Comment/Reply Periods (*) | Important Information Links |
Comment Open: | 27 March 2012 |
Comment Close: | 26 April 2012 |
Close Time (UTC): | 23:59 UTC |
Reply Open: | 27 April 2012 |
Reply Close: | 17 May 2012 |
Close Time (UTC): | 23:59 UTC |
Brief Overview |
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Originating Organization: | ICANN |
Categories/Tags: | Contracted Party Agreements |
Purpose (Brief): | ICANN is posting today for public comment Verisign's proposed agreement for renewal of the 2006 .com Registry Agreement between ICANN and Verisign. This proposal is a result of discussions between ICANN and VeriSign, and will be considered by the ICANN Board after public comment. The current agreement will expire on 30 November 2012. Public comment may be submitted through April 26, 2012. |
Current Status: | The .com agreement will expire on 30 November 2012. |
Next Steps: | Once the public comments are reviewed, the ICANN Board will consider the proposal for renewal. |
Staff Contact: | Kurt Pritz |
Email: | |
Detailed Information | |
Section I: Description, Explanation, and Purpose | Executive SummaryICANN is posting today for public comment Verisign's proposed agreement for renewal of the 2006 .com Registry Agreement between ICANN and Verisign. This proposal is a result of discussions between ICANN and VeriSign, and will be considered by theICANN Board after public comment. The current agreement will expire on 30 November 2012. Public comment may be submitted through April 26, 2012 and viewed at: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/com-renewal-27mar12-en.htm
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Section II: Background | Background with respect to the Proposed 2012 .com Renewal AgreementThe existing .com Registry Agreement, like other registry agreements, establishes the terms for the renewal of the Agreement. Other changes in terms require mutual agreement of the parties. In some cases, issues have been discussed but there is no update included in the proposed version of the agreement.
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Section III: Document and Resource Links | ICANN and Verisign, Inc., entered into an Unsponsored Registry Agreement on 1 March 2006, under which Verisign operates the .com top-level domain. The current .com agreement and its appendices may be viewed at:http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/com
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Section IV: Additional Information | N/A |
(*) Comments submitted after the posted Close Date/Time are not guaranteed to be considered in any final summary, analysis, reporting, or decision-making that takes place once this period lapses.
Proposed ALAC Statement
Original text from Holly Raiche developed April 13, containing revisions suggested by Alan Greenberg and Evan Leibovitch:
The ALAC welcomes many of the changes made to the .com contract, particularly those that will enhance security and consumer trust, and has no substantive comment on the proposed changes per se. However, the ALAC expresses extreme disappointment that ICANN has not yet taken this opportunity to require .com to use a Thick WHOIS model, the model that is required for all new gTLDs. This position is strengthened by the GNSO Council's recent decision to defer discussion on actually starting the Thick WHOIS PDP until, December 2012.
The Final Issue Report on ‘Thick” WHOIS identified many benefits including enhanced security and stability, and attractive archival and restoration properties in the case of business or technical failure of registrars. That report acknowledged that privacy may be an issue with a ‘thick’ WHOIS but noted that it has been dealt with in other ways. The Report, now over two months old, called for a PDP on Thick WHOIS issues raised or, because only Verisign maintains ‘thin’ WHOIS, direct negotiations between ICANN and Verisign.
The ALAC believes that the delay of the PDP runs counter to the global public interest in having the this important issue dealt with as quickly as possible. We urge ICANN and Verisign not to wait for the PDP in order to address this as an implementation matter, and to include a requirement for a Thick WHOIS in the current contract revision. This would efficiently provide all .com registrants with the benefits that ICANN has already stated to be important for any TLD.
Please click here to download a copy of the Statement below in PDF format.
Follow-up Statement
Please click here to download a copy of the Statement below in PDF format.
2 Comments
Ganesh Kumar
Given the fact that 73% of registered domains are .com domains, ICANN should take this opportunity to make a major leap in its ability to stipulate, monitor and enforce compliance to several policies ICANN has already developed. One of the major issues we always grapple with continued policy development is that fact, new policies do not bind registrars as they have a dated legal contract in place. I think there should be some legal language in the contract to add applicability of subsequent policies ratified by ICANN post contract date.
I also agree with the statement that whatever has been developed for gTLDs should apply here as well. It is time that we converge in governance of TLD, ccTLD and gTLDs.
Carlton Samuels
This statement might also point to previous ALAC statements that endorse the 'thick' WHOIS perspective.