Minutes
Special Meeting of the Board
21 January 2002
INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS
MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING
21 January 2002
A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") was held by teleconference on 21 January 2002. The following Directors of the Corporation were present by telephone: Vint Cerf (chairman), Karl Auerbach, Ivan Moura Campos, Phil Davidson, Masanobu Katoh, Hans Kraaijenbrink, Sang-Hyon Kyong, Stuart Lynn, Andy Mueller-Maguhn, Jun Murai, Alejandro Pisanty, Nii Quaynor, and Linda S. Wilson. Directors Jonathan Cohen and Helmut Schink joined the call while it was in progress. Also present on the teleconference were Louis Touton, Vice-President, Secretary, and General Counsel of the Corporation, and Andrew McLaughlin, Vice-President and Chief Policy Officer of the Corporation. Joe Sims, outside counsel to the Corporation, joined the call while it was in progress.
The meeting was called to order by Vint Cerf at 14:10 UTC (6:10 am U.S. Pacific Standard Time).
Mr. Touton proposed that the Board formally approve the minutes of the Board meeting 14 December 2001, as presented to the Board. Upon motion made by Mr. Kraaijenbrink and seconded by Dr. Kyong, the Board unanimously adopted the following resolution:
Resolved [02.01] that the minutes of the meeting of the Board for 14 December 2001, are hereby approved and adopted by the Board as presented.
Mr. Kraaijenbrink gave a report on three recommendations recently made by the Reconsideration Committee. First, he described the Committee's recommendation concerning reconsideration request RC 01-4, submitted by Verio regarding the introduction of new registrar accreditation agreements with revised wording limiting use of Whois data acquired by third parties from registrars through bulk access. After this description, Mr. Kraaijenbrink moved, with a second by Dr. Pisanty, that the Board adopt the following resolutions:
Resolved [02.02] that the Reconsideration Committee's Recommendation RC 01-4 is adopted for the reasons stated in that recommendation;
Further resolved [02.03] that the Board calls to the attention of the Names Council the issues raised in Reconsideration Request 01-4 submitted by Verio Inc.; and
Further resolved [02.04] that the Secretary is directed to forward to the Names Council these resolutions, the Verio request, and Recommendation RC 01-4.
The resolutions were adopted with 13 votes in favor and Mr. Auerbach abstaining.
At this point in the proceedings, Mr. Cohen and Dr. Schink joined the meeting.
Mr. Kraaijenbrink described the Reconsideration Committee's recommendation concerning the reconsideration request submitted by Russ Smith (RC 01-6). This request raises the concern that UDRP panelists may not be adequately trained. The Reconsideraiton Committee recommends that the UDRP providers be reminded of their responsibility for training, but that no additional action be taken. In response to Mr. Auerbach's question, Mr. Touton noted that if a UDRP provider persistently did not meet its training obligation its approval by ICANN could be terminated. Mr. Kraaijenbrink moved, with a second by Mr. Katoh, that the Board adopt the following resolutions:
Resolved [02.05] that the Reconsideration Committee's Recommendation RC 01-6 is adopted for the reasons stated in that recommendation; and
Further resolved [02.06] that the General Counsel is requested to provide a copy of Recommendation RC 01-6 to the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre, CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, the National Arbitration Forum, and the World Intellectual Property Organization.
The resolutions were adopted with 15 votes in favor and Dr. Schink abstaining.
Finally, Mr. Kraaijenbrink described the recommendation concerning Edward Hasbrouck's reconsideration request RC 01-7. This matter challenges ICANN's entry into the .aero sponsorship agreement, following the seven-day last-call procedure adopted by the Board at its Montevideo meeting. The Committee's recommendation concludes that the matter was already adequately considered, so that reconsideration is not appropriate. Mr. Kraaijenbrink moved, with a second by Dr. Pisanty, that the Board adopt the following resolution:
Resolved [02.07] that the Reconsideration Committee's Recommendation RC 01-7 is adopted for the reasons stated in that recommendation.
The resolution was adopted with 15 votes in favor and Mr. Auerbach abstaining.
Mr. Kraaijenbrink noted that the Committee's recommendation on request RC 01-5 had been posted and provided to the Board on 14 January 2002. Mr. Auerbach stated that he wished additional time to review the recommendation, and the matter was postponed to a later Board meeting.
