- At-Large - lists.icann.org

Draft Agendas for African, European, and ALAC Meetings in Lisbon
by Nick Ashton-Hart March 13, 2007

March 13, 2007

Dear At-Large Community members: You can now find draft agendas for the At-Large community meetings online. The African and European regions are encouraged to discuss the agendas and propose changes. Note that the documents related to each agenda item will be uploaded as they become available and links to the documents will be found alongside the agenda items that they are associated with. The agendas can be found as follows: Africa: https://st.icann.org/afralo/index.cgi?icann_lisbon_meetings Europe: https://st.icann.org/euralo/index.cgi?lisbon_icann_meeting At-Large Advisory Committee: https://st.icann.org/alac/index.cgi? alac_meeting_agendas In addition, you will find pages for nominations of regional leaders for Europe and Africa off of the meeting pages for each region. Those travelling to Lisbon should also subscribe via RSS to the Travel Information page, or check back often, as this page will be kept current with information about hotels, airport transfers, and mobile phone numbers to call in case of problems. We hope that these pages over the coming days help you to prepare for Lisbon and for those attending the Lisbon meeting we look forward to meeting you at the end of the month! -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director, At-Large ICANN PO Box 32160 London N4 2XY United Kingdom Main Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011] USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 email: nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

1 0

[Fwd: [gnso-dow123] FW: [council] Final Task Force Report on Whois Services]
by Wendy Seltzer March 13, 2007

March 13, 2007

The WHOIS Task Force report, in which a majority of the voting delegates supported the Operational Point of Contact (OPOC) proposal to replace display of registrants' personal data with a listing for an OPOC (which could be the registrant or a delegated point of contact). ALAC did not have a vote on the task force. As an individual, I recommended the further limitation of personal data collection and display in WHOIS. --Wendy -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [gnso-dow123] FW: [council] Final Task Force Report on Whois Services Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:46:53 +0100 From: Maria Farrell <maria.farrell(a)icann.org> To: <gnso-dow123(a)gnso.icann.org> Dear Task Force members, FYI, below is the email I just sent to the GNSO Council with the Task Force report. When the Staff Notes on potential implementation issues is finalised - over the next day or so - I will also forward this to the Task Force. All the best, Maria _____ From: owner-council(a)gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Maria Farrell Sent: Monday, March 12, 2007 4:37 PM To: 'Council GNSO' Subject: [council] Final Task Force Report on Whois Services Dear Council members, Attached is the Final Task Force Report on Whois Services which has been finalised following a Task Force vote that concluded on Saturday, 10 March. The report represents over months' work on the part of the Task Force and its chair, Jordyn Buchanan. The report's policy recommendation, by a simple majority of 7:6, is the OPoC proposal. The minority recommendation in the report is the Special Circumstances proposal. This report is tabled as an agenda item on this week's GNSO Council call. I also expect to circulate Staff Notes on potential implementation issues regarding the Task Force Recommendation and the minority recommendation ahead of the Council call. Best regards, Maria Farrell -- Wendy Seltzer -- wendy(a)seltzer.org Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/seltzer.html http://www.chillingeffects.org/

3 2

Geographic Regions Review
by Nick Ashton-Hart March 12, 2007

March 12, 2007

Dear Community: The following presentation from the Sao Paulo meeting may be useful, especially for those who are new to ICANN. It discusses why the current review of Geographic Regions in ICANN is important and what the regions are used for. I hope you find it helpful. -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director, At-Large ICANN PO Box 32160 London N4 2XY United Kingdom Main Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011] USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 email: nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

2 1

ICANN IDN Laboratory test results online
by Hong Xue March 12, 2007

March 12, 2007

Dear At-Large Community The positive IDN Laboratory test results that have just been posted on www.icann.org - see directly at: http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-4-07mar07.htm It concludes that "during these tests, we were unable to detect any deviation at all in any part of the system from the normal behaviour of DNS systems. The addition of IDN strings seems to have had no measurable effect at all on the qualitative performance of the test systems." These positive results will enable ICANN to move forward with the test of phase II. Phase II is currently under development but will be communicated as soon as possible. Hong ALAC IDN Liaison

