembly and accepted by the Union - in so far as States have acceded to this Convention and undertaken to apply its provisions to the Universal Postal Union. As of 23 May 2000, 100 countries have acceded to this Convention and have accepted the obligations stipulated therein with regard to the Union.

Other States may be expected to act in the same manner, since there is nothing to prevent them from granting the Union, either by their own legislation or by a simple unilateral declaration, such privileges and immunities as they may consider desirable. Thus the President of the United States of America, under the legislation of that country, has recognized the Universal Postal Union as an international organization entitled to the privileges, exceptions and immunities conferred under the International Organizations Immunities Act (US Code Title 22 S 288).

Constitution of the Universal Postal Union

The Constitution of the UPU was adopted at the 1964 Vienna Congress. The organic provisions of the Union were previously contained in the Convention, in which they preceded the provisions relating to the postal service in the strict sense.

The present Constitution contains the amendments made by the 1969 Tokyo, 1974 Lausanne, 1984 Hamburg, 1989 Washington and 1994 Seoul Additional Protocols. For the complete text of these Additional Protocols, see 1969 Tokyo Congress, III 5-8, 1974 Lausanne Congress, III 23-25, 1984 Hamburg Congress, III 25-28, 1989 Washington Congress, III/1 27-32 and 1994 Seoul Congress, III 25-29.

The institution set up at Berne by the Treaty of 9 October 1874 was originally called "General Postal Union". Many countries joined it after 1874, and the 1878 Paris Congress changed its title to "Universal Postal Union".

the plenipotentiaries of the Governments of the contracting countries have, subject to ratification, adopted this Constitution.

The finances of the Union

The UPU is a non-profit organisation and operates on a cost recovery basis.

Congress fixes the Union's maximum expenditure for each of the years following Congress. This expenditure may be exceeded only in the circumstances and according to the procedure laid down in article 125 of the General Regulations. Expenditure, including that relating to Congress, the Council of Administration, the Postal Operations Council and the International Bureau, is jointly borne by all member countries of the Union. The cost-sharing system provides for the division of members into eleven contribution classes paying from one-half to fifty units, as the case may be. In the case of the accession or admission of a member country, it chooses the class in which it is to be placed. Any member country may subsequently change its contribution class provided the change is notified to the International Bureau before the opening of Congress and provided the member country does not ask to be downgraded more than one class at a time. There are no restrictions on changes to a higher class.

The Union's budget is submitted every year for the consideration and approval of the Council of Administration. From 2001, it will be every 2 years – see Resolution C58 from Beijing. The Union's annual accounts are verified by the Federal Audit Office of the Swiss Confederation, which certifies their correctness. Until the 1979 Rio de Janeiro Congress, advances of funds were made by the Swiss Government. Since then, the UPU has adopted a system of self-financing similar to that of the UN and the specialized agencies.

Relations with the UN and other international organizations

The UN Charter signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945 contains in its preamble the considerations which inspired its founders. In particular it states that the UN is resolved "to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples". In accordance with this principle, the Charter contains a special chapter on international economic and social cooperation (chapter IX). The articles of this chapter which form the basis for the relations between the UPU and the UN are given below:

Article 55

With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, the United Nations shall promote:

a. higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development;

b. solutions of international economic, social, health, and related problems; and international cultural and educational cooperation; and

c. universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.

The Universal Postal Union (UPU), with headquarters in Berne, Switzerland, is the specialized institution of the United Nations that regulates this truly universal service. The postal services of its 189 member countries form the largest physical distribution network in the world. Some 6.2 million postal employees working in over 700,000 post offices all over the world handle an annual total of 430 billion letters, printed matter and parcels in the domestic service and almost 10 billion letters, printed matter and parcels in the international service.

C3. Organization Structure. Size of organization, number of officers, directors and advisors, roles/duties of directors and officers and other staff, supporting and/or contributing organizations, affiliates, membership.

Organisation Chart of the UPU

How the UPU is organized

The Union's bodies

The Congress

The Universal Postal Congress, which brings together plenipotentiaries of all member countries, is the supreme authority of the Union and meets, in principle, every five years. One of the major accomplishments of Congresses held since the first Berne Congress in 1874 has been to allow UPU member countries to develop and integrate new products and services into the international postal network. In this way, such services as registered letters, postal money orders, international reply coupons, small packets, postal parcels and EMS (expedited mail service), have been made available to the great majority of the world's citizens.