Dr. Lynn gave a report on the status of the President's standing committee on the security and stability of the Internet's naming and address allocation systems established by resolution 01.117 at the November 2001 annual meeting. A draft charter had been previously circulated to the Board, with Drs. Pisanty and Wilson providing comments. The comments have not yet been digested, but a revised draft will be presented to the Board for its approval at a later meeting.
Relationships with Root Nameserver Operators
Mr. Touton reported on the status of discussions regarding documenting the relationship of ICANN and root nameserver operators. After almost two years of discussions within the Root Server System Advisory Committee, the language of a draft memorandum of understanding has been prepared to the satisfaction of the individual operators and ICANN. This document seeks to document the existing status of the root nameserver operators, who provide volunteer service to the Internet community. To proceed with the documentation of the relationships, this draft memorandum of understanding must be discussed with the various organizations for which the individual operators work. Mr. Touton stated that further progress would be aided by the Board authorizing ICANN's entry into these memoranda of understanding.
During the above discussion, Mr. Sims joined the meeting.
Mr. Auerbach stated he felt that the draft memorandum of understanding did not establish sufficiently strong obligations of the root nameserver operators. Dr. Murai, who serves as chair of the Root Server System Advisory Committee, responded that the memorandum of understanding is intended to document the current relationship, and is a valuable first step in that regard. It would provide a sound basis for discussions between the operators and ICANN to upgrade and strengthen the relationship.
Mr. Cohen moved, with Dr. Wilson's second, that the Board adopt the following resolution:
Whereas, one of the steps necessary to progress in the ongoing transition to private-sector management, within the ICANN framework, of the domain-name system is entering into agreements between ICANN and the root-nameserver operators that formalize stable, secure, and professional operation of the root nameservers;
Whereas, in discussions with the individual root-nameserver operators participating on the Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) agreement has been reached on a model Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would, with variations to account for individual circumstances, achieve an apporopriate framework of commitments;
Whereas, the participation of the operators on the RSSAC brings to ICANN extremely valuable expert guidance on the coordination and operation of the root-nameserver system, and the model MoU secures for ICANN this valuable assistance;
Whereas, the model MOU has been presented to the Board and the President has recommended that the Board grant authority to enter into MoUs with the operators' organziations according to that model;
Whereas, moving forward with entering these MoUs is a necessary step to progress with the transition, which is one of ICANN's key purposes;
Whereas, the Board also finds that it is necessary and appropriate to authorize entry of the MoUs to acheive the ICANN's goals and purposes;
Resolved [02.08] the President is authorized to enter into MoUs with the organizations operating the root nameservers in substantially the form of the model MoU presented to the Board.
The resolution passed, with 14 votes in favor, Mr. Mueller-Maguhn voting against, and Dr. Schink abstaining.
Mr. Touton reported that he had nearly concluded negotiations for a ccTLD sponsorship agreement with Japan Registry Services Co., Ltd. for .jp, but that the matter was not yet ready to present to the Board for approval.
Dr. Lynn announced that a retreat of the Board had been scheduled for 23-24 February 2002.
The Board discussed various possible candidates for a special topic at the Accra, Ghana, meeting to be held in March 2002. After considering various proposals, the Board informally indicated support for having a presentation on above-DNS naming systems.
Mr. Touton and Dr. Lynn reported that progress continues to be made in negotiations toward a satisfactory agreement with the Regional Internet Registries. Only two relatively minor issues remain to be resolved.
Following up on resolution 01.130, Dr. Lynn reported that the staff has investigated the costs of a possible At-Large online voting process. Budgetary estimates provided by one vendor range from US$ 250,000 (10,000 voters) to US$ 422,500 (75,000 voters). These estimates do not include staff costs for planning, proposal preparation, coordination, developing policy proposals for Board consideration, etc. They also exclude some costs of unknown amount associated with the formation of an At Large Supporting Organization.
Mr. Touton reported that negotiations to complete a .pro registry agreement are still underway.
The meeting was adjourned at 15:49 UTC (7:49 am U.S. Pacific Standard Time).
_______________________
Louis Touton
Secretary
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