[Greennet-l] ICANN

[GreenNet Support]

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ICANN now meeting in Melbourne - request for feedback
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ICANN , the NGO set up to administer the Internet Domain Name System (DNS) 
will be meeting in Melbourne, Australia next week. Chris Bailey from APC's 
European Internet Rights project will be attending the ICANN meeting on 
behalf of APC and GreenNet and will be able to input into the discussions 
there through the Non Commercial Constituency (NCC) section of ICANN and 
the ICANN public forum. GreenNet would welcome views from users on any 
ICANN related issues they would like us to take up.

One question, being discussed at the Melbourne ICANN that we feel may 
eventually affect many GreenNet users, concerns the introduction of new 
"restricted" Top Level Domains (TLDs). One such TLD is .coop. The 
application to administer .coop was made by the US based National 
Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) with the full support of the
International Co-operative Alliance (ICA). Applications from organisations 
wanting to register a .coop domain name will be handled by Poptel the 
British ISP. The NCBA, ICA and Poptel have committed themselves to 
administering .coop "based on international co-op principles, which are 
inherently transparent". They will establish a joint website explaining 
application procedures, policies, and dispute resolution procedures for .coop.
Use of the TLD will not be limited to NCBA or ICA members, although they 
are likely to have priority.

However, an applicant must comply with certain principles laid down by the 
NCBA and ICA. These principles are posted by GreenNet at 
http://www.gn.apc.org/action/csir/ICANN.html
Dispute resolution will be handled initially by a committee made up from 
NCBA members. It seems to be implied (but not guaranteed) that this will 
eventually be expanded to
include "other affiliates" of the ICA. There does not appear to be any 
plans to include organisations not affiliated to the ICA in the dispute 
resolution committee.

What are you views on .coop?
GreenNet would particularly like to hear from users that consider 
themselves to be co-operatives.
Please feedback your views to ir at gn.apc.org

You may want to answer these questions:
Are you interested in registering a .coop domain name?
Do you agree with the criteria laid down by the NCBA and ICA for defining 
co-operatives?
Do you see the NCBA and ICA as representative bodies for co-operatives as a 
whole?
Are you happy with a dispute resolution committee consisting entirely of 
representatives of NCBA and ICA members?

Please send your replies to us before 13th March when the ICANN meeting closes.

Regards

Chris Bailey
APC Europe Internet Rights Project Co-ordinator
ir at gn.apc.org
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