The purpose of this letter is to invite your association
to participate in an initiative to ensure coordinated business participation
in a process that will impact the future administration of Internet domain
names. Issues raised by domain name administration have important implications
for electronic commerce.
Background
In June 1998, the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce issued
a White Paper calling on private sector Internet stakeholders to form a not-for-profit
corporation to administer the Internet naming and address system. Private sector
proposals for the new corporation were published by the US government at the
beginning of October. The proposal, which represented the broadest consensus
of stakeholders and the most inclusive process, was the proposal for the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Focus is now shifting to
the creation of three supporting bodies which will formulate and propose policies
to the ICANN board on Internet protocols, Internet addresses and domain names.
Both the White Paper and the ICANN Bylaws have called for the development of
an open, inclusive and transparent process in the creation of the Supporting
Organizations.
What is at stake
The undersigned associations agree that there must
be a fair process which is open to, and inclusive of, all the relevant stakeholders.
The process must have both a mechanism to obtain broad comment / review and
a path to developing consensus and closure to the process. Lastly, providing
detailed minutes of meetings and rationales for decisions will be essential
to impart transparency to the process and should help to foster trust. The undersigned
associations believe that these would be the broad outlines of the type of process
which should be followed in forming these supporting organizations, and in particular,
in creating the Do
main Name Supporting Organization (DNSO).
We also believe that it is essential for business
to have a significant voice within the Domain Name Supporting Organization.
Maintaining operational stability of and consumer confidence in the Internet
as a channel of trade and communication are our unifying priorities. Key DNSO
issues include competition, the introduction of new top level domains (that
go beyond .com), trademark rights and dispute resolution mechanisms.
What we are doing
The undersigned associations are contacting other
associations like yours in order to reach an international business consensus
on DNSO issues. Business associations working in isolation on such activities
as the drafting of bylaws for the DNSO are likely to duplicate efforts and dissipate
synergy. Within the next two weeks, with your agreement, we will send you a
draft position for review and comment as a starting point for developing an
international business consensus.
The undersigned business associations, representing
the first group having joined formally our collective efforts, recognize that
the process for the formation of the DNSO needs to be representative of a broad
range of stakeholders in order to secure acceptance by the wider Internet community
with whom we need to reach agreement on DNSO issues. We have called for such
a process in an open letter to other stakeholder groups. We are aware of the
efforts of the Policy Oversight Committee to develop a process and look forward
to working in cooperation with all Internet stakeholders, including POC, in
the development of the DNSO.
What we are asking you to do next
If your association would like to participate in
developing this international business consensus, please indicate your desire
to be included on the list of organizations which will receive and actively
comment on the draft position referred to above. The International Chamber of
Commerce (ICC) has agreed for the moment to act informally as a secretariat
for developing this business consensus. Please therefore complete and return
the attached reply form to indicate your interest in joining this initiative.
Additionally, please let us know if you would like
to suggest any other organizations that might be interested in joining this
initiative.