http://www.idg.net/idg_frames/english/content.cgi?return=%2fidg_frames%2fenglish%2ffeatures%2ehtml%23ts4&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ecomputerworld%2ecom%2fhome%2fnews%2ensf%2fidgnet%2f9808252domain&allowFeedback=false
> PARIS -- Industry representatives, Internet users and academics around
> the world have essentially agreed on the structure for a new global
> organization for the assigning and management of top-level domain names,
> which will be put into operation at the end of next month.
>
> The agreement comes after months of discussions, meetings and white
> papers that have had as their common goal the formation of a new entity
> to replace the Internet Assigned Names Authority (IANA). IANA is the
> U.S. government-funded organization that currently handles the back-end
> administration of so-called top-level domain names, such as .com, .net
> and .org.
>
> The way top-level domain names are allocated, registered and managed has
> caused heated debate over the past two years, after the existing
> U.S.-controlled system came under fire for its non-international
> approach.
>
> As it stands now, the U.S. government-funded Internet Network
> Information Center (InterNIC) registers top-level domain names, while
> IANA maintains the technical architecture behind the names and has the
> power to issue new ones. Individual countries register their own domain
> names, such as .fr for France. But InterNIC has a monopoly on the
> registration of the coveted .com and .net names.
>
> When the U.S. government released a paper earlier this year suggesting
> the formation of a new, U.S.-based organization to handle the tasks of
> IANA, including the delegation of several new top-level domains, the
> international community angrily called for a more global approach. In
> return, the U.S. government issued another paper in June, suggesting
> that the private sector should handle the task of creating a private,
> international organization to take IANA's place.
>
> The U.S. government white paper stipulated that this new organization,
> sometimes referred to as the New IANA, would have to be put in place by
> Sept. 30, when IANA's and InterNIC's contracts expire. Yesterday, IANA
> issued a white paper on its Web site outlining the structure of the new
> organization. While the paper isn't a final plan, it comes close to what
> will be the structure of the new organization, said Jon Postel, director
> of IANA, in a mass E-mailing to interested parties. However, the plan
> is still open to comment and could change slightly before the new
> organization is put into place at the end of September, he said.
>
> Some of the main points in IANA's white paper include the following:
>
> The New IANA will be a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles.
>
> Its main objectives will be to undertake
> whatever is necessary to maintain the
> operational stability of the Internet and to
> manage the allocation of new top-level
> domain names.
>
> The organization will managed by a
> nine-member board of directors that will
> notify the public of any meetings via the
> Internet at least 14 days in advance.
>
> No government member can become a
> board member, but governments will have
> their say through a special advisory
> committee.
>
> No more than half of the members of the
> board of directors can be from one
> geographic region (defined as Europe,
> Asia/Australia/Pacific, South America,
> Africa, North America and Elsewhere).
IANA's own plan for the new IANA is promising (but of course I'm
agreeable, because I'm a member of the community for whom they speak),
and it seems to get updated daily
http://www.iana.org/newiana.html
If you have any time you should look at the FAQ
http://www.iana.org/message-faqs.html
the proposed articles of incorporation of the new IANA
http://www.iana.org/articles1.html
the latest iteration (#3) of the proposed bylaws
http://www.iana.org/bylaws3.html
and the comments from the community
http://www.iana.org/comments.html
So it seems like in a short amount of time they have dealt with the
issues in a July 98 CNN article
http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9807/28/domain.idg/
> While the international community seems to broadly agree on
> the formation of the New Organization to replace IANA, many
> questions as to its final structure still remain. Will the
> organization permit members from the government to join? What
> will be the role of international organizations such at the World
> Intellectual Property Organization and the International
> Telecommunications Union? Will registrars be for-profit or
> nonprofit? How will the New Organization ensure that industry
> members have no ulterior allegiances to their shareholders?
> How will trademark disputes be settled? And what impact will
> existing work in the area of domain names have on the new
> negotiations?
Speaking of CNN, yesterday they had an interesting little piece
comparing this process to the Partridge Family
http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9808/26/partridgefam.idg/index.html
which I include below. Boy, I hope the right outcome emerges from this.
