APTLD and ICANN Funding

APTLD Meeting (Asia Pacific Top Level Domains)

Chair: Professor Kilnam Chon, Korea

Mr Mike Roberts
CEO
ICANN Inc
Los Angeles
California
USA
March 1 2000

Dear Mike,

APTLD ccTLD's and ICANN FUNDING

The APTLD has held extensive consultation and discussion on the issue of funding for ICANN activities and on the assessment of the Asia Pacific region's share of that sponsorship.

The February 2000 meeting of the APTLD reached consensus on the issue and as Chair of the Funding Working Group I am writing on behalf of APTLD to share the outcomes of that process.

Background

As I am sure you are aware, the issue of the ccTLD share of ICANN funding has generated a lot of debate. There are a lot of issues still to resolve, and the key ones noted by the APTLD can be summarised as:

• Lack of ccTLD representation on the ICANN Board, one aspect of which is lack of input into the ICANN Budget;
• Lack of clarity or certainty on what value/service ICANN provides to ccTLD's;
• Lack of equitable decision on what proportion of ICANN funding Asia Pacific ccTLD?s are responsible for;
• Lack of an model to ensure each ccTLD?s funding share is equitable given the differing Registry models (for profit/not for profit/subsidised/not subsidised etc), size of Registry, charges for registrations, and each Economy's status (as reflected, for instance, in GNP);
• Lack of a payment mechanism essential to a business operation.

Statement from APTLD

• The APTLD affirms the importance of the role of ICANN and the need for ICANN to be in a financial position to operate in a stable manner now and in the future.
• The Asia Pacific ccTLD?s accept in principle that we need to fund our share of ICANN and that those who are willing and able to contribute to the current financial year are encouraged to do so.

Proposal

• In accepting the offer of voluntary sponsorship by the ccTLDs of Asia Pacific, ICANN acknowledges the stewardship of the ccTLDs for their delegations.
• In order to be able to contribute, the Asia Pacific ccTLDs require a letter from ICANN which includes:
• A Letter of Request for Voluntary Contribution, showing suggested tiers/bands*
• An invitation to provide "sponsorship" AND
• An Invoice with no Total filled in
• The ccTLD chooses whether, and which way, to respond

Assuming ICANN agrees to the above points:

• Each Asia Pacific ccTLD which is willing and able to contribute will make their payment directly to ICANN
• In return, we request that ICANN publish the Asia Pacific Region total sponsorship/contribution on the ICANN website together with the list of contributors, but no individual totals

We note that the option of an Invoice or a Sponsorship Form meets the range of needs across our diverse region.

We would like to stress that this offer is for the 1 July 1999 - 30 June 2000 Financial Year only.

Our desire is to enable ICANN to operate now, and we will continue to work with ICANN and within the ccTLD's to resolve the outstanding issues so that ICANN can go forward with some financial certainty in the future.

We request ICANN to give favorable consideration to our proposal in order to expedite the funding which is available.

We include sample documents upon which ICANN may like to base its response if it agrees to the APTLD proposal. We look forward to seeing you in Cairo next week.

Cordially
Sue Leader (".nz")
Chair, ICANN Funding Working Group

* ICANN Suggested allocation for whole of ccTLD:

10 "large" $50,000 $500,000

30 "medium" $20,000 $600,000

40 "small" $10,000 $400,000

100 "startup" $1,000 $100,000

SAMPLE DRAFT DOCUMENT

ICANN HEADER FOR APTLD ccTLD FUNDING LETTER>

March 1 2000

<MANAGER>

<NAME> ccTLD

<ADDRESS>

Dear <MANAGER>

REQUEST FOR VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION TO ICANN

<GREETING>

As you will know ICANN depends upon the voluntary contribution of its members in order to provide the services required to ensure the Internet remains stable and operational. Last November the Board accepted the recommendation of the Task Force for Funding, which encouraged consultation with the ccTLD community in setting the Budget for the coming years, and suggested the level of financial support needed from the ccTLD's for the Financial Year July 1 1999 - June 30 2000. We encourage you to read the full report which is on the web site at http://www.icann.org/?..

ICANN needs ccTLD support in order to be able to continue to operate, and we respectfully request that you give serious consideration to making a contribution. ICANN acknowledges that ccTLD's, in exercising their stewardship role in holding the delegation for their ccTLD, must weigh a variety of factors before making a financial contribution.

The Board would appreciate receiving any contribution you choose to make before the end of June 2000. You may choose to pay on the Invoice Form by filling in the total you are contributing, or, if it suits your business model and taxation laws better, by filling out the ICANN Sponsorship Form (attached). We provide a sample list of 'bands' or 'tiers' of contribution to help you choose the appropriate level for your Registry (as suggested in the Task Force for Funding?s Final Report) or you may choose another way to decide what amount is appropriate.

CONTRIBUTION BANDS/TIERS

Suggested allocation for whole of ccTLD:

10 "large" $50,000 $500,000

30 "medium" $20,000 $600,000

40 "small" $10,000 $400,000

100 "startup" $1,000 $100,000

Total $US 1.6 Million

<CLOSE>

Yours faithfully

Mike Roberts

CEO

ICANN

SAMPLE DRAFT DOCUMENT

INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS INC (ICANN)

INVOICE FOR SERVICES

#ICANN123

DATE :

TO : THE MANAGER

<NAME> ccTLD

INVOICE FOR SERVICES

Providing 24X7 Root server; Zone Files Security; ccTLD delegation; International Internet Governance Policy development for period 1999/07/01-2000/06/30

TOTAL : <ccTLD TO FILL IN>

Please make checks payable to ICANN Inc???.<ICANN PAYMENTS POLICY>

Payment is by Bank Check/Money Order/Credit Card

SAMPLE DRAFT DOCUMENT

INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS INC (ICANN)
SPONSORSHIP FORM

The <NAME> ccTLD wishes to become a Sponsor for the work of ICANN on behalf of the global Internet Community. ICANN's work includes providing 24X7 Root Server; maintaining Zone Files Security; ccTLD delegation; and international Internet Governance Policy development.

We wish to contribute towards ICANN's work for the period 1999/07/01-2000/06/30.

The <NAME> ccTLD wishes to contribute $US <TOTAL> towards ICANN's work.

Signed:

Date: <DATE>

Payment is by Bank Check/Money Order/Credit Card

<ICANN address details>