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With multistakeholder governance a bottom-up process, I thought the
list would be interested in the experiences we've had here in New
York City with the .nyc TLD. While it's still under a year since our
TLD was activated, there are some experience that might aide those
seeking a global structure. <br>
<br>
Our post "Toward Effective Governance Of The .nyc TLD" is available
at <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://wp.me/pBzzv-A6">http://wp.me/pBzzv-A6</a> and
reprinted below.<br>
<div class="moz-forward-container"> <br>
Best,<font face="Arial"><br>
<br>
Tom Lowenhaupt<br>
<br>
</font>
<div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial">----------------------------------------------- </font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial">Thomas Lowenhaupt,
Founder & Chair<br>
Connecting.nyc Inc.<br>
(former) Member, .NYC Community Advisory Board<br>
</font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:toml@communisphere.com">TomL@connectingnyc.org</a></font><br>
<font face="Arial"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://Connectingnyc.org">Connectingnyc.org</a></font><font
face="Arial"> </font><font face="Arial"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><br>
Jackson Hts., NYC<br>
</font></div>
<font face="Arial">718 639 4222</font><font face="Arial"><br>
</font><br>
Toward Effective Governance Of The .nyc TLD (from <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://wp.me/pBzzv-A6">http://wp.me/pBzzv-A6</a>):<br>
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<article class="single_blog_wrap post-2238 post type-post
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<div class="post_title">
<h2 class="entry-title"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.connectingnyc.org/toward-effective-governance-of-the-nyc-tld/"
title="Toward Effective Governance Of The .nyc TLD">Toward
Effective Governance Of The .nyc TLD</a></h2>
<p class="posted-by-text"><span>Posted by:</span> <span
class="vcard author"><span class="fn"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.connectingnyc.org/author/editor/"
title="Posts by Editor" rel="author">Editor</a></span></span></p>
</div>
<div class="post_content">
<p><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.connectingnyc.org/toward-effective-governance-of-the-nyc-tld/city-hall-question/"
rel="attachment wp-att-2650"><img class=" size-full
wp-image-2650 alignright"
src="cid:part7.03070700.00090906@communisphere.com"
alt="city hall question" height="172" width="264"></a>Jackson
Hts., New York, April 29, 2015 – While there are no
published governance documents for the .nyc TLD, it’s our
understanding that oversight is shared by representatives
from the Department of Information and Telecom Technology,
the Economic Development Corporation, the Office of
Innovation and Technology, with the Department of Law
advising. It’s a fluid process outlined in a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU), with the contractor implementing
consensus decisions. But who does what and the existence
(or not) of channels for public engagement remains
unclear.</p>
<p>Having emerged from the city’s democratic governance
structure, we acknowledge the MOU as legitimate by
traditional standards. However, considering the plethora
of roles our city’s TLD will play, we believe additional
channels for public engagement are essential – especially
in these early days of .nyc’s development. Before offering
our suggestions on an improved governance structure, we’d
like to present some thoughts on the context in which .nyc
exists.</p>
<ul>
<li>Our City Charter was approved in 1987, before the
Internet as we know it existed. It provides little
guidance for oversight of .nyc or other Net resources.</li>
<li>New York City is among the first to develop a city
specific-TLD and is ploughing virgin pastures with no
experience among other global cities to draw upon.</li>
<li>Experience and expertise for operating city TLDs is
emerging on a daily basis here and in the 30 other
global cities developing their own TLDs.</li>
<li>The Internet will become an increasingly vital part of
our city’s social and economic health in the coming
years. Internet access, training, and our domain names
must be managed with utmost care.</li>
<li>This is the Internet, it’s 2015, and people –
especially our younger population – expect oversight to
be open, transparent, and accountable.</li>
<li>There is some resistance to the development of
Internet resources such as TLDs being managed in the
public interest.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Issues</h3>
<p>With minimal experience to draw upon, the scope and scale
of issues requiring oversight remains an unknown. User
experiences will set the oversight agenda over the next
few years, however, questions such as the following will
certainly need attention.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;">bottom-line</p>
<ul>
<li>How much should it cost to buy a .nyc domain name?</li>
<li>Should prices be uniform for businesses, nonprofits,
individuals, etc., or should there be a pricing
structure that encourages not-for-profit activity in
this area?</li>
<li>Is the .nyc TLD infrastructure worthy of investment?</li>
<li>Must the .nyc TLD be self sufficient?</li>
</ul>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;">ownership rights</p>
<ul>
<li>Should some of the 3,000 premium names (.news.nyc,
hotels.nyc, pizza.nyc, etc) be set aside for
distribution by a means other than a high bid auction?</li>
<li>Should the encouragement of innovative proposals be
given preference in making premium domain name
allocation decisions?</li>
<li>Which premium names should have public interest
commitments attached to their development rights?</li>
<li>What are these public interest requirements?</li>
<li>Who sets and approves them?</li>
<li>What should be the compliance mechanisms?</li>
</ul>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;">efficiency</p>
<ul>
<li>Does the city stand behind its TLD?</li>
<li>Where does one go to make a complaint about a service
or product sold by a site using a .nyc domain name?</li>
<li>Who assures that complaints are addressed?</li>
<li>What monitoring of user registration (nexus) and
activation is in place and planned?</li>
<li>Should the requirements of <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fdoitt%2Fdownloads%2Fpdf%2Ftestimony_for_4_20_technology_hearing.pdf&ei=FKhDVZHkJ4rigwSAu4G4Cg&usg=AFQjCNFLhd9QfI_YjHp7ucjn7WFbGO0_Ug&sig2=dYzqMHfTvKZgo6w8rC1U0g"
