ICANN posts for public comment the proposed renewal agreements of the .INFO and .BIZ Registries

ICANN is posting today for public comment a proposed agreement for renewal of the Registry Agreement for .INFO. This proposed draft is the result of discussions between ICANN and Afilias Limited, and will be considered by the ICANN Board after public comment. The current agreement is scheduled to expire on 30 June 2013.

The current registry agreement for .INFO, like other registry agreements, provides for presumptive renewal so long as certain requirements are met. The agreement also provides that upon renewal, changes may be made to render the terms similar to other comparable agreements. The proposed renewal agreement includes modified provisions to make the agreement in line with other comparable agreements, as well as additional provisions that are currently proposed in the final draft of the New gTLD Registry Agreement posted for public comment.

Included in the proposed renewal agreement are the following provisions:

• Threats to Security and Stability: A new provision has been added to allow the registry operator to temporarily prevent the registration of one or more names in the TLD in order to respond to an imminent threat to the security and/or stability of the TLD or the Internet.
• Use of Registrars Accredited Under the 2013 RAA: A new provision is included to require the registry operator to amend its Registry-Registry Agreement to require registrars to use the 2013 RAA if registrars representing 67% of the registrations in the TLD sign the 2013 RAA. If the remaining registrars do not sign the amended Registry-Registrar Agreement requiring registrars to become a party to the final 2013 RAA within a certain time period, then the registrars’ access to the TLD registry system will be suspended (that is, those registrars will not be permitted to add new registrations). This requirement is dependent upon the registry operators of identified comparable gTLDs also submitting similar requests to amend their Registry-Registrar Agreements.
• Emergency Transition provisions: A new provision proposed in the New gTLD Registry Agreement is included in the renewal agreement to provide for emergency transition in the event the registry is unable to sustain certain critical registry functions for a period of time.
• Code of Conduct: The registry operator will be required to comply with the Registry Code of Conduct as proposed in the New gTLD Registry Agreement.
• Resolution of Disputes: The dispute resolution procedures were updated similar to the New gTLD Registry Agreement to require the parties to attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation before they may initiate arbitration.
• WHOIS: The WHOIS output is required to be compatible with ICANN‘s common interface for WHOIS (InterNIC), and if requested by ICANN, the registry operator must provide a link on its website to a webpage designed by ICANN containing WHOIS policy and education materials.
• Cross-ownership Restrictions: The renewal agreement lifts restrictions on cross-ownership of registry operators and registrars or registrar resellers.

Posted for public comment are both clean and “redline” versions of the agreement and modified appendices as follows:

• Proposed Renewal Registry Agreement [PDF, 215 KB]
• Redline showing changes from current .INFO Registry Agreement [PDF, 369 KB]
• Proposed Renewal Agreement Appendices [PDF, 995 KB]
• Redline showing changes from current .INFO Appendices [PDF, 1,150 KB]
• Summary of Changes [PDF, 276 KB] (Note: Redlines for Appendix 2, Appendix 6 and Appendix 9 are not included because there are no proposed changes to current versions.)

Contractual Compliance Review:  As part of the renewal process, ICANN conducted a review of recent performance under the .INFO Registry Agreement. The compliance review covered areas including: Timeliness and Content of Monthly Reports; Add Grace Period Limits Policy; Bulk Zone File Requirements; and Payment of Required Fees. ICANN analyzed relevant data and documents and found that Afilias is in substantial compliance with the .INFO Registry Agreement in the areas reviewed by ICANN. The assessment can be found at: http://www.icann.org/en/resources/compliance/reports/operator-afilias-info-03jun13-en.pdf [PDF, 87 KB]

ICANN and Afilias Limited entered into Registry Agreement on 8 December 2006 for operation of the .INFO top level domain. The current registry agreement for .INFO may be viewed at: http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/info

Current .INFO Registry Agreement and Appendices: http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/info

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ICANN is posting today for public comment a proposed agreement for renewal of the Registry Agreement for .BIZ. This proposed draft is the result of discussions between ICANN and Neustar, Inc., and will be considered by the ICANN Board after public comment. The current agreement is scheduled to expire on 30 June 2013.

The current registry agreement for .BIZ, like other registry agreements, provides for presumptive renewal so long as certain requirements are met. The agreement also provides that upon renewal, changes may be made to render the terms similar to other comparable agreements. The proposed renewal agreement includes modified provisions to make the agreement in line with other comparable agreements, as well as additional provisions that are currently proposed in the final draft of the New gTLD Registry Agreement posted for public comment.

Included in the proposed renewal agreement are the following provisions:

• Threats to Security and Stability: A new provision has been added to allow the registry operator to temporarily prevent the registration of one or more names in the TLD in order to respond to an imminent threat to the security and/or stability of the TLD or the Internet.
• Use of Registrars Accredited Under the 2013 RAA: A new provision is included to require the registry operator to amend its Registry-Registry Agreement to require registrars to use the 2013 RAA if registrars representing 67% of the registrations in the TLD sign the 2013 RAA. If the remaining registrars do not sign the amended Registry-Registrar Agreement requiring registrars to become a party to the final 2013 RAA within a certain time period, then the registrars’ access to the TLD registry system will be suspended (that is, those registrars will not be permitted to add new registrations). This requirement is dependent upon the registry operators of identified comparable gTLDs also submitting similar requests to amend their Registry-Registrar Agreements.
• Emergency Transition provisions: A new provision proposed in the New gTLD Registry Agreement is included in the renewal agreement to provide for emergency transition in the event the registry is unable to sustain certain critical registry functions for a period of time.
• Code of Conduct: The registry operator will be required to comply with the Registry Code of Conduct as proposed in the New gTLD Registry Agreement.
• Resolution of Disputes: The dispute resolution procedures were updated similar to the New gTLD Registry Agreement to require the parties to attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation before they may initiate arbitration.
• WHOIS: The WHOIS output is required to be compatible with ICANN’s common interface for WHOIS (InterNIC), and if requested by ICANN, the registry operator must provide a link on its website to a webpage designed by ICANN containing WHOIS policy and education materials.
• Cross-ownership Restrictions: The renewal agreement lifts restrictions on cross-ownership of registry operators and registrars or registrar resellers.

Posted for public comment are both clean and “redline” versions of the agreement and modified appendices as follows:

• Proposed Renewal Registry Agreement [PDF, 217 KB]
• Redline showing changes from current .BIZ Registry Agreement [PDF, 347 KB]
• Proposed Renewal Agreement Appendices [PDF, 1.16 MB]
• Redline showing changes from current .BIZ Appendices [PDF, 1.28 MB]
• Summary of Changes [PDF, 203 KB]

(Note: Redlines for Appendix 2, Appendix 9 and Appendix 11 are not included because there are no proposed changes to current versions.)

Contractual Compliance Review: As part of the renewal process, ICANN conducted a review of recent performance under the .BIZ Registry Agreement. The compliance review covered areas including: Timeliness and Content of Monthly Reports; Add Grace Period Limits Policy; Bulk Zone File Requirements; and Payment of Required Fees. Neustar was found to be in compliance with the .BIZ Registry Agreement in all areas reviewed by ICANN. The assessment can be found at: http://www.icann.org/en/resources/compliance/reports/operator-neustar-biz-03jun13-en.pdf [PDF, 67 KB]

ICANN and Neustar, Inc. entered into Registry Agreement on 8 December 2006 for operation of the .BIZ top level domain. The current registry agreement for .BIZ may be viewed at: http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/biz

Current .BIZ Registry Agreement and Appendices: http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/biz

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