[registrars] .JP press release

["Robert F. Connelly" <rconnell@psi-japan.com>]

J_P_R_S_--------------------------------------------------------------------

Press Release

February 28, 2002
Japan Registry Service, Co., Ltd. (JPRS)


                JPRS Signed an Agreement with ICANN on
           Management and Administration of .JP Top Level Domain
    -- JPRS Will Start the Management and Administration from April 1. --

On February 27, 2002(Pacific Standard Time), Japan Registry Service
Co., Ltd. (JPRS) signed the "ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement (.jp)" (*1)
with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
JP is the second fastest ccTLD following .AU to enter into the formal
Agreement with ICANN.

Upon effectuation of this Agreement and the "JP Domain Name Management
and Administration Transfer Agreement" concluded with Japan Network
Information Center (JPNIC) on January 30, 2002, JPRS sets out to
conduct all operations related to .JP top level domain with some
exceptions, starting from April 1, 2002.  The exceptions include
development of the .JP Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (JP-DRP)
and related rules for its procedure and part of the Data Escrow
operation of the JP domain registry data. These will be conducted by JPNIC.

The ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement clearly sets forth the
obligations of JPRS and ICANN and the roles to be played by JPNIC
and the Government of Japan.  This agreement stipulates, for
instance, that ICANN shall ensure that the root server system is
operated in a stable and secure manner.  It also stipulates that the
JPRS shall, in the interest of both global and Japanese Internet
community, manage and administer .JP top level domain and operate the
authoritative primary and secondary nameservers for the .JP domain.
JPNIC and the Government are to oversee that this mechanism works
smoothly.  This introduces a contractual relationship to the operation
of the Internet, which was previously supported by voluntary effort,
to bring about more reliability and stability.  On February 8, in
advance of the establishment of the Sponsorship Agreement, the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) publicized a report (*2)
concluding that JPRS is an appropriate organization to manage and
administer the .JP top level domain.

The management and administration of the .JP top level domain has so
far been delegated by ICANN to Dr. Jun Murai, President of JPNIC, and
conducted by JPNIC accordingly.  JPRS was founded on December 26, 2000
as a company to which the management and administration of .JP top
level domain would be transferred from JPNIC, based upon the
resolution (*3) of the JPNIC 11th General Meeting held on December 22,
2000.  Since then, JPNIC and JPRS have discussed the conditions and
procedures of transfer, following the basic principle of contributing to
the Internet community in Japan.  In the course of the investigation,
public comments were called for through comment forums and meetings
held by JPNIC for further discussions.  The results are reflected on
the "Memorandum for the Transfer of Management and Administration of
the .JP Top Level Domain"(*4) executed between JPNIC and JPRS on
November 9, 2001.  Along with the study and discussion, JPRS has
served as the operator of the .JP top level domain entrusted by JPNIC
since February 2001, accumulating experience and expertise in the
management and administration.

Dr. Murai, JPNIC and many other individuals and organizations in the
Internet community have played major roles in making a wonderful
history of the .JP top level domain, which is characterized by

   - Planning and development carried out by the Internet community itself;
   - Top priority placed on the interest of the Internet community; and
   - Highly reliable and stable operation.

In negotiations for the ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement (.jp), effort was
made not to stick to the Model Sponsorship Agreement that had been
proposed by ICANN, but to have the good tradition of the .JP top level
domain reflected in the agreement.  As a result, the Sponsorship
Agreement clearly sets forth that, in addition to the Government whose
name was solely mentioned in the proposed model, JPNIC will continue
to be an entity overseeing that the intention of the Internet
community is communicated to JPRS in its management of JP domain
names.  We believe this will follow the tradition of the Internet
developed by the community effort and, at the same time, become a
new model for realizing reliability and stability of the management of
the Internet.

Koki Higashida, President and CEO of JPRS comments as follows: "We are
grateful to the members of the Japanese Internet community for their
cooperation, based on which JPRS could sign the JP Domain Name
Management and Administration Transfer Agreement with JPNIC and the
ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement with ICANN.  After the transfer, JPRS will
manage and administer the .JP top level domain , cherishing its
history and achievements we can be proud of in the world and aiming at
further enhancing its function."

Dr. Stuart Lynn, President and CEO of ICANN comments as follows: "On
behalf of ICANN, I am delighted to enter into this agreement with
JPRS. It underscores the continuing and welcome participation of
the Japanese Internet community in the ICANN process, and reflects
Japan's strong leadership in the global Internet.  This agreement
signifies JPRS' and ICANN's joint commitment to promote a stable
Internet, both worldwide and locally in Japan."

-------------------------------------------------------------
JPRS (Japan Registry Service Co., Ltd.)
Japan Registry Service Co., Ltd.(JPRS) was incorporated on December
26, 2000, to administer JP domain name registration and management,
and to carry out operation of the domain name system. JPRS carries out
registration and administration of the JP domain name in a fair and
neutral manner.

ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)
ICANN is the non-profit corporation that was formed to assume
responsibility for the IP address space allocation, protocol parameter
assignment, domain name system management, and root server system
management functions previously performed under U.S. Government
contract by IANA and other entities

IANA (the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority)
IANA is a function to allocate the Internet resources such as top
level domains, IP addresses, protocol numbers at the global level.
Until establishment of ICANN, IANA function was conducted by the
Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern
California. Currently, IANA performs its operation as a part of ICANN.

Data Escrow
Data Escrow in the management and administration of the .JP top level
domain is to escrow the registry data, including domain name,
registrant, and registration date, to the third party.  The purpose of
Data Escrow is to ensure that in case of redelegation of the ccTLD,
the successor manager can smoothly perform the management and
administration.

References
(*1)ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement (.jp) - as proposed
      http://www.icann.org/cctlds/jp/proposed-sponsorship-agmt-09feb02.htm
      Japanese language translation
      http://jprs.jp/info/news/redelegation/sponsorship.html

(*2)IANA Report on Request for Redelegation of the .jp Top-Level Domain
      http://www.iana.org/reports/jp-report-08feb02.htm
      Japanese language translation
      http://jprs.jp/info/news/redelegation/ianareport.html

(*3)Resolution of JPNIC 11th General Meeting (in Japanese)
      http://www.nic.ad.jp/jp/materials/general-meeting/20001211/minutes.html

(*4)Memorandum for the Transfer of the Management and Administration
      of the .JP Top Level Domain (in Japanese)
      http://www.nic.ad.jp/new-org/20011116-MOU.html
      English language translation
      http://www.iana.org/cctld/jp/jprs-jpnic-memorandum-09nov01.htm

JPRS Contacts:
Corporate Planning Office
E-mail: press@jprs.jp
URL : http://jprs.jp/