IANA Report on Redelegation of the .ps Top-Level Domain

IANA Report

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (the IANA), as part of the administrative functions associated with management of the domain-name system root, is responsible for receiving requests for delegation and redelegation of top-level domains, investigating the circumstances pertinent to those requests, and reporting on the requests. This report gives the findings and conclusions of the IANA on its investigation of various requests for the redelegation of the .ps (Palestinian Territory, Occupied) country-code top-level domain (ccTLD).

Factual and Procedural Background

In March 2000, IANA approved a request for the establishment of the .ps ccTLD. At that time and today, that two-letter code was and is set forth on the ISO 3166-1 list (http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/index.html) maintained by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA) as the approved alpha-2 code for the Palestinian Territory, Occupied).

Upon its establishment in March 2000, the .ps ccTLD was delegated by IANA to the Government Computer Center (GCC) at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation with Ghassan Qadah as administrative contact, and Yassir Doleh as the technical contact. Both contacts no longer work with the GCC, and the GCC itself has been transferred from the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation to the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology.

In January 2004, ICANN received an expression of interest to redelegate the .ps ccTLD to the Government Computer Center at the new Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MOTIT). The request was supported by the Palestinian Territory Government who, through the Palestinian Territory Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MOTIT), recognized GCC as the appropriate delegee for the .ps ccTLD. It expressed an interest to have GCC formally recognized by ICANN as the delegee for the .ps ccTLD according to the “Principles for the Delegation and Administration of Country Code Top Level Domains” (http://www.icann.org/committees/gac/gac-cctldprinciples-23feb00.htm) issued in February 2000 by ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), commonly known as the "GAC Principles.” The GCC is part of the MOTIT but includes representatives from the Government, Private sector, academia, law institutions and local internet community in Palestine.

The existing administrative contact has expressed support for the redelegation request, and the listed technical contact has stated that he has no objection.

By the accompanying template, the redelegation request proposed to change the GCC’s sponsoring organization to the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MOTIT), the administrative contact to Mr. Yazan Abdelrahman, and the technical contact to Mr. Fadi Ismael.

The proposal specified that the .ps registry would have an oversight committee at GCC consisting of the Government, private sector, and academia, in service to the emerging Palestinian Internet community.

In accord with the proposed arrangements, as described above, the Ministry of telecommunications and Information Technology and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) have agreed on the language of a Memorandum of Understanding (http://www.icann.org/cctlds/af/) providing a framework of accountability under which the GCC at MOTIT would assume the responsibilities as the delegee entrusted with the .ps registry. On April 2004, the ICANN Board of Directors authorized the entry with the Ministry of this Memorandum of Understanding, which closely parallels prior MoUs entered for the .bi (http://www.icann.org/cctlds/bi/), .la (http://www.icann.org/cctlds/la/), and .mw (http://www.icann.org/cctlds/mw/) ccTLDs.

Evaluation

This report is being provided under the contract for performance of the IANA function (http://www.icann.org/general/iana-contract-17mar03.htm) between the United States Government and ICANN. Under that contract, ICANN performs the IANA function, which includes receiving delegation and redelegation requests concerning ccTLDs (http://www.icann.org/general/iana-contract-17mar03.htm#C.2.1.1.2), investigating the circumstances pertinent to those requests, making its recommendations, and reporting actions undertaken in connection with processing such requests.

In acting on redelegation requests, the IANA currently follows the practices summarized in “Internet Domain Name System Structure and Delegation.” (ICP-1, http://www.icann.org/icp/icp-1.htm) ICP-1 represents an update of the portions of RFC 1591 (http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1591.txt which was issued in March 1994) dealing with ccTLDs, and reflects subsequent documents and evolution of the policies followed by the IANA through May 1999. Relevant guidance is also provided in the GAC Principles.

