Wired - ICANN to Unveil New Rules

["Martin B. Schwimmer" <martys@interport.net>]

from Wired.com:


ICANN to Unveil New Rules
by Joanna Glasner 

3:00 a.m. 28.Jan.99.PST
After four months in start-up mode, the group charged with setting the
rules for registering new Internet domain names is ready to go public.
Well, nearly ready. 

On 8 February, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or
ICANN, will release new guidelines for accrediting companies that want to
distribute domain names in the .com, .org, and .net domains. 
The biggest change in Net registration will come this spring, when Network
Solutions (NSOL) splits its operations. 

For more than five years, Network Solutions has held a lock on US
registrations for the three most popular top-level domains. But that is
about to change. Although Network Solutions will still control the master
root registry of all Internet domains, many other companies will be
registering individual domains. 
Companies will be able to apply to be test registrars or get accreditation
as regular registrars starting in March. Entrepreneurs and other interested
parties who have been clamoring to open up the registration industry are
impatiently waiting to get involved. 

"I get about three phone calls a day asking where to sign up," said ICANN
interim president and chief executive Mike Roberts. 

ICANN's new guidelines will spell out what a company needs to do to become
accredited as a registrar -- including how much information it will have to
share with regulators and domain-name holders. 
"The intention here is to have the minimal obstacles to market entry," said
Roberts. 
ICANN plans to test the new system in April and is looking for five
companies to participate in a two-month trial run. Like everything else in
the Internet policy-making world, even the selection of beta testers has
sparked bickering in Net circles. ICANN is considering a lottery, but
hasn't made a decision. 


The process of drafting a new registration system is complicated by ICANN's
plans to use the results of the US tests and its new guidelines as a model
for other nations to manage Internet domains. 

In recent months, former White House technical Internet advisor Ira
Magaziner and others have trekked to Europe, Asia, and Latin America to
promote international standards for registering Net sites.
 
ICANN's proposals will be the next step in the process, and Net-policy
watchers say they won't be surprised if the new guidelines spark another
round of controversy. 

"It wouldn't be easy if it was just centered within the borders of the
United States. The fact that it's an international area makes it that much
more complex," said Barbara Dooley, president of Commercial Internet
Exchange Association, an international association of ISPs. 

Critics say the group has already taken too long to set up a new domain
system. 

ICANN has been overseeing the Net's technical management since November,
when the White House began to pass regulatory authority over to the
nonprofit group. The organization will influence technical standards and
set rules for registering sites and new top-level domains. 

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