5 6

Next Board call
by Vittorio Bertola March 12, 2007

March 12, 2007

This is the agenda for the next Board call on Tuesday. Any input welcome. Special Meeting of the Board Proposed Board Agenda * Approval of Minutes from 12 February 2007 Board Meeting * Designation of Academic Representative for ICANN's 2007 Nominating Committee * Consideration of Board Finance Committee's Recommendation regarding Budget Adjustments and Incremental Projects * Consideration of .MOBI sTLD Contract Amendment Regarding ICANN Fees and Recent Public Comment Period * Update on Registry Failover Projects and Status of Other Projects * Continuation of Consideration of Proposed .XXX Registry Agreement * Continuation of Discussions regarding MOUs of Cooperation with Regional and International Organizations * Discussion of ICANN Bylaws-Mandated Reviews * Updates on New TLD's and Whois PDP's * Updates on IANA Issues * Other Business -- vb. Vittorio Bertola - vb [a] bertola.eu <-------- --------> finally with a new website at http://bertola.eu/ <--------

2 2

ICANN publishes DNS Attack Factsheet
by Adam Peake March 9, 2007

March 9, 2007

ICANN's published a very good summary of the February 6 attack on the root server system. <http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-08mar07.htm> "ICANN has today released a factsheet concerning the recent attack on the root server system on 6 February 2007. The factsheet is intended to provide an explanation of the attack for a non-technical audience in the hope of enlarging public understanding surrounding this and related issues. Aside from covering the attack itself and the engineers' response to it, the factsheet also briefly reviews the root server system, the domain name system, Anycast technology, and what can be done in order to deal with such attacks in future. It is hoped that the factsheet will be the first in a series, with ICANN's general manager of public participation, Kieren McCarthy, acting as series editor. Future factsheets hope to follow a similar approach of providing clear and topical non-technical information about various aspects of the Internet in which ICANN is involved. We welcome whatever feedback the community may have, plus suggestions for future factsheets. Please post any comments you have on the related blog post. This factsheet is released under a Creative Commons licence." Good to see creative commons license being used, help spread the word. Blog post here <http://blog.icann.org/?p=37 > Factsheet in PDF <http://www.icann.org/announcements/factsheet-dns-attack-08mar07.pdf> I imagine Kieren McCarthy would like to hear from people what he should be covering next. And any comments on the factsheet itself. Adam

1 0

ICANN-related News Items
by ICANN At Large Staff March 8, 2007

March 8, 2007

I thought many of you would be interested in one or more of these news snippets: 1. ICANN locks down at-risk Registerfly domains ICANN planned to sue Registerfly.com on 6 March according to Computer Business Review Online, “saying the company is putting its customers' estimated 2 million domain names at risk.” The article notes “in an unprecedented move, ICANN has persuaded the four major generic top- level domain registries to lock down all Registerfly's customers' domains for a month, so they cannot expire and then be hijacked by speculators or domain traffic monetization firms.” With a letter to Registerfly last Friday from ICANN noting “Registerfly is refusing to hand over data about its customers' domains, as required by its registrar accreditation agreement, and that it will enforce the contract in court by filing suit on Tuesday.” The article also notes that as ICANN has not been able to get its hands on the registration data, they have got VeriSign, NeuStar and Afilias “to lock all pending-expiration Registerfly domains into a ‘Server-Delete- Prohibited’ status.” http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=80D83445-B5D5-47BC- B74D-D70EA124D72B 2. When Domain Names Bite Back This story on The Motley Fool gives a background on the RegisterFly “debacle” from an investor’s point of view, looking back as far as the dot-com crash where VeriSign's Network Solutions and Register.com were Wall Street darlings”. The article claims “Before the debacle at Registerfly, the industry was coming back into favour” with investors with GoDaddy looking at going public this year. The article concludes “The Registerfly story may still have a happy ending, but the clock on existing annual registrations keeps ticking. Whether the site cleans up its act, is sold off to a rival registrar, or finds ICANN in a more hands-on role, the industry's reputation is at stake. And consumer faith is on the line. In the name of domains, let's hope this nascent industry gets it right.” http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/03/07/when-domain-names- bite-back.aspx 3. Porn Industry Against New XXX Domain The Free Speech Coalition released a news release petitioning for help in opposing the .xxx TLD proposal. The Free Speech Coalition is the adult entertainment industry’s professional organisation. Genelle Belmas, professor of communications law, who argued in her dissertation in favour of a xxx TLD says, “The side that does not like pornography argues that if you give it its own domain you're legitimizing the porn. And the pornographers don't like it because they say it 'ghettoizes' the porn." The Executive Director of the FSC is quoted as saying what the adult industry refers to as "ghettoizing," is "making adult entertainment an easy target for anti- industry extremists and government intrusion." Other concerns are the cost of registering domain names ($60/year/domain) and that the TLD could be made “mandatory and subject to trans-Internet filtering that could effectively eliminate much of the adult content currently available on the Web." http://media.www.dailytitan.com/media/storage/paper861/news/ 2007/03/06/News/Porn-Industry.Against.New.Xxx.Domain-2759677.shtml

