Resolutions Adopted at Rome ICANN Board Meeting | Regular Meeting of the Board, Rome, Italy 6 March 2004

Output of the real-time captioning for the ICANN Board Meeting 6 March 2004 is now available.

.net Registry Agreement Expiration Date and Initial Procedure for Designating Successor Registry Operator

Whereas, Section 5.1 of the .net Registry Agreement entered into between ICANN and VeriSign on 25 May 2001 provides that the agreement will expire no later than 30 June 2005 <http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/verisign/registry-agmt-net-25may01.htm>;

Whereas, Section 5.2 of the .net Registry Agreement obligates ICANN to adopt an open, transparent procedure for designating a successor Registry Operator by no later than one year prior to the end of the agreement, which would be 30 June 2004;

Resolved, [04.18] that in order to prepare for the designation of a transparent procedure by 30 June 2004, the Board authorizes the President to take steps to initiate the process as specified in Section 5.2 of the .net Registry Agreement for designating a successor operator for the .net registry, including referrals and requests for advice to the GNSO and other relevant committees and organizations as appropriate.

WLS Negotiations with VeriSign

Whereas, on 21 March 2002, VeriSign, Inc., the operator of the .com and .net registries, requested amendments to the registry agreements for those top-level domains to allow it to conduct a twelve-month trial of a proposed wait-listing service (WLS) to be offered through accredited registrars. A subsequent community consultation process prompted both strong opposition and support for the proposal from various segments of the community; <http://www.icann.org/bucharest/vgrs-wls-proposal-20mar02.pdf>

Whereas, on 23 August 2002, ICANN's Board adopted Resolution 02.100, authorizing the President and General Counsel to conduct negotiations on behalf of ICANN toward an agreement to make appropriate revisions to the .com and .net registry agreements between ICANN and VeriSign to provide for the offering of a wait-listing service as proposed by VeriSign, with six specified conditions developed based on the feedback from the community consultations; <http://www.icann.org/minutes/minutes-23aug02.htm#02.100>

Whereas, on 16 October 2002, VeriSign wrote to ICANN requesting reconsideration of the conditions specified by Resolution 02.100; <http://www.icann.org/committees/reconsideration/verisign-request-16oct02.htm>

Whereas, on 2 June 2003, ICANN's Board adopted Resolutions 03.79 and 03.80, partially granting VeriSign's request for reconsideration by revising the conditions under which ICANN would consent to modifying VeriSign's registry agreements to allow for the offering of WLS; <http://www.icann.org/minutes/minutes-02jun03.htm>

Whereas, on 26 January 2004, ICANN's General Counsel wrote to VeriSign to document the conclusion of negotiations concerning the conditions on VeriSign's proposed offering of WLS; <http://www.icann.org/correspondence/jeffrey-to-lewis-26jan04.pdf>

Whereas, .com and .net are unique among gTLDs under contract with ICANN in that Amendment 3 to the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Department of Commerce and ICANN <http://www.icann.org/general/amend3-jpamou-25may01.htm> contains special provisions requiring DOC approval of material amendments to the 25 May 2001 .com, .net and .org registry agreements entered into between ICANN and VeriSign.

Whereas Amendment 3 to the MoU provides that "ICANN will not enter into any material amendment of, or substitution for, said agreements, nor will said agreements be assigned by ICANN, without prior approval of the DOC.";

Resolved, [04.19] the Board approves the results of negotiations with VeriSign concerning its WLS proposal, authorizes the President and General Counsel to seek U.S. Department of Commerce approval to amend the VeriSign registry agreements to permit the offering of WLS, and authorizes the President to enter into the necessary and appropriate amendments with VeriSign if and when approved by the Department of Commerce.

Appointment of Nominating Committee Chair

Whereas, Article VII, Section 2(1) of the Bylaws calls for the non-voting Chair of the Nominating Committee to be appointed by the ICANN Board;

Whereas, the Board Governance Committee has recommended that Jean-Jacques Damlamian be appointed to chair the 2004 Nominating Committee, and Mr. Damlamian has indicated a willingness to so serve;

Resolved, [04.20] that Mr. Damlamian is appointed as Chair of the 2004 Nominating Committee, to serve until the conclusion of the ICANN annual meeting in 2004 or until his earlier resignation, removal, or other disqualification from service;

Resolved further, [04.21] that the President provide support by ICANN and other sources to the Nominating Committee as determined, in consultation with the Chair of the committee, to be appropriate for the discharge of its functions.

Board Committee Appointments

Resolved [04.22], that the following members are hereby appointed to the Conflicts of Interest Committee: Lyman Chapin (Chair), Michael Palage, Hualin Qian, and Njeri Rionge.

Resolved [04.23] to forward to the Board Governance Committee the requests of the Reconsideration and Conflicts Committees to add one additional member to each of those committees.

