- Category: (replace this text with one of the following categories: Administration/Budget, Board, ccTLD, gTLD, IP, ICANN Structure, International Agreement, Root Zone)
- Topic: RAA (replace this text with a keywords from title)
- Board meeting date: 4 March 1999
- Resolution number: 99.15, 99.16, 99.17, 99.18
- URL for Board minutes/resolution: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-04mar99.htm
- Status: (replace this text with: Completed
Summary
Approved and directed implementation of Registrar Accreditation Policy.
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- , Ongoing, Suspended)
Summary
(replace this text with the a one-sentence summary of the resolution)
Text
At this point in the meeting, Joan Wasylenki of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue joined by telephone and was introduced to the Board.
Following up on the presentation of Joe Sims to the Board at the March 3 open meeting, Mike Roberts summarized the substance of the public comments received on the staff's draft guidelines for the accreditation of registrars in the .com, .org, and .net generic top level domains. Mike Roberts then presented and the Board discussed a set of changes to the draft guidelines proposed by the staff in response to the weight of the public comments, including: (i) converting the minimum financial qualifications to safe harbor provisions, to allow smaller firms to compete where demonstrably appropriate; (ii) lowering the working capital requirement to USD $70,000; (iii) providing for the confidential handling of business plans and other confidential information; (iv) assuring registrars that accreditation will be renewed under then-existing accreditation standards, absent misconduct or serious failings; (v) simplifying previously-used IAHC language on technical requirements to more accurately reflect the goal of ensuring that the prospective registrar has successfully configured one domain, as a technical matter; (vi) reducing business uncertainty by requiring that ICANN act on accreditation applications with reasonable promptness; (vii) setting the fixed component of the annual registrar accreditation fee at USD $5,000, and the variable fee component at no more than USD $1 per domain; (viii) increasing significantly the frequency of registrar data escrow to daily updates; (ix) requiring registrars to maintain in force during their accreditation the level of liability insurance that constitutes the basis for their accreditation; (x) making clear in the guidelines that domain-name holders will be permitted to retain their domain names by renewal, absent a limited and unusual set of circumstances; (xi) setting no maximum length for the term for any given domain name registration; (xii) requiring registrars to make reasonable efforts to investigate and correct inaccuracies in contact data for domain name holders; (xiii) providing that only a willful failure to provide updated contact data will constitute grounds for cancellation of the registration; (xiv) clarifying that the prepayment requirement can be met by charging a credit card or similar mechanism; (xv) revising the limited anonymous-registration mechanism to make clear that a facilitating ISP or second-party domain name holder for an anonymous third party is liable for harm caused by use of an anonymously-registered second-level domain, unless the ISP or second-party holder promptly discloses the identity of the domain name holder upon a reasonable showing of harm by the requesting party; (vxi) expanding the period for a registrar to cure a violation of the accreditation agreement to 30 days; (xvii) providing that arbitrations will be handled promptly; (xviii) requiring SRS testbed participants to enter a supplemental agreement to publicly release their non-confidential operational information and to participate in a public forum at the conclusion of the test period; and (xix) expressly scheduling a Board review of the accreditation guidelines for Spring 2000.
A full summary and discussion of the comments received and other considerations weighed by the Board is attached as Exhibit A hereto.
Mr. Roberts emphasized the staff's general view that the guidelines should be made less burdensome and more flexible. Mr. Roberts stated that the staff is ready to implement a comprehensive program following the Board's statement of policy. By adopting the proposed policy, Mr. Roberts stated, the Board would set in motion a series of logistical steps on the part of the staff to prepare for applications from prospective registrars, including the preparation of application materials and instructions. Joe Sims noted that once the first five registrar participants in the testbed phase of the Shared Registry System were accredited, those companies will still have to negotiate contracts with Network Solutions, Inc., subject to the approval of the United States government.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board unanimously approved the adoption of the following resolutions:WHEREAS, in its June 1998 statement of policy concerning Management of Internet Names and Addresses, 63 Fed. Reg. 31741 (1998), attached as Exhibit B hereto, the U.S. Government adopted a policy of transitioning management responsibility for Internet domain-name-system ("DNS") functions then performed by, or on behalf of, the U.S. Government to a new, not-for-profit corporation formed by private-sector Internet stakeholders;
WHEREAS, the Corporation was formed to serve as that not-for-profit corporation;
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FURTHER RESOLVED [resolution 99.18] that, without limiting the authority of the Interim President and CEO to implement the Statement of Registrar Accreditation Policy in a manner he determines appropriate, the Board approves the Registrar Accreditation Agreement and Supplemental Testbed Participation Agreement presented to the Board at its March 4, 1999 meeting, as consistent with the Statement of Registrar Accreditation Policy.
Implementation Actions
- Implement Policy (replace this text with specific Action Item)
- Responsible entity: ICANN Staff(replace this text with the responsible entity: ICANN department, ICANN Community Structure, Board, U.S. Department of Commerce)
- Due date: None provided(replace this text with Due Date)
- Completion date: 1999
Other Related Resolutions
- TBD
Additional Information
- Information on the Registrar Accreditation program as implemented within ICANN is available at http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accreditation-process.htm.
- A list of all ICANN-Accredited Registrars is available at http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accredited-list.html.
- No additional funding provided.
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- (replace this text with Date action was implemented)
- (replace this text with specific Action Item)
- Responsible entity: (replace this text with the responsible entity: ICANN department, ICANN Community Structure, Board, U.S. Department of Commerce)
- Due date: (replace this text with Due Date)
- Completion date: (replace this text with Date action was implemented)
Other Related Resolutions
- (replace this text with links to related resolutions)
Additional Information
- (replace this text with any additional notes related to this resolution, i.e. funding considerations)