2002-03-14 - Geographic and Geopolitical Names in .info

Whereas, in resolution 01.93 the President was directed to propose to the Board an action plan for rapid analysis of the technical and other issues related to registration of domain names in .info corresponding to geographic and geopolitical names;

Whereas, on 11 October 2001 the Names Council adopted a resolution commenting on this issue, and on 26 October 2001 the Governmental Advisory Committee submitted additional commentary, both of which were posted on ICANN web sites;

Whereas, the President's proposed action plan was posted on the ICANN website on 9 October 2001, proposing creation of an .info Country Names Discussion Group (ICNG) consisting of Board members and representatives of GAC participants and additional individuals invited by the President;

Whereas, in resolution 01.122 the Board accepted the President's recommendation to appoint the ICNG;

Whereas, under resolution 01.123 the President invited representatives from WIPO, Afilias, and the DNSO Chair also to participate in the ICNG;

Whereas, the ICNG extensively discussed the issues through a preliminary physical meeting, conference calls, and e-mail;

Whereas, the ICNG's draft final report was posted for public comment on 21 February 2002;

Whereas, public comment and input to the draft report by the community occurred;

Whereas, the ICNG notes that while it recommends to proceed with restriction of use of the reserved names in .info to governments and distinct economies, because of the variety of ways of spelling country names, the ICNG recommended exploring the potential utility of a new top level domain (TLD) specifically for uses only by governments of countries and distinct economies; and

Whereas, the ICNG deserves recognition as an example of the ability of the Board and the GAC, as an advisory body, to constructively reach resolution on a controversial issue;

Resolved [02.42] that the Board thanks the ICNG for its work and accepts its report;

Resolved [02.43] that the Board adopts the ICNG recommendation that the 329 country names reserved under resolution 01.92 should be made available for registration by the governments and public authorities of the areas associated with the names and directs the General Counsel to cause those names to be made available to those governments and public authorities according to procedures established by the GAC;

Resolved [02.44] that, in view of the second recommendation in the ICNG report, the Board invites the GAC to investigate the level of interest by governments and distinct economies for a TLD to be used internationally for official purposes, and if established, what criteria and ground rules are necessary for such a TLD.