Although Congress' main function is legislative, the recent tendency has been to delegate more regulatory power to the two UPU Councils, leaving it to focus more on broad policy issues. One of the highlights of recent Congresses is the General Debate, where key issues facing the UPU during the next five-year period are discussed and debated.

As a result of the General Debate held at the 1999 Beijing Congress, the UPU adopted the Beijing Postal Strategy, which is the Union's strategic document for 2000 to 2004. It sets out an ambitious, coherent action plan, designed to respond to the ever changing and necessarily demanding needs of postal customers throughout the world.

The six objectives defined by Congress -- which apply equally to Governments, postal administrations, restricted unions and the Union's bodies -- concern the following areas:

· universal postal service;

· quality of service in the international postal network;

· economic viability of the international postal network;

· postal markets and products;

· postal reform and development;

· cooperation and interaction among stakeholders.

Among its other responsibilities, Congress also elects the Director-General and the Deputy Director-General, as well as the members of the Council of Administration and of the Postal Operations Council; it sets the budget ceiling for the following five years.

The Council of Administration (CA)

This body, originally called the Executive and Liaison Committee (ELC), was created by the 1947 Paris Congress for two reasons. One, external to the UPU, is that the UN made the creation of this body a condition for the admission of the UPU as a specialized agency; the other is that the need was increasingly felt for a body that could replace the Special Committees previously set up on an occasional basis for the study of special problems.

It became the Executive Council at the 1964 Vienna Congress. Its present title dates from the 1994 Seoul Congress. Its role essentially is to oversee all Union activities and to study questions regarding government policies.

The Postal Operations Council (POC)

At its inception, the ELC was instructed to deal with technical questions of all kinds, of interest to the international postal service. In this field it has to its credit the establishment within the International Bureau of a service for technical studies and for the exchange of information of all kinds, as well as the publication of several studies in the "Collection of Postal Studies". But as the technical problems became increasingly numerous and more complicated and the administrations became increasingly concerned with their solution, it soon became necessary to entrust these tasks to a special body of the Union.

The International Bureau (IB)

The International Bureau was created by article 15 of the 1874 Berne Treaty. The actual installation of the International Bureau took place on 15 September 1875.

The International Bureau is the only really permanent body of the Union, whose headquarters are at Berne. It serves as an instrument of liaison, information and consultation for administrations. Since the 1994 Seoul Congress, it has been called upon to play an expanded role that goes well beyond its traditional secretariat and administrative support functions with the Councils and with Union member countries.

The International Bureau may also be called upon to give its opinion on the interpretation of the Acts of the Union, whether in cases of dispute between postal administrations or not. It may even be appointed as sole arbitrator in disputes between two administrations. In such cases the arbitration decision is binding on the parties involved.

C4. Organization Purpose. Functions and mission of the organization, definition of community to be served (if any), method of ensuring operation in the interest of the stakeholders of the community to be served and the Internet at large.

The community served by the UPU are all public, semi-public, or Private Postal Operators (PPO) whose country is a member of the UPU and whose national legislation enables it to execute the Acts of the UPU. This currently includes 189 member countries. Details are provided in Annex C1.

The postal services of the UPU members currently serve:

· over 6,200,000 employees world-wide,

· the great majority of the world’s population through the traditional postal services,

· with a network of over 700,000 retail outlets (Post Offices). This is the most extensive retail network in the world.

Within the scope of the Postal Administrations’ business plans, many have firm plans and have commenced enlarging the access to the internet by :

· making available internet access points in their retail outlets,

· assigning email addresses to the entire population, either on a national or regional level.

A significant number of Postal Administrations are registered banks, some with eBanking outlets and several have eBusiness portals which may focus on the more ‘regional’ business opportunities, in line with the public service mission of many Postal Administrations.

The role of the UPU, and in particular the Postal Technology Centre of the International Bureau, can be summarized as:

· facilitating knowledge transfer to the less developed members

· defining standards in the postal domain

· facilitating collaboration between members who have and those that do not have.

The following extracts are from the UPU’s Constitution :

With a view to developing communications between peoples by the efficient operation of the postal services, and to contributing to the attainment of the noble aims of international collaboration in the cultural, social and economic fields, the plenipotentiaries of the Governments of the contracting countries have, subject to ratification, adopted this Constitution.

