Defending Consumers on the Internet

Increasingly, criminals maliciously use the Internet’s underlying structure to profit from cyber-scams and threats, including spam networks, identity theft, and illicit pharmaceutical sales. Part of the Inernet’s underlying structure that such criminals abuse is its Domain Name System (DNS), the protocol that enables your computer to identify the Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with any domain name, such as “www.icann.org.”  The DNS is administered by a nonprofit corporation, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

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Annex 2:  A Glossary of ICANN Acronyms and Terms 

As in many organizations, you’ll hear and see a staggering number of acronyms when you participate in ICANN. Below is a guide to some of the more frequently used, and important to consumer organizations. Most are pronounced by their letters; we’ve included a pronunciation guide for those that aren’t.

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BGC – Board Governance Committee. Currently a six‐member group that assists the ICANN board and reviews its performance.

ccNSO – Country Code Names Supporting Organization. The policy development body for issues regarding country‐code top level domains (such as .us for the United States, .cn for China, .au for Australia).

ccTLD – Country‐Code Top Level Domain. These are generally reserved for countries, and are two letters long (.ar for Argentina, .zw for Zimbabwe).

Domainer – A controversial subgroup of entrepreneurs who make a living buying and selling domain names. This can include practices many consider abusive, such as cybersquatting, typosquatting, and domain confusion fraud, which attempts to imitate trademarked goods and services.

Domain hack – A way of using a domain suffix to create a longer name or reference, often as a form of pun. For instance, perpetrators of the “goatse” incident used the Christmas Island country‐code top‐level domain .cx to create an infamous “shock” Web site, goatse.cx, that depicted a repulsive picture. Another famous domain hack is del.icio.us

GAC (“gack”)---The Government Advisory Committee. Made up of representatives from more than 125 countries’ governments. Carries some responsibility and identity for representing the interests of consumers or, more specifically, citizens.

GNSO --

The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) is responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board substantive policies (and potential changes)

relating to generic top-level domains (gTLDs) (e.g., .com, .org, .gov).

The GNSO is currently (as of February 2011) comprised of four main groups of stakeholders.  These Stakeholder Groups are the Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG), the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG), the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG), and the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RrSG).

The four GNSO Stakeholder Groups occupy two organizational “houses.”  The RySG and the RrSG comprise the Contracted Party House.  The CSG and the NCSG comprise the Non-Contracted Party House.

GNSO Council

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Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG) -- One of four main Stakeholder Groups that currently (as of February 2011) comprise the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO).  Members of the Commercial Stakeholder Group include businesses, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and others.  

The GNSO's four Stakeholder Groups are the Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG), the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG), the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG), and the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RrSG). These Stakeholder Groups are divided into two organizational “houses.”  The RySG and the RrSG comprise the Contracted Party House.  The CSG and the NCSG comprise the Non-Contracted Party House.

Please see ICANN's "GNSO: Council Members" Internet page for a schematic representation of the GNSO structure, along with further information regarding the GNSO houses and stakeholder groups.

Contracted Party House -- One of two organizational "houses" into which the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) is divided.  Each of the two houses include two of the four main stakeholder groups that currently (as of February 2011) comprise the GNSO.  The Contracted Party House includes the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) and the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RrSG).  The other GNSO house is the Non-Contracted Party House, which includes the Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG) and the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG).  Please see ICANN's "GNSO: Council Members" Internet page for a schematic representation of the GNSO structure, along with further information regarding the GNSO houses and stakeholder groups. 

ccNSO -- Country Code Names Supporting Organization. The policy development body for issues regarding country‐code top level domains (such as .us for the United States, .cn for China, .au for Australia).

ccTLD – Country‐Code Top Level Domain. These are generally reserved for countries, and are two letters long (.ar for Argentina, .zw for Zimbabwe).

Domainer – A controversial subgroup of entrepreneurs who make a living buying and selling domain names. This can include practices many consider abusive, such as cybersquatting, typosquatting, and domain confusion fraud, which attempts to imitate trademarked goods and services.

Domain hack – A way of using a domain suffix to create a longer name or reference, often as a form of pun. For instance, perpetrators of the “goatse” incident used the Christmas Island country‐code top‐level domain .cx to create an infamous “shock” Web site, goatse.cx, that depicted a repulsive picture. Another famous domain hack is del.icio.us

Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) --

The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) is responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board substantive policies (and potential changes)
relating to generic top-level domains (gTLDs) (e.g., .com, .org, .gov).

