IAC Report 26/10/00

REPORT OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

TO ISOCNZ COUNCIL MEETING 26.10.2000

This committee has been substantially depleted by the loss of the Chair of Domainz Board and the CEO of Domainz Board, both of whom have been active in international matters for the past 3 or 4 years. The absence of such hardworking members, and their institutional memory is a major loss.

With the current dramatic reorganisation of Domainz, and the part-time and interim nature of the current CEO appointment. I have not sought to replace members from that source.

Despite the presentation of numerous comprehensive reports after each meeting, it has always been difficult for Council to fully appreciate the number of international issues, and their merits and importance.

APTLD : Thailand Meeting 20-22 October 2000

I have attended this meeting in my capacity as senior vice chairman of APTLD, and its delegate to the "Board" (adCom) of the CCTLD constituency. I am responsible for committees and working groups, and the output of the organisation.

APTLD, together with APNIC, provide the major organisational internet groups for the region. APTLD deals with domain name issues, and APNIC deals with addresses. In addition, there are a number of other "AP" organisations, particularly APIA (which is primarily responsible for hosting the highly successful Asian "Apricot" seminars). These organisations meet in conjunction with APTLD as "AP*" or "APSTAR".

The highlights of this meeting include:

• approve a membership structure, providing for membership subscriptions on a self selection from a range of bands, the same for associate membership, and a US$100 for individual membership;
• near completion of the Articles as a result of that, an adoption of a business plan leading to imminent registration of the company and the formation of a legal and regulatory affairs committee (Peter Dengate Thrush, Stafford Guest (.nu) Ramesh Kumar Nadarajah (.my) to complete;
• Thailand and Taiwan presented bids for hosting the APTLD secretariat in response to an RFP approved, on line, since the Yokohama meeting. Thailand withdrew (but will be responsible for APTLD outreach in the Asian area), and the secretariat awarded to Taiwan.
• A letter of intent has been prepared for despatch, and, after incorporation, will be followed by a formal contract once incorporated.
• APTLD has a particular focus on outreach, to assist internet development in undeveloped Asian countries. See below for the next seminar programme hosted by New Zealand.

With the decision to go ahead with a full-time secretariat, certainty of funding has become crucial. On the basis that Japan and Korea (the largest registries) will increase their contribution to US$20,000, Taiwan and China have pledged to increase their contribution to US$15,000. This means the four largest registries will contribute US$70,000 of the US$100,000 budget.

New Zealand needs to contribute its share.

NZ meeting : Auckland 7, 8, 9 November 2000

This meeting has been transferred from its original venue in Fiji because of political uncertainties in that country at the time.

A full day invitation only training session of ISPs is being hosted by APNIC and its presenters will interweave with presentations from APTLD on ICANN, APTLD and other matters. A copy of the current draft programme is attached. New Zealand's assistance with this effort is appreciated by the region.

CCTLD ADCOM

Following the 1.5 APTLD meeting in Thailand, there was a joint APTLD/ADCOM meeting, followed by an ADCOM meeting joined by representatives from Europe and Latin America. The key outcome is recognition, along with APTLD that there should be no payment of ICANN "invoices" until all of the current outstanding issues with ICANN are resolved. These include:

• algorithm for funding;
• service level agreements ? root service;
• contracts between ICANN/USG/GAC/National governments concerning CCTLD management.

I am required to write by early next week the CCTLD position paper. It is proposed that this shall serve as the basis for negotiations with ICANN staff, with whom there have been some preliminary discussions about a peer organisation.

New Zealand representation

Councillors have discussed issues relating to New Zealand representation, with a focus on budget. In particular, councillor Heath asked a number of questions, to which answers may be given as follows:

What has been done to affect the ICANN process in our favour in the past?

• There is a considerable body of reporting on this, but for present purposes a summary may be taken as follows:
• Participation in the WIPO process on domain names, followed by a summit to develop the New Zealand position. This was directed, in addition to the primary ".com" issue, the start of realisation that there may be a potential threat to CCTDL sovereignty. The New Zealand position was that there should be no US control of our, and by extension, other CCTLDs.
• As the New Zealand representative I took the most aggressive stand on the WIPO report in public, and then took part in Working Group A which proposed adoption, and was proposed (but excluded) for the final drafting group which prepared the rules for the UDRP.
• As a result of that, there was a growing awareness of the developing power of the GAC, posing the threat of overly dominant government control of what had been an industry/volunteer run process. As a result, I have attended as adviser to two GAC meetings and Sue Leader to one meeting, and we have funded the Secretary to attend a third. We have made strong representations to government to maintain a presence in that forum, and believe there is a level of sympathy for government expenditure at a modest level in maintaining contact with the GAC.
• We took part in the formation of the initial constituencies of the DNSO, particularly the CCTLD constituency, where we have played a major role in its structure, agenda and outputs.
• We have, through that, had the realisation of the DNSO structure is possibly broken, certainly in need of its current review, and of the need to take CCTLD issues outside those related to mere domain names.
• We have been invited to form a "peer group" to negotiate with ICANN, and I have been working since the last Los Angeles meeting (intermittently) on the formation of either a CCSO or a CCTLD Inc. As a member of the CCTLD ADCOM, that is now my current responsibility.
• At the Yokohama meeting, we took part in a reshaping and re-energizing of the APTLD, our regional organisation. At the same time we have taken part in the re-shaping of the ADCOM of the CCTLD to achieve the above goals.

What blocks of people appear to have similar thinking to ourselves?

• Most of the CCTLDs that have taken part in the process, and in particular the APTLD, and CENTR.

What are we aiming to achieve from this meeting?

• Finality on best practices, re-delegation, ICANN funding, CCSO/CCTLD Inc, or substantial progress towards this.

How will we achieve this?

• By drafting the CCTLD Inc / CCSO structure, negotiating that with staff, USG and other CCTLD constituencies.

If events occur in the backroom, how can by going can we get to be part of that process?

• We are present, by virtue of our leadership position, in the "backroom", and also, for the same reason, in the chairs and at the microphone of the public meetings at which voting takes place.

What can two people achieve that one person cannot?

• From the attached agendas you will see that there are a number of meetings to attend, some occurring at the same time. While I can get by on my own, I consistently stressed the value of support. This is not merely personal, but includes presenting a united front, demonstrating New Zealand?s commitment, provide a different skill set from my own, etc, etc.

Could one person go with participation by cell phone?

• Not really.

What percentage of attendees attend every meeting?

• There are a wide range of meetings taking place. Figures vary from meeting to meeting.

New ICANN Board members

Regional elections have been held of the at large members, resulting in elections of old colleagues Nii Quaynor, Katoh San, and Karl Auerbach, from Africa, Asia-Pacific and North America respectively. Ivan Kampos, and Andy Mueller-Majuhn have been elected from Latin America and Europe respectively.

It is not yet clear which, but five of the original "virgin birth" board members will be replaced by these appointments at the November meeting. I am in contact with the first three, preparing them for negotiations.

New Top Level Domain Applications

47 applications have been received within the time period, at US$50,000 each. The public comments period has been extended to 5 November. It is not clear whether New Zealand has any interest, but Domainz should be aware of the potential competition coming from these new registries. It is a regret, because of the current state of the New Zealand registry, that our registry company was not, as might have been anticipated, in a position to bid for one or more TLDs.

Peter Dengate Thrush
Chair
IAC

26 October 2000

© 2000 The Internet Society of New Zealand
Last updated 5 December 2000