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New sTLD RFP Application

.post

Part B. Application Form


Name and Address fields

Company/Organization Information

Company Name Universal Postal Union (UPU)
Company Address 1 Weltpoststrasse 4
Company Address 2 n/a
Company City Bern 15
Company State/Province n/a
Company Postal Code CH-3000
Company Website Address http://www.upu.int
Company Country Switzerland

Sponsoring Organization Information

Sponsoring Organization Name Universal Postal Union (UPU)
Sponsoring Organization Address 1 Weltpoststrasse 4
Sponsoring Organization Address 2 n/a
Sponsoring Organization City Bern 15
Sponsoring State/Province n/a
Sponsoring Organization Postal Code CH-3000
Sponsoring Organization Country Switzerland
Sponsoring Organization Website Address http://www.upu.int

 


Namestrings and Conventions

First sTLD choice: .post
Naming Conventions:
The .post sponsored Top Level Domain (sTLD) will be a trusted, stable, secure,
innovative standard identifier of the postal community in cyberspace. The new
sTLD will be administered in a structured and credible not-for-profit
environment and will be managed by a highly trusted and reliable Registry
Operator.

The proposed naming convention will apply to each of the three proposed name
strings. In order to ensure that postal systems integrate fully with the
Internet, .post will enable registration of second (2LD) and third Level Domain
(3LD) names. All domain levels will be allocated in accordance with postal
industry standards. 

The issuance of domains and sub-domains will be governed by strict policies and
processes to guarantee that the entity/company is eligible to register .post
domains and has clear guidelines on how to use them.

The .post sTLD will be structured into 2 major logical sections, namely:
1	a sub-domain structure reflecting each country's officially designated Post
Operator (DPO) so that each sovereign entity will be able to manage the
allocation of domains within their territory, to register postal offices, post
codes, national services and physical address, etc.;
2	A complementary sub-domain structure reflecting global commercial
organizations, brands, trademarks etc.

To preserve the integrity of addressing information, the ISO 3166 (country
3-letter-code) or any national equivalent in the 2LD will be exclusively
pre-allocated to each country's respective DPO, e.g. fra.post, mex.post,
usa.post.    

This proposal adopts the ISO 3166 country 3-letter-code table for 2LDs; the UPU
and its 190 members would like to discuss with ICANN the possibility of using
the ISO 3166 country 2-letter-codes as currently used in many postcode schemes,
e.g.
DE-53227 – is the international postcode for Bonn, Germany;
FI-00231 – is the international postcode for Helsinki, Finland.

It should be pointed out that DPOs are currently identified by standard
location names which represent approximately 650,000 potential .post domain
names (see Naming Convention point 2 below – Post Offices and other DPO
locations).  

.post Naming Convention 

1. Function: DPOs 
Membership: entity officially designated by the national authorities of each
member country as responsible for fulfilling the obligations arising from
accesion to the Universal Postal Convention and its associated Agreements
within its national territory, corresponding to the national authorities; one
per country
Convention: .post 
Examples: fra.post (France), can.post (Canada), usa.post (United States),
nga.post (Nigeria), irn.post (Iran)

2. Function: Post Offices and other DPO locations
Membership: these will be registered by the national DPO or its licensed
franchisees  
Convention: -<3-letter-code>.post
Examples: ottawacentral-can.post, marnelavallee-fra.post,
washingtonsouth-usa.post, jakartacentral-ind.post, pharmaprixquebec-can.post,
apcmorillon-fra.post

3. Function: other Post Operators
Membership: private companies which are not DPOs and which provide postal
services 
Convention: -<3-letter-code>.post 
Examples: citymail-swe.post, hayes-gbr.post   

4. Function: organizations and regional associations (referred to as Restricted
Unions within the UPU)
Membership: postal-related international organizations and Restricted Unions of
DPOs
Convention: .post
Examples: upu.post, post-europ.post, appu.post 

5. Function: communities
Membership: communities, associations, foundations and unions that are related
to postal services
Convention: -<3-letter-code>.post,
.post 
Examples: philately-can.post (Canadian Philately association), philately.post
(Philatelia), media-arg.post, (Argentinean Media Association), media.post
(Media)

6. Function: registered partners
Membership: suppliers to the postal industry worldwide 
Convention: .partner.post.
Examples: pitneybowes.partner.post, siemens.partner.post,
microsoft.partner.post, fedex.partner.post, ipc.partner.post

7. Function: trademarks and brand names
Membership: trademarks and brand names of UPU and members (international and
national). 
Convention: .post,
.<3-letter-code>.post
Examples: postecs.post, postecs.fra.post, royalmail.post, correos.chl.post,
usps.usa.post

8. Function: UPU-regulated services
Membership: regulated services provided by the UPU and registered on a
country-by-country basis
Convention: .post
Examples: epm.post, ifs.post (International Financial System), ips.post
(International Postal System), 

9. Function: country-regulated services
Membership: regulated services provided on a country-by-country basis
Convention: .<3-letter-country>.post
Examples: epm.chn.post, ifs.mex.post, ips.deu.post

10. Function: international generic functions
Membership: generic functions and postal services 
Convention: .post
Examples: letter.post, parcel.post, information.post, lostletter.post,
moneytransfer.post, track.post, cashtransfer.post

11. Function: national generic functions
Membership: generic functions and postal services on a country-by-country basis
Convention: -<3 letter-code>.post
Examples: letter-fra.post, parcel-deu.post, info-can.post, lostletter-gbr.post,
parcel-deu.post, colis-fra.post, track-can.post, cashtransfer-usa.post

Second sTLD choice: .postal
Naming Conventions:
The naming convention specified in .post will apply to the .postal name string.

Third sTLD choice: .poste
Naming Conventions:
The naming convention specified in .post will apply to the .poste name string.


