World Wide Alliance of Top Level Domain-names
Communiqué from Stockholm meeting

The ccTLD Constituency meeting unanimously approved the plan (see details below) to become a Supporting Organisation of ICANN. The decision acknowledges that a Supporting Organisation structure will better serve our local Internet communities, as well as the global Internet community, within the ICANN process. The proposed Country Code Supporting Organisation (ccSO), with its focus on ccTLD issues, will join with the PSO (Protocol Supporting Organisation), ASO (Address Supporting Organisation) and the DNSO (Domain Name Supporting Organisation) in equal partnership to support the work of ICANN. At a joint meeting, representatives of the Business, Intellectual Property, ISPCP, and Registrar Constituencies voiced their support for the formation of the new ccSO, and a process for ongoing communication was established. The next step involves continuing the discussions with the other Constituencies in the DNSO, the ICANN Board and Staff, and our own members.

The Constituency is disappointed that neither the Board nor Staff have responded to the ccTLD draft contract presented at the Melbourne ICANN meeting in March 2001.

The ccTLD Constituency meeting in Stockholm on 31 May 2001, approved the establishment of the Permanent ccTLD Secretariat. The new Executive Director, Dr. Byung-Kyu Kim (Korea), and his team, Dr. Abhisak Chulya (Deputy Executive Director - Thailand), Seung Yeon Yoo, and Jeong Hye Choi (both of Korea) will be operating from an Asia-Pacific based office. The new ccTLD Secretariat has a two-year term, subject to availability of funding from ccTLD members.

The meeting agreed that the formation of a Permanent Secretariat was an important step forward in supporting the work of the ccTLD's.

The members welcomed the newly elected AdCom representative for Europe, Nigel Roberts. Mr Roberts replaces the retiring representative for Europe, Fay Howard.

The members of the ccTLD constituency meeting in Stockholm have agreed as follows;

1. The ccTLD members have supported the formation of ICANN and have worked for the past 3 years or so to establish a framework for their participation in the work of ICANN. Since the formation of the DNSO, participation by members has been as a constituency of the DNSO.

2. Almost from the beginning, members have been withdrawing from participation in the activities of the DNSO, despite the continuing participation by our Names Council members. In summary, members have felt that the DNSO structure, composition and work is devoted to gTLD issues and matters of only limited importance to members' interests within ICANN. The absence of Board representation, and the unlikeliness of this occurring, despite the fact that cc domain names constitute approximately one third of all domain names and that members are expected to contribute one third of the ICANN budget is a particular feature of the problems of the current relationship.

3. At the same time, the developing relationship between members and the staff and Board of ICANN has more and more assumed the nature of an independent Support Organisation ("SO"). Members expect to sign individual contracts with ICANN, and have collectively prepared Best Practices, Delegation/Re-Delegation and Contract documents for use of the membership as a whole. We tend to communicate directly with the Board and staff outside of the DNSO and names Council framework. Members have noted the appointment of staff directly responsible for cc affairs.

4. Members have previously noted the call from the staff that we should form a peer organisation. Members note the progress made with regard to the operational co-operation with the IANA function.

5. Beginning in Yokohama, and continuing through meetings in LA and Melbourne, the members have been reviewing the issues associated with the formation of an ccSO. After LA, ccTLD AdCom formed itself into a working group to further this matter. Private discussions have occurred with other constituencies, staff and board members. In general there has been agreement that an SO structure will better serve the mutual interests of ICANN and the members.

6. Accordingly, the members in Stockholm have agreed that the next step in this process is to withdraw the constituency from the DNSO.

7. Members now expect to work with ICANN in resolving the process of departure, and the formation of a new SO under the Bylaws.

8. Members expect to be able to use much of the existing constituency structure and administration, for example the Executive Secretariat, to form the basis of the ccSO.

9. Members expect significant progress to have been made in resolving those matters by the conclusion of the Montevideo meeting, and to have the issue concluded by the LA meeting. On that basis members will not contribute to expenses for DNSO activities after 30 June 2001.

10. Members look forward to working within the new structure to serve the interests of the transfer of management of technical coordination of the internet to ICANN. In the expectation that the Board will provide appropriate resources and directions to the staff to implement the formation of the ccSO Members expect to continue to make voluntary contributions to funding the ICANN budget as previously.