[registrars] Proposed 2002 Agenda

["Michael D. Palage" <michael@palage.com>]

Listed below is the rather DAUNTING GAUNTLET of issues confronting the
constituency in the year 2002. The following list of proposed topics were
discussed during the Registrar Executive Committee weekly call which is now
being attended by our three Names Council representatives. This list is
being created so that as a constituency we can prioritize our objectives and
keep focused on the objectives before us. It is one of the first objectives
of the Executive Committee and Names Council representatives to delegate
these different issues to specific Task Forces to better utilize the
resources of the constituency.

Listed below is a summary of the issues and the current people designated as
the point person for each topic. If you would like to participate in a Task
Force please send the Executive Committee and Names Council representatives
an email indicating your preference. After receiving the requests, at the
next ExCom teleconference we will try to break up the requests into
functional Task Forces. After final approval these Task Force teams will
receive their own page on the Registrar Constituency website to post
information and keep the rest of the constituency apprised of relevant
issues and/or changes.

I. 	Administrative Issues: Primary Point People: Executive Committee and
Names Council representatives. (1) Creation of a Bank Account, Brian is very
close to achieving this important milestone; (2) Convince Rodger Cochetti
and the NC Budget Committee to give us our credit balance back,
approximately $10,000 after paying 2002 dues; (3) hiring part-time staff.
The Executive Committee has discussed what type of part-time staff is
needed. Although people have previously advocated a "policy person" it was
the viewpoint of the Executive Committee that that there is no one that
understands the intricacies of our Registrar policies better than
registrars. It was agreed that what we truly needed was an editor to take
our collective ideas and put them into polished presentations, along with
other collateral material that could be posted on the website and circulated
to the Board, Staff, other constituencies and at large members. After the
bank account is open and money deposited, we will be putting out a RFP for
this position. One candidate that has arose some interest is a former
reporter tasked to cover the ICANN and Internet circuit. We believe that
this person may not only make an excellent editor but could have excellent
potential as a media representative based upon her media/press contacts.

II. 	Deletes. Primary Point Person Rick Wesson. Over the past couple of
months the constituency has been debating various models to resolve the
current delete problem which threatens the stability of the SRS. Most of the
discussion has taken place on the delete list set up after the Montevideo
meeting. VeriSign has put forth a proposal to solve the situation, although
the constituency has yet to endorse any specific plan. This issue will be
heading for quick resolution as VeriSign has announced a tentative
implementation schedule for this new service offering.

III. .BIZ Litigation. Although the injunction was dissolved, the litigation
is still ongoing and a growing number of North American registrars have been
served. There is a Status Conference being held on January 9 in connection
with a demurrer motion brought by I believe VeriSign or one of the other
defendants. See http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/civilCaseSummary/ Docket No.
BC254659. Anyone having information on the result of this conference or any
other developments in the litigation not subject to attorney client
privileged please share it with the group. To date there appears to be a
split among registrars over whether they will be refunding all of the monies
associated with the .BIZ Class II-B names. To date it appears that only
VeriSign and DomainBank have refunded all monies associated with these
names.

IV. 	Transfers. Primary Point Person, Ross Rader. In his role on the Names
Council Task Force, "we" need to continue to provide Ross with first hand
accounts of customer confusion/dissatisfaction and increased operational
expenses. To further this informational gathering process, the draft
complaint form should soon be revised and made available for download and
submission via the now operational registrar constituency fax line.
Regarding suggestions about an online submission process, it was decided
against for a number of reasons, ranging from delays in implementation to
increase garbage, script kiddies. To address the concerns of the minority of
registrars that have argued that the transfer process threatens security the
complaint form has been designed to document this activity as well. The use
of Authorization Codes in the EPP (Thick) registries is a growing problem
that has not yet surfaced but which will have to be pro-actively addressed
in connection with the current transfer discussion.

V. 	.ORG Redelegation. Primary Point Person Ken Stubbs. Given the obstacles
encountered with the roll-out of .INFO and .BIZ the Executive Committee and
Names Council representatives strongly believe that the potential Request
for Proposals (RFP) process for the .ORG TLD spin off will begin shortly
after Ghana. Given this short timeline, an expedited Task Force needs to
prepare a statement regarding such critical issues as registrar selection,
registry protocol selection, continued customer service, etc.

VI. 	ICANN Restructuring: Primary Point Person: Ken Stubbs. Ken Stubbs
served as the Registrar Representative on the Names Council Task Force,
however, Michael Palage authored the draft registrar position paper based
upon the collective input from registrars that had engaged in discussion on
this issue. This topic is likely to be resolved in Ghana, therefore a Task
Force needs to be commissioned to review the original Registrar draft
position paper and decide what the constituency's position will be, and what
common ground we may have with other constituencies.


VII. 	Whois Task Force. Primary Point People: Philipp Grabensee and Tim
Denton. This Names Council Task Force (NCTF)is currently reviewing submitted
surveys and preparing a report. This NCTF involves a number of complex
issues, more legal than technical. It is for this reason that we have loaded
up with legal types to best represent our interests. Because of the
importance of data privacy to our European registrars, Philipp is the
principle registrar representative.


VIII.	Escrow: No Designated Point Person, Rick Wesson by default. After a
meaningful dialogue in Marina del Rey this issue has taken a back burner
status in light of the transfer and delete issue. Considering that this is
an existing contractual requirement, more attention must be paid to this
issue.


IX.	.NET Baseline Criteria: In section 5 of the .NET registry agreement
there are certain baseline criteria that provide for an acceleration of the
rebid of the .NET TLD contract. These benchmarks begin on January 1, 2002.
This Task Force will help identify accurate criteria to be analyzed along
with formatting questions to submit to the audit committee tasked with
ensuring operational separation of VeriSign's registry and registrar
operations.


X. 	International Domain Names (IDNs): Primary Point Person Rick Wesson and
Bruce Tonkin. There has been recent progress at an IETF level that suggests
a standard on IDNs is close. A Task Force needs to analyze the impact the
adoption of this standard will have on the current VeriSign testbed process.


XI. 	By-Law Review: Primary Point Person Liz Williams. The existing by-laws
need to have the recently voted upon amendments incorporated. Additionally,
a Task Force needs to be commissioned to analyze other Constituency by-laws
and make additional recommendations on potential future revisions.


XII. 	UDRP Task Force Review: Primary Point Person: Mike Palage.  There is a
survey that the Names Council UDRP Task Force has released.  I believe that
both Ken and I have posted a copy/link to the registrar list. This is really
a battle between the IPC and the non-commercial constituency about efforts
to expand/contract the scope of the UDRP. I believe that based on my
discussions with most registrars, if it is not broke don't fix it.
Specifically, it has greatly resulted


XIII.	New TLDs: No Designated Point Person. ICANN's new TLD evaluation
committee should be releasing its report in or shortly after Ghana. It is
important that our concerns be heard in connection with this process.


XIV.	Data Verification: Point Person Michael Palage. In light of the MPAA
presentation in Marina del Rey and the current letter being sent out to
Registrar by the House Judiciary Committee it is important that we assemble
a Task Force to proactively address this issue.


Best regards,

Michael D. Palage
on behalf of the Executive Committee and the Names Council Representatives