IANA Report on Redelegation of the .tj 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 a request for redelegation of the .tj (Tajikistan) country-code top-level domain (ccTLD).

Factual and Procedural Background

In 1997, the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute (which then performed the IANA functions) approved a request for establishment of the .tj ccTLD. At that time and today, that two-letter code was and is set forth on the ISO 3166-1 list maintained by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA) as the approved alpha-2 code for Tajikistan.

Upon its establishment in May 1997, the .tj ccTLD was delegated by Dr. Jon Postel (then in charge of the IANA function at the Information Sciences Institute) to Irage M. Tursoon-Zadeh, of TJ Network Services of Fresno, California USA, as administrative contact, and William Walsh, of ProNet Domains as the technical contact. At that time, it was Dr. Postel's usual practice to delegate authority and responsibilities regarding ccTLDs to trusted individuals. The technical contact role was subsequently moved to Karl Watts, located in Fresno, California USA.

On 13 June 2002, the Chief of the IT Division of the Government of Tajikistan, Timur Hasanov, wrote to ICANN seeking to move the administration of the .tj ccTLD to the Information Technical Center (ITC) into Tajikistan. The Government's request sought redelegation according to "Principles for the Delegation and Administration of Country Code Top Level Domains" issued in February 2000 by ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), commonly known as the "GAC Principles." The ITC is an independent body, active with the local Internet community. The Government's request to move the administration of .tj into Tajikistan was supported by members of the local Internet community and the administrative contact, Irage M. Tursoon-Zadeh. The technical contact, who has not had a cooperative relationship with the administrative contact, did not respond to inquires from the IANA on the redelegation request. Presently none of the designated nameservers provides authoritative answers for the .tj domain.

To clarify and document the relative roles and responsibilities of ITC, the Tajikistan Government, and ICANN, representatives of the parties have drafted the bilateral communications between each pair of the three parties. An ITC-ICANN Agreement was entered in June 2003 in accordance with the GAC Principles. The Tajikistan Government has also sent ICANN communications recognizing ICANN's role in coordinating the DNS to preserve global interoperability. In June 2003, ITC expressed its desire to execute the appropriate ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement with ICANN, and on 2 June 2003 the ICANN Board authorized the entry of such an agreement with ITC.

Evaluation

This report is being provided under the contract for performance of the IANA function between the United States Government and ICANN. Under that contract, ICANN performs the IANA function, which includes receiving delegation and redelegation requests concerning ccTLDs, investigating the circumstances pertinent to those requests, and 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). ICP-1 represents an update of the portions of RFC 1591 (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, 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, ITC qualifies as an appropriate manager for the .tj registry, with support from the Tajikistan Internet community, including the Tajikistan Government. As noted above, the Government of Tajikistan has formally endorsed MIDCORP as the appropriate delegee for the .tj registry.

In considering redelegation requests, mutual agreement of the old and the new delegees is also of importance, and here the former administrative contact supports the change in delegation. The technical contact has not responded to the IANA's inquires concerning his position on the redelegation request.

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 to be administered in the public interest. 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). The GAC Principles guide governments on how to responsibly structure their relations with ccTLD managers (see clauses 5.5 and 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).

ITC has committed itself to abide by the GAC Principles, in the 13 May 2003 communication from the Tajikistan Government to ICANN CEO Paul Twomey. In that letter, the Government of Tajikistan has followed the actions of the Governments of Australia¹, Japan², Kenya³, and the Sudan⁴ in committing to the principles of private-sector self-regulation of the type that have allowed and will continue to allow the Internet globally to flourish, while providing the Tajikistan Government with the ability to intervene should the private sector be unable to fulfill this function. The letter also recognizes the desirability of private-sector technical coordination of the Internet on a global scale, and affirms that the Tajikistan Government is committed to ICANN and "considers ICANN to be the appropriate international entity to oversee the technical coordination of the Internet in a manner that will preserve it as an effective and convenient mechanism for global communication and commerce."

By migrating the delegation of the .tj ccTLD from the responsibility of individuals acting under informal understandings with the IANA to a more formal, legally enforceable, set of arrangements among a delegee organization, the relevant government, and ICANN (which performs the IANA 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 the Tajikistan Government’s discussion of the need for close coordination between ICANN and the Government is particularly noteworthy.

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

Conclusion

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

Notes:

1. See IANA Report on Request for Redelegation of the .au Top-Level Domain (31 August 2001).

2. See IANA Report on Request of the .jp Top-Level Domain (8 February 2002).

3. See IANA Report on Request for Redelegation of the .ke Top-Level Domain (20 December 2002).

4. See IANA Report on Request for Redelegation of the .sd Top-Level Domain (20 December 2002).

Page Updated 30-Jun-2003
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