Minutes

Special Meeting of the Board
18 November 2002

INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS
MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING
18 November 2002

A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was held by teleconference on 18 November 2002. The following Directors of the Corporation were present by telephone: Vint Cerf (chairman), Karl Auerbach, Lyman Chapin, Jonathan Cohen, Masanobu Katoh, Hans Kraaijenbrink, Sang-Hyon Kyong, Stuart Lynn, Andy Mueller-Maguhn, Jun Murai, Helmut Schink, and Linda S. Wilson. Directors Amadeu Abril i Abril, Ivan Moura Campos, Alejandro Pisanty, and Nii Quaynor joined the call while it was in progress. Also present on the teleconference were Louis Touton, ICANN's Vice-President, Secretary, and General Counsel, and Joe Sims, ICANN's outside counsel.

The meeting was called to order by Vint Cerf at 13:35 UTC (5:35 am U.S. Pacific Standard Time).

Approval of Minutes

Dr. Cerf noted that the first item on the agenda was approval of minutes of the Board's meetings of 14 October 2002. Draft versions of those minutes had been previously provided to the Board members. Dr. Wilson moved, with Mr. Kraaijenbrink's second, that the Board adopt the following resolution:

Resolved [02.135] that the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 14 October 2002 are hereby approved and adopted by the Board as presented.

The motion passed by a 11-0-1 vote, with Mr. Cohen abstaining.

At this point, Mr. Abril i Abril joined the meeting.

Amendment to .name and .pro Registry Agreements

Mr. Touton noted that the operators of the .name (Global Name Registry) and .pro (RegistryPro) registries had recently requested revisions in their registry agreements. In the case of .name, the revision relates to the manner of providing registry-level Whois information; in the case of .pro it relates to defensive registrations. He reported that he had been working intensively with Global Name Registry representatives to finalize proposed revised language to reflect their requested amendment to the .name registry agreement, but recently discovered some technical errors that are still in the process of being corrected. As a result, the matter is not ripe for Board action.

During the above discussion, Dr. Pisanty and Dr. Campos joined the meeting.

Mr. Touton briefed the Board on the general character of the requested revisions to the .name registry agreement, noting that the .name Whois system would be revised so that requestors of all but the most general of information would be required to enter into agreements defining what uses of the information were permitted. Mr. Touton sought informal Board feedback. Mr. Mueller-Maguhn expressed the view that the uses permitted were much too broad. Dr. Cerf stated his view that appropriate access to Whois information required a balance between the need for access and privacy concerns, and that it was difficult to achieve the right balance. It was noted that the DNSO has a task force that is studying changes to Whois policy. Mr. Touton stressed that the proposed amendment to the .name registry agreement did not provide for additional Whois access, but instead strengthened protections against inappropriate uses of Whois data.

ccTLD Agreement for .sd (Sudan)

Mr. Touton noted that the language of a ccTLD sponsorship agreement had been negotiated with the Sudan Internet Society concerning the .sd (Sudan) ccTLD. The negotiated language is quite similar to that in the model ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement for triangular situations posted on the web site. This is also is nearly identical to the existing agreement with auDA (.au) and is only slightly different than the agreement with JPRS (.jp).

The history and status of the .sd ccTLD were summarized. The .sd ccTLD was delegated several years ago to Ihab I. Osman of Sudan OnLine Inc. in Khartoum, Sudan, as both administrative and technical contact. Several years ago, the ccTLD went inoperative (with no working nameservers) and the IANA could no longer reach Mr. Osman.
In 2001, a group within the technical community in the Sudan proposed to assume responsibilty for operation of the .sd domain. After several months of organizational efforts, broad support developed within the Sudan Interent community, with the additional support of the Sudanese government. The group formed the Sudan Internet Society (SIS) (not yet affiliated with ISOC, but seeking to be so). Over the past months, discussions have been ongoing between the IANA and the Sudan Internet Society organizers regarding reactivation of the .sd ccTLD. During this process, Mr. Osman reappeared (in Redmond, Washington USA), and after some discussion he concluded that the new group could better support the domain than he could; he gave his support to redelegation to SIS. The IANA has concluded that the Sudan Internet Society is the appropriate delegee of the .sd ccTLD.

