[ga] Starting From The Top -- The Supporting Organisations

["Patrick Corliss" <patrick@quad.net.au>]

On Sat, 24 Nov 2001 02:54:23 -0800, Jeff Williams wrote:

> I think to follow along with you idea here that it would be better
> to merge the ASO and the DNSO rather than the PSO and the
> ASO as the DNSO and the ASO are more closely aligned
> from a function standpoint.

Hi Jeff

Thank you for you input.  According to the ICANN website, the three SOs are:

1. The Address Supporting Organization (ASO) is concerned with the system of
IP addresses, such as 128.9.128.127, that uniquely identify the Internet's
networked computers.

2. The Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO) is concerned with the
domain name system (DNS), the system of names commonly used to identify
Internet locations and resources.  The DNS translates
heirarchically-structured, easy-to-remember names (like www.icann.org) into
IP addresses that have been assigned to specific computers.

3. The Protocol Supporting Organization (PSO) is concerned with the
assignment of unique parameters for Internet protocols, the technical
standards that let computers exchange information and manage communications
over the Internet.

I have checked out the ASO website at http://www.aso.icann.org/ and find
that it is very light on detail.  Most of the work seems to be done by the
Regional Internet Registries (RIRs).  In particular the ASO mailing lists
have almost no input to speak of.

There are a few policy guidelines at http://www.aso.icann.org/docs/ but some
of these are outdated.  Others simply link back to ARIN or ICANN websites.

The only items of real value on the ASO website, it seems to me, are this
year's 10 Address Council Teleconference meetings at
http://www.aso.icann.org/meetings/ as follows:

3 January        7 February    9 May              6 June         27 June
11 July          5 September    3 October        7 November     5 December

Of these, only the first seven have links to minutes or similar content.
Browsing through the meeting for 5 September 2001 gives some interesting
discussion points.  No action seems to have been taken on those relating to
the WHOIS survey.

http://www.aso.icann.org/meetings/ac/ac-20010905.html

The last section, marked "AOB" says the following:

<quote>
"RB is concerned about the number of new Support Organisation
propositions, e.g ccTLD SO, non-commercial SO, commercial SO,
technical SO

BR clarifies that the only active proposal is the ccTLD SO.  She
believe the AC does not have a position on this at this moment.  There
is not much that could be done right now apart from participating in
the meetings to keep informed.  The real issue arises if it would be
decided to re-constitute the ICANN Board. At that point in time the
ASO can get involved.

HPH understands RBs concern. This trend could reduce the importance of
the ASO and PSO. The DNSO was one 3rd of the ICANN structure. If the
DNSO splits into equally important parts, the addressing community
must be concerned about being marginalised.

JC mentions that there are currently a number of proposals on the
table how to fix the DNSO and how to re-constitute the ICANN
Board. None of them have been discussed publicly yet.

BR thinks it would be premature for the AC to comment and to raise the
concern that the ASO may be underrepresented until it is clear that
this is really the case."
<end quote>

Of course, one major aspect of the role of the Address Council is the
appointment of three Directors to the ICANN Board of Directors.  At present
they seem to be:

*    Dr Sang Hyun Kyong,  Asia Pacific, October 2000 30 September 2003
*    Rob Blokzijl,  Europe,  October 1999 30 September 2002
*    Lyman Chapin, Americas, October 2001 to September 2004

From their documentation it seems that there is a significant input to the
ICANN process but little or no public discussion.  The ASO also seems quite
focused on RFCs which shows that they relate quite well to the Protocol
Supporting Organisation (PSO).

Best regards
Patrick Corliss






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