Maybe we at FoRK should send a little endorsement of the proposed bylaws
to iana@iana.org ? (Yeah, an endorsement from 4K Consulting goes a long
way... :)
> The Partridge Family does domains
> August 26, 1998, Web posted at: 1:20 PM EDT
> by Sandra Gittlen, Online reporter, Network World Fusion
>
> (IDG) -- For the past two months, Ira Magaziner, the Clinton
> administration's top Internet advisor, has been touring the globe,
> trying to gain consensus for his IP address and domain-name overhaul
> plan. With him at each stop has been Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI), the
> Internet Society (ISOC) and members of global Internet organizations.
>
> While the stops have been hacked together on a moment's notice,
> representatives from these organizations seem to have no problem jetting
> off to the global destinations, which have included Geneva, Singapore,
> and Buenos Aires.
>
> What set out to be a simple set of four meetings has turned into a
> never-ending global tour. But not just any tour. It bears a strange
> resemblance to a Partridge Family reunion for the '90s, complete with
> all the original characters:
>
> Shirley Partridge
>
> In 1998, she's played by Boston University Professor Tamar Frankel. And
> boy does she have her hands full. As mediator for each stop's series of
> meetings, Frankel has the thankless job of trying to keep all her band
> members from bickering and yet crank out new tunes or policies. Word
> from the band's stop in Geneva had Frankel losing her impartiality and a
> grip on her band. Band members criticized her for getting to close to
> the band's promoter, Magaziner, and not keeping an open mind.
>
> Keith Partridge
>
> Playing the hot-to-trot boy toy of the Partridge clan is NSI, the
> current administrator of domain names such as .com, .net and .edu. The
> company is a rising star; its stock price has soared from good word that
> it will grow even in the wake of competition from new domain name
> registrars. Like Keith, NSI keeps singing its heart out about all the
> good that is going to come from this competition and how it
> wholeheartedly supports the government's plan. But deep down inside, the
> company just can't wait to break from the government's grip.
>
> Laurie and Danny Partridge
>
> The Internet Society and its various offshoots, such as the almost
> defunct Council of Registrars, play an amalgam of Laurie and Danny.
> Trying to gain the spotlight from domain darling NSI is a pretty tough
> job. In order to cash in on the band's success, Laurie and Danny can't
> look upset, but they have to make sure that their interests are
> recognized and their concerns addressed. They also have to keep their
> promise to ISPs and organizations that ponied up significant dollars for
> a chance to hand out domain names. Besides, Keith has the corner of the
> market on screaming fans.
>
> Reuben Kincaid
>
> Internet Assigned Numbers Authority head Jon Postel, plays a more hip,
> more mod version of Mr. Kincaid. Like the erstwhile manager of the
> famous family, Postel seems to be waiting in the wings, watching as the
> others battle back and forth. However, appearances can be deceiving.
> Instead, Mr. Postel is behind the scenes, trying to keep a hold on his
> stake in the Internet. In Geneva, Postel passed out copies of his plan
> for the new nonprofit, a move that was met with dismay by some of the
> band members. Frankel, like Mrs. Partridge would, tried to run
> interference, but some band members were already perturbed.
>
> Then there's Ira Magaziner, who created the band. While Magaziner
> doesn't have a single role, he plays the gamut of industry executives
> and concert promoters that the band comes across. On the one hand, he
> wants all the band members to have a hand in the future of Internet
> addressing, but on the other, he's pretty clear on what he wants to come
> out of this effort. He's also sure that he wants Internet addressing to
> be off the government's plate, but he still wants to make sure that some
> government oversight occurs.
>
> The tour is due to wind up back in the U.S. or Canada next month.
> Whether the band members decide to stay on board the government plan or
> hand up their instruments remains to be seen. Some members, such as ISOC
> and CORE, may have suffered severe exhaustion on the trip and heard one
> too many rounds of "C'mon, get happy!"
----
adam@cs.caltech.edu
Dedicated to preserving the central coordinating functions of the global
Internet for the public good.
-- http://www.iana.org/