[council] suggested draft resolution for today's NC call

[Theresa Swinehart <Theresa.Swinehart@wcom.com>]

Dear NC Members -
For today's NC conference call below is a suggested draft resolution I've
been thinking about to help guide our discussion.
Look forward to speaking with all on the NC call -
Best regards,
Theresa



"The Names Council has considered the submittals and reports of Working
Groups B and C and the various comments submitted on them. We have reviewed
these reports keeping in mind that the principle goals in the management of
the domain-name system should be to ensure stability of the Internet as well
as make it easier for users to locate the appropriate Internet sites they
are seeking.
The Names Council determines that the report of Working Group C and related
comments indicate that there exists a consensus for the introduction of new
gTLDs in a careful and responsible manner. The Names Council therefore
recommends to the ICANN Board that it establish a policy for the
introduction of new gTLDs in a measured and responsible manner, giving due
regard in the implementation of that policy to (a) promoting orderly
registration of names during the initial phases, including minimizing their
use to extract additional resources from those seeking to protect
intellectual property rights; (b) minimizing the use of gTLDs to carry out
infringements of intellectual property rights; and (c) recognizing the need
for ensuring consumer confidence in the technical operation of the new TLD
and the DNS as a whole.
Because there is no recent experience in introducing new gTLDs, we recommend
to the Board that a limited number of new top-level domains be introduced
initially and that the future introduction of additional top-level domains
be done only after careful evaluation of the initial introduction. The Names
Council recognizes that the WG C report indicates that several types of
domains should be considered in the initial introduction, these being: fully
open top-level domains, restricted and chartered top-level domains with
limited scope, non-commercial domains and personal domains. Implementation
should promote competition in the domain-name registration business at the
registry and registrar levels. The Names Council recognizes that any
roll-out must not jeopardize the stability of the Internet, and assumes a
responsible process for introducing new gTLDs, which includes ensuring that
there is close coordination with Internet protocols and standards.
To assist the Board in the task of introducing new TLDs, the Names Council
recommends that the ICANN staff invite expressions of interest from parties
seeking to operate any new TLD registry, with an indication as to how they
propose to ensure to promote these values.
We would like to extend our deep appreciation to the substantial number of
participants who worked so diligently in Working Groups B and C, and want to
thank them for their significant efforts in evaluating the issues that were
referred to them. We urge those participants to continue to contribute their
expertise in these issues as these matters move on to consideration by the
Board and implementation. In particular, should Working Group B complete a
final report, it should submit that to the ICANN Board before the public
comment period leading up to the Yokohama ICANN meeting. We intend to
monitor future progress and stand ready to assist the ICANN Board and Staff
on these issue as appropriate in the future."