Proposed NC Motion

Posted to the Names council list:

The ccTLD Representatives on the Names Council had been sharing with the ccTLD Managers the letter Stuart Lynn and Vint Cerf have written to the Names Council on 21 September 2002. The ICANN President and Chairman of the Board are seeking the opinion of the Names Council on the suggestion to study how to improve the DNS data quality at all levels in the system with the help of the ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee.

The ccTLD Managers welcome the suggestion from ICANN President  and Chairman of the Board to get an advice from the ICANN Security  Committee and note that the work on the DNS data quality is  a new activity, which comes in addition to the basic IANA function.

Taking it into account the ccTLD propose the following amended resolution (to replace the one posted on 13 September):

1. Whereas the ICANN Evolution and Reform Committee (ERC) has published its second implementation report,
http://www.icann.org/committees/evol-reform/draft-mission-core-values-02sep02.htm

2. Whereas the stability of the universal Internet has been part of permanent preoccupations since the White Paper document, http://www.icann.org/general/white-paper-05jun98.htm

3. Whereas on 28 November 1998, both the USG and the ICANN committed to abide by the principle of Internet stability in the MoU, http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/icann-memorandum.htm

4. Wh ereas the ccTLD Managers have been seeking an efficient process for updating the IANA database, as previously provided before ICANN took on the stewardship of the IANA function, as explicitly specified in the Amendment 2 to the MoU of 11 September 2000, requesting for "Documentation of IANA procedures for root zone editing,
root zone generation, and root zone WHOIS service."

5. Whereas the ccTLD IANA Service Requirements has been restated once more in Bucharest on 25 June 2002 and approved unanimously by the active ccTLD Managers within the ICANN community
http://www.dnso.org/constituency/cctld/ccTLDbucharest-communique.html

6. Whereas the ICANN principle mission is to "Preserve and enhance the operational stability, reliability, security, and global interoperability of the Internet"

7. Whereas the global interoperability and stability of Internet depends on the TLD name servers,

8. Whereas the recent bankruptcy of KPNQwest which provided secondary services to several ccTLD Registries resulted in the need for prompt actions by IANA to update the name servers records as requested by the ccTLD Managers,

9. Whereas there is widespread dissatisfaction of ccTLD Managers about the deterioration in the performance of the IANA function by ICANN resulting in excessive delays (in some cases over 3 months) in making updates to cctld name server information

10. Whereas Stuart Lynn and Vint Cerf have written to the Names Council  on 21 September seeking the opinion of the Names Council on the suggestion to improve the DNS data quality at all levels in the system,
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/cerf-lynn-letter-to-names-council-20sep02.htm


The NC therefore resolves that:

a. Emergency

Since June 2002 there is an emergency related to the availability of the ccTLD domain name servers and the preservation of the integrity of the information provided by the servers, and IANA should immediately process the changes in name servers requested by the ccTLDs.

b. Day to day updates

ICANN is requested to authenticate name server requests received from the appropriate ccTLD manager as soon as possible after their receipt, to verify the name servers are authoritative for the appropriate ccTLD, and to update the IANA database accordingly, and making the appropriate recommendation to the USG in a expeditious manner.

Should ICANN determine that any request from a ccTLD manager includes a non-authoritative name server, ICANN is hereby encouraged to refer the disputed request to the independent technical panel formed by the ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee and ccTLD Manager's representatives for their opinion in a timely manner.

c. Improve the overal quality

In order to improve the quality of DNS and DNS data accuracy on all levels ICANN is hereby encouraged to establish a collaborative work between the ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee, the ccTLD Managers and the Regional Internet Registries, which would produce a set of publicly available rules and procedures
and tools, for use at every level of DNS, to ensure everybody has the same shared picture of what to do.