Scope and objectives of the Union

The countries adopting this Constitution shall comprise, under the title of the Universal Postal Union, a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of letter-post items. Freedom of transit shall be guaranteed throughout the entire territory of the Union.

The aim of the Union shall be to secure the organization and improvement of the postal services and to promote in this sphere the development of international collaboration.

The Union shall take part, as far as possible, in postal technical assistance sought by its member countries.

C5. Appropriateness of Community. If the organization is intended to serve or represent a particular community, define the community and explain why that definition fits the TLD proposal.

The UPU, as a representative of the world’s Postal Organisations, has a role to play in a .post TLD. The Postal Technology Centre of the UPU was mandated to explore the added value of a .post TLD to its members.

A number of Postal Administrations have expressed concern that within the current internet context the perceived level of security is not compatible with the traditional trust services offered by Postal Administrations. This is a significant obstacle to the Postal Administrations who, in the majority, have public service missions and are thus constrained to offering services that match stringent criteria.

The Postal Administrations in the more developed countries have embraced the internet with some hesitancy and a large number of countries are ‘testing’ or have a ‘wait an see’ approach before committing to the internet in any significant manner.

There is a consensus amongst member Postal Administrations that the UPU can play a leading role in helping to make the internet an environment more compatible with the business and public service objectives of the world’s Postal Administrations.

Thus the first and overriding requirement of the Postal Administrations is for trust. The .post TLD must be a trusted domain.

This does not imply that it is not possible to achieve trust with existing TLDs. The growth of eBanking is a testament that this can be done. However, as with the putative .bank TLD, the .post TLD will be structured to ensure trust and hence facilitate the entry of numerous Postal Administrations into the internet.

How? In order to see this, it is necessary to present the ‘abstract model’ of the post’s core business – letters – or in general terms, ‘messages’.

Depending on the type of service requested (generally by the sender) a message has several ‘features’:

1) The sender is an identified entity (person, company or organisation).

2) The message is transmitted in such as was as to ensure

a. privacy

b. integrity of contents

c. and traceability of the transmission (carrier and time stamps, etc).

3) The receiver is an identified entity.

By providing a context on the internet (.post) which satisfies the above, ICANN will facilitate the entry of numerous Postal Administrations as they will see in the internet an environment with which they are familiar.

The UPU is ideally situated to act as the Sponsoring Organisation as it has :

1) an appropriate charter,

2) a clear mandate to represent the Postal Administrations,

3) the technological knowledge and capacity required,

4) a deep understanding of the postal business.

C6. Representation. Manner in which the organization will represent and take input from community to be served, the categories of stakeholder to be included in the organization.

As a specialised agency of the United Nations and representative of the world’s Postal Organisations, the UPU has developed an extensive and documented set of procedures for ensuring representation. These are amply documented in Annex C1, the UPU constitution and in Annex C2 with the sample cooperative statutes.

C7. Openness and Transparency. Measures taken to promote openness and transparency, access to information, web site use, public posting of information, meeting minutes, notice and comment provisions.

Please refer to Annex C1 for the principles of operation. The UPU web site (www.upu.int) provides extensive access to proceedings - both on a public and a member level.

As part of the .post services proposed by the UPU, a “.post web site” will be created with both public and member access. This will contain matters of interest to the public and postal communities, policies, statutes, FAQs, proceedings of official meetings, decisions, status of applicants requests, standards, access to the Whois, etc. The final form will be defined before any definitive agreement is done with ICANN.

C8. Initial Directors and Staff. The identity and qualifications of the initial directors and staff.

A .post Management Committee will be established according to the Statutes and Principles of Operation of the Telematics Cooperative (Annex C2). Please refer to Article 13 – Cooperative Management Board.

The initial .post Management Committee will comprise the following five members:

1. Mr Samuel Jabbour – Director Postal Technology Centre, International Bureau of the UPU

2. Mr Ken Ceglowski – United States Postal Services

3. Mr Stefan Lindholm – Sweden Post

4. Mr Luc Mangin – La Poste, France

5. Mr Marc Defalque – Swiss Post

A resume of each of the individuals listed above is provided in Annex C3.

The .post Management Committee will operate within the existing structures of the UPU, namely the Council of Administration (CA) and the Postal operations Council (POC)

C9. Selection of Directors, Officers, Members, Staff, etc. Eligibility, method of selection, term of service, compensation, liability, conflicts of interest, resignation, removal, vacancies.