Sponsoring Organization Structure
Established in 1874, the UPU, with its headquarters in Berne, Switzerland, is
the world's second oldest international organization. The UPU became a
specialized agency of the United Nations on 1 July 1948, giving all United
Nations members the right to accede to the UPU. With 190 member countries, the
UPU represents an industry with over 6,200,000 employees and more than 650,000
postal outlets, responsible for distributing over 450 billion letters and
parcels annually. It is the primary forum for cooperation between DPOs and
helps promote a global network of collaboration, as well as providing
up-to-date solutions to ensure universality of service. The UPU also defines
the rules for international mail exchanges and makes recommendations to
stimulate growth in mail volumes and improve quality of service for customers.
However, as a UN specialized agency it does not interfere in matters that fall
within the domestic domain of national postal services. Thus, for example, DPOs
set their own postage rates and decide how many postage stamps to issue and how
to manage their postal operations and staff. In addition, by virtue of its
mission to develop social, cultural and commercial communication between
peoples through the efficient operation of the postal service, the UPU is
called upon to play an important leadership role in promoting the continued
revitalization of postal services.

The financing of UPU activities is independent of the wider UN system. All
budget expenses are financed jointly by the member countries, through a
contribution class system.

The UPU has a well-defined administrative structure to meet the political and
operational needs of a global UN agency representing the entire postal
community. It is experienced in supporting worldwide activities in the areas of
physical mail and logistics and cross-border postal financial transactions, and
has developed postal electronic services competency.

Two bodies exist to oversee the regulatory environment of the UPU: the Council
of Administration (CA), and the Postal Operations Council (POC). These bodies
enable community representation in the general policy, administration and
regulations of the UPU. 

The POC will be responsible for formulating and overseeing the policy of the
.post sTLD. The POC is a permanent body of the UPU which is responsible for
operational, technical and economic cooperation issues affecting the DPOs of
all member countries. It consists of 40 member countries that are elected by
the UPU Congress on the basis of qualified geographical distribution, with 24
seats reserved for developing countries and 16 for developed countries. To
ensure that the UPU is able to react quickly to changes in the postal
environment, the POC has a mechanism to deal with urgent questions raised
between sessions. The POC promotes the introduction of new postal products by
collecting, analyzing and publicizing the results of initiatives and research
undertaken by DPOs. It also makes recommendations to member countries
concerning standards for technological, operational or other processes within
its competence where uniformity of practice is essential. In addition, it sets
up contact committees, industry groups and joint working parties with the
participation of other international organizations to deal with problems of
mutual interest. The POC's programme of work aims above all at helping postal
services to modernize and upgrade their postal products.
 
The POC will delegate to the IB the task of planning, developing and
implementing the .post sTLD.  

The International Bureau (IB) has a permanent staff of 150 and 60 project
staff. The IB fulfills an advisory, mediating and liaison role, and renders
technical assistance where needed. As such, it is the operational arm of the
POC, and plays a leading role in designing, developing, implementing,
supporting and promoting the application of postal technology for the UPU
members. The IB will be responsible for implementing .post policies, marketing
strategies on the uptake of .post domains, technical issues that relate to the
registry operator and registrars, as well as other matters involving the stable
operation of .post.

Through the IB, the UPU has established a number of Regional Support Centres
(RSC) in different parts of the world to promote its information technology
activities. These centres manage the deployment and support of UPU technology
applications, products and services within their respective regions. The RSCs
are as follows:
Africa (East and South)	-Dar-Es-Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania  
Asia/Pacific		-Singapore, Singapore 
Caribbean	        -San Juan, Puerto Rico
Latin America		-Montevideo, Uruguay

The UPU will introduce its worldwide domain name registration services to the
postal community with a number of registrars. Some ICANN accredited registrars
and possibly a number of DPOs will act as "specialized community registrars".
The latter will cover the different geographical areas of the globe to ensure
that Post  Offices around the world are able to register domains from day one
of the launch of .post, to ensure universal services. The UPU will approve
registrars wanting to offer .post registration services. Potential registrars
will have to prove that they are ICANN accredited or DPOs that have the
technical and financial capacities to perform such activities.

Accreditation will follow a rigorous selection process to be established by the
POC and operated by the IB. In particular, candidate registrars will be
required to: demonstrate appropriate geographical coverage; offer superior
features and service levels; and commit to fully comply with the required
eligibility criteria set forth by the .post Charter and policies.

SWITCH (Swiss Academic and Research Network) has been selected by the UPU to
perform all of the technical registry operation functions, under the
supervision of the IB.

In this framework, the IB's role is to facilitate the DPOs' provision of
universal postal exchanges and payment products and services worldwide, in line
with customer needs. The IB meets these needs by defining, developing and
delivering modern IT systems and applications to enhance and support postal
capabilities and competitiveness.

With its global expertise, the IB can help DPOs to become more competitive by
ensuring that customer needs are met through the use of new technologies. The
IB's major functions include:
- providing secure, trusted, "always available" and accessible global
communication networks;
- providing high-added-value solutions for management, quality control and the
continuous improvement of mail and financial services;     
- operating as a centre of excellence through the provision of information,
support, project management and strategic advice for the development of postal
services;     
- facilitating collaboration between DPOs and technology partners to deliver
significant business benefits; and
- providing a full range of support and technical services to DPOs and other
stakeholders.

The UPU also develops applications on behalf of the community it serves and
provides support and guidance, as well as acting as a facilitator for a
worldwide cooperation network. It is also a member of the community it
supports.

In the same way, the postal community has always required consistent standards
and common delivery platforms in order to operate effectively and meet the
needs of its customers worldwide; such consistency must now be extended to the
Internet in order to ensure future growth. The Internet will increase the
capabilities of the platform from which standardized information is accessed,
thus offering consistency, stability, and security. In this regard, the .post
sTLD will provide the postal industry with the basis from which to work
cooperatively, as it has done in the past, to develop new innovative systems
for the community at large.

