ICANN AT-LARGE MONTHLY ANNOUNCEMENT

In this issue:

• INTERNET USERS WELCOME AT ICANN/AT-LARGE LATIN AMERICA MEETING - ICANN's meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina, will commence on Sunday 3 April 2005 with an ICANN Orientation and Luncheon 9:00 - 13:30, immediately followed by an At-Large meeting with end-users from the Latin America/Caribbean region 14:00 - 17:00. Several policy discussions and workshops of interest to the At-Large community have been scheduled during the week-long ICANN meeting, 3-8 April 2005. All of the events are open to the public and interested individuals are encouraged to attend. The full Mar del Plata schedule is posted at http://www.icann.org/meetings/mardelplata/.
• PUBLIC'S HELP NEEDED ON IDN SPOOFING - In response to recently publicised concerns regarding Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) homographs (domain names that intentionally look like other names but are not the same), ICANN has asked the community to participate in an online public comment forum to help improve public protection from abusive use of domain names. Additional information and links to the public comment forum can be found at http://www.icann.org/topics/idn.html.
• COMMENTS SOUGHT ON IPV4 ALLOCATION - ICANN's Board recently gave preliminary approval to the first policy adopted by ICANN's Address Supporting Organization (ASO) governing the allocation of IPv4 address space from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). ICANN has asked public for input on this policy by the end of March. See http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-09mar05.htm for more information and to post comments.
• SHARE YOUR VIEWS ON THE FUTURE DIRECTION OF ICANN - Opportunities for input and consultation on ICANN's proposed operational and strategic plans will continue through ICANN's meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina, 3-8 April. Interested individuals are encouraged to email comments (for public posting) on the strategic plan to strategic-plan-comments@icann.org and check ICANN's homepage for additional opportunities for online input.
• 2005 NOMCOM DELEGATES SELECTED - The At-Large Advisory Committee selected five volunteers to serve as members of ICANN's 2005 Nominating Committee (NomCom), which will fill numerous ICANN leadership positions: Adam Peake, Asia/Australia/Pacific region delegate; Jeanette Hofmann, Europe region delegate; Jose Ovidio Salgueiro, Latin America/Caribbean region delegate; Alan Davidson, North America region delegate; and Simbo Ntiro, Africa region delegate. More information is posted at http://www.alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-25feb05.htm.
• NEW FACES ON THE AT-LARGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE - ICANN's Board of Directors appointed Annette Muehlberg from Germany and John Levine from the U.S.A. to the ALAC to fill European and North American region vacancies. Concurrently, the ALAC appointed Bret Fausett as the At-Large liaison to the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council. Additional information is available at http://www.alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-1-25feb05.htm.

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• INTERNET USERS WELCOME AT ICANN/AT-LARGE LATIN AMERICA MEETING - ICANN's meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina, will commence on Sunday 3 April 2005 with an ICANN Orientation and Luncheon 9:00 - 13:30, immediately followed by an At-Large meeting with end-users from the Latin America/Caribbean region, 14:00 - 17:00. Several policy discussions and workshops of interest to the At-Large community have been scheduled during the week-long ICANN meeting, 3-8 April 2005. All of the events are open to the public and interested individuals are encouraged to attend. The full Mar del Plata schedule is posted at http://www.icann.org/meetings/mardelplata/.

  Additional discussions and workshops of interest to the At-Large community scheduled during the ICANN Mar del Plata meeting include: a Workshop on the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS); a Workshop on DNS Security; public forums on ICANN's strategic and operational plans; and meetings of the At-Large Advisory Committee. Check the URL above for detailed agendas and opportunities for online input. Travel information is posted at http://www.icannmardelplata.com/eng/visa.htm.

• PUBLIC'S HELP NEEDED ON IDN SPOOFING - In response to recently publicised concerns regarding Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) homographs (domain names that intentionally look like other names but are not the same), ICANN has asked the community to participate in an online public comment forum to help improve public protection from abusive use of domain names. Additional information and links to the public comment forum can be found at http://www.icann.org/topics/idn.html.

  Homograph domain name spoofing works by exploiting the visual resemblance of certain characters and symbols in the standard ASCII character set or in characters taken from different languages. An advisory on this vulnerability recently was published at http://www.shmoo.com/idn/homograph.txt and focused on how standard punycode-based IDNs offer additional opportunities for homograph attacks. The potential for increased homograph exploits has been a topic of research and discussion within the ICANN community since before the adoption of IDN standards. The global Internet community has done significant work on implementation practices and best practice guidelines to enable the successful use of IDNs.