Recommendation from the Reconsideration Committee Regarding RC04 1

Resolved [04.24] that based on the Reconsideration Committee's Recommendation RC 04-1, the Board hereby recommends that staff pay due attention to the Bylaws' transparency provisions, and urges staff to dedicate necessary resources to ensure compliance with the prescribed timelines for the posting of preliminary reports.

Formation of the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)

Whereas, beginning in March 2002 the ICANN community engaged in intensive discussion, led by the Committee on ICANN Evolution and Reform (ERC), concerning reforms to ICANN’s procedures and organizational structures;

Whereas, one important goal of the 2002 ICANN reform process was development of a Country-Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO);

Whereas, the Board resolved [03.106] to adopt the amendments to the bylaws shown in Appendix A to these minutes;

Whereas, the Board resolved that there be a ccNSO Launching Group, with the authority to solicit additional ccTLD managers to join with the members of such Launching Group to eventually comprise the ccNSO, to be deemed constituted once thirty members joined [03.109], and the authority to establish a schedule and procedures for the selection of the initial ccNSO Council [03.110]; and

Whereas, the Board further resolved [03.111] that such Launching Group shall not have the authority (a) to initiate a ccPDP or (b) otherwise engage in development of substantive policies, or (c) select on behalf of the ccNSO any director or observer or other participant in any ICANN body;

Whereas, the ccNSO Launching Group announced on 1 March 2004 the formation of the ccNSO, with participation of over 30 ccTLD managers with at least four within each Geographic Region.

Whereas, in accordance with the ICANN Bylaws Article XX, Transition Article (the Article) the ccNSO is now constituted.

Whereas, the ccNSO Launching Group statement is posted to the ICANN Website pursuant to Section 4 (1) of the Article.

Whereas, in addition to posting, the statement is also being formally communicated to the ICANN Board, Staff, and the ICANN community.

Whereas, pursuant to the Article, as soon as feasible after this notification, the members of the initial ccNSO Council to be selected by the ccNSO members shall be selected according to the procedures stated in Article IX, Section 4(8) and (9) of the Bylaws.

Whereas, the ccNSO Launching Group will post the election procedures to begin this process after consultation with the members of the ccNSO, and looks forward to completing its work as set forth under the Article.

Whereas, the ccNSO Launching Group has provided to staff additional language changes of the ccNSO Bylaws for clarification purposes, and staff has reviewed and approved the additional ccNSO Bylaws

Resolved, [04.25] the Board recognizes and warmly welcomes the announcement of the constituted ccNSO as posted on 1 March 2004;

Resolved, [04.26] the Board requests that staff post the proposed clarifications to the ccNSO Bylaws on the ICANN Website for public comment;

Resolved, [04.27] the Board agrees to consider those proposed ccNSO Bylaws during the next Board Meeting.

Resolved, [04.28] the Board warmly thanks the ccNSO Launching Group for their hard work and looks forward to having the ccNSO Council meet at the next ICANN meeting.

In Memory of Hans Kraaijenbrink

Whereas, the ICANN Board mourns the loss of its former member and colleague, Hans Kraaijenbrink, who passed away 5 November 2003;

Whereas, Hans served as an ICANN director from the creation of ICANN in 1998 until June 2003;

Whereas, Hans played a key role in the evolution and reform of ICANN seeking always to balance the interests and principles of many constituencies. Hans was always ready to serve when asked. His vision and determination will be sorely missed;

Whereas, we were most fortunate to be able to work with him over the past 5 years, and have offered our collective condolences to all of his friends and family. We hope that those close to him will be sustained in this sad time by the love of family and friends who knew and valued him as a friend and colleague;

Whereas, Hans played an important role in the Evolution and Reform Committee’s work, in particular in the forming of the ccNSO, where his spirit, humor and dedication made working enjoyable, while making key contributions to this organization;

Whereas, we can be sure Hans would have been pleased to learn of the formal formation of ICANN's ccNSO on 1 March 2004.

Whereas, we have suffered a great loss, but celebrate Hans' life.

Resolved [04.29], that the following Vale be read into the record.

VALE

HANS KRAAIJENBRINK

It is with great sadness that the ICANN community learned of the passing of Hans. One of ICANN’s first Board members, appointed in 1998, he was also one of its most enduring supporters.

Active from the start, he was instrumental in the organization’s development, including its recent reform. A key participant on the Evolution Reform Committee, Hans worked with Alejandro Pisanty, Lyman Chapin and Nii Quaynor, to guide the organization towards reform. His tireless efforts show with production of new Bylaws for ICANN as well as new ccNSO bylaws, and the ongoing work with the RIRs.

Reform would not have happened without him. Hans was a great source of wisdom, an able negotiator, a firm defender standing on principles. His dedication to making ICANN work was endless - he believed in it, and his work and dedication reflected this. Following reform, he worked to improve the Board and staff processes, by Chairing the Governance Committee.