The UPU will use its existing governance structure to manage and administer
.post on behalf of the community.  This will ensure that the interests of
stakeholders and the community are represented, as all decisions will be taken
by the POC within the UPU framework.  The POC is an elected industry
representative body which will be responsible for the formulation of policy for
the .post sTLD. Consequently, members of the global postal industry will be
involved in the policy formulation through their involvement in the POC. 

The creation of an online Postal community will benefit citizens at large
thanks to the introduction of online universal postal standards that will be
accessible to all. Initially, the introduction of DPO local post office
websites will provide a platform for electronic deployment of existing postal
services for the general community. Later, new universal services such as
online cross-border registered mail, online parcel tracking or global hybrid
mail will be introduced. 

It is expected that .post will greatly facilitate and enhance global
communications between members of the postal communities in developed and less
developed countries alike, as well as improving the logistics of goods and
document transportation.  Moreover, it will increase the level of expertise
both in technical and legal matters with regard to domain names, as well as
promoting the enforcement of registration restrictions.  It is expected that
.post will broaden business horizons by promoting comprehensive e-business
solutions.

Initially, the UPU will grant registration for .post domain names to all the
world's DPOs and Regional Unions without exception.  Subsequently, the postal
community at large will be able to register domains. 

The UPU will offer a GDP-based cost model on the basis of each country's
ability to pay.  The UPU will operate on a not-for-profit basis and will
diligently monitor costs in order to best protect the interests of the
stakeholders and the community it serves.

Appropriateness of Sponsored TLD Community
Definition of the community

The .post sTLD intends to facilitate global e-business transactions for the
benefit of all citizens by serving the needs of the worldwide postal community,
which includes public and private operators, organizations and government
agencies that provide and support universal, trusted and secure postal
services.

The .post sTLD intends to serve the needs of the worldwide postal community –
referred to here as the .post "Charter" – which includes the following draft
membership categories:
– the Universal Postal Union;
– the DPOs of the 190 UPU members;
– Restricted Postal Unions of the UPU, insofar as they are regional groupings
of DPOs (e.g. Asian–Pacific Postal Union);
– Postal Operators other than DPOs (e.g. Hayes, Citymail);
– Postal partners representing a vast array of commercial organizations that
support the provision of postal services.  Partners include:
** communications partners providing value to the postal value chain, such as
hybrid mail vendors offering mail design, printing and preparation services,
direct marketing vendors that support the creation of direct mail campaigns,
and others;
** logistics partners providing mail and parcel logistics and support services
for the postal industry (e.g. DHL, UPS);
** suppliers, i.e. vendors specializing in the provision of equipment and
services required for the smooth operation of Posts (e.g. Siemens, Pitney
Bowes);
** payment partners, i.e. vendors providing financial services in support of
the community (e.g. Western Union, SWIFT);
** technology partners, i.e. vendors providing technological services in
support of the community (e.g. Microsoft, Authentidate, Geotrust); 
** postal communities, i.e. representative bodies and associations that
represent specialized groups of interest in the postal community (e.g.
Philatelia, post media, direct marketing associations);
** Educational institutions with postal service functions, which may be any
organisation that provides training and education to members of the post
community (e.g. Berne University of Post and Telecoms);

Motivation

The UPU has examined the opportunity to work with the present TLD environment
to determine if global universal postal services could be implemented within
these structures.  Our conclusion is that the only secure and stable way to
create a universal electronic postal service, that would fulfill the
expectations of the world’s citizens and governments, could only be achieved
under a sponsored TLD.

This universal postal environment is not just the operating environment and
regulations of the postal community, managed and regulated under UPU
guidelines, it is also the Universal Service Obligation and mandate from the
United Nations to ensure that all people have affordable, secure and reliable
access to postal services, physical or electronic.

With less than 5% of the citizens of the world connected to the internet, there
is a genuine threat that many people will have their social right to
communication services diminished, as businesses and governments migrate to
electronic methods of communication.  Posts are working to “bridge the digital
divide” by combining traditional physical mail services with new electronic
services in order to provide a framework of multi-channel communications within
a trusted environment.

One of the lasting accomplishments of the UPU is creating a “single postal
territory” for the exchange of international mail.  Using a sponsored TLD, the
UPU wishes to extend this territory by extending its services onto a global
electronic postal network – establishing up to 650,000 Post Offices on the
Internet which will enable users in all parts of the world to access their
local postal outlets via the DNS, for services related to local postal
functions.

The UPU has an established standards group, with industry alliances bodies such
as CEN, which has defined standards for technical and operational postal
standards.  As an example, there is a standard for all postal addresses – “ s42
– International Postal Address Components and templates”, which now includes an
XML definition of postal addresses – the legal address.  The UPU will adopt
established postal standards in the sTLD.  For instance, the use of the
physical infrastructure for legal addresses thus creating a consistent presence
across both channels and facilitating the integration of information systems,
whilst still ensuring postal trust and global policies.

The traditional "trading cycle" of Information, Distribution and Payments all
trusted and secure services by the Posts, used a billions times a day, will be
supported and improved in cost, speed, efficiency by the Posts internet sTLD. 
A UPU sponsored TLD with its societal acknowledged services, will make more
people, make more use of the internet in their everyday lives, regardless of
race, culture, geography, language and for the benefit of local, domestic and
global growth.

In conclusion, the compelling motivation for the .post sTLD is the need to
migrate universal postal services from the physical world, to the internet
world, whilst safeguarding the general open principles of the internet.

Representation
Representing 190 member countries worldwide, the UPU is truly representative of
the world's postal community. Moreover, it has developed an extensive and
documented set of procedures for ensuring the representation of its members'
interests and of their communication systems. 

While the postal community itself is defined by the .post Charter, the global
range of stakeholders is so wide, diverse and complex that it is impossible to
define it with precision. As sovereign entities in their respective countries,
the UPU members will have the opportunity to further represent all the
categories of stakeholders they may define as legitimate within their
jurisdiction, allowing for ultimate flexibility.

