Re: [council] Announcement from JAS working group

[William Drake <william.drake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rafik

While it might have been preferable to get this from another SG, to move things 
along I second your motion on the JAS WG charter extension.

Best

Bill


On Nov 12, 2010, at 10:51 AM, Rafik Dammak wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> regarding the JAS working, an announcement was just posted at ICANN website 
> about the milestone report 
> http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-11nov10-en.htm
> 
> Regards
> 
> Rafik
> 
> Developing Economies and the New gTLD Program
> 11 November 2010
> 
> A message from the JAS WG:
> 
> The Milestone Report [PDF, 1.2 MB] and accompanying Addenda [PDF, 1.07 MB] 
> published for public comment today deals with a very important issue: how can 
> ICANN assist applicants from developing economies to increase their 
> participation in the new generic Top-Level Domain (New gTLD) Program?
> 
> A Working Group (WG) formed by ICANN stakeholders has been working since 
> April 2010 to address this issue. This followed a Resolution from ICANN Board 
> of Directors in Nairobi, on March 2010 that asked ICANN’s stakeholder 
> community
> 
> "...to develop a sustainable approach to providing support to applicants
> requiring assistance in applying for and operating new gTLDs."
> 
> Here are some basic aspects of this important work.
> 
> What is this all about? What is a Milestone Report?
> The Milestone Report is a document produced by this Working Group that offers 
> recommendations on how ICANN should develop a sustainable approach to 
> providing support to applicants from developing economies requiring 
> assistance in applying for and operating new gTLDs Registries. The Report 
> proposes initial criteria for qualification as well as several other types of 
> support to be considered, for example, technical, informational.
> 
> Although this work presents the foundation for ICANN to establish a Support 
> Development Program dedicated to this issue, the work is not final yet. This 
> report is going to be considered by the Board, staff and ICANN’s supporting 
> chartering organizations.
> 
> This initiative is related to the New gTLD Program, which in the near future 
> will allow entities from around the world to apply for a generic top-level 
> domain. The applicants passing the evaluation process, will sign a contract 
> with ICANN and run a Registry.
> 
> Who is being considered to receive support? Who benefits from this?
> The Working Group is proposing the following group to be eligible for support 
> once the "need" criterion is met:
> 
> Community-based applications such as cultural, linguistic and ethnic;
> Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), civil society and not-for-profit 
> organizations;
> Applicants geographically located in emerging markets/developing countries;
> Applications in languages whose presence on the web is limited;
> Entrepreneurs wanting to serve a developing market that might not be 
> sustainable under the current cost structure.
> At this phase, the Working Group has not adopted any specific classification 
> for developing economies and recommends using a classification that is 
> internationally agreed upon, for example, G-77 or United Nations or World 
> Bank classifications.
> 
> We all benefit from this initiative. The Internet belongs to all as well as 
> the responsibility to look into effective ways to reduce the Digital Divide, 
> in this particular case, by delivering a sustainable and critical support for 
> applicants from developing economies and looking for a solution not only at 
> the application phase but also through to the initial years of these new 
> Registry operators.
> 
> Why is it important?
> It is important because the Internet is a virtual real estate that belongs to 
> everyone. Entities from around the world should be able to increase their 
> participation in the top-level expansion. The Working Group also stresses it 
> is important not only to increase participation from developing economies, 
> but also to increase the likelihood of success by these new participants that 
> will be delivering Domain Name Services (DNS).
> 
> The current New gTLD Program, as design, has an evaluation (and several other 
> fees) that are considered high for a significant number of potential 
> participants from around the world. Besides the issue of high fees, the 
> program is in English only and has an evaluation process with criteria and 
> requirements that are quite complex to navigate.
> 
> What are the highlights of this report?
> This report approached the issue of accessibility from several angles. First, 
> there are recommendations to lower the fees for applicants the meet the 
> criteria recommended by this group. The initial focus is on a relatively 
> limited and identifiable set of potential applicants that is often considered 
> not controversial to support. The main criterion for eligibility is "need". 
> The detailed definition of financial need and the method for determining the 
> needs of an application will be part of a continued work.
> 
> Who is part of this Working Group?
> This Working Group, also called Joint SO/AC WG on New gTLD Applicant Support 
> or simply "JAS WG", is comprised of highly respected and experienced 
> volunteers from the Supporting Organization and the Advisory Committee. This 
> all-volunteer group teleconferences twice each week, and works through a wiki 
> and mailing lists. These active contributors are located in Australia, 
> Africa, Europe and North America.
> 
> What happens next?
> Few things will happen in the upcoming months:
> 
> The general public is strongly encouraged to participate in the public forum 
> that can be found 
> here:http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-201012-en.htm#jas-milestone-report
> The Board, staff, supporting organizations will review the Milestone Report 
> and public comments received.
> The Supporting organizations and Board will allow for the continuation of 
> this initiative, which means that this or a new Working Group will carry this 
> work to a next phase.
> Staff might initiate working on the Support Development Program, depending on 
> the Board’s direction.
> How can one get involved?
> One way to get involved is to provide a feedback using ICANN’s public comment 
> forum. This is one of the ways ICANN listens to the global Internet 
> community. You can find the link to this forum 
> here:http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-201012-en.htm#jas-milestone-report.
>  The public forum will close on 15 December 2010.
> 
> If you feel strongly about this (and other Internet related issues) attend 
> ICANN Meetings – in person or remotely. The next one is in Cartagena 
> beginning of December).
> 
> Where to find more information?
> Relevant Resolutions:
> 
> http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-12mar10-en.htm#20
> http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-25sep10-en.htm#2.2
> http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-28oct10-en.htm
> http://gnso.icann.org/resolutions/#201004
> Information about the New gTLD Program: 
> http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm
> 
> Archive regarding the WG activities:
> 
> E-mail: http://forum.icann.org/lists/gnso-irtp-b-jun09/
> Wiki: https://st.icann.org/so-ac-new-gtld-wg/index.cgi
> 

***********************************************************
William J. Drake
Senior Associate
Centre for International Governance
Graduate Institute of International and
 Development Studies
Geneva, Switzerland
william.drake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.williamdrake.org
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