His tireless dedication for ICANN took many dimensions, a difficult mission in the face of big companies, special interests, clueless organizations and foes. Those who disagreed with him still admired his intelligence and iron will, even if they failed to appreciate the commitment and the reason that assisted him, as well as the joy with which he embarked on this journey.

He had a wicked sense of humour, given away only by the sparkle in his eye. He loved fine wine, food and good company. He treated his colleagues at ICANN, and the staff, with respect and equality – viewing himself as a team member, who happened to also sit on the Board, not to mention be incredibly active and respected in other international fora.

His untimely and sudden death is a great loss to the Internet community, and to ICANN. He was deprived of the opportunity to see the fruits of the hard work to which he still looked forward to commit renewed efforts. We will seek to fulfill his hopes and expectations for ICANN.

The Board, management and staff of ICANN send our deepest condolences to his partner, family and friends. Our dear friend and colleague Hans will be deeply missed by all who knew him during his all too short lifetime.

Vale Hans, our dear friend and colleague, vale.

Thanks to Elisabeth Porteneuve

A Resolution in appreciation and thanks to Elisabeth Porteneuve.

Whereas:

Elisabeth has been a member of several distinguished organizations related to Internet activities including being the founding member and Vice President of the French Chapter of the Internet Society at its origin in 1996.

She also served as Counsel to General Director of AFNIC, (Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération) France, and Network Department Manager at CNRS (CETP laboratory).

Elisabeth participated as a country code representative in the International Forum on the White Paper, in 1998; the process that led to the creation of ICANN.

Elisabeth hosted the "Paris Draft" group working on the DNSO proposal at the end of January 1999, attended the founding meeting of ccTLD constituency of the DNSO in 1999, and contributed to its organization as one of the 7 founding constituencies of the DNSO.

Elisabeth has dedicated thousand of hours serving as the first ICANN/DNSO Secretariat between 1999 and 2001. She is the author of a concept and design of the electronic vote by email that was used by the DNSO/GNSO Council and some constituencies. She managed the first election process for the DNSO which included the election of 3 board members.

After the country code managers initiated an effort to form their own Supporting Organization, Elisabeth lent both her energy and leadership to the formation of the ccNSO and also continued to support the new GNSO as a liaison.

Elisabeth has participated in an ad hoc group consisting of ccTLD members and also on the ICANN Security and Stability committee regarding updates to the ccTLD name servers in the IANA database.

Elisabeth served as a member of the ICANN Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) Committee since November 2001.

Elisabeth was elected a member of the Board of Directors of CENTR (Council of European National Top level domain Registries) at its inception in 1999 and also served on different committees and working groups, including serving as the chairperson of the CENTR IANA Working Group.

Elisabeth has traveled more than 320,000 kilometers or 8 times around the world, in the course of her work for ICANN.

We note with gratitude and affection the deep commitment and inevitable helpfulness with which Elisabeth greeted all members of our community. We will miss her ebullient personality and the enthusiasm that she brings to all that she does.

Therefore it is resolved [04.30] that:

The ICANN Board formally recognizes Elisabeth's service and outstanding contributions to the ccTLDs, ICANN, and the wider Internet community and that the Board expresses its good wishes to Ms Porteneuve for continued success in her future role and the hope that she will continue to make herself available for consultation in ICANN matters in the future.

Thanks to Rome Meeting Hosts

Whereas, ICANN has successfully completed its March 2004 ICANN meeting in Rome;

Whereas, the gracious and warm hospitality, splendid facilities, strong support, and close attention to fulfilling the needs of participants have all been truly magnificent;

It is therefore resolved [04.31]:

The ICANN Board expresses its deep appreciation and thanks, on its own behalf and on behalf of all participants, to our hosts, Claudio Corbetta and Franco Denoth from Register.it S.p.A., DADA Group and IIT-CNR, respectively.

The Board also extends its thanks to all sponsors of the meeting, including Alitalia, Basic Fusion, DADA, Fashion District, Fastweb, InfoCamere, Italiatour, LogicBoxes, Nameintelligence, McArthurGlen, New.net, Olitalia, .Org, Radio 24, Seeweb srl, Tiko, Tuonome.it, VeriSign, and Web.com.
The Board thankfully acknowledges the hard work of the staff of the Register.it S.p.A., DADA Group and IIT-CNR, particularly Chiara Ronchetti and Giovanni Seppia.

We would like to acknowledge the effort made by the staff of the Melia Roma Aurelia Antica hotel to meet all of our many requests.

The Board expresses its great appreciation to the ICANN staff present here in Rome; Laura Brewer; and Terri Darrenougue and the rest of the ICANN staff for their dedicated efforts in ensuring the smooth operation of the meeting.