[Pso-discuss] Names Council Recommendations on new gTLDs

[Louis Touton <[e-mail]>]

To the Protocol Council:

Subject:  Names Council Recommendations on new gTLDs

On 18-19 April, the Names Council of ICANN's Domain Name Supporting 
Organization approved a statement recommending that the ICANN Board 
adopt a policy for "measured and responsible" introduction of new 
generic top-level domains.  (This is a very brief summary of the 
statement--please read the copy that appears below for details.)  
The Names Council's statement indicated that it would consider making 
supplemental recommendations on this topic, and the Names Council 
has scheduled a meeting on 17 May for this purpose.

Under ICANN's bylaws, recommendations of one supporting 
organization's council are to be distributed to the other supporting 
organization councils so that they may advise the Board on any 
considerations arising within the other councils' areas of expertise:

   "(d) Any recommendation forwarded to the Board by a Supporting 
   Organization shall be transmitted to all other Supporting 
   Organizations so that each Supporting Organization may comment 
   to the Board regarding the implications of such a 
   recommendation on activities within their individual scope of 
   primary responsibility."

(From Article VI, Section 2(d) of ICANN Bylaws.)

The ICANN Board is scheduled to consider the Names Council's 
recommendations at its meeting (to be held in connection with INET) 
on 15-16 July in Yokohama.  It would be helpful if the Protocol 
Council could provide the Board any comments it may have on any 
protocol-policy implications of the Names Council recommendations 
by the end of June.  In accord with the tenor of Section 4(b)(iii)
of the PSO MOU, I understand that the members of the Protocol Council
may wish to confer with the PSO member SDOs.

As noted above, the Names Council may forward supplemental 
recommendations to the Board in the near future.  If I receive any, 
I will forward them to you at that time.

Best regards,

Louis Touton
ICANN Secretary

cc:  Steve Coya, PSO Secretariat
     Ken Stubbs, Names Council Chair
     Michael Roberts, ICANN President
     Andrew McLaughlin, ICANN Senior Adviser

=======================================================

DNSO Names Council Statement on New gTLDs
(approved 18-19 April 2000)

The Names Council determines that the report of Working 
Group C and related comments indicate that there exists 
a consensus for the introduction of new gTLDs in a measured 
and responsible manner. The Names Council therefore 
recommends to the ICANN Board that it establish a policy 
for the introduction of new gTLDs in a measured and 
responsible manner, giving due regard in the implementation 
of that policy to (a) promoting orderly registration of 
names during the initial phases; (b) minimizing the use of 
gTLDs to carry out infringements of intellectual property 
rights; and (c) recognizing the need for ensuring user 
confidence in the technical operation of the new TLD and 
the DNS as a whole.

Because there is no recent experience in introducing new 
gTLDs, we recommend to the Board that a limited number of 
new top-level domains be introduced initially and that the 
future introduction of additional top-level domains be done 
only after careful evaluation of the initial introduction. 
The Names Council takes note of the fact that the WG C 
report indicates that several types of domains should be 
considered in the initial introduction, these being:  
fully open top-level domains, restricted and chartered 
top-level domains with limited scope, non-commercial 
domains and personal domains. Implementation should promote 
competition in the domain-name registration business at the 
registry and registrar levels. The Names Council recognizes 
that any roll-out must not jeopardize the stability of the 
Internet, and assumes a responsible process for 
introducing new gTLDs, which includes ensuring that there 
is close coordination with organizations dealing with 
Internet protocols and standards.

To assist the Board in the task of introducing new gTLDs, 
the Names Council recommends that the ICANN staff invite 
expressions of interest from parties seeking to operate 
any new gTLD registry, with an indication as to how they 
propose to ensure to promote these values.

We would like to extend our deep appreciation to the 
substantial number of participants who worked so diligently 
in Working Groups B and C, and want to thank them for their 
significant efforts in evaluating the issues that were 
referred to them.  Recognizing the Working Group C has 
recently approved additional principles and that Working 
Group B's formal report was provided to us yesterday, we 
advise the Board that we will be providing supplemental 
recommendations in the near future.


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