BIZCONST NEWS

We hope that this newsletter continues to provide you with relevant information regarding all the issues and news.  Its aim is to give a snapshot of an issue with onward links to fuller detail and background information.  The secretariat would be pleased to hear your comments about the newsletter.

Best wishes
Gary
 

ICANN meetings took place in Marrakech, June 2006

The BC meeting in Marrakech was different in that it was a workshop-type meeting where members were asked to consider and finalise draft statements by designated members in, for example, the Council/GAC meeting on WHOIS and the Council Public Forum.

With thanks to David Fares who prepared notes of the meeting.  They can be read here.

Other meeting records are available and are posted as real-time captioning here:

www.icann.org/meetings/marrakech
  

Philip Sheppard is the BC Rapporteur for new gTLDs.

The initial report of the GNSO Council's work on new gTLDs was released on 26 July.  The report can be read here.

In response, Philip has circulated a draft BC reply to the report for member comment.  Please send any comments to the secretariat by 13 August.  The draft reply can be read here.

It is hoped that a final document can then be submitted to the GNSO TLDs committee in Amsterdam, 29-31 August.

A public comment period is open until Friday 18 August:

www.icann.org/announcements/announcement1-28jul06.htm
  

If you would like to post comments, please note that each registry has its own comment and archive address.  you can access all of them here:

www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-28jul06.htm

This page also provides background information on the proposals.
 

For full background to the proposal:

www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-28jul06.htm
 

On Tuesday 1 August, Cary Karp also briefed BC members and invited guests on IDN issues.

A transcript of the call is available here

For background on IDNs:

www.icann.org/topics/idn
 

These are the posts to be filled by the Nominating Committee:
- Board of Directors    3 seats
- GNSO Council         1 seat
- Interim ALAC           2 seats
- ccNSO Council        1 seat

At this time, submissions remain confidential.

www.icann.org/committees/nom-comm
 

In the Marrakech ICANN public meeting, WHOIS was the subject of an extensive discussion between the Government Advisory Committee and the GNSO Council.  

BC members, David Fares and Sarah Deutsch (WHOIS TF members) participated in this discussion. WHOIS remains a critical policy issue and the GAC made it clear that they want to participate in the development of the policy position, not just comment at the conclusion of the GNSO Council’s positions. 

Several GAC members questioned the implications of Formulation 1 and Formulation 2.*  The GNSO Chair attempted to further clarify the interpretation of Formulation 1; however, the BC, joined by the IPC and the ISPCP, continue to question the narrowness of Formulation 1, as do some governments.  Several countries included law enforcement, including consumer protection authorities, in their delegations to the ICANN Marrakech meeting and participated in the discussions.

The GNSO Council then considered a resolution to provide further clarification and outline the WHOIS work plan. Two resolutions were subsequently passed by Council.  The resolutions can be seen in the draft Council minutes:

http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/council/msg02763.html

Sao Paulo’s face to face ICANN meeting will include a discussion between the GAC and GNSO Council on WHOIS policy, and a workshop on the report of the WHOIS TF is also planned. The WHOIS TF is presently discussing a proposal called “OPOC”, which would create a single identified individual to substitute for all contact names and details in the WHOIS database. 

More details on the WHOIS TF work can be referred to any of the TF members: David Fares, Sarah Deutsch, or Marilyn Cade.

*The Formulations
 1. "The purpose of the gTLD Whois service is to provide information sufficient to contact a responsible party for a particular gTLD domain name who can resolve, or reliably pass on data to a party who can resolve, issues related to the configuration of the records associated with the domain name within a DNS nameserver."

2. "The purpose of the gTLD Whois service is to provide information sufficient to contact a responsible party or parties for a particular gTLD domain name who can resolve, or reliably pass on data to a party who can resolve, technical, legal or other issues related to the registration or use of a domain name."

The BC web site is undergoing a redesign and overhaul to make it lighter, brighter and easy to use as a resource.  If there needs to be any down time, I will inform members in advance via the mailing list
 

We are delighted to welcome a new Business Constituency member:

Altronics, represented by Bob Heimbecker
   

ICANN has begun the process of redeveloping its web site.  Users are encouraged to post suggestions and comments to an online workspace:

www.icann.org/announcements/website-enhancement-28jul06.htm

ICANN is currently filling a number of staff vacancies:

www.icann.org/general/jobs.htm