[ga] Report on the NC Transfers Task Force activities

[DannyYounger@cs.com]

The Names Council's "fast-track" Transfers Task Force was briefed this 
morning by representatives from the Registrars Constituency in a 90-minute 
teleconference.   In preparation for this meeting, certain key documents were 
brought to the attention of Names Council constituency representatives:  

The Draft Transfer Protocol -- 
http://www.icann-registrars.org/pdfs/rc-irdx-091801-v1r0d8.PDF
The Briefing Paper for Transfers -- 
http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/nc-transfer/Arc00/bin00000.bin
The Proposed TF Terms of Ref. -- 
http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/nc-transfer/Arc00/doc00000.doc

During the course of the meeting, reference was also made to other key 
documents:

The Lynn to Palage Letter -- 
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/lynn-to-palage-27aug01.htm
The Policy on Transfer of Sponsorship of Registrations Between Registrars  -- 
http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/verisign/registry-agmt-appf-com-16apr01.h

tm#ExhibitB
Letter from Touton to Russo -- 
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/touton-to-russo-27aug01.htm
Letter from Walsh to Lynn -- 
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/walsh-letter-to-lynn-20jul01.htm

Participants in this session included:   Marilyn Cade (interim Chair), Steve 
Metalitz, Ken Stubbs, Christine Russo, Danny Younger, Ross Rader, Jeff 
Neuman, Bruce Beckwith, Elana Broitman, Sloan Gaon, Mark McFadden, Peter 
deBlanc, Grant Forsyth, Tim Denton, JY Park, Rick Wesson, Brian Evans, Mike 
Palage and Paul Kane.

After a preliminary presentation of the issues by the Registrar execom, a 
second presentation was made by Bruce Beckwith (the VeriSign representative). 
 Bruce raised three areas of concern:

1.  the matter of "apparent authority" 
2.  "divisions" on the issue within the registrar community
3.  the lack of "consumer" representation

It was agreed that "apparent authority" is in need of a more precise 
definition.  With regard to "divisions", the Registrar Secretary confirmed 
that only VeriSign and its wholly-owned subsidiaries voted against the 
current Protocol draft.  With regard to the claim of inadequate "consumer" 
response or outreach, the GA chair attested to numerous comments on the GA 
and ICANN public forums, letters drafted by prominent GA members (such as 
William Walsh), as well as noting a number of websites that have arisen in 
response to the issues under discussion

In the course of the teleconference two other concerns were expressed.  Steve 
Metalitz, president of the Intellectual Property constituency inquired 
regarding incentives to keep registrant contact data current, and Elana 
Broitman (Director of Policy at register.com) spoke regarding the "lock-down" 
issue which is becoming a standard practice among certain registrars.

Marilyn Cade advised that she will be drafting a preliminary resolution for 
consideration (to be released tomorrow).  

The archives of the NC Transfer Task Force are at:  
http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/nc-transfer/Arc00/

Whereas Verisign appears concerned that domain name holders may not be 
adequately represented in these discussions, if there is an organization that 
represents such interests that would like to forward a representative to this 
task force, please let me know and I will bring such interest to the 
attention of the Interim Chair.
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