IP: from the Internet Monthly Report on the Domaine name issue

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> <http://www.isi.edu/in-notes/imr/imr9701.txt>
>
> Internet Monthly Report
>
>
> " Trip Report
>               26th RIPE Meeting - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
>                                January 1997
>                              Joyce K. Reynolds
>                     USC/Information Sciences Institute"
> ...
>
> "RIPE Open Discussion on the IAHC and its Draft Proposal"
>
> "The general consensus is that this group is NOT happy with
>   the IAHC as a body and the draft proposal they have out."
IMR Editor                                                     [Page 26]




Report of the 26th RIPE Meetings




RIPE Open Discussion on the IAHC and its Draft Proposal


   Rob stated that the aim of this discussion is to obtain input from
   the RIPE attendees to give to the IAHC (Internet International Ad Hoc
   Committee).  URL: http://www.iahc.org.


   The deadline the IAHC placed for comments is right during the RIPE
   meetings and the APRICOT meetings the week after!  Meanwhile, the
   IAHC needs the input.  Some very interesting discussion and opinions
   ensued from the RIPE meeting attendees about the IAHC in this
   session.  The general consensus is that this group is NOT happy with
   the IAHC as a body and the draft proposal they have out.


   Rob Blokzijl's personal view, not as Chair of RIPE speaking about the
   draft:


   1) No where in the draft proposal is there a clear statement of
      problems to be solved.  Solutions are presented to problems that
      are not presented very well.


   2) .com domain contention of names.  The result is to create
      additional domains.  Why try to create more?  How does that solve
      anything?


   3) Trademark issues/Legislation.


   4) The draft at the very end is not a new idea.  A "user-friendly"
      directory service is not new!


   There are interesting new concepts, and it takes care of U.S. centric
   competition.  Picked by lottery is a new concept.


Christopher Wilkinson of the EC (European Community)


   Christopher Wilkinson of the EC Telecommunications Directorate was at
   this meeting and gave a brief talk about the EC's interested in the
   IAHC and its activities.  He stated he was at the RIPE meetings
   specifically on a fact finding mission of how the RIPE community felt
   about IAHC.  He said he wanted to get a reading on what Europeans
   should do about this.


   Why is the EC interested?  The Internet growth and development is #3
   or #4 of the EC's top level agenda.  He stated that when the EC read
   the IAHC draft, they saw the following that "stuck out":














IMR Editor                                                     [Page 27]




Report of the 26th RIPE Meetings




   - lack of European participation (token representation of Australia
     and Japan).  He met with Bob Shaw and Albert Tramposch (IAHC
     members) and he stated to this group that Shaw and Tramposch agree
     with this.


   - problem with trademarks


   - scalibility


   - new registries and how they should be allocated


   He stated that he would be taking careful notes of the RIPE comments
   and take them back to the EC.  The EC wants to the use the RIPE input
   to use in the EC response to the IAHC.


   If the IAHC does set up an international board of trustees, is that
   something Europe wants?  Or take a separate view?  If IAHC goes ahead
   with the "licensing" of new iTLD registries, what will these new
   organization look like?


   Rob stated that he felt that this is primarily a U.S. problem.  Don't
   export it to Europe.  Christopher Wilkinson stated that he met with
   the two IAHC members (Shaw and Tramposch) last Friday, January 17th
   at an EC meeting.


   Frode Greisen, Internet Society (ISOC) Trustee, responded to Rob's
   statements, since ISOC pushed Don Heath (President of the Internet
   Society) to form IAHC.  He mentioned that Jon Postel proposed this
   concept first.  There is a genuine thread of fragmentation of the
   Internet (AlterNIC, as an example).  Is this an American problem
   (impatient with NSI and the "money making machine")?  It is a smaller
   problem than the bigger picture.  Consider making options for
   improvement.  Competition may be able to solve some of these problems
   (especially in the telecommunications field).  Look more positively
   about this re-regulation.  Internet has been able to grow.  Be
   careful to say how governments need to control.


   Rob stated that lumping together a wide range of problems, and just
   say competition will solve it and take it step by step in a certain
   timeframe is not optimistic.  The IAHC is trying to do everything at
   the same time.  This is very scary with proposed timeframe.  It
   created a technical solution to legal problems.  Don't try and make
   our technology a solution to solve problems the telephone system
   solved 30-40 years ago.


   Other comments by the group included, that Internet engineering
   doesn't have a DNS problem, so don't expect Internet engineers to
   solve the problems that whatever mankind has had!  In regards to the






IMR Editor                                                     [Page 28]




Report of the 26th RIPE Meetings




   crisis of Directory Services and tools, they are archaic.  Those
   protocols are outdated today.  The need is to build those tools in
   order for people to come.  Mike Norris mentioned that this is not
   just a "telephone" move problem.


   The IAHC is proposing an "interim" solution.  There is a pressing
   need for interim solutions in the U.S., NOT Europe.  Energy spent on
   this effort leaves no strength left to develop Directory Services.
   In the interim, the IAHC will create seven new domains. One year form
   now, they will need 7 more new domains!


   What is the IAHC trying to solve?  The problems are US centric.  They
   should focus on the .US domain, not global problem solving.


   The CORE (Council of Registrars).  RIPE is a potential candidate in
   Europe.  RIPE cannot afford to stay out of this process any longer,
   as part of the new organization of CORE is the gTLD registries.
   There is a discrepancy.  If Europe tells the IAHC, "don't do it"
   (creating new registries) and if they don't follow the
   recommendation, then RIPE should be at the CORE table if they go on
   with their plans. RIPE should be in on the process.


   There should be push back at the IAHC, as RIPE, APNIC, etc., not
   represented.  The IAHC is too lawyer top heavy.  The whole thing
   should be pushed back and the whole issue revisited.  They will not
   be implementors nor the administrators of this decision.  Send it
   back.


RIPE NCC report (see Registries report, section 1) - Daniel Karrenberg


   Regarding the CERTS and proposals to TAG.  RIPE-149 citation,
   proposal is RIPE-150. (See URL: www.ripe.net/docs/)


   - Security issues are important, but not important enough to spend
     money on it.  The solicitation for proposals was all too rushed.


   - In 1997 there is a revised (RIPE-144) activity plan.  Registration
     services are a serious effort that is going on with quality control
     this year.


   - Audit control (auditing of local registries for inconsistencies)
     (see RIPE Databases Inconsistencies, section 3 )


   - More new activities planned (more global routing, tracking)














IMR Editor                                                     [Page 29]




Report of the 26th RIPE Meetings




   - Plan to double staff by the end of 1997 of up to 32 people.  Will
     move the NCC from NIKHEF into center of Amsterdam.  The move will
     take place in April/May 1997.  Moving because of space problems.
     NIKHEF has been very accommodating, but options were not viable.


   - New address - Singel #258 - to the left of the Main Post Office.
     There are about 40 pubs in the area :-)


   The RIPE will also separate from TERENA.  RIPE will be more
   responsible for their finances.  In regards to the TERENA split, the
   NCC's budget is bigger than TERENA's at this point in time.  A case
   of the tail wagging the dog situation.  The split will take place on
   January 1st, 1998.