[kictanet] Important ICANN JPA midterm review

[Michuki Mwangi]

<apologies for cross posting>

Dear All

As you maybe aware ICANN is subject to midterm reviews by the Department
of Commerce (DOC) in 2008 following the signing of the extension of the
contract in Sept 2006.

One of the important issues that arose prior to the extension of the
contract was ICANNs independence from the US Government. This midterm
review is important as it presents an opportunity for all those keen on
the issues to give in their comments, feedback and reviews on ICANNs
performance based on the contract.

Kindly take time to read through and give your feedback to the DOC and
also distribute within your local communities.

Thanks and regards,

Michuki Mwangi
President AfTLD.


------------------------------------------------


http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/frnotices/2007/ICANN_JPA_110207.html
<http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/frnotices/2007/ICANN_JPA_110207.html>

Federal Register Notice:
The Continued Transition of the Technical Coordination and Management
of the Internet's Domain Name and Addressing System: Midterm Review of
the Joint Project Agreement

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Docket No. 071023616-7617-01

The Continued Transition of the Technical Coordination and Management
of the Internet's Domain Name and Addressing System: Midterm Review of
the Joint Project Agreement

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration,
U.S. Department of Commence

ACTION: Notice of Inquiry

SUMMARY: The United States Department of Commerce's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) seeks
comments on the continued transition to the private sector of the
technical coordination and management of the Internet's domain name
and addressing system (DNS). NTIA and the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) signed a Joint Project Agreement
(JPA) on September 29, 2006. It called for a midpoint review of
ICANN's progress towards becoming a more stable organization with
greater transparency and accountability in its procedures and decision
making. The Department of Commerce seeks comment regarding the
progress achieved on the Responsibilities identified in the JPA.

DATES: Comments are due on or before February 15, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by mail to Suzanne R.
Sene, Office of International Affairs, National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room 4701,
Washington, DC 20230. Paper submissions should include a three and
one-half inch computer diskette in HTML, ASCII, Word or WordPerfect
format (please specify version). Diskettes should be labeled with the
name and organizational affiliation of the filer, and the name of the
word processing program used to create the document. Alternatively,
comments may be submitted electronically to
JPAMidTermReview at ntia.doc.gov <mailto:JPAMidTermReview at ntia.doc.gov>.
Comments provided via electronic mail
should also be submitted in one or more of the formats specified
above. Comments will be posted to NTIA's website at
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/jpamidtermreview.html
<http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/jpamidtermreview.html> .

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about this Notice
contact: Suzanne R. Sene, National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue,
N.W., Room 4701, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3167; or
email: ssene at ntia.doc.gov <mailto:ssene at ntia.doc.gov> Please direct
media inquiries to the Office
of Public Affairs, NTIA, at (202) 482-7002

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background: A July 1, 1997 Executive Memorandum directed the Secretary
of Commerce to privatize the domain name system (DNS) in a manner that
increases competition and facilitates international participation in
its management. In order to fulfill this Presidential directive, the
Department of Commerce in June 1998, issued a statement of policy on
the privatization of the Internet Domain Name System (DNS), known as
the DNS White Paper. This document articulated four primary functions
for global DNS coordination and management:

1. To set policy for and direct the allocation of IP number blocks; 2.
To oversee the operation of the Internet root server system; 3. To
oversee policy for determining the circumstances under which new top
level domains (TLDs) would be added to the root server system; and 4.
To coordinate the assignment of other technical protocol parameters as
needed to maintain universal connectivity on the Internet.

In the DNS White Paper, the Department of Commerce concluded that
these functions were relevant to the state of the DNS and should be
primarily performed through private sector management. To this end,
the Department of Commerce stated that it was prepared to enter into
agreement with a new not-for-profit corporation formed by private
sector Internet stakeholders. Private sector interests formed the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for this
purpose.

In the fall of 1998, the Department of Commerce entered into a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ICANN, a California non-profit
corporation, to transition technical DNS coordination and management
functions to the private sector.

On June 30, 2005 NTIA released the U.S. Principles on the Internet's
Domain Name and Addressing System, which state: the United States
Government intends to preserve the security and stability of the DNS
by maintaining its historic role in authorizing changes or
modifications to the authoritative root zone file; governments have
legitimate interest in the management of their country code top level
domains (ccTLD); ICANN is the appropriate technical manager of the
Internet's DNS; and dialogue related to Internet governance should
continue in relevant multiple fora.

On May 23, 2006, NTIA issued a Notice of Inquiry and announced a
Public Meeting on The Continued Transition of the Technical
Coordination and Management of the Internet Domain Name and Addressing
System. The public consultation resulted in over 700 contributions
from individuals, private corporations, trade associations,
non-governmental entities and foreign governments. It showed broad
support for continuing the transition of the coordination of the
technical management of the DNS to the private sector and the
continued involvement of the DOC in this transition. On September 29,
2006, NTIA and ICANN signed a Joint Project Agreement (JPA) extending
the current Memorandum of Understanding between the Department and
ICANN. The JPA called for a midpoint review of ICANN's progress
towards becoming a more stable organization with greater transparency
and accountability in its procedures and decision making.

REQUEST FOR COMMENT:

Given the requirement of a midterm review in the JPA, NTIA seeks
comments on the progress achieved on the Responsibilities included in
the JPA.

The questions below are intended to assist in identifying the issues
and should not be construed as a limitation on comments that may be
submitted. When references are made to studies, research, and other
empirical data that are not widely published, please provide copies of
the referenced materials with the submitted comments.

1. In the JPA, ICANN agreed to undertake the following with respect to
security and stability: "ICANN shall coordinate, at the overall level,
the global Internet's systems of unique identifiers, and in particular
to ensure the stable and secure operation of the Internet's unique
identifier systems." What progress do you believe ICANN has achieved
with regard to this Responsibility since October 1, 2006? If you
believe that progress has been made, please explain how and why? Could
more be done by ICANN in this area?