(Article 102) Composition, functioning and meetings of the Council of Administration

1 The Council of Administration shall consist of forty-one members who shall exercise their functions during the period between two successive Congresses.

2 The chairmanship shall devolve by right on the host country of Congress. If that country waives this right, it shall become a de jure member and, as a result, the geographical group to which it belongs shall have at its disposal an additional seat, to which the restrictive provisions of paragraph 3 shall not apply. In that case, the Council of Administration shall elect to the chairmanship one of the member countries belonging to the geographical group of the host country.

3 The forty other members of the Council of Administration shall be elected by Congress on the basis of an equitable geographical distribution. At least a half of the membership shall be renewed at each Congress; no member may be chosen by three successive Congresses.

4 Each member of the Council of Administration shall appoint its representative, who shall be competent in postal matters.

Election of the Director-General and Deputy Director-General of the International Bureau

The Director-General and the Deputy Director-General of the International Bureau shall be elected by Congress for the period between two successive Congresses, the minimum duration of their term of office being five years. Their term of office shall be renewable once only. Unless Congress decides otherwise, the date on which they take up their duties shall be fixed at 1 January of the year following that in which Congress is held.

Election and replacement of the Deputy Director-General

1 If, in the case provided for in article 109, paragraph 4, of the General Regulations, the Council has to elect the Deputy Director-General of the International Bureau, the election shall take place by secret ballot. The candidate who obtains the majority of votes as defined in article 17, paragraphs 3 and 5, shall be elected. There shall be as many ballots as are necessary to obtain this majority.

2 The candidate who obtains the fewest votes in a ballot shall be eliminated.

3 In the event of a tie, a first and, if necessary, a second additional ballot shall be held in order to decide between the tying candidates; the ballot shall be for these candidates only. If the result is negative, lots shall be drawn. The drawing of lots shall be done by the Chairman.

4 If several candidates obtain no votes in a ballot, all those candidates shall be eliminated without a further ballot being taken in an attempt to decide between them.

5 If the post of Deputy Director-General falls vacant, the Council shall, on the proposal of the Director-General, instruct one of the Assistant Directors-General to take over the functions of Deputy Director-General until the following Congress.

C10. Policy‑Making Procedure. Provide a detailed description of the process for formulating policies for the TLD, including a detailed description of the requirements for adoption of different types of policy.

There will be several levels of policy making which influence the TLD:

1) The UPU Postal Operations Council (POC) sets global directives through the mechanisms documented in the Constitution (Annex C1)

2) The .post Management Committee, probably organized as a Co-operative within the UPU, will be focused on the .post TLD more specifically. It will be responsible for formulating the TLD policy, formulating the additional policies required before final agreement with ICANN and adapting the TLD policy as a function of business needs and the evolution of the internet. It will use the “.post Accreditation service” to implement policy.

3) In accordance with the principles associated with Co-operatives within the UPU, the .post Management Committee will also refer to the POC on matters of importance and formal reporting requirements.

4) Several existing technical standards committees, operating in domains related to the TLD, such as for the ‘Global Postal Trust Services’ are working on a Certification Policy.

5) Other cooperatives, such as the Telematics Cooperative, will have an impact on TLD policy.

6) An additional set of procedures will be needed to ensure ICANN retains the appropriate level of influence on policy formulation and evolution.

Policy initiatives within the UPU are from the members and staff. The decision to proceed with an initiative is a collaborative effort based on common interest.

The .post Management Committee will use the following Policy Making Procedure, which is based on the policies for maintaining the Global Postal Trust Services Certificate Policy .

Policies that can change without notification

The only changes that may be made to the policies without notification are editorial or typographical corrections, or changes to the contact details.

Changes with notification

Any policy may be changed with 30 days notice. Changes to policies which, in the judgement of the management committee, will not materially impact a substantial majority of the subscribers or relying parties using this policy may be changed with 10 days notice.

Notification mechanism

All proposed changes that may materially impact users of this policy will be notified in writing and will be prominently posted on the World Wide Web site of the UPU.

Comment period

Impacted users may file comments with the management committee within 15 days of original notice.

Mechanism to handle comments

Any action taken as a result of comments filed is at the sole discretion of the management committee.

Period for final change notice

If the proposed change is modified as a result of comments, notice of the modified proposed change shall be given, at least 30 days prior to the change taking effect.

Publication and notification policies

This policy will be published:

in electronic form on the World Wide Web site.

Policy Approval

A majority of the members of the Management Committee must approve the policy before it becomes formal.

