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[council] Letter from Paul Twomey to GNSO Council

  • To: <council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Subject: [council] Letter from Paul Twomey to GNSO Council
  • From: "Bruce Tonkin" <Bruce.Tonkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 16:22:06 +1000
  • Sender: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Thread-index: AcXZ8sJa68oLgjYfREKd71brOB8I+gAAiufQ
  • Thread-topic: Letter from Paul Twomey to GNSO Council

26 October 2005 
 
Bruce Tonkin 
GNSO Council Chair 

Dear Bruce, 
 
I am writing to inform you that ICANN has reached a proposed agreement
to end all 
pending litigation of its long-standing dispute with VeriSign. 
The settlement agreement documents are being posted for public comment
on ICANN's website (www.icann.org) and are subject to final approval of
the ICANN Board. 
The views of your Council members are requested on all of the settlement
documents. 
 

This pending settlement will end ICANN's six years of litigation with
VeriSign and clear the way for a new and productive public/private
partnership in coordinating technical management of the Internet's
domain name system. Under the settlement agreement, VeriSign will: 
 
- withdraw all pending litigation and arbitration relating to .COM; 

- adopt ICANN's position on a wide range of issues concerning registry 
services (such as Sitefinder) and the way they are introduced; 

- commit to binding international arbitration to prevent costly and
disruptive 
litigation; and 

- recognize and participate in the ICANN consensus policy process. 
 
 
The settlement agreement also: 
 
- extends the term of VeriSign's management of the world's oldest public

registry, .COM; 

- sets out better ways for ICANN and VeriSign to work together to
promote 
stability and innovation of the Top Level Domain; and 

- incorporates in a new .COM Registry Agreement a clearly defined
process for 
the introduction of new registry services that includes safeguards for
security, 
stability and competition. 
Consistent with ICANN's procedures and commitment to transparency, the
proposed 
agreement is being posted for public comment for 24 days. After this
comment period, 
ICANN's Board will consider all input and determine whether the full
agreement is in the best interests of the entire Internet community. The
proposed settlement documents on which your Council members' comments
are requested include: 
 
* New Settlement Agreement; 

* New .COM Registry Agreement -- this is made up of the main Registry 
Agreement and ten appendices; and 

* Root Server Management Transition Agreement - an agreement to
coordinate 
future planning for the tasks that ICANN and VeriSign in the updating of
the root 
zone. 
 

We look forward to receiving the ICANN community's input. 
 
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
Paul Twomey 
President & CEO 

Attachment: BTonkin261005.pdf
Description: BTonkin261005.pdf



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