The GNSO is currently (as of February 2011) comprised of four main groups of stakeholders.  These Stakeholder Groups are the Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG), the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG), the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG), and the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RrSG).

The four GNSO Stakeholder Groups occupy two organizational “houses.”  The RySG and the RrSG comprise the Contracted Party House.  The CSG and the NCSG comprise the Non-Contracted Party House.

Please see ICANN's "GNSO: Council Members" Internet page for a schematic representation of the GNSO structure, along with further information regarding the GNSO houses and stakeholder groups.

GNSO Council --

The GNSO Council is the body within the GNSO responsible for strategically managing policy development efforts consistent with Annex A of the ICANN Bylaws (see http://www.icann.org/en/general/bylaws.htm#AnnexA). The GNSO Stakeholder Groups and other members of the ICANN community contribute to these Policy Development Process (PDP) efforts as set out in Annex A.  Please see ICANN's "GNSO: Council Members" Internet page for a schematic representation of the GNSO structure, including how the GNSO Council and GNSO Stakeholder Groups fit into it.  

Generic Top‐Level Domain (gTLD) – One of the three types of domains, the others being infrastructure top‐level domain and country‐code top‐level domain. There are 21 gTLDs, soon likely to be many more, that include the familiar .com and .org but also .aero, .cat (for Catalan language), and the financially troubled .travel.

Government Advisory Committee (GAC; “gack”) -- The Government Advisory Committee. Made up of representatives from more than 125 countries’ governments. Carries some responsibility and identity for representing the interests of consumers or, more specifically, citizens.

ICANN (eye‐can), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. A non‐profit corporation created Sept. 18, 1998 and headquartered in Marina Del Rey, Calif., with offices in Brussels, Belgium, Silicon Valley, USA, Sydney, Australia, and Washington, D.C. USA. ICANN is responsible for administering domain names and IP addresses (the numbers that make up a computer or network address, like 204.88.313.155) on the Internet.

IANA (eye‐anna), usually heard in conjunction with (“the IANA contract says…) – the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. Managed by ICANN, IANA allocates names and numbers that make up IP addresses.

Nominating Committee (NomCom) -- Nominating Committee. Members are appointed by users’ regions. In turn, the Nominating Committee makes appointments, via applications, to the ALAC and other parts of ICANN.

Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG) -- One of four main Stakeholder Groups that currently (as of February 2011) comprise the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO).  Members of the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group include individual non-commercial Internet users and others.   The NCSG Group would be the primary entry point into ICANN for consumer groups; along with the ALAC, it is one of the two key groups allowing consumer organizations to participate in ICANN.

The purpose of the NCSG is to represent, through its Constituencies, non-commercial Internet users of generic top-level domains (gTLDs), including:

• Non-commercial entities such as educational institutions, research organizations, philanthropic organizations, foundations, and non-commercial service providers;
• Registrants of domain names for non-commercial purposes; and
• Entities advocating for non-commercial Internet users.

The GNSO's four Stakeholder Groups are the Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG), the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG), the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG), and the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RrSG). These Stakeholder Groups are divided into two organizational “houses.”  The RySG and the RrSG comprise the Contracted Party House.  The CSG and the NCSG comprise the Non-Contracted Party House.

Please see ICANN's "GNSO: Council Members" Internet page for a schematic representation of the GNSO structure, along with further information regarding the GNSO houses and stakeholder groups.

Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) -- 

The Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) is one of several organizational Constituencies in the GNSO.  The NCUC is a structure in the GNSO’s Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group.  It represents civil society organizations and individuals in the GNSO by developing and supporting policy positions that favor non-commercial communication and activity on the Internet. 

NCUC participants include public‐interest groups, advocacy groups and educational institutions.

Non-Contracted Party House -- One of two organizational "houses" into which the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) is divided.  Each of the two houses include two of the four main stakeholder groups that currently (as of February 2011) comprise the GNSO.  The Non-Contracted Party House includes the Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG) and the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG).  The other GNSO house is the Contracted Party House, which includes the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) and the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RrSG).  Please see ICANN's "GNSO: Council Members" Internet page for a schematic representation of the GNSO structure, along with further information regarding the GNSO houses and stakeholder groups. 

PDP – Policy Development Process. Can be requested by an ICANN constituency in certain circumstances where policy needs to be created for the administration or solution of a problem.

RALO (“ray‐low”) ‐‐ Regional At‐Large Organization. RALOs are divided geographically: NARALO for North America, LACRALO for Latin America, APRALO for Asia‐Pacific, AFRALO for Africa, and EURALO for Europe. Within each RALO are a group of At-Large Structures (ALSes), or national end-user organizations.  Only NARALO currently allows individuals as members, although other RALOs are working on measures to allow for individual participation. RALOs vote for two representatives each to the At‐Large Advisory Committee.