C11. Meetings and Communication. Frequency of meetings, location of meetings, provisions for telephone meetings, other methods of communication, generation of minutes for meetings.

A. Congress

Supreme authority of the Union, Congress meets not later than five years after the Acts of the previous Congress have been put into effect, unless exceptional circumstances justify the convening of an extraordinary Congress.

The Council of Administration (CA)

The Postal Operations Council (POC)

The International Bureau (IB)

The International Bureau was created by article 15 of the 1874 Berne Treaty. The actual installation of the International Bureau took place on 15 September 1875.

C12. Fiscal Information. Initial budget, expenses, existing capital, sources of revenue, accounting, audit, annual report and annual statement.

The UPU budget is constant and was fixed in 1994. All new initiatives are thus funded from:

1) the annual budget, as detailed below in the extract from the UPU constitution,

2) additional budgets for specific purposes.

In the case of a cooperative, each member of the cooperative contributes an annual fee to the operation of the cooperative.

Initial expenses for the .post initiative are being paid by the founding member postal organizations on a cost recovery basis. Once the .post Management Committee is in place, annual contributions and application fees will cover operating expenses of the UPU. For the initial year, with the most uncertainty, the UPU operating budget will cover any deficit.

The finances of the Union

The Union's budget is submitted every year for the consideration and approval of the Council of Administration. The Union's annual accounts are verified by the Federal Audit Office of the Swiss Confederation, which certifies their correctness. Until the 1979 Rio de Janeiro Congress, advances of funds were made by the Swiss Government. Since then, the UPU has adopted a system of self-financing similar to that of the UN and the specialized agencies.

C13. Liability. Liability of the organization, directors, officers, and staff.

The legal status of the Union in Switzerland and in certain other States

Outside Switzerland the Union's legal status is governed by the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies - approved on 21 November 1947 by the United Nations General Assembly and accepted by the Union - in so far as States have acceded to this Convention and undertaken to apply its provisions to the Universal Postal Union. As of 1 December 1997, 99 countries have acceded to this Convention and have accepted the obligations stipulated therein with regard to the Union.

C14. Amendment of Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws. Procedures for making amendments to the articles of incorporation, bylaws, and other organizational documents.

Article 30

Amendment of the Constitution

1 To be adopted, proposals submitted to Congress and relating to this Constitution must be approved by at least two thirds of the member countries of the Union.

2 Amendments adopted by a Congress shall form the subject of an additional protocol and, unless that Congress decides otherwise, shall enter into force at the same time as the Acts renewed in the course of the same Congress. They shall be ratified as soon as possible by member countries and the instruments of such ratification shall be dealt with in accordance with the procedure laid down in article 26.

Commentary

The amendments so far made to the Const are contained in the Add Prot, Tokyo 1969, the Second Add Prot, Lausanne 1974, the Third Add Prot, Hamburg 1984, the Fourth Add Prot, Washington 1989 and the Fifth Add Prot, Seoul 1994. The text of the present Const was updated on the basis of these five Prots.

Amendment of the General Regulations, the Convention and the Agreements

1 The General Regulations, the Convention and the Agreements shall define the conditions to be fulfilled for the approval of proposals which concern them.

2 The Acts referred to in paragraph 1 shall enter into force simultaneously and shall have the same duration. As from the day fixed by Congress for the entry into force of these Acts, the corresponding Acts of the preceding Congress shall be abrogated.

Commentary

The conditions for the amendment of the Acts in Congress are to some extent graded in accordance with the importance of the Act in question:

Const: A two-thirds majority of the member countries of the Union (art 30); two thirds of the latter must be present when the vote is taken (Rules of Proc of Congresses).

Gen Regs: A majority of the member countries represented at the Congress; two thirds of the member countries of the Union present at the time of voting (Gen Regs, art 129).

Conv: A majority of the member countries present and voting; half of the member countries represented at Congress must be present at the time of voting (Conv, art 59).

Agr: A majority of the member countries parties to the Agr, present and voting; half of these member countries represented at Congress must be present at the time of voting (Parcels, art 42.1, Money Orders, art 13.3.1, Giro, art 18.3.1, COD, art 9.2.1).

The conditions for amending the Acts between Congresses are stricter (Conv, art 59.3, Parcels, art 42.3, Money Orders, art 13.3.3, Giro, art 18.3.3, COD, art 9.2.3).

