Help Us Shape The Internet's Future

ICANN AT-LARGE NEWSLETTER

  • 1 May 2006

In this issue:

  • Action: THINK YOU CAN DO BETTER? — If you are interested in helping to lead ICANN (or know someone who is) now is the time to apply for a position on ICANN's Board, the ALAC, or a Supporting Organizations' Council. Recommendations and statements of interest are being sought by ICANN's Nominating Committee. More information and application forms are available at <http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-18apr06.htm>.

  • Action: CAN REGISTRY POLICIES & CONTRACTS BENEFIT USERS? — Of course they can. But to what degree do they? The GNSO Council is seeking public comments on developing policies on several issues that apply to generic top level domains (gTLDs) (eg. price controls), rather than treating them as matters to negotiate with each Registry separately on a contract by contract basis. The ALAC is considering all this in terms of users' interests and welcomes your input. Public comments are needed by 30 April. More information is posted at <http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-16mar06.htm >.

  • Information: CHECK-OUT WWW.ICANNALAC.ORG — Members of the ALAC created a new website -- www.icannalac.org -- for the At-Large community. It is intended to help inform and encourage a dialogue among members of ICANN's At-Large community about domain name system issues that affect the world's Internet users. At-Large community members are encouraged to register and share thoughts, announcements, news and commentary relating to ICANN and the interests of individual Internet users.

  • Information: SOMETHING'S MISSING IN THE DNS — A majority of the world's Internet users can't have a domain name in their own language (using non-Latin scripts). ICANN established guidelines for the introduction of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) on the second level of the DNS (domain name system) last year, and now the ICANN President's Advisory Committee on IDNs. has proposed a timetable leading to the technical testing of IDNs in top level domains (the TLD level). More information is posted at <http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-14mar06.htm >. The ALAC's latest IDN statement is posted at <http://icann.org/meetings/wellington/alac-idn-statement-27mar06.htm >.

  • Information: IF YOU MISSED THE AT-LARGE FORUMS ON NEW TLDs & IDNs, CATCH THEM ON-LINE — At the recent Asia-Pacific ICANN meeting in Wellington, the ALAC sponsored a forum on how to launch a new top level domain selection process that enhances user and registrant choice worldwide, and a workshop to educate and inform users on implementing internationalized domain names (IDNs) so the world's non-English speaking communities can use domain names in their own language. An Asia-Pacific At-Large Organizing meeting and ALAC meetings also were held in Wellington. For those who couldn't make it to New Zealand, audio files and wiki notes have been posted by attendees (see links below). It's almost like being there.

  • Information: AT-LARGE NOW EXTRA-LARGE — At-Large continues to grow, welcoming its newest user groups: Privaterra, based in Canada; Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, based in the USA; Internet Society Hong Kong, based in P.R. China; Internet Society Quebec, based in Canada; and CAUCE Canada. Thirty-eight organizations have registered as "At-Large Structures" and applications are pending from 14 more groups worldwide that want to involve individual Internet users in ICANN. Join a group or form a new one. Information is posted at <http://alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-23may05.htm >.

  • Information: NEW ALAC CHAIR: At the ICANN Wellington meeting, ALAC member Annette Muehlberg took over for the ALAC's founding Chair, Vittorio Bertola. The ALAC joins the ICANN community in thanking Vittorio for his dedicated leadership and vision in launching and leading the ALAC and the growing network of At-Large user groups.

  • Dates to Watch:

  • Action: THINK YOU CAN DO BETTER? — If you are interested in helping to lead ICANN (or know someone who is) now is the time to apply for a position on ICANN's Board, the ALAC, or a Supporting Organizations' Council. Recommendations and statements of interest are being sought by ICANN's Nominating Committee. More information and application forms are available at <http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-18apr06.htm>.

Statements of interest for the following positions are being accepted:

  • Three members of the ICANN Board of Directors

  • One member of the Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)

  • One member of the Council of the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)

  • Two members of the At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)

ICANN's Nominating Committee will be appointing individuals to these positions this Fall. The Committee, as always, includes five delegates from At-Large (one from each geographic region; see <http://alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-08feb06.htm>). It is an independent committee responsible for selecting a majority of the members of ICANN's Board and other positions within ICANN. The Nominating Committee states that individuals it selects "will have a unique opportunity to work with accomplished colleagues from around the globe, address the Internet's intriguing technical coordination problems and policy development challenges with diverse functional, cultural, and geographic dimensions, and gain valuable insights and experience from working across boundaries of knowledge, responsibility and perspective. Additionally, those selected will gain the satisfaction of making a valuable public service contribution." More information on the positions to be filled is posted at <http://www.icann.org/committees/nom-comm/formal-call-2006.html>.

  • Action: CAN REGISTRY POLICIES & CONTRACTS BENEFIT USERS? — Of course they can. But to what degree do they? The GNSO Council is seeking public comments on developing policies on several issues that apply to generic top level domains (gTLDs) (eg. price controls), rather than treating them as matters to negotiate with each Registry separately on a contract by contract basis. The ALAC is considering all this in terms of users' interests and welcomes your input. Public comments are needed by 30 April. More information is posted at <http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-16mar06.htm>.

