Preliminary Report

Special Meeting of the Board
2 December 2002
(Posted 2 December 2002)

The ICANN Board of Directors held a meeting by teleconference on 2 December 2002. Directors Vint Cerf (chairman), Rob Blokzijl, Ivan Moura Campos, Lyman Chapin (joined the meeting while in progress), Jonathan Cohen, Masanobu Katoh, Hans Kraaijenbrink, Sang-Hyon Kyong, Stuart Lynn, Andy Mueller-Maguhn, Jun Murai, Alejandro Pisanty (joined the meeting while in progress), Helmut Schink, and Linda S. Wilson participated. The Board adopted the following resolutions:

Amendment to .name Registry Agreement

Whereas, on 9 November 2002 Global Name Registry Limited (GNR), which operates the registry for the .name top-level domain under a registry agreement it entered with ICANN on 1 August 2001, requested that its registry agreement be amended to revise the manner in which, and the conditions under which, GNR provides public Whois data for the .name top-level domain;

Whereas, the GNR proposal follows consultations since February 2002 with users of the public Whois and other interested persons, including registrars, law enforcement, the intellectual property community and privacy advocates;

Whereas, in August 2002 GNR's proposal (as it then existed) was posted on the DNSO Whois Task Force public list, the DNSO Registrar constituency's discussion list, and the DNSO General Assembly discussion list;

Whereas, in October 2002, GNR formally briefed the DNSO Whois Task Force, the DNSO Business constituency, and the DNSO Registrar constituency on its proposal and sought comments;

Whereas, GNR revised its proposal based on these consultations;

Whereas, letters of support for, or non-objection to, GNR's revised proposal have been received from the three gTLD Registry Constituency representatives to the Names Council, Ken Stubbs (Registrar Constituency Names Council representative), and Steve Metalitz (President of the Intellectual Property Constituency);

Whereas, the ICANN General Counsel has presented the Board with an analysis concluding that because the proposed changes to the .name Whois service are unlikely to harm legitimate interests of third parties, streamlined consideration of the amendment, without resort to the formal consensus-development process, is appropriate and recommending that the proposal for an amendment be approved;

Whereas, the General Counsel has presented the Board with a proposed substitute Appendix O to the .name registry agreement intended to implement GNR's proposal, and has indicated that conforming and supporting revisions to other appendices will be necessary;

Whereas, the Board concludes that the requested modifications are justified by the unique business and legal circumstances of the .name top-level domain, and the approval of these modifications should not be viewed as establishing a precedent that applies to other circumstances;

Whereas, in view of GNR's stated position that the modifications will provide heightened confidence that its Whois service complies with applicable data protection laws in the United Kingdom, GNR has undertaken to provide timely and appropriate assurances regarding the achievement of this objective; and

Whereas, GNR has stated its understanding that additional substantial modification to the proposed extensive Whois access agreement (including charging a fee for such access) will require ICANN approval, and that future requests for approval should be preceded by documented consultation by GNR with parties to existing extensive Whois access agreements;

Resolved [02.142] that the President is authorized to enter an amendment to ICANN's .name registry agreement with GNR revising the appendices to that agreement to implement GNR's proposal to revise the manner in which, and the conditions under which, .name public Whois data is made available.

(The Board approved the above resolution by a 12-0-2 vote, with Dr. Blokzijl and Mr. Mueller-Maguhn abstaining.)

Amendment to .pro Registry Agreement

Whereas, on 15 November 2002 RegistryPro, Inc., which plans in the first quarter of 2003 to launch the registry for the .pro top-level domain under the registry agreement it entered with ICANN on 3 May 2002, requested that its registry agreement be amended to provide for it to offer three types of defensive registrations (Premium Intellectual Property Defensive Registrations, Basic Intellectual Property Defensive Registrations, and Standard Defensive Registrations) within the .pro top-level domain;

Whereas, in his 15 November 2002 letter, RegistryPro CEO Timothy Gelman explained that by offering defensive registrations, Registry Pro seeks to provide professionals located outside of the initial launch jurisdictions with an opportunity to protect their professional name and to decrease the number of potential claims filed by trademark registration owners;

Whereas, the .pro Advisory Board, which as contemplated by the .pro Registry Agreement is composed of representatives of professional associations and is intended to provide advice concerning the operation of the .pro registry from the perspective of professionals, its intended registrants, submitted a statement of support for the RegistryPro request for amendment;

Whereas, the intellectual property parts RegistryPro's proposed defensive registration offering are similar to that previously provided, with few controversies, in the .name and .coop top-level domains;

Whereas, the ICANN General Counsel has presented the Board with an analysis concluding that because the proposed offering is unlikely to harm legitimate interests of third parties, streamlined consideration of the amendment, without resort to the formal consensus-development process, is appropriate and recommending that the proposal for an amendment be approved;

Whereas, the General Counsel has presented the Board with proposed substitutes for Appendices G and L to the .pro registry agreement intended to implement RegistryPro's proposal, and has indicated that conforming and supporting revisions to several other appendices will be necessary; and

Whereas, the Board concludes that amendments to the .pro registry agreement to allow defensive registrations as proposed would promote fairness and stability in the introduction of the .pro top-level domain;

Resolved [02.143] that the President is authorized to enter an amendment to ICANN's .pro registry agreement with RegistryPro revising the appendices to that agreement to implement RegistryPro's proposal to offer defensive registrations.

(The Board approved the above resolution by a 10-0-4 vote, with Dr. Blokzijl, Mr. Chapin, Mr. Mueller-Maguhn, and Dr. Pisanty abstaining.)

ccTLD Agreement for .uz (Uzbekistan)

Whereas, on 10 March 2000, in resolution 00.13, the Board authorized the President and staff to work with the ccTLD managers, Governmental Advisory Committee, and other interested parties to prepare draft language for ccTLD contracts, policy statements, and/or communications, including appropriate funding arrangements, to be presented to the Board and posted for public comment as soon as practicable;

Whereas, on 13 March 2001, in resolution 01.37, the Board directed ICANN management to press forward with continued vigor toward the completion of draft legacy agreements, and to pursue, as needed, acceptable ccTLD agreements in triangular situations;

Whereas, negotiators for Uzinfocom and ICANN have reached agreement, subject to the ICANN Board's approval, on the terms of a ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement for the .uz top-level domain;

Whereas, the President and General Counsel have recommended that authorization be given to enter into this agreement;

Resolved [02.144] that the President is authorized to enter on behalf of ICANN the ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement for .uz in the form provided to the Board, with any minor corrections or adjustments as appropriate;

Resolved [02.145] that, upon signature of the agreement, the President is authorized to take such actions as appropriate to implement the agreement.

(The Board approved the above resolution by a 13-1-0 vote, with Mr. Mueller-Maguhn voting against.)

Other Matters

In additon, the Evolution and Reform Committee and the President gave a report on the reform process and the Board discussed holding a workshop on ENUM in connection with the March 2003 ICANN meeting in Rio de Janiero.

Page Updated 02-Jun-2003
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