Para 2 takes account of the following considerations:

1. The very numerous amendments made to the Acts of the Union during Congresses resulted in the practice of the UPU renewing the Acts as a whole at each Congress.

2. From a practical point of view it is important that all the amendments made by a Congress should go into force simultaneously and independently of approval by national legislation. This requirement of a practical nature conforms, moreover, to the spirit of art 1, para 1, according to which the countries which have adopted the Const form a single territory for the reciprocal exchange of letter-post items. Moreover, since the aim of the revision is the improvement of the postal services (art 1, para 2), it is most important that the new provs, once established, should be implemented promptly.

These two considerations notwithstanding, the contracting parties must be allowed sufficient time to take the essential practical and legislative measures and to carry out the procedure of approving the Acts.

Amendment of the Statutes of a Co-operative

Article 5 Quorum

Point 1

The quorum necessary for the opening of meetings and for voting shall be half the present and represented members of the Telematics Cooperative and having the right to vote.

Point 2

Shall be considered as represented the member who has informed the Secretariat of the proxy given to another member of the Telematics Cooperative, whose presence at the General Assembly has been confirmed, and who has indicated to the absent member and to the Secretariat the acceptance of the proxy. The member given a proxy shall dispose of the entire voting rights of the represented absent member.

Point 3

For votes amending the Statutes of the Telematics Cooperative, the quorum required shall be two thirds of the members.

Point 4

Members which are present but do not take part in a given vote, or which state that they do not wish to take part therein, shall not be considered absent for the purpose of establishing the quorums required under points 1 and 2.

Article 6 Voting principles

Point 1

Decisions shall be taken by consensus whenever possible. When necessary, votes, including proxy votes, shall be taken by secret ballot or by show of hands.

Point 2

Only members who do not have debts in arrears as defined in article 32 shall have the right to take part in any vote, either directly or by proxy.

Point 3

A member can vote by proxy for only three other members. Proxy votes should be notified to and registered by the Secretariat.

Point 4

Regardless of the system of voting used, the secret ballot shall take precedence over any other voting procedure.

Point 5

Votes shall only be taken for or against a clearly stated proposal.

Point 6

The vote indicated on the ballot paper of each voting member, including proxy votes, shall be introduced by the Telematics Cooperative Secretariat into a computerized system for the calculation of the weighed member votes according to their voting rights.

Point 7

Voting during General Assembly meetings shall be introduced when specifically requested by the Chairman or when a specific request to recur to voting has been addressed to the Chairman by a member and supported by at least ten other members.

Point 8

When voting is used, all decisions of the General Assembly that do not affect the Statutes of the Telematics Cooperative are passed when two conditions have been met, that is with

a a single majority of the present and represented voting rights; and

b a single majority of the present and represented members.

Point 9

Decisions affecting the statutes of the Telematics Cooperative are passed with a majority of two thirds of the present and represented voting rights.

Point 10

In the event of a tie, a proposal shall be regarded as rejected.

C15. Reconsideration and Review. Any policy for allowing reconsideration and review of organization policy or implementation decisions.

The policy definition procedure allows for reconsideration and review of all policies through a public comment process, as follows:

Comment period

Impacted users may file comments with the management committee within 15 days of original notice.

Mechanism to handle comments

Any action taken as a result of comments filed is at the sole discretion of the management committee.

Period for final change notice

If the proposed change is modified as a result of comments, notice of the modified proposed change shall be given, at least 30 days prior to the change taking effect.

In relation to existing policies, the management committee will consider all requests made in writing on any issue related to the reconsideration and review of policies. The management committee will make a formal decision and respond to all requests related to reconsideration and review of policies within 60 days from receipt of the request.

II. PROPOSED EXTENT OF POLICY‑FORMULATION AUTHORITY

The .post is a sponsored and restricted TLD. It is sponsored by the UPU as the representative of the world’s Postal Administrations and is restricted to achieve a level of trust compatible with the postal business and postal public service objectives.

C16. List and describe in detail the areas over which a delegation of policy‑formulation authority is sought. For each area in which policy authority is sought, please address:

C16.1. Scope of authority sought;

Policy-formulation authority is sought for the following:

1) Business service and public service restrictions on the use of .post SLDs

2) Selection of Registry Operators and Registrars. These first need to be ICANN-accredited before the UPU will consider them.

3) Domain name restrictions applicable to the .post TLD

4) Reservation of generic SLDs (ex. santa-clause.post, philately.post, etc.)

