[apnic-talk] FAQ on the IFWP process
Dear all,
Below if an FAQ prepared to help answer some of those questions you may have about the IFWP
process, and why is there so many meetings on the White Paper (Internet Governance). As I
mentioned before, the IFWP process is an attempt to coordinate these efforts and to ensure
global participation.
The DC meeting begins on the 1-2 July 1998, and anyone wishing to attend should register at the
website www.ifwp.org ASAP. Details of the Asia Pacific regional meeting will be announced later.
Just keep checking the IFWP website. Do feel free to forward this information to others you
think may be interested.
Do come forth with your views and be an active participant.
Regards,
Laina Raveendran Greene
Chair, APPLe
Policy Advisor, APIA
Coordinator, SINCPEC Tel
****************************************************************************
International Forum for the White Paper (IFWP)Frequently Asked Questions List
Global Incorporation Alliance Workshop (GIAW)/IFWP Questions:
Q. What is the GIAW (Global Incorporation Alliance Workshop)? Is it
separate from the IFWP (International Forum on the White Paper)? Do these
represent two separate groups?
Q. What is the International Forum for the White Paper (IFWP)?
Q. What is the White Paper?
Q. What is the Green Paper?
Q. My company is a for-profit entity keenly interested in the domain name
policy issues. We are a registrar/registry/domain name hosting company/web
hosting company/etc. Why can't we participate? We are a major stakeholder
in this process, and we are being shut out....
Q. These are really important issues, and I want to be more involved. How
do I become a member of the Steering Committee?
======================================
Q. What is the GIAW (Global Incorporation Alliance Workshop)? Is it
separate from the IFWP (International Forum on the White Paper)? Do these
represent two separate groups?
A. To answer the last two questions first, no, the GIAW and the IFWP do NOT
represent two separate groups, they are part and parcel of the same process.
The IFWP and the GIAW exist together, not separately. It may be easiest
conceptually to consider the IFWP as the umbrella, while the GIAW is one of
at least three planned meetings to be held under that umbrella.
The GIAW is the name of the first meeting under the IFWP framework used to
describe this current effort by a wide variety of Internet stakeholders to
address the private sector transition of IANA functions and new rules for
domain name registrations as put forward by the United States Government
(see questions and answers on the White Paper and the Green Paper later in
this FAQ). Other meetings may have other names.
After initial discussions with international representatives of stakeholder
groups who had filed comments on the Green Paper, the GIAW has
metamorphosed
into one of several meetings which are being planned under the IFWP.
Thus, the GIAW term is now being used to describe the first meeting being
held under the IFWP framework, which is intended to include a series of
international meetings held around the world to allow global input on these
issues.
The first workshop under the IFWP Framework, called the GIAW (Global
Incorporation Alliance Workshop) is being held as follows:
Toward an Internet Assigned Numbers Entity: Charter Stakeholders Workshop,
Hyatt Regency Reston Hotel, Reston, VA, United States, 1-2 July, 1998
The purpose of this meeting is to bring together the various diverse
stakeholder groups and experts in incorporation law to: 1) identify
and articulate the parties, issues, and views, and 2) prepare a model, set
of common principles, structure and general charter provisions for the
formation of an Internet Assigned Numbers Corporation - hereafter
called The Entity.
Other meetings are planned in Europe and in the Asia-Pacific region at
dates to be announced.
<http://www.giaw.org>
<http://www.ifwp.org>
Interested associations are also encouraged to consider joining the
IFWP and volunteer Steering Committee for the IFWP (please see Steering
Committee question later in this FAQ.)
======================================
Q. What is the International Forum for the White Paper (IFWP)?
A. The IFWP is an ad hoc coalition of professional, trade and educational
and end-user associations representing a diversity of Internet stakeholder
groups,
including ISPs, content developers, trademark holders, networkers,
intergovernmental groups, policy experts, end-users and others.
This coalition has come together to sponsor a framework of coordinated
international meetings, to be held around the world, called the
International Forum on the White Paper, at which stakeholders will discuss
the transition to private sector management of the technical administration
of Internet names and numbers as outlined in the policy "White Paper"
recently released by the United States Government. These international
meetings are open to all Internet stakeholders, who are encouraged to
support this on-going process.
Most of the coalition members have previously filed comments in the Green
Paper process (see question and answer on "Green Paper" later in this FAQ),
this is not a prerequisite for membership in the coalition.
Interested associations are also encouraged to consider joining the
IFWP and volunteer Steering Committee for the IFWP (please see Steering
Committee
question later in this FAQ.)
======================================
Q. What is the White Paper?
A. "White Paper" is a generic term referring to a study, position piece,
or
other document, especially one such document released by a government
entity. WWWWebster defines White Paper as:
1: a government report on any subject; especially: a British publication
that is usually less extensive than a blue book
2: a detailed or authoritative report
For reference purposes throughout this web site, the "White Paper" we refer
to is the Domain Name System White Paper released June 5th, 1998 by the
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Management of Internet Names and
Addresses, Docket Number: 980212036-8146-02.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/domainhome.htm
Under the U.S. Department of Commerce, a division of the United States
Government, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA) has had the responsibility to shepherd the domain name transition
process.
In this White Paper, the U.S. government announced its intention to
relinquish control of the Internet to a private, non-profit organization by
September 30, 2000. The new organization will be created from among the
diverse parties that have a stake in how domain names, Internet numbers and
other Internet identifiers for the Internet are managed.
However, the transition period to the new entity begins as early as
September 30, 1998 when the exclusive contract the United States Government
has had with NSI (http://www.internic.net) for the .com, .net and .org TLDs
expires.