The structure of the UPU, as previously described, with the POC and IB, ensures
accountability. Representation of the 190 member countries will be provided by
the POC and under the POC, providing a forum for community contribution.

In addition to the member country input described above, the Chairman of the
POC may invite international organizations, associations, companies or
qualified persons, as well as DPOs not belonging to the POC that represent the
postal and Internet communities, to attend the meetings of the Council and of
its bodies.

The POC will set up an industry group and/or a joint working party with the
participation of other international organizations (in this case ICANN and
other bodies) to deal with issues of mutual interest to the .post and Internet
communities.

Openness and Tansparency
The following information provides an overview of the various ways in which the
UPU communicates with its members and stakeholders. 

Official UPU publications
Information concerning UPU activities is available from the following
publications:
–	The annual Summary Record of the CA which contains, inter alia, summaries of
relevant CA documents and of the discussions held, CA decisions and
resolutions, and a list of participants; 
–	The Annual Summary Record of the POC which contains, inter alia, summaries of
relevant POC documents and of the discussions held, POC decisions and
resolutions, and a list of participants;
–	The Financial Operating Report;
–	The Programme and Budget relating to the biannual budget cycle.

International forum
The IB organizes and hosts a number of meetings and council sessions each year
as part of its role to provide an international forum for all parties with a
stake in the worldwide postal industry. These include the annual sessions of
the POC and the CA and the regular meetings of the Advisory Group (which
represents the interests of the wider international postal sector, and provides
an institutional framework for effective dialogue between stakeholders).

The Director General, Deputy Director General and Directors participate in many
international conferences and other important meetings relating to postal
services. 

The annual UPU Customer Day and POC Forum, where postal and external partners
share their views on developments in the postal market, are further proof of
the UPU's commitment to stakeholder participation. Through its association with
POST-EXPO, the annual international postal technology conference and
exhibition, the UPU has created yet another platform for executives from DPOs
and related industries to openly discuss future challenges.

www.upu.int
The UPU website offers visitors easy access to information about the UPU and
its DPOs. Apart from general facts about the UPU, including its history and
structure, useful information is available on activities in the fields of
postal reform, technical cooperation, quality of service, direct mail, parcels,
standards and many other subjects. In addition to promoting a positive and
transparent image of the organization, the accessibility of information is also
saving the IB time and resources in responding to external inquiries for
information, particularly in the area of postal statistics, postal codes,
meeting documents and publications.

The UPU website already has an average of 21,000 visitors per month.

As part of the .post services proposed by the UPU, a specific .post web site
such as http://www.register-now.post and a mailing list will be created. This
will be the portal for .post registration and will contain access to all
registrars selected by the UPU, policies and WHOIS services, registrant best
practices, and so on. It will also contain matters of interest to the public
and postal communities, policies, statutes, FAQs, proceedings of official
meetings, the status of applicants' requests, and so on. 

Union Postale magazine
The UPU's flagship magazine, Union Postale, provides extensive coverage of the
activities of the different UPU bodies, while also publishing in-depth articles
on issues of interest to the broader postal industry. Some 3,800 issues of the
magazine are published on a quarterly basis, for distribution to all member
countries and other stakeholders. 

Circulars 
Circulars are used to communicate important operational and administrative
information from individual countries to all other members of the UPU.
Circulars  are prepared by the IB with the help of the requesting member and
are subsequently sent out to all members. In 2003, 450 circulars were
distributed. 

Emergency Information System (EmIS)
The UPU IB uses the Emergency Information System (EmIS) to communicate urgently
with its member countries about operational issues that could affect their own
services, such as domestic industrial action, cases of bio-terrorism and the
termination or resumption of mail exchanges in a particular country. This
system contains the emergency e-mails and fax numbers of all UPU member
countries.

Initial Directors, Officers, and Other Staff
Director General of the UPU IB: Mr. Thomas E. Leavey, (USA)
Qualifications: Mr. Leavey has held this post since January 1995. He graduated
with a Ph.D. from Princeton University. He is responsible for providing
leadership in responding to the significant challenges the UPU and its 190
member countries face, including the increasing liberalization of postal
services, new advances in technology and the need to adopt more
customer-oriented commercial strategies. Mr. Leavey also gives priority to
ensuring the full integration of developing countries into the universal postal
network.  

Deputy Director General: Mr. Moussibahou Mazou (Congo)
Director of the DG's Office, Strategic Planning and Communication (CPSC): Mr.
Gunderson (USA)
Director, Operations and Technology Directorate (DOT): Mr. Msofe, (Tanzania
(United Rep.))
Acting Director, Economic and Regulatory Affairs Directorate (DER): Mr. Raman
(India)
Director, Markets Directorate (DMS): Mr. McKeown (Australia)
Director, Finance Directorate (DFI): Mr van der Weg (Netherlands)
Director, Logistics Directorate (DL): Mr. Karvonen (Finland)
Director, Human Resources Directorate (DRH): Mr. Mauer (Germany)
Director, Development Cooperation Directorate (DCDEV): Mr. Pinheiro (Brazil)
Head of Postal Technology Centre (PTC): Mr. Gassmann (Switzerland)

Core staff of the IB: approximately 150 employees from 40 different countries.
Project staff of the IB: approximately 60 employees.

Selection of Directors, Officers, Members, Staff
The Director General and the Deputy Director General are elected by the UPU
Congress for the period between two successive Congresses.

