80 organizations Sign MoU to Restructure the Internet

Geneva, 1 May 1997 — An important three-day conference on restructuring the Internet domain name system closed today with 80 organizations either signing or giving a declaration of intent to sign a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covering the way generic top level domains are allocated and managed.

The conference, held from April 29-May 1 at the Geneva International Conference Centre, has been examining a plan by the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC) which was established to address perceived problems with the current method of registering generic top level domains on the Internet. At present, there are three generic top level domains – .com, .org and .net – and the exclusive right to allocate generic top level domain addresses is held by an American company, Network Solutions Inc (NSI), through a contract with the US government’s National Science Foundation (NSF). NSF’s contract with NSI is due to expire in 1998, and the organization announced recently that the agreement would not be renewed.

In order to cope with the great and growing demand for Internet addresses in the generic top level domains, the generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) MoU calls for the establishment of seven new gTLDs in addition to the existing three. These will be .firm, .store, .web, .arts, .rec, .nom and .info. In addition, the MoU provides for the setting up of an initial 28 new registrars around the world – four from each of seven world regions. More registrars will be added as operational and administrative issues are worked out. Registrars will compete on a global basis, and users will be able shop around for the registrar which offers them the best arrangement and price. Users will also be able to change registrar at any time while retaining the same domain address, thus ensuring global portability.

At the close of the conference on Thursday morning (May 1), 57 entities took part in a signing ceremony and put their names to the MoU. Many delegates, as they signed, made brief statements about their belief in the importance of the document to the continuing evolution and strengthening of the Internet. One delegate spoke of the signing of the MoU as a "turning point in the history of the Internet," and urged other delegates to continue the hard work and vigilance they have shown over the last two days to further improve the stability and growth of the network. Speaking on behalf of Samuel Fuller, Digital Equipment Corporation Vice President and Senior Scientist, DIGITAL's European Standards Manager Isabelle Valet Harper said "this is not an end but a beginning. It is the beginning of a time when we can all work together". She added that DIGITAL has concerns that it feels must be addressed as the process goes forward, and intends to be an active member in the Policy Advisory Body, one of the new management organs defined under the agreement.

Internet Society President Don Heath said the broad acceptance of the MoU represented an excellent beginning towards effective Internet self-governance. He encouraged signatories to continue to develop the agreement and to work to broaden support for the MoU throughout the industry.

In his closing remarks to the conference the Chairman, Mr Bruno Lanvin, World Coordinator, Trade Point Programme for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), found a symbolic parallel between the date of the closing of the conference, May 1, and the celebration around the world of international Labour Day. "On 1 May a few years ago, many people risked and sometimes lost their lives for ideas they believed in," he remarked. Following the French tradition on the 1st of May, Mr Lanvin then offered a ‘virtual bouquet’ of Lilies of the Valley to the Internet community around the world, a gesture meant signify good luck. Mr Lanvin added that, in the further development of the new agreement, it was vital that the system be open, flexible and efficient. He said that those who have signed the MoU while at the same time expressing concerns over certain elements of the document needed to have those concerns addressed as soon as possible. Mr Lanvin concluded by declaring the IAHC dissolved, and welcoming the birth of the new Policy Advisory Body, which held its first meeting for the members present in Geneva at 2pm, May 1.The close of the meeting also marks the imminent opening of the 100-day process in which would-be registrars will apply.

The ITU will play an important role as the depository of the new MoU. Signing an declaration to this effect, ITU Secretary-General Dr Pekka Tarjanne thanked all delegates for their hard work during the meeting. The ITU’s involvement in the conference signals closer links between the telecommunications community and the Internet. This bond will be reinforced later this year when the ITU will hold its first-ever Telecom Interactive event in Geneva (September 8-14). The event, which will follow in the footsteps of the ITU’s World Telecom event, which is today the world’s largest telecommunications exhibition and forum, will focus specifically on Internet and multimedia technologies and applications.

The Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Dr Arpad Bogsch also signed a similar declaration accepting WIPO’s role as administrator of the arbitration and mediation mechanism which will be put into place by the new MoU.

Press Conference

At a press conference which followed the signing ceremony, an MCI representative read out a prepared statement from Vint Cerf, often known in the Internet community as the ‘father of the Internet’, now Senior Vice President of Internet Architecture with MCI. "MCI today proudly joins a wide representation of the international Internet community to sign the gTLD-MoU establishing new processes, procedures and policies to reform the Internet’s domain name system," said Mr Cerf. He went on to say that critical hard work remains, particularly in developing the charter, bylaws, and similar documents for the planned governing bodies. "MCI calls on all concerned parties in the global Internet community to put the Internet’s interest above self-interest by signing the MoU and joining its signatories in completing the profoundly important work lying ahead.

Responding to question regarding the lack of governmental signatories to the MoU, Don Heath of the Internet Society explained that governments, by their nature, needed more time to consider issues that affect the public at large on the basis of wide policy input. "This is the way it proceeds and should proceed, and this explains their current positions. What is important now is to build public consensus around the new approach," he said. "Internet top level domain names are a public resource. With the signing of the MoU today, they are now recognized as a public trust." Mr Heath added, "The signing of the MoU today marks just the beginning of a long process in which governments will be more and more involved, and will work with the Internet community." Replying to a question from a journalist, Heath pointed out that the Internet was architecturally designed not to control the content of information sent over the network; that Internet routers are very simple devices when compared to the complex switches used by the public telephone network. Because the Internet had been conceived at the very outset as an end-to-end system, it was assumed that if any control was to be made, it would be made at either the origin or destination.

Speaking at the press conference, Albert Tramposch of WIPO said that the Internet will eventually force changes in international law. He said the self-governance structure proposed under the new agreement aims to fill a gap pending the adjustment of formal structures that need to be made to adapt to emerging technologies.

Bruno Lanvin, the meeting’s Chairman, concluded by saying "What we are really dealing with here is the economics of the Internet, and this means power. It is therefore natural that the issues involved be the source of some concern. But it is in the very interest of Internet and its millions of users that stability, flexibility and transparency form the foundation for the way ahead. This will be particularly important for the newcomers to the Internet community, particularly the developing countries.

The next step

Pending the creation of CORE – the Council of Registrars which will comprise all registrars – an interim Policy Oversight Committee has been set up. The iPOC consists of the regular (non ex-officio) members of the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC) appointed by IANA, ISOC, IAB, ITU, WIPO and INTA. When CORE appoints its representatives at its first plenary meeting, iPOC will be dissolved and POC will be set up.CORE will be set up upon the selection of the 28 initial registrars under the Swiss Civil Code. It will, however, be up to CORE to decide whether it will set up a secretariat and from where it would operate.

The process of inviting potential registrars will be made know to a new Web site to be created for the gTLD-MoU.