Folks, This question is mainly directed at our African colleagues, but I am not subscribed to that region's list and also think that this could raise a discussion of general interest. The Board will consider in the next weeks the request for delegation of the .eh ccTLD for West Sahara. One of the elements to be taken into account in a delegation/redelegation/revocation is the interests of the local internet community. However, this si far from being something easy to assess. IMHO, the AtLarge can be of help. So, the general question is whether ALAC should be involved, providing an opinion/advice on the delegation/redelegation/revocation process. Notably, we have the debate about what to do with the current .su that is no longer part of the ISO-3166-1 list: what is the opinion of the local Internet community? Specifically, we have now the case of Western Sahara. Does any of you have any knowledge of the EH internet community, maybe seen from one of the neighbouring countries? Does it have any added value to start this type of debate? Cheers, Roberto PS: please feel free to forward this message to the African At Large mailing list.
Roberto Gaetano ha scritto:
Folks,
This question is mainly directed at our African colleagues, but I am not subscribed to that region's list and also think that this could raise a discussion of general interest.
The Board will consider in the next weeks the request for delegation of the .eh ccTLD for West Sahara.
I must add that I have been quite vocal on the Board list, trying to push the point of view that if the delegation meets the usual requirements, then the contested situation in the country should not be a basis for its rejection. [To recap: Western Sahara is (apart from a few island territories such as the Cayman Islands etc.) the only remaining colony in the world. It used to be a Spanish colony until 1975, when the ongoing rebellion of the Polisario Front - the fighting organization of the local Sahrawi people - prompted Spain to abandon it. Then, even if the United Nations recognized its right to self-determination and an independent republic was proclaimed, it was militarly occupied by Morocco, that claims to have rights to its territory. This prompted a war that lasted until the 90's, when both sides agreed to a UN peace plan that foresaw a referendum on the future status of the territory. Unfortunately, no agreement has ever been reached on who would be entitled to vote, and so the situation is stuck. The territory is presently divided by a wall, with 2/3 of the territory including all major cities and resources staying under Moroccan rule, and 1/3 of desert being under the control of the Polisario Front. Of course, all of the above is subject to different interpretation depending to whom you talk to.] Specifically, I would be concerned if ICANN, in front of a technically valid application, refused to approve it for fear of an upset reaction by some governments (starting from Morocco). I think that governments - especially the ones of the neighbouring countries - are not the only or even the main stakeholder in the matter. I also assume that we, as the At Large, are the constituency that has the duty to represent the interests of the local users of the Internet in Western Sahara, or, "the people" if you like, and this is why I'm not too keen on letting this request be let down too easily (even if, of course, I still have to see whether the request is appropriate and meets the requirements). Of course, any direct contact with groups and Internet users in Western Sahara would be useful. Also, I would of course take any collective views on the matter, if different from the above. -- vb. Vittorio Bertola - vb [a] bertola.eu <-------- --------> finally with a new website at http://bertola.eu/ <--------
Vittorio: I don´t think that a delegation of a ccTLD could be considered as a recognition of a state or a government on Interlational Law. ICANN´s mission is totaly different José Ovidio Salgueiro A. jsalgueiro@cantv.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Vittorio Bertola To: Roberto Gaetano Cc: alac@atlarge-lists.icann.org ; 'Alan Levin' Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 9:30 AM Subject: Re: [At-Large] Question Roberto Gaetano ha scritto:
Folks,
This question is mainly directed at our African colleagues, but I am not subscribed to that region's list and also think that this could raise a discussion of general interest.
The Board will consider in the next weeks the request for delegation of the .eh ccTLD for West Sahara.
I must add that I have been quite vocal on the Board list, trying to push the point of view that if the delegation meets the usual requirements, then the contested situation in the country should not be a basis for its rejection. [To recap: Western Sahara is (apart from a few island territories such as the Cayman Islands etc.) the only remaining colony in the world. It used to be a Spanish colony until 1975, when the ongoing rebellion of the Polisario Front - the fighting organization of the local Sahrawi people - prompted Spain to abandon it. Then, even if the United Nations recognized its right to self-determination and an independent republic was proclaimed, it was militarly occupied by Morocco, that claims to have rights to its territory. This prompted a war that lasted until the 90's, when both sides agreed to a UN peace plan that foresaw a referendum on the future status of the territory. Unfortunately, no agreement has ever been reached on who would be entitled to vote, and so the situation is stuck. The territory is presently divided by a wall, with 2/3 of the territory including all major cities and resources staying under Moroccan rule, and 1/3 of desert being under the control of the Polisario Front. Of course, all of the above is subject to different interpretation depending to whom you talk to.] Specifically, I would be concerned if ICANN, in front of a technically valid application, refused to approve it for fear of an upset reaction by some governments (starting from Morocco). I think that governments - especially the ones of the neighbouring countries - are not the only or even the main stakeholder in the matter. I also assume that we, as the At Large, are the constituency that has the duty to represent the interests of the local users of the Internet in Western Sahara, or, "the people" if you like, and this is why I'm not too keen on letting this request be let down too easily (even if, of course, I still have to see whether the request is appropriate and meets the requirements). Of course, any direct contact with groups and Internet users in Western Sahara would be useful. Also, I would of course take any collective views on the matter, if different from the above. -- vb. Vittorio Bertola - vb [a] bertola.eu <-------- --------> finally with a new website at http://bertola.eu/ <-------- _______________________________________________ ALAC mailing list ALAC@atlarge-lists.icann.org http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org www.alac.icann.org www.icannalac.org
Vittorio Bertola wrote, On 09/02/2007 14:30:
Specifically, I would be concerned if ICANN, in front of a technically valid application, refused to approve it for fear of an upset reaction by some governments (starting from Morocco). Indeed. Adding a new ccTLD to the root is an administrative and technical process, not a political one. Actually the acronym ccTLD is improper. The ISO codes match statistical entities as defined by the UN. Sovereign countries are only a part of these.
After the triple-x saga, it would be good for the ICANN board to send out a clear signal that it intends to limit itself to its narrow technical role of preserving the security and stability of the Internet, not taking into account irrelevant political pressure. Per RFC920: "Domains are administrative entities. The purpose and expected use of domains is to divide the name management required of a central administration and assign it to sub-administrations. There are no geographical, topological, or technological constraints on a domain." And per RFC1591: "The IANA is not in the business of deciding what is and what is not a country. The selection of the ISO 3166 list as a basis for country code top-level domain names was made with the knowledge that ISO has a procedure for determining which entities should be and should not be on that list." Patrick
participants (4)
-
José Ovidio Salgueiro A. -
Patrick Vande Walle -
Roberto Gaetano -
Vittorio Bertola