Dear all, We would like to invite you to a briefing and discussion session attended by Tim Cole, Chief Registrar Liaison, and the At-Large RAA Working Group and members of the At-Large community on the Draft amendments to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). The public consultation period on the RAA has recently ended in English, but the consultation materials were posted in French and Spanish on 6th August and comments in those languages will be taken until the end of August. The At-Large community will be developing its views, incorporating the viewpoints of its Spanish and French-speaking participants, as follow-up actions from the briefing. The teleconference will provide an opportunity for all participants to ask questions and discuss the RAA Amendments consultation and documents and for those in the Spanish and French-speaking communities to receive any background information on the RAA, its history and the reasons that led to the creation of the amendments that they require. Participants are requested to provide their comments or questions in advance, to the extent possible, at the following URL by using the Comment¹ button at the top of the page: https://st.icann.org/alac/index.cgi?draft_amendments_to_raa You will also find participation instructions on this page. Presenters/Moderators: Tim Cole, Chief Registrar Liaison, oversees the registrar new and renewal accreditation process. He has been intensively involved in the RAA consultation process. Beau Brendler is an ALAC member from North America and the ALAC focal point for the At-Large Registrar Registrant Relations Working Group. Background Information: The Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) is the contract that governs the relationship between ICANN and its approximately 900 accredited registrars. The current agreement has been in place since May 2001. As the market has developed and the number of ICANN accredited registrars and domain name registrations have grown significantly, it has become clear that certain amendments should be made to this important agreement. The amendments are intended to provide clarity and certainty regarding the duties of registrars and the rights of registrants. In March 2007, Dr. Paul Twomey, President and CEO of ICANN called for a comprehensive review of the RAA and the Accreditation process. The results of that review included a Board resolution describing an approach for arriving at and implementing amendments. In accordance with that resolution, ICANN has solicited public input for possible changes to the RAA and the accreditation process. The Staff has drafted a set of proposed amendments in accordance with that input, information received at workshops and public fora to date, and consultations with the gTLD Registrar Constituency. The Teleconference is scheduled on Wednesday, 20 August at 1400 UTC. There will be simultaneous interpretation in French and Spanish. All ICANN stakeholder community members are welcome to participate, especially those who are primarily French and/or Spanish-speakers. Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart, Matthias Langenegger, Frederic Teboul ICANN At-Large Staff email: staff@atlarge.icann.org