Mr. Touton requested that authorization be given to enter the negotiated sponsorship agreement with the Sudan Internet Society.

At this point in the meeting, Dr. Quaynor joined. Mr. Kraaijenbrink moved, with Dr. Pisanty's second, that the Board adopt the following resolutions:

Whereas, on 10 March 2000, in resolution 00.13, the Board authorized the President and staff to work with the ccTLD managers, Governmental Advisory Committee, and other interested parties to prepare draft language for ccTLD contracts, policy statements, and/or communications, including appropriate funding arrangements, to be presented to the Board and posted for public comment as soon as practicable;

Whereas, on 13 March 2001, in resolution 01.37, the Board directed ICANN management to press forward with continued vigor toward the completion of draft legacy agreements, and to pursue, as needed, acceptable ccTLD agreements in triangular situations;

Whereas, negotiators for Sudan Internet Society (SIS) and ICANN have reached agreement, subject to the ICANN Board's approval, on the terms of a ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement for the .sd top-level domain;

Whereas, the President recommends that authorization be given to enter into this agreement;

Resolved [02.136] that the President is authorized to enter on behalf of ICANN the ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement for .sd in the form provided to the Board, with any minor corrections or adjustments as appropriate;

Resolved [02.137] that, upon signature of the agreement, the President is authorized to take such actions as appropriate to implement the agreement.

Mr. Auerbach expressed concern regarding the fact that the agreement was being considered in conjunction with a redelegation. Mr. Chapin asked about the nature of Mr. Auerbach's concern, noting that it seems appropriate that delegations of ccTLDs to new managers should involve appropriate documentation of the new managers' committments. Dr. Lynn agreed, noting the importance of providing a formal framework of accountability for the operation of ccTLDs for the benefit of their communities.

Mr. Mueller-Maguhn objected to Attachment B, clause 7, of the negotiated agreement, under which the IANA is entitled to receive zone-file access in connection with nameserver changes. Dr. Lynn noted that consideration of alternatives to zone-file access are being actively considered by a study group convened by the Security and Stability Advisory Committee, but that in any event the Sudan Internet Society had no objection to providing the access. Mr. Touton noted that the zone-file-access provision was limited to use "for purposes of verifying and ensuring the operational stability of the Delegated ccTLD only", as stated in section 4.2 of the ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement. While it appears that there are more effective operational means of ensuring stability, the details of which are being worked out by the study group, the zone-file-access provision is not of concern to the Sudan Internet Society, particularly in view of the fact that it has agreed to much more sweeping access to its data in the data-escrow provision of section 4.3.

The Board approved the above motion by a 13-1-2 vote, with Mr. Mueller-Maguhn voting against and Dr. Kyong and Dr. Quaynor abstaining.

ccTLD Agreement for .ke (Kenya)

Mr. Touton noted that provisions of a ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement had also been negotiated with the Kenya Network Information Center (KENIC) concerning the .ke (Kenya) ccTLD, and requested authorization for entry of that agreement. The negotiated language is quite similar to that in the model ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement for triangular situations posted on the web site.

Dr. Lynn moved, with Mr. Kraaijenbrink's second, that the Board adopt the following resolutions:

Whereas, on 10 March 2000, in resolution 00.13, the Board authorized the President and staff to work with the ccTLD managers, Governmental Advisory Committee, and other interested parties to prepare draft language for ccTLD contracts, policy statements, and/or communications, including appropriate funding arrangements, to be presented to the Board and posted for public comment as soon as practicable;

Whereas, on 13 March 2001, in resolution 01.37, the Board directed ICANN management to press forward with continued vigor toward the completion of draft legacy agreements, and to pursue, as needed, acceptable ccTLD agreements in triangular situations;

Whereas, negotiators for Kenya Network Information Center (KENIC) and ICANN have reached agreement, subject to the ICANN Board's approval, on the terms of a ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement for the .ke top-level domain;

Whereas, the President recommends that authorization be given to enter into this agreement;

Resolved [02.138] that the President is authorized to enter on behalf of ICANN the ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement for .ke in the form provided to the Board, with any minor corrections or adjustments as appropriate;

Resolved [02.139] that, upon signature of the agreement, the President is authorized to take such actions as appropriate to implement the agreement.