  ICANN has issued an open call for views and positions regarding both homograph vulnerability (which is not unique to IDNs) and the proposed countermeasures, as part of an effort to improve public protection from abusive use of domain names while advancing IDNs.

• COMMENTS SOUGHT ON IPV4 ALLOCATION - ICANN's Board recently gave preliminary approval to the first policy adopted by ICANN's new Address Supporting Organization (ASO) governing the allocation of IPv4 address space from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). ICANN has asked public for input on this policy by the end of March. See http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-09mar05.htm for more information and to post comments.

  On 3 September 2004 the ASO Address Council forwarded to ICANN's Board a new IPv4 policy concerning IANA allocations of IPv4 address to RIRs. On 18 February 2005 the Board preliminarily adopted the proposed policy as a valid codification of current procedures, and directed staff to continue to follow the policy in the performance of the IANA function, pending final approval by the Board after a public comment period. This policy is now available for a 21 day public comment period at http://www.aso.icann.org/docs/aso-001-2.pdf.

• SHARE YOUR VIEWS ON THE FUTURE DIRECTION OF ICANN - Opportunities for input and consultation on ICANN's proposed operational and strategic plans will continue through ICANN's meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina, 3-8 April. Interested individuals are encouraged to email comments (for public posting) on the strategic plan to strategic-plan-comments@icann.org and check ICANN's homepage for additional opportunities for online input.

  In November 2004, ICANN released for public comment a draft three-year ICANN Strategic Plan. (see http://www.icann.org/strategic-plan/strategic-plan.html). A revised plan will be publicly released and discussed at the ICANN Mar del Plata meeting 3-8 April 2005. ICANN proposed this three year plan covering fiscal years 2004-2007 as a tool for guiding ICANN's use of its resources to best enable ICANN's mission. ICANN continues to encourage public comment to help ensure that community concerns are addressed.

  The plan proposes a variety of initiatives to fulfill ICANN's strategic and operational priorities,. including, for example: a new special restricted fund to advance Internet security; a new plan to respond more effectively to domain name registrant needs (as they relate to ICANN's mission); establishing ICANN regional presences to better support countries and local stakeholders on ICANN issues and ensure participation by all stakeholders in all regions; and a new special restricted fund for developing country Internet communities.

• 2005 NOMCOM DELEGATES SELECTED - The At-Large Advisory Committee selected five volunteers to serve as members of ICANN's 2005 Nominating Committee (NomCom), which will fill numerous ICANN leadership positions: Adam Peake, Asia/Australia/Pacific region delegate; Jeanette Hofmann, Europe region delegate; Jose Ovidio Salgueiro, Latin America/Caribbean region delegate; Alan Davidson, North America region delegate; and Simbo Ntiro, Africa region delegate. More information is posted at http://www.alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-25feb05.htm.

  The ALAC widely solicited volunteers and relied on the user groups designated as At-Large Structures. in each region for recommendations. The ALAC selected these five delegates from several diverse, accomplished volunteers. The NomCom's members, including 12 voting delegates in addition to the 5 appointed by the ALAC, will serve one-year terms and will appoint members of ICANN's Board of Directors, the GNSO Council, the ccNSO Council, and the ALAC. Information on the At-Large delegates is posted at http://www.alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-25feb05.htm.

• NEW FACES ON THE AT-LARGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE - ICANN's Board of Directors appointed Annette Muehlberg from Germany and John Levine from the U.S.A. to the ALAC to fill European and North American region vacancies. Concurrently, the ALAC appointed Bret Fausett as the At-Large liaison to the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council. Additional information is available at http://www.alac.icann.org/announcements/announcement-1-25feb05.htm.

  ICANN's Board appointed Muehlberg and Levine to the ALAC to fill vacancies created by the departure of Thomas Roessler and Esther Dyson. The ALAC recommended that the Board appoint Muehlberg and Levine after undertaking a lengthy process of calling for volunteers and considering candidates. The ALAC solicited volunteers and public input, reviewed volunteers. backgrounds and statements of interest, conducted due diligence, selected finalists for additional questioning and, after extensive deliberations, selected the recommended candidates.

  Former ALAC member Roessler also served as the At-Large liaison to the GNSO Council. The ALAC appointed Fausett to fill this position after careful consideration of potential candidates, including the skills and experience needed to fill At-Large's most critical policy position.

The Interim At-Large Advisory Committee
alac@icann.org
www.alac.icann.org