[bestbits] Comments Requested for ICANN report on DNS Industry in Underserved Regions | Deadline: 13 June 2014.

Fri May 23 17:23:48 EDT 2014

Since many of us are interested in issues of development, and many of
us keep criticising the US-centricism of ICANN, I thought this would
be a particularly useful opportunity to influence ICANN policy.

Regards,
Pranesh

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# Brief Overview

This is a report about supporting the domain name industry in
underserved regions, prepared by ICANN staff for public comment.
Comment Period: 14 May 2014 - 13 Jun 2014 23:59 UTC
Reply Period: 14 Jun 2014 - 30 Jun 2014 23:59 UTC
Original Announcement
Section I: Description, Explanation, and Purpose

ICANN is exploring ideas and strategies to help promote the domain
name industry in regions that have typically been underserved. In
particular, ICANN is looking at existing barriers to Registrar
Accreditation and operation and considering ways that these challenges
might be mitigated. Public comments on this report will be used to
determine next steps to support the domain name industry in
underserved regions.

As of 16 April 2014, there were 1,010 ICANN-accredited Registrars. Of
those, seven are located in Africa. Fourteen are located in the Middle
East.

Barriers to participation in domain name industry business in regions
such as Africa and the Middle East are complex and some cannot be
addressed by ICANN without coordination with the greater community.
Many of these issues have been recognized and discussed for some time.
ICANN staff is therefore seeking input to determine how best to
transform this discussion into concrete results.
Section II: Background

To encourage participation of developing countries to date, ICANN has,
for example, created a fellowship program, participated in many
regional meetings and increased the availability of translated
materials and interpretation services, engendering participation
within ICANN.

Additionally, in August 2012, ICANN announced a new approach to
Africa, with the support of AFRINIC, including a new initiative aimed
at increasing African participation and influence within ICANN.1 A
working group was created and endorsed by the African community
members meeting in Prague. The working group included key players in
Internet governance from different regions in Africa to contribute to
the development of the new strategy. The working group selected Nii
Quaynor of Ghana, a well-respected Internet leader in Africa, to lead
its efforts. The working group published its report, Enhanced Registry
Registrar Relationships, on 13 July 2013 (see Annex at the end of this
report).

Members of the domain name industry community in the Middle East
community have taken a similar approach. Middle East community members
created a working group in early 2013 to develop an ICANN engagement
strategy for the Middle East. The Middle East strategy identified
domain name industry development as one area where more work needs to
be done. ICANN has since co-sponsored a number of DNS Forum events in
the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.2

ICANN recently held a session on this topic at the March 2014 ICANN
meeting in Singapore.3 At the session, ICANN solicited considerable
input from attendees about the challenges facing the domain name
industry in underserved regions and began discussions to explore
potential solutions.

1 See
http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-10aug12-en.htm

2http://blog.icann.org/2014/02/first-middle-east-dns-forum-overwhelmingly-successful/
;
http://www.internetsociety.org/news/africa-domain-name-system-forum-be-held-durban-south-africa-12-13-july-2013

3http://singapore49.icann.org/en/schedule/wed-dns-underserved
Section III: Relevant Resources

The attached report [PDF, 601 KB] includes a table that summarizes
input that ICANN has received regarding the challenges that face the
domain name industry in underserved regions. The table is by no means
exhaustive, and ICANN staff welcome input on any issue that you
believe poses a barrier to domain name industry growth and
participation in underserved regions.

The table identifies the relevant issue, notes where the requirement
lies in relevant policies or contracts, lists solutions that have been
proposed, and explores how such solutions might be implemented.

As background, the report also includes the July 2013 report, Enhanced
Registry Registrar Relationships, developed by Africa Strategy working
group.

ICANN Seeks Public Comment: Supporting the DNS Industry in Underserved
Regions

- -- 
Pranesh Prakash
Policy Director, Centre for Internet and Society
T: +91 80 40926283 | W: http://cis-india.org
- -------------------
Access to Knowledge Fellow, Information Society Project, Yale Law School
M: +1 520 314 7147 | W: http://yaleisp.org
PGP ID: 0x1D5C5F07 | Twitter: https://twitter.com/pranesh_prakash
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