ICANN AT-LARGE MONTHLY ANNOUNCEMENT

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>