The IB members of staff are international civil servants. As a UN specialized
agency, the UPU is bound by the UN common system (same principles and
compensations for staff). The Staff Regulations are based on those of the UN
common system and are adopted by the CA, while the Staff Rules contain detailed
regulations and are adopted by the Director General. Copies of the Regulations
and Rules can be provided on request.  In brief terms, the main rules are the
following: 

-	The paramount consideration in the recruitment of staff and the determination
of their conditions of service is the necessity of securing for the Union the
highest standard of efficiency and integrity. Special attention is paid to the
importance of recruiting staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible,
without distinction as to race, sex or religion;

-	Appointments and promotions are decided by the Director General. An
Appointment and Promotion Committee, established by the Director General,
advises him with regard to all appointments and promotions to vacant core
positions. This Committee is a joint Committee of two staff representatives and
two members directly designated by the Director General and chaired by the
Deputy Director General. The appointment of non-core staff is not subject to
this procedure;   

-	Core staff positions are subject to renewable, fixed-term appointments. The
terms of other staff member contracts depend mainly on the nature of the
activity, the amount of funding and the actual project; 

-	The UN General Assembly takes decisions regarding compensation scales and
other benefits;

-	The Director General may terminate the appointment of a staff member for
determined reasons. A staff member may also be dismissed by disciplinary
decision; 
 
-	Strict rules apply to staff concerning matters of loyalty, conduct, outside
activities and interests, confidentiality, gifts, political activities,
privileges and immunities, and oaths or declarations. They must also avoid
conflicts of interest; 

-	The Director General may fill any vacant post by transfer or promotion of IB
staff members. He must also notify the DPOs of the member countries by circular
letter of vacancies for professional and higher positions which are not filled
from within the IB.

Meetings and Communication
Two levels of communication are required in order to adequately support .post. 

At the executive level, for policy formulation and regulation, the POC will
meet twice yearly for a period of two weeks to review the progress of .post.
The POC will call ad hoc meetings as necessary to resolve urgent issues.

At the planning, implementation and operations level, the IB will arrange
meetings as needed. It will organize monthly teleconferences and quarterly
face-to-face meetings with appropriate stakeholders particularly during the
planning, developing and implementation phases.  

The POC will set up the necessary body to discuss user-related operational
issues and will meet at least twice a year.

This frequency of meetings will be maintained for the initial phase of .post
implementation, after which a revised schedule will be instituted to reflect
the expected stabilization of the .post environment. Meeting minutes will be
published and made available on a specific area of the UPU website
(http://www.register-now.post). A secure website, necessary in the context of
privacy protection and security protocol development, is available for the
planning and development teams.

Fiscal Information
The UPU has a core staff of about 150 employees from around 40 different
countries. In addition, it employs around 60 staff recruited for specific
projects.

The ceiling of the UPU's ordinary budget is fixed by Congress in the General
Regulations.  For the 2001 to 2004 period, annual expenditure relating to the
activities of the bodies of the Union may not exceed 37 million Swiss francs.
Member countries contribute to the ordinary budget according to a system of
contribution classes.

Other activities may also be pursued on a voluntary basis. The .post project is
presently financed by voluntary contributions from DPOs of UPU members and is
subject to a specific budget.

The UPU and its staff members benefit from privileges and immunities according
to various agreements, which can be provided on request. 

The UPU, its assets, income and other property are exempted from all direct and
indirect taxes, including VAT.  

According to the UPU Financial Regulations, adopted by the CA, the
accountability of the Union must be verified by an external Auditor appointed
by the Swiss Government, whose reports are then submitted to the CA for
approval.

Activities associated with the operations of the .post sTLD will be identified
in the extrabudgetary accounts of the UPU. Such activities under the
extrabudgetary accounts will be self-financed by the .post community.

Indemnification from Liability
Provider of Policy:		Allianz Suisse
				Sulgeneckstrasse 19
				P.O. Box 
				3000 Bern 14

Amount of Insurance Policy:	CHF 3,000,000.00 in aggregate per loss occurrence
for bodily 				injury, property damage as well as loss prevention costs

Proposed Extent of Policy-Making Authority
For the postal industry to take full advantage of the Internet, it must be
confident that it is operating within a trusted environment associated with
industry standards, data protection and integrity, in compliance with security
and privacy norms. The .post sTLD will set a new standard for quality and will
create an essential component for innovative online services.

The UPU has a proven record as a trusted authority for the formulation and
administration of policies governing postal businesses and standards since
1874. The UPU therefore seeks the authority to register 2LD and 3LD names for
the .post sTLD and for the formulation of related policies.       

As the policy formulating authority of the .post sTLD, the POC intends to
formulate the new sTLD policies. The authority sought is to limit the .post
sTLD to genuine members of the postal community as defined in the .post
Charter. 

The UPU recognizes that it is also important that organizations introducing new
technological solutions do not exclude the requirements of developing
countries. UPU members and their DPOs are currently working to bridge the
digital divide by combining traditional physical mail services with new
electronic services in order to provide a framework of hybrid communications
within a trusted environment. Through the UPU Regulations, they are obliged to
offer universal services, as well as trusted and secure communications.  The
UPU will use the .post sTLD to support this philosophy in Internet postal
services as well.

As a UN specialized agency, the UPU is a neutral organization that will ensure
diversity and universal access to channels, thereby creating a stable community
for .post in the interest of the Internet at large. 

The UPU requests that ICANN delegate the following areas of responsibility for
the deployment of consistent policies for the .post sTLD provided the scope of
the Charter is not exceeded:

a 	establishment and implementation of policies, including the naming
convention; 
b	restrictions on what types of entities or individuals may register domain
names;
c	restrictions on how registered names may be used; 
d	the eligibility and name selection process to be performed by the sponsoring
organization, the UPU;
e	mechanisms for the enforcement of policies, including procedures for the
cancellation of registrations;
f	mechanisms for the resolution of disputes between registrants in litigation
(trademarks and brands ; 
g	performance specifications for, and pricing of, registry services;
h	selection of the registry operator for the .post sTLD and its operation;
i	selection of specialized DPOs and ICANN-accredited registrars to act as
registrars for .post and ensure registration performance; 
j	the drawing up of contracts between sponsor, registry operator and
registrants. For example: 

sponsor:
•	ICANN-sponsoring registry agreement: main contract that establishes the basis
for the delegation of .post to the sponsoring organization, UPU, by ICANN;
•	sponsor and registry operator: contract between sponsor and the appointed
registry operator to run the sTLD;
•	sponsor and registrant; contract between domain name holders of registered
domains and the sponsor, allowing the use of domains in accordance with the
sponsor's conditions.
•	specific registrar accreditation agreement (UPU responsible for accrediting
.post registrars) 
•	sponsoring-registry agreement.

