Public Comment

Public Comment is a vital part of our multistakeholder model. It provides a mechanism for stakeholders to have their opinions and recommendations formally and publicly documented. It is an opportunity for the ICANN community to effect change and improve policies and operations.

closed Proposed Amendment 5 to the .name Registry Agreement

CategoryOther
RequestersICANN org

Outcome

ICANN org is grateful for the opportunity to seek feedback from the community and appreciates the comments submitted to the public forum on the proposed .name Registry Agreement No. 5.

The two comments received were in general support the proposed Amendment 5 to the .name Registry Agreement. Following the completion of the Public Comment process, ICANN org will make a decision regarding the .name Registry Agreement No. 5.

What We Received Input On

The proposed Amendment 5 to the .name Registry Agreement (RA) satisfies ICANN org and Verisign’s agreement to negotiate certain terms described in Amendment 3 to the .name Registry Agreement, dated 5 August 2020. Under Amendment 3, the parties agreed to cooperate and negotiate in good faith to agree upon and amend the .name Registry Agreement by 15 August 2021 to incorporate provisions from the .com Registry Agreement Amendment No. 3, dated 27 March 2020, and the generic top-level domain (gTLD) Base Registry Agreement into the .name Registry Agreement.

In August 2021, ICANN org and Verisign agreed to Amendment 4 of the .name RA to extend the amendment execution date by 120 days to 13 December 2021.

The proposed Amendment 5 would modify the .name RA in the following ways:

  • Align certain provisions with Amendment 3 of the .com Registry Agreement.
  • Align certain technical and reporting obligations for the .name TLD with those in the Base gTLD Registry Agreement.
  • Incorporate commitments related to the implementation of the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP).
  • Incorporate certain Public Interest Commitments based on those in Specification 11 of the Base gTLD Registry Agreement.

Alignment of Certain Technical and Reporting Requirements with the Base

The Base gTLD Registry Agreement was developed to support the 1,200-plus new gTLD registries created through the New gTLD Program. It contains standardized technical and reporting obligations for registry operators of new gTLDs. Over time, ICANN org has been working to standardize the technical and reporting requirements across all gTLDs to the greatest extent possible to ensure technical and operational consistency across gTLDs.

The proposed Amendment 5 to the .name RA includes updates to the following technical and reporting specifications to bring certain requirements more in line with those in the Base RA:

  • Registry Data Escrow (Appendix 1A & 2A)
    • The updated Appendix 1A is similar to Part A of Specification 2 of the Base RA.
    • These changes will take effect following an update to the three-party data escrow agreement among Verisign, the data escrow provider, and ICANN org on or before 12 April 2022.
  • Zone File Access (Appendix 3A)
  • Registry Reporting (Appendix 4A)
    • This updated Appendix 4A is based on Specification 3 of the Base RA.
    • These changes will be reflected for the January 2022 reporting month in the report provided by 20 February 2022.
  • Registration Data Publication Services (Appendix 5A)
  • Public Interest Commitments (Appendix 12)
    • Added Appendix 12 which is based on Specification 11 of the Base RA.
    • These changes will go into effect the 45th day following ICANN’s approval of the RRA.

Incorporation of Commitments related to the Implementation of the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP)

ICANN org entered into negotiations with the gTLD Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) and the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RrSG) to define contractual requirements for RDAP comparable to WHOIS, and to define the transition of technology for delivering Registration Data Directory Services (RDDS) from the WHOIS protocol to RDAP for the Base RA and 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA).

The proposed Amendment 5 includes provisions related to the implementation of RDAP. Given that the negotiations with the stakeholder groups are ongoing, ICANN org and Verisign have agreed under the proposed Amendment 5 to work together in good faith to amend the .name RA in the future as may be necessary and appropriate to align the requirements with those resulting from the Base RA negotiations between ICANN org and the RySG as it relates to RDDS.

Update to Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA)

The proposed Amendment 5 includes an updated Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA) as Appendix 8A, based on several of the proposed changes to the RA and for consistency with other RRAs. For added transparency, the proposed changes to the RRA are included in the redline format to simplify comparison with the current RRA. In parallel with this Public Comment period, the proposed RRA will be processed in accordance with the RRA Amendment Procedure.

Proposals For Your Input
Proposed Amendment 5 to the .name Registry Agreement (pdf, 1.07 MB)

Background

ICANN org and Verisign entered into the current .name Registry Agreement (RA) for the operation of the .name TLD on 1 December 2012 with a term of six years to 15 August 2018. In August 2018, ICANN org and Verisign agreed to Amendment 2 of the .name RA, which extended the then current term of the RA twenty-four (24) months to 15 August 2020. In August 2020, ICANN org and Verisign agreed to Amendment 3 of the .name RA to extend the expiration date to 15 August 2024. In addition, both parties agreed to amend the .name RA by 15 August 2021 to incorporate provisions agreed to in Amendment 3 of the .com RA or the gTLD Base Registry Agreement. In August 2021, ICANN org and Verisign agreed to Amendment 4 of the .name RA to extend the amendment execution date by 120 days to 13 December 2021.