The UPU does not intend to formulate policy beyond the scope of .post and ICANN is invited to propose how its policy formulation on a global level can be compatible with that at a TLD level.

C16.2. Reasons/justifications for seeking authority;

The main reason for seeking the authority is that the UPU, as the representative of the member states and their postal administrations, is best suited to representing their needs, notably for providing secure and trusted communication services. The world’s Posts today have a unique role in the trusted distribution of messages. As more and more messages evolve from paper-based to electronic forms of communication, the efforts of the Postal Administrations and the UPU, combined, can introduce a parallel structure and framework to public, private and consumer communications over the Internet. Such a communications framework would complement the existing structures of protecting the public interest, privacy, security & legal validity under a globally recognized neutral & united domain, like that of today, but electronically.

C16.3. Method of guaranteeing that your organization will administer the policy in the interest of the Internet at large; and

Policy formulation, through the .post Management Committee, will be administered by a group composed of Postal Administrations. These Postal Administrations have significant vested interests in the internet - sizeable budgets and revenue streams – with an approach that is traditionally oriented to the population at large. Although not a guarantee, these are strong factors indicating that the policy will be in the interest of the internet.

The UPU, as the host for the .post Management Committee, has a role to ensure that policy is universal and not partisan. This is reflected in all aspects of the UPU’s way of working.

The very nature of the .post proposal is a strong indication that the UPU wishes to better the service to internet users:

1) More universal access to the internet (within advanced nations through national programmes and through support to developing nations),

2) Focus on trusted services.

3) New players (the Postal Organisations) fostering competition.

4) The ‘public service’ approach allowing internet access to a broader spectrum of users.

We also rely in ICANN to propose ways of ensuring policy formulation and administration is in agreement with its role.

C16.4. Whether variation from existing ICANN policies is intended at the opening of the new TLD.

Registrar accreditation

Only ICANN-approved registrars will be eligible to register SLDs under .post. In addition, registrars will be required to implement the .post policies as outlined in the document ‘.post Policy Description.

As such, there are no known variations from existing ICANN policies and ICANN maintains the control and approbation of registrars.

Past the ‘proof of concept’ stage, it is possible that the UPU or member Postal Administrations will become registrars.

Registry operator accreditation

Only ICANN-approved Registry Operators will be eligible to operate the .post registry. The tentative agreement with CORE is outlined in the relevant documents. There are no known variations from existing ICANN policies.

Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy.

The Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy (UDRP) is the basis for the .post Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy with the following changes:

1. Domain Names will be attributed by the UPU or accredited Postal Administrations based on ‘proof of ownership’ of the name. See ‘Description of TLD Policies’.

2. The domain name is the legal organisation’s name or trademark followed by .post.

3. The Dispute Resolution process will also use the relevant UPU mechanisms, as required (see Annex C1 – Constitution Article 32 and General Regulations Article 128).

4. A complete DRP will be published once final negotiations with ICANN are terminated.

III. CONTRACT TERMS WITH REGISTRY OPERATOR

C17. Identification of Registry Operator. Please list the full legal name, principal address, telephone and fax numbers, and e‑mail address of the registry operator:

CORE Internet Council of Registrars
World Trade Center II
29 route de Pre-Bois
CH-1215 Geneva
Switzerland
Telephone +41 22 929 5744
Fax +41 22 929 5745

E-mail address: tldapp@corenic.org

C18. Contract with Registry Operator. Please attach one of the following:

Please refer to Annex C4 for the proposed terms for a contract between the UPU and CORE for the provision of registry services.

C18.1. a copy of your contract with the selected registry operator for provision of registry services;

C18.2. proposed terms for a contract (i.e. at least a detailed term sheet) with a registry operator for provision of registry services, proof of commitment from the registry operator for provision of services under those proposed terms, and a notation of the estimated date of entry into the contract; or

C18.3. a statement that the sponsoring organization will also serve as the registry operator for the proposed TLD. (In this case, the sponsoring organization must prepare and submit the Registry Operator's Proposal in addition to the Sponsoring Organization's Proposal.)

Updated August 15, 2000

Annex C1

Constitution and General Regulations of the Universal Postal Union

Annex C2

Statutes and Principles of Operation of the Telematics Cooperative

Annex C3

Resumes of the Management Committee

Annex C4

Proposed terms for a contract between the UPU and CORE for the provision of registry services