Policy-Making Process
Proposed policy-making methodology

The UPU, as the sponsoring organization, has ultimate responsibility for all
policy formulation.  As mentioned previously, the POC, within the UPU, will be
responsible for the formulation of policy for the .post sTLD. As it is an
elected industry representation body, members of the postal industry will be
involved in the policy formulation through their involvement in the POC.  The
IB will ensure that the registry operator and registrars implement the policies
according to POC instructions.

After the signature of the contract between ICANN and the UPU, the POC will
establish an industry group and/or joint working party of the Council with
representatives of its bodies, international organizations, associations,
companies or qualified persons, as well as DPOs not belonging to the POC that
would represent the postal and Internet communities. 

The POC will formulate all the policies and processes that are required to
ensure a high quality registry operation.  

The policy formulation process will be as follows:

1.	the POC mandates the joint working group with the formulation of a policy to
be submitted to the POC for approval;

2.	following approval by the POC, the IB is responsible for implementation and
policy management, and will give the go-ahead for the registry operator, SWITCH
and .post accredited registrars to operate the registration service according
to the defined .post policy.  Registration services will be performed during
the start-up period by .post accredited registrars and possibly some DPOs;

3.	policy modifications can be formally requested by the postal community via
the IB. These will be considered by the Joint Working Group and recommended to
the POC for approval.  With the exception of policy changes necessitating only
cosmetic changes, an escalation process to bring the matter to the attention of
the POC during one of its regular meetings will be put in place to obtain final
approval before proceeding with a policy change.

In order to ensure that only genuine members of the postal community may become
.post registrants, the UPU will create a validation process (eligibility
process) to limit registrants to those identified in the Charter.

The UPU, via the IB, will accelerate the adoption of new and unique .post sTLD
that will benefit the postal community, the Internet community, developing
nations and society at large.


A. Add new value to the Internet name space
With a worldwide postal workforce of over 6,000,000 people, a multi-billion
dollar service and support industry and 450 billion letters and parcels
delivered each year to all destinations of the world, the "post" name has clear
practical and emotional value to all people of the planet, including the
billions who still have no access to the modern benefits of the Internet.

In addition to supporting developing countries through the provision of
communication services, DPOs are obliged to offer universal services in
accordance with the UPU's Regulations.  This universal service obligation
ensures that trusted and secure communication services are available to all. 
These services support electronic and paper, and online and offline processes,
as well as hybrid processes that combine electronic and paper as part of a
single transaction.

As businesses and governments move towards electronic communication methods,
with less than 5% of the world's citizens connected to the internet, there is a
genuine danger that many people will see their social right to communication
services diminishing.  Posts are working to bridge the digital divide by
combining traditional physical mail services with new electronic services in
order to provide a framework of multi-channel communications within a trusted
environment. 

One of the lasting accomplishments of the UPU has been the creation of a
"single postal territory" for the exchange of international mail.  Using the
.post sTLD, the UPU now wishes to extend this territory by creating a global
electronic postal network – establishing an Internet presence for up to 650,000
post offices to enable users in all parts of the world to access their local
postal outlets via the DNS, for services related to local postal functions,
e.g. Taiyuan-chn.post (China), zinaire-bfa.post (Burkina Faso), lince-per.post
(Peru).

In addition, it wishes to use the DNS to operate and support postal
applications on a global scale.  Examples of applications for the general
community include the Global Electronic PostMark and International Hybrid Mail.
 The Global Electronic PostMark (EPM) service is planned for launch as a Beta
Programme this year.  The EPM is a trusted non repudiation service for the
secure exchange of signed and unsigned documents.  For it to work efficiently
on a global scale, the application needs to map securely to the appropriate
sovereign jurisdictions at the highest level of trust.  To support this level
of trust, a DNS hierarchy model is needed where the EPM providers could
register their URLs consistently, while at the same time protecting their
national sovereignty: 
•	epm.post (trusted regulated service, entrusted to UPU)
•	epm.usa.post, epm.fra.post, etc (trusted sovereign services)
Consequently, a universal EPM service can be created without hard-coding data
on client desktops.  This benefits the postal industry, the vendor industry and
the global user industry.

A similar infrastructure requirement would be possible for an international
hybrid mail (electronic mail-to-physical or physical-to-electronic mail)
service, where a DNS structure would provide for the global distribution of
hybrid mail.

Universal Address Management

DPOs are entrusted with a key piece of identity information that has legal
ramifications in many countries of the world – the legal address.  This is the
physical address that is recognized to be the address for all legal
correspondence.  The UPU has recently defined an official UPU XML standard for
the legal address.  Using this UPU XML standard, the .post sTLD promises to
bring the Posts' expertise in legal address management to the electronic world.

With .post sTLD underpinning legal address data, the opportunity to deliver
electronic communications to a restricted geographic area can be opened up. 
Leading DPOs are already investigating different methods for supporting
communications in this manner.  In all cases, locally relevant information will
be sent to residents of a particular geographical area – for instance a local
council or utility company message to notify residents of a problem such as a
burst water main.

While these services are being researched independently, DPOs realize the need
for universal consistency across all countries.  Universal Internet deployment
of the legal addressing standard can only be achieved through the policy
regulation capabilities provided by a sTLD.

