Public Comment
ccNSO PDP3: Initial Proposals for Process to Retire ccTLDs
Open Date
5 May 2020 23:59 UTC
Close Date
10 July 2020 23:59 UTC
Staff Report Due
24 July 2020 23:59 UTC
Brief Overview
Purpose: The ccNSO Policy Development Process 3 (PDP3) working group, tasked with developing and proposing policy for the retirement of country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs), is seeking input and feed-back from the broader community on its proposed process to retire ccTLDs, when the country code is removed from list of country codes in the ISO 3166 standard.
Current Status: The Interim Paper is the first step in documenting the recommended policy for the retirement process of ccTLDs.
Next Steps: After closure of the Public Comment period, the working group will review the comments received and take into account in developing a final set of policy recommendations.
Section I: Description and Explanation
The working group tasked with developing and proposing policy for the retirement of country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) is seeking input and feedback from the broader community on its proposed process to retire ccTLDs, when the country code is removed from list of country codes in the ISO 3166 standard. The purpose of the policy proposals is to provide clear and predictable guidance and to document a process that is orderly and reasonable up and to, but excluding, the removal of a ccTLD from the DNS Root Zone file.
The ISO 3166-1 list is dynamic and country codes are added and removed on a regular basis. When a new ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 code element (Alpha-2 code) is added a ccTLD corresponding to that Alpha-2 code can be added to the Root by the IANA Naming Functions Operator (IFO). However, as was identified in 2011 by the ccNSO Delegation and Redelegation Working Group, there is no formal policy available forthe removal of a ccTLD from the Root Zone after a country code is removed fromthe ISO 3166-1 list of country names.
The proposals are focused on the following items:
- Definition of event that causes the start of the retirement process of a ccTLD and the event that closes the process
- Description of the retirement process
- Duration of the process
- Retirement Plan
- Oversight of process and identification of decisions during process that should be subject to a review mechanism.
The working group would appreciate feedback on each and every item identified above, specifically:
- Do you consider the proposed approach, definition or description reasonable?
- Do you suggest an alternative definition or approach?
In addition, and as part of developing the process, the working group has completed a series of stress tests. The method, description of tests and results are included in the Interim Paper. The working group would appreciate your view whether the stress testing of the proposals is adequate and complete. The working group would also be interested in suggestions for additional stress tests.
After closure of the Public Comment period, the working group will review the comments received and taken into account in developing the policy recommendations of the Final Paper. This Final Paper will be included in the required ccPDP3 reports, after the second part of the PDP is concluded.
Section II: Background
In accordance with the recommendations of the ccNSO Delegation and Redelegation Working Group (DRDWG) from 2011 and to increase the predictability and legitimacy of decisions pertaining to the retirement of ccTLDs, the void or lack of policy relating to the retirement of ccTLDs needs to be filled by a policy developed by the ccNSO.
Developing such a policy for the retirement of ccTLDs working group is part 1 of the third ccNSO Policy Development Process effort. The second part will look at the development of policy proposals for a review mechanism of decisions pertaining to the delegation, transfer, revocation, and retirement of ccTLDs.
Following initial discussions by the ccNSO Council, input and feedback was sought from the ccTLD community at the Marrakesh (ICANN55) and Helsinki (ICANN56) meetings. At its meeting in Helsinki (ICANN56), the ccNSO Council launched the ccNSO Policy Development Process 3.
The ccNSO Council initiated ccPDP3 in March 2017 by adopting the Issue Report and the ccPDP3 Working Group to develop policy recommendations for the Retirement of ccTLDs was established by June 2017.
The ccPDP3 Retirement working group was tasked to develop policy proposals to address at a minimum the following topics and issues identified in the Issue Report:
- Consistency of terminology
- What triggers a retirement?
- Who triggers retirement process?
- Additional conditions for retirement of a ccTLD? What are conditions for actual retirement of a ccTLD? Is the occurrence of a triggering event sufficient or should additional requirements be in place?
- Compliance with conditions? Assuming retirement of a ccTLD is conditional, who will monitor, and who will be held accountable, if at all, if requirements are not met?
The activities of the working group are undertaken within the framework of the ccNSO Policy Development Process, the limitations with respect to the scope of a ccPDP, specifically Article 10 and Annexes B and C of the ICANN Bylaws.
Section III: Relevant Resources
Interim Paper: https://ccnso.icann.org/en/workinggroups/pdp3-retirement-wg-interim-paper-29apr20-en.pdf
Section IV: Additional Information
The working group has conducted two webinars to inform the broader community. The recordings and presentation are available at: https://community.icann.org/x/oYPsBw.
Charter of the ccPDP3 Retirement Working Group: https://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/charter-wg-retirement-cctlds-10apr17-en.pdf
Issue Report ccPDP 3 on retirement of ccTLD and review mechanism: https://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/issue-report-pdp-rrm-10apr17-en.pdf
DRDWG report on Retirement of ccTLDs: https://ccnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/filefield_22613/drd-wg-retirement-report-07mar11-en.pdf
Comments Closed
Report of Public Comments