[ncdnhc-discuss] Proposed Resolution: TLD ADDITION PROCEDURE

[Milton Mueller]

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR A UNIFORM,
FIXED PROCEDURE FOR ADDING TOP-LEVEL
DOMAINS TO THE DNS ROOT

1. Whereas ICANN's primary duty in the administration of 
DNS is to coordinate a root-level registry and to determine 
the contents of the root-level zone file; and

2. Whereas there is now, and will be for the foreseeable 
future, legitimate demands to add new TLD names 
and to permit the entry of new registry operators into 
the domain name services market, and 

3. Whereas ICANN has to date established no fixed,
uniform and predictable procedure for responding to
those demands; and

4. Whereas, success or failure in the marketplace,
not the predictions of central planners, should
determine which TLDs exist and who operates 
them; and

4. Whereas ICANN's ad hoc methods for considering
new TLD additions creates uncertainty in the marketplace,
increases the costs of entering the market, restricts
competition, harms consumers and users, and contributes to 
arbitrary decisionmaking and the corruption of ICANN 
processes: 

BE IT RESOLVED, THAT 

1. ICANN should call upon the Internet Engineering
Task Force to form a working group to determine how
many TLDs can be safely added to the DNS root each
year; 

2. ICANN should initiate efforts to specify a set 
of minimal technical requirements for the operation of a 
TLD, these requirements to be ready within six months
of the end of the Shanghai meeting;

3. Once the IETF has defined the safe number
of TLD additions per year, ICANN staff should define a 
routine procedure for applying for, qualifying, and 
awarding TLDs to applicants on an annual or semi-annual 
basis. This procedure should NOT involve evaluations of the 
business plans or social worth of the applications, but simply 
their ability to operate a registry without imposing noticeable
technical externalities upon other users/suppliers of the DNS.

4. ICANN should use non-discretionary methods,
such as auctions, lotteries or some other objective method, 
to resolve incompatible applications for TLDs.

5. A transition plan should be defined allowing 
registries operating under legacy contracts to be 
operated on the same lightweight contractsl as new 
entrants.

6. Economic and conduct regulation of TLD
registries should be considered out of ICANN's scope
as a technical coordinator, and devolved to national 
governments