Because the time line between June 5, 1998 (the release of the White Paper)
and the expiration of the contract (September 30, 1998), is so truncated,
organizing an inclusive, open process to discuss this transition has been
quite difficult. The support of the entire Internet community is vital to
the success of this process, and all are encouraged to make comments,
complaints, suggestions, and critiques to info at ifwp dot org.
======================================
Q. What is the Green Paper?
A. Like the White Paper, the Green Paper is simply a shorthand reference
to
a particular document, written by the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The
Green Paper is a far easier reference handle than its "official title":
15 CFR Chapter XXIII: Improvement of Technical Management of Internet Names
and Addresses; Proposed Rule, [[Page 8826]], DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE,
National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 15 CFR Chapter
XXIII, [Docket No. 980212036-8036-01], RIN 0660-AA11, Improvement of
Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses, AGENCY: National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Commerce.
ACTION:
Proposed rule; request for public comment.
The Green Paper was an earlier predecessor document to the White Paper in
which comments from the Internet community were solicited to form the basis
for the White Paper. Under the U.S. Department of Commerce, a division of
the United States Government, the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA) has had the responsibility to shepherd
the
domain name transition process. Information on the Green Paper may be
found
at <http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/index.html>.
<http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/DNSComments_SUM.htm> is the
summary of comments received on the Green Paper.
The White Paper supersedes the Green Paper and is the focus of our current
discussions.
======================================
Q. My company is a for-profit entity keenly interested in the domain name
policy issues. We are a registrar/registry/domain name hosting company/web
hosting company/etc. Why can't we participate? We are a major stakeholder
in this process, and we are being shut out....
A. No one is being shut out of the process, but some confusion has arisen
because there are different levels and ways to participate.
First, in regard to participation in the workshops: anyone may participate
in the workshops representing themselves, a company, an organisation,
whether for profit, not-for-profit, educational, or any kind of
organisation. All you need do to participate in the first meeting, called
the Global Incoporation Alliance Workshop (GIAW) is to sign-up
online at <http://www.ifwp.org> and then participate in the meeting(s).
Second, in regard to participation on the volunteer Steering Committee: To
avoid the taint of possible conflict of interest charges, there are certain
pre-qualifications for serving. These pre-qualifications are covered under
the question regarding volunteer Steering Committee participation.
To summarize, as a commercial company, your company most definitely can
participate in this process in any number of ways, with the two most common
ways being:
1) attending any or all of the Forum meeting(s) as a participant;
2) becoming appointed as a representative of a not-for-profit organisation
and participating on the volunteer Steering Committee;
It is noteworthy that many (but not all) of the not-for-profit
organisations on the volunteer Steering Committee are comprised of members
from for-profit companies. However, all organisational entities on the
Steering Committee themselves must be not-for-profit groups. This important
distinction avoids conflict of interest problems which would arise if
commercial interests were allowed to sit directly on the volunteer Steering
Committee or directly sponsor the IFWP framework.
This important technical consideration has been the source of an
unfortunately high degree of misunderstanding. (This FAQ was conceived as
one attempt to help mitigate that misunderstanding.)
Commercial entities who find themselves without volunteer Steering
Committee
representation should note the list of Steering Committee organisations to
see in which one(s) they may already have membership. Through that
vehicle,
their input can be made known on workshop organisational/logistical issues.
Alternatively, commercial entities could consider joining encouraging an
association of which they are a member to join; to join one of the
organisations on the volunteer Steering Committee if it fits with their
mission; or, as yet another alternative, commercial entities who would
like to participate on the volunteer Steering Committee could form a new
not-for-profit organisation and then join the volunteer Steering Committee
in that fashion.
Most importantly, any company or entity can participate directly in the
Forum as a meetiing participant and does not need to be on the Steering
Committee to do so. Let us repeat:
***You do not have to be a voluntter Steering Committee member or
association sponsor to participate in the IFWP meetings.***
======================================
Q. These are really important issues, and I want to be more involved. How
do I become a member of the volunteer Steering Committee?
A. The volunteer Steering Committee is comprised of representatives
appointed from not-for-profit organisations which support the IFWP
framework and are in
agreement that the White Paper process should be open and transparent to
its stakeholders within a neutral framework.
An important pre-qualification for volunteer Steering Committee membership
relates to the fact that all volunteer Steering Committee representatives
must be delegates from not-for-profit trade/interest organisations. This
decision was made early in the framework process on advice of legal
counsel, to whit, that the
meeting framework is best constructed by "neutral" parties without direct
commercial interest in the outcome of the domain name transition process or
transition of IANA to a non-for-profit.
A second pre-qualification for serving on the volunteer Steering Committee
is
willingness, interest and time to serve.
A third pre-qualification for serving on the volunteer Steering Committee
is ability to cover teleconference and delegate travel costs. For example,
the
volunteer Steering Committee has been meeting frequently (2 to 3 times per
week) by international teleconference, and those costs are being borne by
member
organisations of the volunteer Steering Committee. In addition, volunteer
Steering Committee member organisations may well wish to send delegate(s)
to the IFWP workshops around the world, and that cost must be borne by each
organisation.
Although not a pre-requisite, many volunteer Steering Committee members
have pledged an up to US $5000 contribution to the IFWP framework to cover
administrative and overhead costs as well as travel grants for
representatives from less developed countries experiencing monetary
barriers to participation. These pledges have been made in the spirit of
insuring that this process can move
forward.
If your organisation would like to become a sponsor of the IFWP and
participate in the volunteer Steering Committee, please email info at ifwp dot org
with your organisation's description, contact information and proposed
representative.
-------------------------------------
Name: Laina Raveendran Greene
E-mail: laina at singnet dot com dot sg
Date: 30/06/98
Time: 10:15:12
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