2. In the JPA, ICANN agreed to undertake the following with respect to
transparency: "ICANN shall continue to develop, test and improve
processes and procedures to encourage improved transparency,
accessibility, efficiency, and timeliness in the consideration and
adoption of policies related to technical coordination of the Internet
DNS, and funding for ICANN operations. ICANN will innovate and aspire
to be a leader in the area of transparency for organizations involved
in private sector management." What progress do you believe ICANN has
achieved with regard to this Responsibility since October 1, 2006? If
you believe that progress has been made, please explain how and why?
Could more be done by ICANN in this area?

3. In the JPA, ICANN agreed to undertake the following with respect to
accountability: "ICANN shall continue to develop, test, maintain, and
improve on accountability mechanisms to be responsive to global
Internet stakeholders in the consideration and adoption of policies
related to the technical coordination of the Internet DNS, including
continuing to improve openness and accessibility for enhanced
participation in ICANN's bottom-up participatory policy development
processes." What progress do you believe ICANN has achieved with
regard to this Responsibility since October 1, 2006? If you believe
that progress has been made, please explain how and why? Could more be
done by ICANN in this area?

4. In the JPA, ICANN agreed to undertake the following with respect to
root server security and relationships: "ICANN shall continue to
coordinate with the operators of root name servers and other
appropriate experts with respect to the operational and security
matters, both physical and network, relating to the secure and stable
coordination of the root zone; ensure appropriate contingency
planning; maintain clear processes in root zone changes. ICANN will
work to formalize relationships with root name server operators." What
progress do you believe ICANN has achieved with regard to this
Responsibility since October 1, 2006? If you believe that progress has
been made, please explain how and why? Could more be done by ICANN in
this area?

5. In the JPA, ICANN agreed to undertake the following with respect to
TLD management: ICANN shall maintain and build on processes to ensure
that competition, consumer interests, and Internet DNS stability and
security issues are identified and considered in TLD management
decisions, including the consideration and implementation of new TLDs
and the introduction of IDNs. ICANN will continue to develop its
policy development processes, and will further develop processes for
taking into account recommendations from ICANN's advisory committees
and supporting organizations and other relevant expert advisory panels
and organizations. ICANN shall continue to enforce existing policy
relating to WHOIS, such existing policy requires that ICANN implement
measures to maintain timely, unrestricted and public access to
accurate and complete WHOIS information, including registrant,
technical, billing and administrative contact information. ICANN shall
continue its efforts to achieve stable agreements with country-code
top-level domain (ccTLD) operators." What progress do you believe
ICANN has achieved with regard to this Responsibility since October 1,
2006? If you believe that progress has been made, please explain how
and why? Could more be done by ICANN in this area?

6. In the JPA, ICANN agreed to undertake the following with respect to
the multi-stakeholder model: "ICANN shall maintain and improve
multi-stakeholder model and the global participation of all
stakeholders, including conducting reviews of its existing advisory
committees and supporting organizations, and will continue to further
the effectiveness of the bottom-up policy development processes. ICANN
will strive to increase engagement with the Private Sector by
developing additional mechanisms for involvement of those affected by
the ICANN policies." What progress do you believe ICANN has achieved
with regard to this Responsibility since October 1, 2006? If you
believe that progress has been made, please explain how and why? Could
more be done by ICANN in this area?

7. In the JPA, ICANN agreed to undertake the following with respect to
the role of governments: "ICANN shall work with the Government
Advisory Committee Members to review the GAC's role within ICANN so as
to facilitate effective consideration of GAC advice on the public
policy aspects of the technical coordination of the Internet." What
progress do you believe ICANN has achieved with regard to this
Responsibility since October 1, 2006? If you believe that progress has
been made, please explain how and why? Could more be done by ICANN in
this area?

8. In the JPA, ICANN agreed to undertake the following with respect to
IP addressing: "ICANN shall continue to work collaboratively on a
global and regional level so as to incorporate Regional Internet
Registries' policy-making activities into the ICANN processes while
allowing them to continue their technical work. ICANN shall continue
to maintain legal agreements with the RIRs (and such other appropriate
organizations) reflecting this work." What progress do you believe
ICANN has achieved with regard to this Responsibility since October 1,
2006? If you believe that progress has been made, please explain how
and why? Could more be done by ICANN in this area?

9. In the JPA, ICANN agreed to undertake the following with respect to
corporate responsibility: "ICANN shall maintain excellence and
efficiency in operations, including good governance, organizational
measures to maintain stable, international private sector
organization, and shall maintain relevant technical and business
experience for members of the Board of Directors, executive
management, and staff. ICANN will implement appropriate mechanisms
that foster participation in ICANN by global Internet stakeholders,
such as providing educational services and fostering information
sharing for constituents and promoting best practices among industry
segments." What progress do you believe ICANN has achieved with regard
to this Responsibility since October 1, 2006? If you believe that
progress has been made, please explain how and why? Could more be done
by ICANN in this area?

10. In the JPA, ICANN agreed to undertake the following with respect
to its corporate administrative structure: "ICANN shall conduct a
review of, and shall make necessary changes in, corporate
administrative structure to ensure stability, including devoting
adequate resources to contract enforcement, taking into account
organizational and corporate governance 'best practices.'" What
progress do you believe ICANN has achieved with regard to this
Responsibility since October 1, 2006? If you believe that progress has
been made, please explain how and why? Could more be done by ICANN in
this area?

Dated: October 30, 2007

John M. R. Kneuer
Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information

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###

The JPA is at this link as well as the affirmation of
responsibilities:
http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-29sep06.htm