On 2 March 2006, the GNSO Council launched a policy development process (PDP) on "Policies for contractual conditions for existing gTLDs." It arose out of the Council's consideration of the .NET and .COM agreements, as well as issues surrounding the introduction of new gTLDs. The overall goal of this policy development process is "to determine what policies are appropriate for the future of gTLDs within the context of ICANN's mission and core values, that relate to the issues identified in the specific terms of reference below." The Council is specifically seeking public comments related to:

  1. Registry agreement renewal

  2. Relationship between registry agreements and consensus policies

  3. Policy for price controls for registry services

  4. ICANN fees

  5. Uses of registry data

  6. Investments in development and infrastructure

Please submit comments to the Council at <gtld-policies-tor@icann.org> and make sure you share your views with the At-Large community at our new website <http://www.atlarge.icann.org/> so we know what your think.

  • Information: CHECK-OUT http://www.atlarge.icann.org/ — Members of the ALAC created a new website -- http://www.atlarge.icann.org/ -- for the At-Large community. It is intended to help inform and encourage a dialogue among members of ICANN's At-Large community about domain name system issues that affect the world's Internet users. At-Large community members are encouraged to register and share thoughts, announcements, news and commentary relating to ICANN and the interests of individual Internet users.

The new website is run by the members of the ALAC, for the use and benefit of you, the users. It is not run by ICANN and is independent of <www.icann.org>. It features news and commentary on hot topics, online discussions organized by issues, photos, newsletters, and more.

  • Information: SOMETHING'S MISSING IN THE DNS — A majority of the world's Internet users can't have a domain name in their own language (using non-Latin scripts). ICANN established guidelines for the introduction of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) on the second level of the DNS (domain name system) last year, and now the ICANN President's Advisory Committee on IDNs. has proposed a timetable leading to the technical testing of IDNs in top level domains (the TLD level). More information is posted at <http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-14mar06.htm>. The ALAC's latest IDN statement is posted at <http://icann.org/meetings/wellington/alac-idn-statement-27mar06.htm>.

The President's Advisory Committee on IDNs is preparing a proposal for a technical test of internationalized top level domain labels. Representatives from all regions of the world are taking part in the discussion of the technical test, which will include two approaches to the insertion of IDN records into the root zone of the DNS. According to ICANN, "the test procedure will ensure that enabling multiple languages at the top level will not adversely affect users. It will also establish the technical methods that are available for such deployment and will enable ICANN's policy development bodies to move forward with their ongoing work with regard to policy decisions essential to a production environment in which users will be able to access the Internet using their local languages."

The ALAC recently held an IDN Workshop for users at the ICANN meeting in Wellington, and issued an IDN statement outlining key principles to guide IDN implementation. See < http://icann.org/meetings/wellington/agenda-idn-28mar06.htm> and <http://icann.org/meetings/wellington/alac-idn-statement-27mar06.htm> for more information. Share your views, questions, and suggestions on IDNs at our new website <www.icannalac.org>.

  • Information: IF YOU MISSED THE AT-LARGE FORUMS ON NEW TLDs & IDNs, CATCH THEM ON-LINE — At the recent Asia-Pacific ICANN meeting in Wellington, the ALAC sponsored a forum on how to launch a new top level domain selection process that enhances user and registrant choice worldwide, and a workshop to educate and inform users on implementing internationalized domain names (IDNs) so the world's non-English speaking communities can use domain names in their own language. An Asia-Pacific At-Large Organizing meeting and ALAC meetings also were held in Wellington. For those who couldn't make it to New Zealand, audio files and wiki notes have been posted by attendees. It's almost like being there.

(Note: the notes and audio files were not created by ICANN and are not posted on ICANN's website).

- At-Large New TLDs forum: <http://icannwiki.org/IUF_2006_03_26>

- At-Large IDN Workshop: (audience notes) <http://icannwiki.org/IUW_2006_03_28>; (audio file) <http://blog.lextext.com/blog/_archives/2006/3/27/1845496.html#attachments>; (agenda and slides) <http://icann.org/meetings/wellington/agenda-idn-28mar06.htm>)

- Other sessions: (links to audience notes) <http://icannwiki.org/Wellington_Schedule_%26_Session_Notes>

After you've had a chance to review this wealth of information, don't forget to share your thoughts with the At-Large community and the ALAC at our new website <http://www.atlarge.icann.org/>.

  • Information: AT-LARGE NOW EXTRA-LARGE — At-Large continues to grow, welcoming its newest user groups: Privaterra, based in Canada; Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, based in the USA; Internet Society Hong Kong, based in P.R. China; Internet Society Quebec, based in Canada; and CAUCE Canada. Thirty-eight organizations have registered as "At-Large Structures" and applications are pending from 14 more groups worldwide that want to involve individual Internet users in ICANN. Join a group or form a new one. Information is posted at <http://alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-23may05.htm>.

  • Information: NEW ALAC CHAIR: At the ICANN Wellington meeting, ALAC member Annette Muehlberg took over for the ALAC's founding Chair, Vittorio Bertola. The ALAC joins the ICANN community in thanking Vittorio for his dedicated leadership and vision in launching and leading the ALAC and the growing network of At-Large user groups.

The Interim At-Large Advisory Committee

alac@icann.org

www.icannalac.org

If a group you are involved with wants to influence decisions that shape the Internet, register as an "At-Large Structure" and participate in ICANN decisions critical to the Internet's end users. "At-Large Structure" registration is free, easy, and done via email. Groups interested participating in ICANN At-Large are encouraged to send an email to <als@alac.icann.org> or get more information and an application online <http://www.atlarge.icann.org/en/applications>.

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