Internationalized Domain Names (IDN)

Domain names have contributed significantly to the acceleration of Internet
development in English speaking countries over the last decade. The development
of the Internet in non-English speaking countries has been slow due to the lack
of Internet domains in their own language (or scripts). Non-English speaking
countries, and particularly non-ASCII character set domains, are in need of
such a boost today. 

Regardless of language, gender, age and race everyone should be able to use the
Internet easily. This will truly help to develop a global Internet as well as
closing the digital and economic divide.  The IDN (Internationalized Domain
Name) is used widely by Internet users to locate resources on the Internet in a
format that is easy to remember and understand. These domains are, however, not
required by the network software, but are used for human mnemonic convenience. 


Initially, domains will be ASCII character-set.  However, in order to better
support its global community, the .post sTLD will be enhanced to support
registration of names in international character sets (Internationalized Domain
Names – IDN).  For instance, there are approximately 76,000 post offices in
China and these will all obviously need their domains written in Chinese
character sets. 

IDN will certainly help Post Post Offices Offices worldwide to develop local
web, e-mail and other services for local people in their own language as well
as in all other countries with similar characteristics e.g. Arabic, Japanese,
etc.  

New Internet (IPv6)
Every computer connected to the Internet is identified by a unique number
defined as an "IP address" in the IPv4. IPv4 stands for Internet Protocol
version 4 which, after decades of real success, is approaching address space
exhaustion and is expected to be replaced by the new Internet protocol (IPv6).

In addition to millions of additional IP addresses, the advent of IPv6 will
also provide a more secure Internet (IPsec, DNSsec). The Internet model based
on IPv6 will enable applications that cannot be supported by IPv4 such as GRID
computing, mobility (3G), gaming and file sharing (P2P), voice over IP (VoIP),
smart homes and others.

Therefore, the UPU expects that, over time, growth in the .post registry will
support the industry adoption of IPv6.

Differentiation from other TLDs

The UPU would not be able to implement the .post registry policies under the
".int" TLD because this is reserved for treaty organizations such as the United
Nations, WHO etc.  

Due to the "first-come-first-served" policy of the .org and .com gTLD's, a
number of brand conflicts occur that could well make the implementation of the
UPU registry policy difficult, if possible at all.  For instance,
www.hkpost.com is a photo album and email service and www.fijipost.com is a
private news service.  Despite the fact that DPOs have established domains on
the Internet, there is little or no brand consistency and no naming conventions
for the industry.  Examples of this include www.hongkongpost.com,
www.post.co.ke, www.usps.com.  For the effective growth of universal postal
services this must be standardized.

The .post sTLD will be clearly differentiated from other gTLDs as it is
governed and represented by its community – the global postal industry.

B. Protect the rights of others
The UPU, as .post Sponsor, is committed to full compliance with current ICANN
UDRP and other policies protecting trademarks, brand names and famous domain
names.  Strict .post policies and ICANN UDRP will provide protection against
trademark infringement and cyber-squatting.

Data integrity and privacy, which is a paramount requirement for the .post
sTLD, will be reflected in the .post policies.  DPOs have legal obligations to
protect the privacy and integrity of data as well as the communications that
have been entrusted to them, and this will also be reflected in .post policies.

Periodic random checks of registered domains will be performed by the IB and
any undesirable domains will be revoked if they are not in line with .post
policies and registrants' rights.  Registrars that do not comply with .post
policies risk losing their accreditation should this practice persist.  

The UPU will publish best practices in privacy, spam, enhanced data protection
policies for use of the .post domain, as well as auditing rights in order to
ensure continued compliance. 

A defined list of domain names that legitimately belong to members of the
community will be pre-registered before the launch of the service in order to
protect against fraudulent registrations.

Registration Process

I.	Applicant authentication ("eligibility")

An applicant will submit a formal request via a manual application to be
recognized as a member of the postal community as indicated in the .post
Charter via .post accredited registrars. This form will be received by the
.post Accreditation Service of the IB with the following:
-  full legal description of the applicant with supporting legal proof;
-  proof of official designation by the UPU member country of the applicant
responsible for fulfilling the obligations arising from accession to the
Convention and Agreements on its national territory;
-  principal location, legal status of the organization, laws under which it is
organized, type of organization;
-  contact point name of the entity/organization concerned.

The IB will implement a standard validation process to ensure the legality of
the information provided by the potential applicant.  The completed application
form will be evaluated by the IB and, if the eligibility requirement is
fulfilled, the applicant will be allocated its own confidential registration
key.  For UPU community members, the UPU already has a list of contact names
per member so it will be a matter of straightforward validation or refusal in
these cases. 

The formal review, performed by the .post Accreditation Service, will issue a
decision in the form: 
 a  if eligible, registration key is granted 
 b  if not eligible, registration key is refused.  
In case b, the name of the entity/organization will be included in the .post
revocation list for further action.

Eligible applicants will be allocated a registration key (the first time) which
will be used as identification for subsequent registrations. A registrant must
be identified as one of the "registrant types", as indicated in the Charter, in
order to be eligible for the requested domain name, e.g. DPOs, partners.
 
Certain organizations and associations can automatically be designated as .post
members/partners and be pre-allocated registration keys without going through
the application process, e.g. IPC, APPU and others.

A random verification of registered domains will be performed periodically in
order to revoke domains that do not agree with current .post policies.
            
II.	Domain Name Registration

Registration of domains within the 2LD and 3LD will be delegated to eligible
registrants, such as the UPU member organizations (or DPOs) that will be
responsible for asserting the validity of the name and its use.  When a
registrant applies for a domain name, via a .post accredited registrar, the
registrar will check the registration key, which will subsequently allow the
registrant to register any domains according to their registrant type status. 

Registrants holding registration keys will be able to register any domain which
they hold by right, according to the type of registrant which will be used as
identification for multiple registrations.  A number of registrant types will
have restricted access to the naming convention framework, e.g. partners. 
Delegation of 2LD and 3LD registrar authority will be subject to .post policy
in order to ensure that DPOs worldwide adhere to the public's expectation of
trust and confidentiality in all Internet entities operating under the UPU.  