1 0

para la lista del LAC-RALO
by carlos aguirre March 8, 2007

March 8, 2007

1 0

Re: [At-Large] Proposed research on registrar transfer-away fees
by Nick Ashton-Hart March 8, 2007

March 8, 2007

We do have a polling option in the new voting system; we could set one up there and point everyone to it if you like? On 08/03/07, Izumi AIZU <iza(a)anr.org> wrote: > > I think it's good idea to organize this survey. If possible, could we > also do some user survey on the same subject? Ideally, I like to > make an online survey which costs minimum with some automatic > tally feature. > > The challenge may be how to avoid spam or > non-serious responses, etc. > > izumi > > 2007/3/8, Wendy Seltzer <wendy(a)seltzer.com>: > > Thanks to Danny Younger for starting this conversation. > > > > Danny has proposed that the ALAC initiate research on a specific, > > registrant-affecting question: What are the scope and magnitude of > > transfer-away fees among the various registrars? These fees, charged to > > domain-name registrants when they seek to leave one registrar for > > another, can lock registrants in to a registrar who no longer serves > > their needs (as has happened in droves with former Registerfly > > customers). High fees can also contravene the intent of the uniform > > transfers policy. We have seen little public information about these > fees. > > > > So, here is a focused research task: > > For each registrar, ask > > Is there a transfer-away fee for registrants to take their domain names > > to another registrar? > > If so, what is the fee? > > Is the transfer-away fee disclosed to the registrant at the time of > > registration? > > Where and how is such disclosure made? > > Is the fee subject to change? > > > > After we decide whether these are the relevant questions, we should ask > > staff to contact all registrars for their responses, and/or review > > public information on the registrars' websites. > > > > If you're interested in this research, please respond to this message > > with your thoughts. > > > > --Wendy > > > > -- > > Wendy Seltzer -- wendy(a)seltzer.org > > Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School > > Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society > > http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/seltzer.html > > http://www.chillingeffects.org/ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > ALAC mailing list > > ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org > > > http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org > > > > www.alac.icann.org > > www.icannalac.org > > > > > > > -- > >> Izumi Aizu << > > Institute for HyperNetwork Society > Kumon Center, Tama University > * * * * * > << Writing the Future of the History >> > www.anr.org > > _______________________________________________ > ALAC mailing list > ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org > > http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org > > www.alac.icann.org > www.icannalac.org > -- -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart PO Box 32160 London N4 2XY United Kingdom UK Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011 USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

1 0

ICANN Successfully Conducts Laboratory Tests of Internationalised Domain Names
by Nick Ashton-Hart March 8, 2007

March 8, 2007

In October, 2006, ICANN engaged Autonomica AB of Stockholm, Sweden, to develop, conduct, and report on the results of laboratory testing of internationalized top-level domains in a setting corresponding to the public root. Quoting from their report, Just Posted this morning: Autonomica AB has, under a contract with ICANN, investigated whether the addition of top level domains containing encoded internationalized characters (so called IDNs) would have any impact on the operations of the root name servers providing delegations, or the iterative mode resolvers used to look up the information. No impact at all could be detected. All involved systems behaved exactly as expected. Internationalized domain names (IDNs) are domain names containing characters other than those based on the ASCII character sets. Such non-ASCII characters include those available in right-to-left scripts (e.g., Arabic) and non-alphabetic scripts (e.g., Mandarin Chinese). ICANN is actively involved in the efforts to make these available at the top level—that is, so that an entire domain name can be rendered in local characters. The global deployment of IDNs will enhance the local Internet experience in large regions of the world by enabling people to share and access information or use services offered in their own languages. The laboratory technical test is one of the prerequisites to eventual insert internationalized top level labels in the root zone. This test is intended to determine the viability of internationalized top-level names and the effect they may have on the DNS. The work was done by replicating the root server environment. The test intentionally did not incorporate the end-user perspective or a live root test. Autonomica reported successful insertion using two major server implementations used by most root server operators: BIND and NSD. The test design was finalized in December of 2006 following a public comment period. The test procedure was published so that others can replicate the test. Details of the test setup and design can be found here. Details of the test result can be found here. [PDF, 73K] For any questions or request for additional details of the test design and result please contact Tina Dam at tina.dam(a)icann.org For further information around ICANN’s IDN Program please visit http://www.icann.org/topics/idn/ -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director, At-Large ICANN PO Box 32160 London N4 2XY United Kingdom Main Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011] USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 email: nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

1 0