FYI ________________________________ From: owner-alerts@icann.org [mailto:owner-alerts@icann.org] On Behalf Of ICANN News Alert Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 3:25 PM To: alerts@greenriver.icann.org Subject: [alerts] ICANN News Alert -- Updated Proposed .MUSEUM sTLD Registry Agreement Posted for Public Comment ICANN <http://www.icann.org/> News Alert http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-31aug07.htm ________________________________ Updated Proposed .MUSEUM sTLD Registry Agreement Posted for Public Comment 31 August 2007 An updated version of the proposed .MUSEUM sponsorship agreement is posted today for public comment. The amendment from the previous draft agreement is a result of significant collaboration between the registry sponsor and community members. The updated agreement is posted today with the intention of submitting it to the ICANN Board for approval after the 30-day comment period. Background The proposed .MUSEUM sTLD registry agreement and appendices were originally posted for public comment on 2 March 2007 (http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-02mar07.htm). After consultation with the community an amendment was made to Appendix S of the agreement that describes some of the duties and rights of the registry sponsor, MuseDoma. (Amended Proposed .MUSEUM Appendices <http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/museum/draft-proposed-museum-appen dices-26aug07.pdf> [PDF, 141K]) During the public comment period that was open through 23 March 2007, concern was expressed about proposed language in Part VII of Appendix S, that allowed for up to 5,000 domain names to be directly managed by MuseDoma. This language was created by MuseDoma recognizing that the "wildcard" capability that was allowed in the original agreement was eliminated from this renewal agreement. (For more on "wildcards" see, http://www.icann.org/committees/security/sac015.htm.) On 27 March 2007, at ICANN's public meeting in Lisbon, MuseDoma and the ICANN Registrar Constituency held a public exchange on the purpose of the proposed language and on various forms that language might take. MuseDoma agreed to propose language in response to the public exchange. There have been additional telephonic conferences among some interested parties since that time. Amendment Original Language Proposed Language Sponsor may register up to 5,000 domain names directly with the Registry Operator and keep these names under direct management until the conclusion of its designation by ICANN as the Sponsor for the Sponsored TLD. Recognizing that: i) the charter of the .MUSEUM top-level domain is sufficiently restrictive so that it has appeal to a small, identifiable and limited community, and that said restrictions have created conditions that substantially limit market demand and as a result, registrar uptake; ii) MuseDoma is a not-for-profit entity as is the community it is required to serve by the definition of its charter; and iii) MuseDoma makes available to its community members under certain conditions, at no cost, third-level domain names. Therefore, MuseDoma is permitted to maintain up to 4,000 domain names directly with the Registry Operator and keep these names under direct management for purposes stated in iii) of this Section until the conclusion of its designation by ICANN as the Sponsor for the Sponsored TLD. No other changes have been made to the version of the agreement posted on 2 March 2007. As previously reported, the proposed agreement is for a ten-year term, and provides for: * the elimination of the wildcard; * ICANN fees based on the total number of registrations; * continuation of the existing requirements for: * compliance with consensus and temporary policies except to the extent policy development has been delegated to the sponsoring organization; * comprehensive registry data escrow; and, * approval of new registry services and modifications to existing registry services. Comments on the updated proposed agreement can be posted to museum-renewal-2007@icann.org no later than 5:00PM PST, 30 September 2007 and viewed at http://forum.icann.org/lists/museum-renewal-2007. ________________________________ To unsubscribe from this mailing list, please visit http://www.icann.org/newsletter If you have questions or comments about this mailing list, send an email to ICANN-Alerts@icann.org