Date: Tue, 4 Feb 1997 21:40:59 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Dillon <michael@memra.com> To: inet-access@earth.com Subject: Press Release on IAHC Report Message-ID: <Pine.BSI.3.93.970204213918.22075I-100000@sidhe.memra.com>
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Date: Tue, 04 Feb 1997 22:46:42 -0500
From: Don Heath <heath@linus.isoc.org>
To: iahc-discuss@iahc.org
Subject: Press Release on IAHC Report
Here's the press release announcing the IAHC report. The report
will be out by midnight California time this evening.
Thank you for your valuable input, the debates, the insights, the
ideas, the humor, suggestions, criticisms, and your patience.
Now the work begins!
Don
SEVEN NEW TOP LEVEL DOMAIN NAMES ARE ADDED FOR
INTERNET ADDRESSES AND UP TO 28 NEW REGISTRARS PLANNED
WASHINGTON, DC, February 4, 1997 -- The number of
names available to specify Internet locations, such as web sites
and email addresses, will increase and more firms will be allowed
to act as registrars for the names, under a plan announced today
by the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC).
Internet users will have 7 new generic Top Level
Domains (gTLDs), in addition to the existing ones (.com, .net,
and .org), under which they may register Internet names, when
the plan is implemented. The new gTLDs and the intended fields
of use are:
.firm for businesses, or firms
.store for businesses offering goods to purchase
.web for entities emphasizing activities
related to the WWW
.arts for entities emphasizing cultural and
entertainment activities
.rec for entities emphasizing
recreation/entertainment activities
.info for entities providing information
services
.nom for those wishing individual or personal
nomenclature
In addition, up to 28 new registrars will be
established to grant registrations for second-level domain
names under the new gTLDs. The new registrars will be selected
by lottery from applicants who fulfill specific requirements
established by the IAHC. All the new gTLDs will be shared among
the new registrars, meaning that each registrar may effect registration
of second-level domain names under all the new gTLDs. It is intended
that the three existing gTLDs (.com, .net, and .org) would also be
shared upon conclusion of the cooperative agreement between Network
Solutions, Inc. (NSI) and the United States National Science Foundation
(NSF), which allows NSI to act as the registrar for those gTLDs.
The plan announced today is a result of efforts by
an international group named to resolve questions critical to the
current and future growth of the Internet. The eleven-member
International Ad Hoc Committee, chaired by Donald M. Heath,
president and CEO of the Internet Society, received input from
individuals, organizations and government agencies from around
the world.
To guide future registrar developments, an association
comprising all the registrars, the Council of Registrars (CORE), to
be established under Swiss law will create and enforce requirements
for registrar operations. These requirements are spelled out in a
separate legal instrument to which each registrar must agree.
The IAHC plan includes the establishment of a non-
regulatory policy framework in the form of a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) which both the public and private sector will
be invited to sign. The MoU will provide a mechanism for signatories
to advise on future policy evolution of the global Internet domain
name system.
"I am pleased that the Secretary General of the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has agreed in principle
to act as the depository of the MoU and to periodically publish an
updated list of its signatories," Heath said in releasing the IAHC
report. "The structure we have established for the operation and
oversight of domain name administration insures that we will have
stability and continuing input from a broad spectrum of organizations
and individuals."
Heath pointed out that the IAHC will continue to
function for the period until the new registrars are named and the
MoU has entered into force. At that time, the IAHC will change to
act as the committee to conduct oversight of CORE until a permanent
gTLD DNS Policy Oversight Committee (POC) is established to perform
that function. The POC will determine, in consultation with CORE
and a gTLD DNS Policy Advisory Body (PAB), the evolution of gTLDs,
registrars, and any fees that CORE may collect from its members,
the registrars, for services it may perform.
The POC and CORE will be advised by the gTLD DNS
Policy Advisory Body (PAB) that will consist of all of the
signatories to the MoU and will provide input and recommendations
for general policy matters relating to gTLDs and the Domain Name
System (DNS). Signatories will include representatives from
governments, independent governmental organizations, non-government
organizations, and industry.
An earlier draft proposal by the IAHC had recommended
a mandatory 60 day waiting period before activation of new domain
names, in order to alleviate what is considered to be a major
source of instability in the DNS, namely widespread piracy of
famous trademarks by certain domain name holders. In the final
report, that recommendation has been replaced by a more comprehensive
solution that addresses the needs of all classes of stakeholders. In
addition to making the 60 day waiting period optional for registrants,
the final report institutes a system for dispute settlement involving
on-line mediation, mandatory arbitration (if a domain name challenger
chooses to initiate arbitration), and a fast-track on-line
administrative domain name challenge procedure.
The administrative domain name challenge procedure
would be conducted on-line, and would allow an intellectual
property right holder to petition a panel of international
experts to determine if a second-level domain name violates the
policy that a domain name which contains an internationally known
trademark may only be held by the trademark owner. The dispute
settlement procedures would be administered under the aegis of the
World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation
Center, located in Geneva.
"During the public comment period, we received over
4000 submissions from the interested public, including 100
submissions from organizations around the world and we are very
pleased with the acceptance and broad consensus that we have
achieved in this process," Heath stated. "To attain its fullest
potential, the Internet requires true self-governance. The
Internet Society's role is to facilitate that requirement," he
added.
The IAHC is a coalition of participants from the
broad Internet community, working to satisfy the requirement for
enhancements to the Internet's global Domain Name System (DNS).
Organizations naming members to the committee include: Internet
Society (ISOC), Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), Internet
Architecture Board (IAB), Federal Networking Council (FNC),
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), International
Trademark Association (INTA), and World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO). The full text of the IAHC report is being
published at the Internet site: http://www.iahc.org.
# # # # # # # # #
Internet Society
12020 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20191-3429
TEL 703-648-9888
FAX 703-648-9887
E-mail info@isoc.org
http://www.isoc.org
http://www.iahc.org
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