RAA – Registrar Accreditation Agreement. A legal contract that binds ICANN and registrars of domains (for instance, GoDaddy and Network Solutions) to a number of provisions. The RAA could be considered one of the most important documents affecting consumers within the ICANN universe.

Registrars Stakeholder Group (RySG) -- One of four main Stakeholder Groups that currently (as of February 2011) comprise the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO).  Members of the Registrars Stakeholder Group include registrars and others.

The GNSO's four Stakeholder Groups are the Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG), the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG), the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG), and the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RrSG). These Stakeholder Groups are divided into two organizational “houses.”  The RySG and the RrSG comprise the Contracted Party House.  The CSG and the NCSG comprise the Non-Contracted Party House.

Please see ICANN's "GNSO: Council Members" Internet page for a schematic representation of the GNSO structure, along with further information regarding the GNSO houses and stakeholder groups.

Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) -- One of four main Stakeholder Groups that currently (as of February 2011) comprise the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO).  Members of the Registries Stakeholder Group include registries and others.

The GNSO's four Stakeholder Groups are the Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG), the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG), the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG), and the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RrSG). These Stakeholder Groups are divided into two organizational “houses.”  The RySG and the RrSG comprise the Contracted Party House.  The CSG and the NCSG comprise the Non-Contracted Party House.

Please see ICANN's "GNSO: Council Members" Internet page for a schematic representation of the GNSO structure, along with further information regarding the GNSO houses and stakeholder groups.

gTLD – generic Top‐Level Domain. One of the three types of domains, the others being infrastructure top‐level domain and country‐code top‐level domain. There are 21 gTLDs, soon likely to be many more, that include the familiar .com and .org but also .aero, .cat (for Catalan language), and the financially troubled .travel.

ICANN (eye‐can), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. A non‐profit corporation created Sept. 18, 1998 and headquartered in Marina Del Rey, Calif., with offices in Brussels, Belgium, Silicon Valley, USA, Sydney, Australia, and Washington, D.C. USA. ICANN is responsible for administering domain names and IP addresses (the numbers that make up a computer or network address, like 204.88.313.155) on the Internet.

IANA (eye‐anna), usually heard in conjunction with (“the IANA contract says…) – the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. Managed by ICANN, IANA allocates names and numbers that make up IP addresses.

NCSG

The Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG) is one of the four Stakeholder Groups that comprise the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO).

The purpose of the NCSG is to represent, through its Constituencies, non-commercial Internet users of generic top-level domains (gTLDs), including:

• Non-commercial entities such as educational institutions, research organizations, philanthropic organizations, foundations, and non-commercial service providers;
• Registrants of domain names for non-commercial purposes; and
• Entities advocating for non-commercial Internet users.
  

The NCSG is one of the two key groups, along with the ALAC, for consumer organizations’ participation in ICANN affairs.

NCUC

The Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) is one of several organizational Constituencies in the GNSO.  The NCUC is a structure in the GNSO’s Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group.  It represents civil society organizations and individuals in the GNSO by developing and supporting policy positions that favor non-commercial communication and activity on the Internet. 

NCUC participants include public‐interest groups, advocacy groups and educational institutions.

NomCom – Nominating Committee. Members are appointed by users’ regions. In turn, the Nominating Committee makes appointments, via applications, to the ALAC and other parts of ICANN.

PDP – Policy Development Process. Can be requested by an ICANN constituency in certain circumstances where policy needs to be created for the administration or solution of a problem.

RALO (“ray‐low”) ‐‐ Regional At‐Large Organization. RALOs are divided geographically: NARALO for North America, LACRALO for Latin America, APRALO for Asia‐Pacific, AFRALO for Africa, and EURALO for Europe. Within each RALO are a group of At-Large Structures (ALSes), or national end-user organizations.  Only NARALO currently allows individuals as members, although other RALOs are working on measures to allow for individual participation. RALOs vote for two representatives each to the At‐Large Advisory Committee.

RAA – Registrar Accreditation Agreement. A legal contract that binds ICANN and registrars of domains (for instance, GoDaddy and Network Solutions) to a number of provisions. The RAA could be considered one of the most important documents affecting consumers within the ICANN universe.

Root, Root file, root zone – No easy definition, but generally, a reference to the core of the Internet address system and its servers, essential to the function of the Internet.

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