In summarizing the history and status of the .ke ccTLD, Mr. Touton noted that, after a lengthy process, a broad coalition within the local Kenyan Internet community has formed Kenya Network Information Center (KENIC). KENIC has been formed as a result of significant dissatisfaction with the current operation of the .ke domain and has broad support of the ISPs, the technical community, businesses, and individuals. It has also been endorsed by the Kenyan government as the appropriate manager of the .ke ccTLD. Stuart Lynn and other ICANN representatives recently spent several days at a conference in Kenya and witnessed a very significant level of support for KENIC
within the local Internet community. The currently listed delegees of the .ke ccTLD are Shem J. Ochuodho (administrative contact) of Nairobi, Kenya, and Randy Bush (technical contact). Despite repeated invitations, Mr. Ochuodho has failed to participate in community discussions on concerns with his operation of the domain and opposes redelegation. Despite repeated requests, Mr. Ochuodho also failed to provide material suggesting that he enjoys significant support in the local Internet community, or that KENIC does not.

Dr. Lynn and Dr. Quaynor then discussed their observations of the Kenyan situation, concluding that having KENIC assume the delegation was a good outcome. Mr. Mueller-Maguhn noted his objection to Attachment B, clause 7, of the agreement.

The Board approved the above motion by a 14-1-1 vote, with Mr. Mueller-Maguhn voting against and Mr. Auerbach abstaining.

ccTLD Memorandum of Understanding for .af (Afghanistan)

Mr. Touton noted that provisions of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concerning the .af (Afghanistan) ccTLD had been negotiated with the Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan. The negotiated language is quite similar to that in the model MOU posted on the web site, except that minor adjustments have been made to reflect that the MOU is between ICANN and a governmental party. He requested authorization to enter the MOU.

Dr. Wilson moved, with a second by Mr. Kraaijenbrink, that the Board adopt the following resolutions:

Whereas, negotiators for the Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan and ICANN have reached agreement, subject to the ICANN Board's approval, on the terms of an ICANN-ccTLD Manager Memorandum of Understanding for the .af top-level domain according to the model memorandum of understanding for bilateral situations as posted on the ICANN web site, adapted to the particular circumstances of the .af top-level domain;

Whereas, the President and General Counsel have presented the ICANN-ccTLD Manager Memorandum of Understanding to the Board and recommended that the Board authorize its entry as negotiated;

Resolved [02.140] that the President is authorized to enter on behalf of ICANN the ICANN-ccTLD Manager Memorandum of Understanding for .af as presented to the Board, along with any minor corrections or adjustments as appropriate;

Resolved [02.141] that, upon signature of the memorandum, the President is authorized to take such actions as appropriate to implement it.

Mr. Touton noted that the .af ccTLD is currently delegated to Abdul Razeeq of Kabul, Afghanistan (administrative contact) and the Netnames Hostmaster of London, UK (technical contact). Due to the longstanding political turmoil in Afghanistan, the ccTLD has been in a maintenance-only mode (no new registrations) for many years. The
Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan is seeking, with the assistance of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), to return the .af domain to active use within that country, and in August 2002 made a request for that transfer. Mr. Razeeq has agreed that the redelegation to the Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan is appropriate at this time.

Mr. Touton noted that the intent is that, once adequate infrastructure is developed in Afghanistan, the ccTLD will be migrated from UNDP to in-country operation with a policy-development and management structure reflective of all segments of the Internet community within Afghanistan. Mr. Mueller-Maguhn noted his objection to Attachment B, clause 7, of the agreement.

The Board approved the above motion by a 15-1-0 vote, with Mr. Mueller-Maguhn voting against.

CEO Search

Dr. Cerf gave a report on behalf of the Executive Search Committee on its progress in the CEO search. He noted that the committee has agreed to retain the services of Christopher Mill and Partners to assist with the seach. The Executive Search Committee is seeking to provide a recommendation to the Board on a new CEO in early 2003.

Amsterdam Meeting Arrangements

The Board discussed the agenda, schedule, and arrangements for the annual meeting to be held 14-15 December 2002 in Amsterdam. Board members expressed their desire to start the Board meeting on Sunday, 15 December 2002 early, so that proceedings can be concluded by noon.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 15:02 UTC (7:02 am U.S. Pacific Standard Time).

_______________________
Louis Touton
Secretary

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