From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2000 8:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Policy Post 6.21: Domain Names Body Chooses New Domains, Begins
Study of Public Processes
CDT POLICY POST Volume 6, Number 21, November 27, 2000
A BRIEFING ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES AFFECTING CIVIL
LIBERTIES ONLINE
from
THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY
CONTENTS:
(1) ICANN RECAP: NEW TOP-LEVEL DOMAINS, STUDY OF PUBLIC
REPRESENTATION
(2) ICANN SELECTS SEVEN NEW TOP-LEVEL DOMAINS
(3) PROPOSED STUDY OF THE PUBLIC'S VOICE IN ICANN
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) DOMAIN NAMES BODY CHOOSES NEW DOMAINS, BEGINS
STUDY OF PUBLIC PROCESSES
In a move that will change the landscape of cyberspace, the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) selected
seven new top-level domain strings to augment ".com," ".net," and
".org." At its annual meeting in Los Angeles November 16, ICANN
directed its staff to begin final negotiations with the applicants for the
".info," ".biz," ".name," ".pro," ".museum," ".coop," and ".aero"
domains. Final agreements are expected by the end of the year, and
shortly thereafter Internet users should have their first chance to
register names in the new spaces.
The selection of new domains is the most visible action yet by
ICANN, a technical management organization tasked with
coordinating certain central naming and numbering functions for the
Internet. The TLD selection demonstrates how ICANN's decisions
can have a broad impact on Internet users, and highlights the need to
find ways to include the public's interests in ICANN's decisions. CDT
and other organizations have for some time urged ICANN to be more
open to input from non-commercial and public interest organizations
in its activities.
ICANN's activity last week was not limited to new Top-Level Domains.
ICANN also set in motion a major study of its recent election of
At-Large Board Members by Internet users around the world. ICANN
will soon be taking comments on a plan to establish a Study
Commission that will evaluate last month's elections and consider
whether ICANN should even have such At-Large members. Due to be
completed in about six months, the study will set the stage for a
major debate about the future of public representation within ICANN.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(2) ICANN SELECTS SEVEN NEW TOP-LEVEL DOMAINS
On November 16, the ICANN Board selected seven finalists for new
Top-Level Domain names (TLDs). TLDs are the final part of an
Internet domain name, like ".com," ".org," or ".edu." The ICANN staff is
now expected to carry out final negotiations with the applicants for
".info," ".biz," ".name," ".coop," ".museum," ".pro," and ".aero" names,
and the new names could be in use by early next year.
The exact method or even date on which the new domains will
become available has not been announced. The FTC has issued a
warning concerning potentially misleading pre-registration schemes,
and new registrants should exercise care. See
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/domainalrt.htm
The ICANN Board considered forty-four applications at its recent
meeting. Each applicant paid a non-refundable $50,000 application
fee to ICANN, creating a very substantial bar to entry into the process.
This fee sparked significant concerns by CDT and others that ICANN
had denied many non-commercial and public interest organizations
an opportunity to participate in this critical first rollout.
In its deliberations, the ICANN Board steered clear of controversial,
content-restricted domains such as the adult-oriented ".xxx," citing the
inappropriate expansion of ICANN's authority that would be
associated with those domains. As was noted at the ICANN meeting,
there is no international consensus on what materials belong in
either a ".xxx" or ".kids" domain. While they seek to address important
online issues, these kinds of domain spaces raise significant
questions about the right to free expression that ICANN is in no
position to resolve.
Though the new domains that ICANN selected do not limit the
content that domain name holders may post, they do impose other
kinds of restrictions. Of the seven new domains, all but one propose
to set limits on who can get names; ".biz" will be limited to bona fide
businesses, ".aero" to members of the air transport industry, and so
on. Only ".info" will be completely unrestricted in its application, and
names will be open to any member of the Internet community
wishing to express his or her views online. In addition, the ".name"
domain will be open to individuals engaged in non-commercial
activity.
CDT remains concerned about the closed nature of many of the new
domains. Balance is needed as ICANN considers future TLD
additions. By creating spaces that welcome expressive or
non-commercial activity, ICANN could go a long way towards
securing the Internet's open and diverse character. Though this first
set of applications was not especially broad in this area, future
rounds of selection may be more open to voices in the public interest.
The fate of the remaining thirty-seven applications is uncertain.
ICANN has not yet announced additional rounds of Top-Level
Domain selection, though most Internet observers agree that more
new TLDs are likely. Whether the remaining applications will be
rolled over into the new selection processes, or dropped entirely will
presumably be addressed by ICANN in the future.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(3) PROPOSED STUDY OF THE PUBLIC'S VOICE IN ICANN
While the approval of new "Top-Level Domains" was the lead story
out of ICANN's annual meeting, other events of great long-term
significance took place that highlight continuing concern over the
proper role and representative structure of the domain names
management body. The ICANN Board set in motion a study of the
makeup of ICANN's Board of Directors and of October's election of
new Directors to that Board. In that election, some 34,000 Internet
users elected five "At-Large" members to ICANN's nineteen-member
Board. The evaluation will provide a foundation for a critical
discussion next year on the future of ICANN's elections and At-Large
membership, and the possibilities for broad stakeholder input into
ICANN's decisions.
As a first step, ICANN has released a proposal by ICANN staff that a
committee be established to preside loosely over a number of
independent groups that would carry out diverse, parallel studies of
their own. If the Board eventually implements this proposal, the Study
Committee will consist of 5-9 members, with one a member of the
Board and the rest representative of a diversity of Internet interests.
The parallel studies would be of varying scope and scale, and the
committee would examine their findings for evidence of consensus
points. Finally, the committee would distill those consensus points
into a set of recommendations, submitted to the Board at its meeting
in Stockholm on June 4, 2001.
The Internet public will have thirty days to comment on the proposed
system. The public comment forum should be accessible shortly
from ICANN's main page at http://www.icann.org/
To ensure that the ICANN's processes are examined with an eye to
the interests of the Internet public, CDT will soon begin work on a
study of its own, evaluating the At-Large process and submitting
recommendations on the future of the public voice. That study will be
taking shape over the next few weeks.
The ICANN staff proposal for a study committee can be found at
http://www.icann.org/at-large/staff-recommendation-study-15nov00.ht
m
---------------------------------------
CDT Policy Post Subscription Information
To subscribe to CDT's Policy Post list, send mail to [log in to unmask] In
the BODY of the message type "subscribe policy-posts" without the quotes.
To unsubscribe from CDT's Policy Post list, send mail to [log in to unmask]
In the BODY of the message type "unsubscribe policy-posts" without
the quotes.
Detailed information about online civil liberties issues may be found at
http://www.cdt.org/
|