In considering delegation or redelegation of a ccTLD, the IANA seeks input from persons significantly affected by the transfer, particularly those within the nation or territory which the ccTLD has been established to benefit. As noted in ICP-1 (http://www.icann.org/icp/icp-1.htm#a), the parties affected include especially the relevant government or public authority: “The desires of the government of a country with regard to delegation of a ccTLD are taken very seriously. The IANA will make them a major consideration in any TLD delegation/transfer discussions.”

Based on the materials submitted and the IANA's evaluation of the circumstances, GCC qualifies as an appropriate manager for the .ps registry, with support from the Palestinian Territory Internet community, including the Palestinian Territory Government. As noted above, the government of Palestinian Territory has formally endorsed GCC as the appropriate delegee for the .ps registry.

Mutual agreement of the old and the new delegees is a factor that ICANN takes very seriously when considering redelegation requests. Here, the former administrative and technical contacts both support the change in delegation.

The GAC Principles serve as “best practices” to guide governments in assuming proper roles with respect to the Internet's naming system, which the GAC has observed is “a public resource . . . administered in the public or common interest.” (http://www.icann.org/committees/gac/gac-cctldprinciples-23feb00.htm#5.3) In general, they recognize that each government has the ultimate responsibility within its territory for its national public-policy objectives, but also that ICANN has the responsibility for ensuring that the Internet domain-name system continues to provide an effective and interoperable global naming system. The GAC Principles recommend that governments and ICANN pursue their respective roles by creating a framework for accountability memorialized in communications with each other and with the ccTLD manager (see clause 2, http://www.icann.org/committees/gac/gac-cctldprinciples-23feb00.htm#2). The GAC Principles guide governments on how to responsibly structure their relations with ccTLD managers (see clauses 5.5, http://www.icann.org/committees/gac/gac-cctldprinciples-23feb00.htm#5.5 and clause 9, http://www.icann.org/committees/gac/gac-cctldprinciples-23feb00.htm#9). Among these specific principles, the best practices contemplate that governments will assist in ensuring that the ccTLD manager complies with ICANN policies related to global coordination of the Internet DNS (clauses 9.1.7 and 9.1.8, http://www.icann.org/committees/gac/gac-cctldprinciples-23feb00.htm#9.1.7).

GCC has committed itself to abiding by the GAC Principles in a 12 January 2004 communication from the Palestinian Territory Government and the MOTIT, to IANA. In the 12 January letter, the Government of the Palestinian Territory has followed the actions of the Governments of Australia (http://www.iana.org/reports/pw-report-30jun03.htm#fn1), Japan (http://www.iana.org/reports/pw-report-30jun03.htm#fn2), Kenya (http://www.iana.org/reports/pw-report-30jun03.htm#fn3), and the Sudan (http://www.iana.org/reports/pw-report-30jun03.htm#fn4) in committing to the principles of non profit regulation of the type that have allowed and will continue to allow the Internet globally to flourish, while providing the Government with the ability to intervene should the non profit entity be unable to fulfill this function.

The proposed delegation will promote service to the local Internet community and will help assure continued Internet interoperability through the global technical coordination that ICANN was created to provide. In this regard, the recognition by the Palestinian Territory Government's discussion of the need for close coordination between ICANN and the government is particularly noteworthy.

According to the relevant communications, GCC is well-suited to be inclusive of, and accountable to, the Palestinian Territory Internet community and to operate through appropriate open, transparent, and inclusive processes.

Conclusion

The structure proposed by GCC and endorsed by the Palestinian Territory Government is to have GCC undertake management of the .ps ccTLD under appropriate oversight of the Palestinian Territory Government concerning the national policy interests. GCC and the Palestinian Territory Government also acknowledge and support ICANN's responsibility for coordinating management of the DNS, including the .ps ccTLD, to safeguard global technical-coordination interests. In reviewing the request, in light of the Palestinian Territory Government's endorsement of GCC as the appropriate all inclusive manager, and in view of achievement of agreements documenting the framework of accountability described above; the IANA concludes that the .ps ccTLD should be redelegated to GCC.

Page Updated 21-Jun-2004
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