target="_blank">INTRO. 683-2015</a>, setting
accessibility standards for city government operated
websites, be required for all .nyc sites?</li>
</ul>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;">the public commons</p>
<ul>
<li>How are civicly important domain names to be
identified?</li>
<li>What usage level constitutes effective use of a
civicly important domain name?</li>
<li>How can the city promote effective use of civicly
important domain names?</li>
<li>What process should be followed to reclaim impotent
civicly important domain names?</li>
<li>Should the city invest in templates to facilitate
developing websites for categories of domain names, for
example, the dotNeighborhoods?</li>
</ul>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;">policy</p>
<ul>
<li>What are the linkages between the city’s universal
broadband policy, education, the public access channels,
and domain names?</li>
<li>How can mom and pop businesses be encouraged to
utilize .nyc domain names (and the Internet)?</li>
<li>Should individual domain name registrants be able to
keep their home addresses private through some type of
proxy service?</li>
<li>What pricing, training, and allocation policies will
facilitate the equitable distribution of .nyc domain
names?</li>
</ul>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;">education</p>
<ul>
<li>What programs should be used to educate New Yorkers
about the utility and structure of the .nyc TLD?</li>
<li>What awareness and training programs can encourage
civil society to better utilize the web?</li>
<li>How can we encourage a culture that proudly presents
and protects our city’s internet resources?</li>
</ul>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;">optimization</p>
<ul>
<li>Would effective privacy and security features entice
more New Yorkers to use our city’s TLD?</li>
<li>Should we explore “digital city” relations with other
TLD cities?</li>
<li>Should the city support a “green” policy that
encourages .nyc websites to use power efficient systems?</li>
<li>Should access to .nyc sites be sped up by requiring
that DNS servers be housed in the city?</li>
<li>What levels of transparency access should there be to
DNS usage data?</li>
</ul>
<p>It’s worth reiterating that the .nyc domain was only
activated in late 2014, and the range of issues a city TLD
will face is only emerging. It’s reasonable to assume that
the experiences of city dwellers here, and in 30 other
cities just activating their TLDs, will help answer these
questions and bring up others for resolution.</p>
<p>But today there are no direct or dedicated channels for
communicating with city government about our TLD. Today’s
communications options are limited, with an email to the
mayor or a council member being perhaps the most
effective.</p>
<h3>Recommendations</h3>
<p>City-TLD governance is a complex process requiring a
framework, operating model, and infrastructure to enable
effective oversight and relationships between management
and users.</p>
<p>With 75,000 domain names sold and new websites being
activated every day, we need engagement efforts and
communication channels that facilitate sharing between
residents and oversight entities. We need these here in
the city and we need channels to share issues and best
practices with the 30 other cities developing their TLDs.</p>
<p>The experts on our city’s TLD are the 8,200,000 residents
who are purchasing the domain names, making websites, and
accessing them. It’s time we empower them to shape our
city’s TLD. To do so City Hall should initiate short and
long term governance efforts.</p>
<p><b>Long Term </b>– Looking back to 2001 and the Internet
Empowerment Resolution that first called for our city to
acquire .nyc, Queens Community Board 3’s recommendation
was that the <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://datanyc.org/nycgov/commission-on-public-information-and-communication/">Commission
on Public information and Communication</a> (COPIC) be
.nyc’s oversight entity. That still sounds like a
reasonable approach.</p>
<p>But COPIC needs funding, staffing, and a legislative fix.
The Public Advocate, Trish James, has applied for funding,
and staffing will follow.</p>
<p>The legislative fix should create a more comprehensive
purview of the digital city, taking into account the need
for universal access, processes and programs to facilitate
the Internet’s effective use, the role (cable’s) public
access channels should play in the Internet world, as well
as the oversight of domain names. Additional public
members should be placed on COPIC, selected by individual
owners of .nyc domain names.</p>
<p>The digital revolution’s impact on all aspect of city
government’s operation should be reflected in .nyc’s
planning and development. With the similarities of domain
names to real estate, we see value in the City Planning
Commission participating in COPIC reviews. Lessons from
its ULURP and other public participation processes would
aide in exploring appropriate uses for our city’s digital
land. Additionally, CUNY and our other universities should
have a say in the review processes.</p>
<p><b>Short Term</b> – The .NYC Community Advisory Board
should be reconstituted. This interim body was appointed
by Mayor Bloomberg and strengthened by Mayor de Blasio.
But it’s charter ended last December 31 and nothing has
emerged to replacement it.</p>
<ul>
<li>The .nyc Advisory Board had a knowledgeable and active
core membership that should be reappointed.</li>
<li>It should be supported with staff and resources to
facilitate broad public engagement.</li>
<li>The Board’s operation should be open and transparent
with channels enabling contributions by the public,
small businesses, and civil society.</li>
<li>Channels should be established with other TLD cities
experiencing the same challenging birth to identify
common issues and best practices.</li>
</ul>
<p>To a far greater degree than the global Internet, New
York’s Internet is a tangible resource, with its impact
seen and felt as we move through the city. Let’s assure
that tools to enable our residents to effectively govern
this new force are made available now and for the long
term.</p>
<p>In a future post we’ll take a look at the technology and
relationships that enable the Internet’s global reach and
see where and how the city might interact there.</p>
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