Domain names will be activated after the registrar receives payment from the
registrant. 

As the entity officially designated by the UPU may not be permanent, any change
in the designation will be communicated to the UPU and could lead to the
revocation of the domains and the registration keys of the registrant.

C. Assurance of charter-compliant registrations and avoidance of abusive registration practices
The abuse that occurs in an open environment, with the first-come, first-served
registration practice, is not an issue within this closed professional .post
community.  Because the UPU is subject to public scrutiny and is most often
directly accountable to government bodies, this community is one of the most
well-established, stable and risk-aware communities in existence.  A low to
zero number of abuse cases is expected.

During phase 1 (first 6 months) of the .post deployment, the following
chartered registrant types will be allowed to register 2LDs and 3LDs: 
•	DPOs, Restricted Postal Unions of the UPU.  

During phase 2 of the .post deployment, the following charter registrant types
will be allowed to register 2LDs: 
•	Educational institutions with postal focus, Restricted Postal Unions, other
postal operators which are not DPOs.  
Thus, partners will be allowed to register <.partner.post> sub-domain names,
while Postal communities will be allowed to register <.community.post>
sub-domain names.

The IB will discourage registration of domain names that infringe intellectual
property rights by publishing a complete list of reserved UPU marks and
trademarks.  Prior to phase 1 of deployment, the IB will request, in writing, a
complete list of marks and trademarks for each of the DPOs of its member
countries and the Restricted Postal Unions.  These marks and trademarks will be
reserved by the IB for use by the DPOs and Restricted Postal Unions that have
submitted them.  Subsequently, as new registrants from educational institutions
with a postal focus, other postal operators which are not DPOs, partners and
postal communities from the DPOs obtain approved registrant status, the IB will
invite them, in writing, to submit complete lists of marks and trademarks to be
put on reserved lists.  

The IB will ensure that only Charter-compliant persons or entities are able to
register DPO and Restricted Postal Union .post domain names by requesting
confirmation of the identity and physical/electronic contact details of the
applicants.  The IB will check these details against its official list of
approved contact points, as part of the validation process.  All applicant
submissions other than those of DPOs and Restricted Postal Unions will be
individually verified by the IB, either directly, or through requests to the
DPO of the country of operations inscribed in the submission form.

To prevent abusive registrations, the UPU will publish a complete list of
inappropriate "black-listed" words, in multiple languages, which will be made
unavailable for registration for any .post registrant.  These names will be
reserved.  In addition, the IB will actively monitor the .post database to
identify and denounce abusive registrations.

The IB will provide protection (i.e. put on reserved lists) against
registration for famous names and trademarks, particularly those related to the
postal industry such as "letter", "colis", "parcel", "courier" and many others.
 These domains may only be assigned by the UPU on an exceptional basis to
representative organizations, and following recommendations by the POC.

The UPU is committed to complying with ICANN policies provided they do not
interfere with its own policies.  This will ensure a fully acceptable, formal
administrative process for the resolution of disputes.

Finally, the UPU is seeking to join the GAC (Government Advisory Council) in
order to support the worldwide development of the Internet.

D. Assurance of adequate dispute-resolution mechanisms
The UPU will adopt the ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution (UDRP)
policy to resolve disputes over the registration of .post domain names, and is
committed to full compliance with current ICANN policies that protect
intellectual property rights in sTLDs. The UDRP challenges registered domain
names on the basis that a domain is identical or similar to a trademark in
which the complainant has rights.  .post registrants will be bound by the UDRP.
 In addition, the UPU will adopt the ICANN Charter Eligibility Dispute
Resolution Policy (CEDRP) which allows any third party to challenge a domain
name on the grounds that the registrant does not meet the eligibility
requirements (set forth in the sTLD Charter) for registration of a domain name
in .post sTLD. 

In a similar vein, the UPU has already approached WIPO and plans to collaborate
with both the latter and ICANN in the development and implementation of dispute
resolution policies that will apply to the domain names registered in .post.

The UPU intends to develop an additional policy specifically for .post which
will allow unsuccessful applicants to challenge a decision by the sponsor (the
UPU (POC)) concerning their eligibility to register in .post.  While the
Eligibility Reconsideration Policy (ERP) is not an ICANN policy, the UPU will
ask ICANN's permission to develop such a policy. 

Should these existing processes fail to settle the dispute, the DPOs could
apply the internal UPU dispute resolution procedure which is part of the
current process of the UPU.

E. Provision of ICANN-policy compliant WHOIS service
WHOIS Compliance

Compliance with specifications of the NICNAME/Whois (RFC-954) will be assured
by the UPU, as the sponsoring organization.  New developments concerning WHOIS
and related directory services will be supported.  Each registrar will be
contractually required to run a "full", independent WHOIS directory service and
to provide accurate contact information on registrants. 

The .post registry runs a "thick registry" model and the WHOIS directory
registry services will provide domain name, name servers (primary and
secondary), registration and expiry dates, administrative information, billing
and technical contact points, and registrar details.  In addition, the UPU
wishes to add a number of new fields that will help to provide more accurate
information about the .post community on the WHOIS database, namely:

a	who is responsible for registration: country 3-letter-code;
b	type of registrant: DPO or others;
c	IDN: IDN or non-IDN;
d	Special service: barcode /standards.

System security
Technical and physical capabilities and procedures will be assured to prevent
system hacks, break-ins, data tampering and other disruptions to operations. 
Physical security of the registry operator server(s) (main database) carrying
sensible data will be assured.  The WHOIS system (servers) will have software
firewalls.      

DPOs currently have secure access and data privacy procedures in place to
protect commercially confidential and private data, and these rules will
continue to apply.  Moreover, the UPU will undertake to adopt industry best
practices to ensure that all confidential data are protected.


© 2004 The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers