The Arab gTLDs - United Nations Economic and Social ...css.escwa.org.lb/ictd/1620/1_3.pdf ·...

B A R T L I E B E N 5 J U L Y 2 0 1 1

The Arab gTLDs

Overview of the Domain Name Industry The Arab TLD Charter, Strategic Framework, and Governance Structure

The RFP Process Investment Opportunities – the Arab gTLDs as a Business Opportunity

U N I T E D N A T I O N S

E C O N O M I C A N D S O C I A L C O M M I S S I O N F O R W E S T E R N A S I A

P A R T N E R S H I P F O R U M F O R T H E B U I L D I N G O F T H E A R A B T L D S 5 J U L Y 2 0 1 1

Agenda

Agenda

Introduction

Overview of the Domain Name Industry

The Arab TLD Charter, Strategic Framework and Governance Structure

The Request for Proposals Process

Investment Opportunities and the Arab TLD Registry as a Business Opportunity

Q & A

Concluding Remarks


Introduction

The Domain Name Eco-system

ICANN Domain Name

Registries

Domain Name

Owners

Domain Name

Registrars • Register domain names with domain name registries in the name and on behalf of their clients (Domain Name Owners) • Contract with ICANN and with Domain Name Registries (for gTLDs)

International Not-for Profit Corporation that coordinates and develops policy with respect to the Internet’s naming system (e.g. the domain name system or DNS)

• Manage internet extensions (Top Level Domains or TLDs) • generic TLDs (gTLDs, such as .com) – currently 22 • country-code TLDs (ccTLDs, such as .jp) – currently about 260


Overview of the Domain Name Industry

Background & History

1990’s: first 7 “generic” top-level domains were established

.com, .net, .org, .mil, .edu, .gov, .int

no formal process defined by IANA / US Government

(ICANN did not exist at that time)

1998 / 1999: ICANN was established

one of its missions is to establish a policy and procedure for the expansion of the gTLD namespace

two “test rounds”: 2000 (e.g. .info, .biz) and 2003 (e.g. .asia, .tel)

2012: “New gTLD Program”


2000 / 2001: first “round” of new gTLDs about 40 applications received by ICANN accepted: .info, .biz, .pro, .coop, .museum, .aero, .name

2003: second “round” of new “sponsored” gTLDs 10 applications received by ICANN accepted: .asia, .tel, .mobi, .post, .cat, .jobs, .travel

2005: GNSO formulated recommendations with respect to the third round of new gTLDs

2007: ICANN staff started with the development of policies relating to the New gTLD Program Various drafts published for comment since October 2008 Applicant Guidebook voted as final by the Board on the 20th of June

of 2011 in Singapore ICANN’s CEO and staff have commenced implementation work


Rollouts of new TLDs over the past 5 years: 2005:

.EU Sunrise (about 350k applications in 4 months)

2006: .EU Landrush (about 1m registrations in 1 year) .MOBI Sunrise + Landrush (about 250k registrations in year 1)

2007: .ASIA Sunrise (about 30k applications)

2008: .ASIA Landrush (about 250k registrations in year 1) .ME Sunrise + Landrush (about 300k registrations in year 1) .TEL Sunrise (about 10k registrations)

2009: .TEL Landrush (about 250 k registrations after 6 months)

Opportunities in the Domain Name Industry

ICANN’s New gTLD Program

Program initiated within ICANN to accept applications for new generic top-level domains between January 12 and April 12 of 2012

Projects and candidates will be selected on the basis of objective, transparent and measurable criteria laid down in ICANN’s Applicant Guidebook


The Arab TLD Charter, Strategic Framework and Governance Structure

The Arab TLD Charter

Working document that contains a high-level overview of the various steps, policies and processes that need to be considered, developed, implemented, and followed for the Arab TLD Registry Operator

Will continue to be amended up to the point where the Arab TLDs are operational, at which point it will turn into more a manual for the organizations, companies and individuals who are directly or indirectly involved with the Arab TLDs


Structure:

1. Background and Nature of the Arab TLDs

2. Governance structure of the Arab registry

3. Operational roles and responsibilities

4. Policies

5. Set-up and operational phases (back-end operator and partner selection)

6. Draft and submit application files to ICANN

7. Entering into agreement with ICANN

8. Delegation and management of the Arab TLDs


Background and nature of the Arab TLDs

Current thinking:

Present LAS as the only entity that is able / entitled to represent the Arab region / the LAS Member States

Community-based gTLD

Geographic TLD

Position is subject to change, given the fact that the GAC has obtained the ability / right to intervene


Eligibility requirements

Current thinking:

The Registry shall register domain names in one or both Arab TLDs through any Registrar requested by any:

undertaking having its registered office, central administration or principal place of business within the Community, or

organization established within the Community without prejudice to the application of national law, or

natural person resident within the Community;

Community: Member States of LAS


Governance structure of the Arab Registry


Operational roles and responsibilities


Operational roles and responsibilities

LAS, as the TLD owner, will select, through an RFP process, the TLD Manager;

The TLD Manager has a Board of Directors which is responsible for ensuring that the vision, mission, and governance structure laid down herein are effectively implemented, and that the business targets are achieved;

The steering committee, appointed by LAS, provides high-level oversight together with an advisory board;


Operational roles and responsibilities (cont’d)

The Board of Directors will include members of the current steering committee of the ATLDs as well as directors from the TLD Manager; Financial implications such as compensation and reimbursement of expenses, if any, will be borne by the TLD Manager;

The TLD Manager - and not LAS - will hire the CEO, COO, CFO...etc.;

The TLD Manager will outsource the technical functions to a backend registry operator (and not LAS);

LAS, TLD Manager and ICANN will take part in a three-party agreement, as shown in the figure.


Policies

Registration & Eligibility

geographical link with Member States

individual must reside in a Member State

company or organization must be established / incorporated / have its principal place of business in a Member State

to be discussed to which extent liberalization / extensions are possible

WHOIS

Acceptable Use

Rights Protection Mechanisms


Set-up and operational phases

To be completed


Draft and submit application files to ICANN

See presentation by ITU

Involvement of selected partners required

Timeline set by ICANN:

Internal deadline:

end of

DECEMBER 2011


The Request for Proposal (RfP) Process

The RfP Process

The League of Arab States is finalizing a Request for Proposals (RfP) for interested parties for the operational and technical management, including the administration of a generic top-level domain name registry

The RfP Process

The RfP terms will contain an evaluation and selection process and criteria which:

are objective, transparent, and non-discriminatory

are published in the English and Arabic languages

will be submitted to potential candidates by members of the Steering Committee

Responses to the RfP are to be submitted:

at the latest on (to be completed) at 23:59:59 UCT

in hard- and electronic copy to a physical and e-mail address indicated in the RfP

The RfP Process

Each candidate to the RfP should at least indicate:

which tasks it will assume following appointment by the LAS:

technical

administrative

operational

management

marketing

financial

etc.

its experience in carrying out these tasks

its commitment to work with the LAS and other candidates appointed by the LAS

The RfP Process

The candidate party can be:

a single legal entity or a consortium of existing legal entities

who will tender for one or more tasks in the project

On the basis of the received responses, the Steering Committee can

invite one or more candidates for a discussion about the proposed approach and solution

recommend two or more candidates to form a consortium

recommend a proposed consortium to include one or more other parties who have a particular expertise in a certain field

The RfP Process

The Steering Committee will submit its recommendations to the candidates who submitted a proposal by (date to be completed)

Detailed proposals and formal commitments are to be expected by end of November, 2011

The RfP Process

The Steering Committee will

if required, invite one or more candidates for an interview

evaluate all proposals that have been received in time

the evaluation process and scoring mechanisms will be published in the RfP terms

it will motivate its recommendation on the basis of the scoring mechanism

timing: end of August 2011

The Steering Committee’s recommendations and proposed approach will be submitted to the LAS

The RfP Process

The League of Arab states will submit applications with ICANN for both the “.arab” and “عربي.” generic top-level domains

the selected candidate will, together with the Steering Committee and the ITU, prepare the applications for ICANN

the selected candidate(s) will be operating the top-level domains under a renewable contract of a to be determined period of time (min. 5 years)

the LAS will enter into a Letter of Intent or Agreement with the selected candidate(s)

commitments made by the LAS will be subject to ICANN’s approval of the proposed top-level domains

The RfP Process

Conclusion:

Commitment from the League of Arab States and the Ministers to support the Arab TLDs

Commitment from the ITU to draft the ICANN application and pay the ICANN application fee for both extensions

Assistance provided by Steering Committee in the preparatory, evaluation, delegation and management stages of the Arab TLDs

Current Working Blueprint

Eligibility Criteria:

Any candidate must meet the following requirements at the time when its Proposal is received by the League of Arab States:

the party submitting the Proposal is an individual, company or organization residing, established or incorporated in one of the Member States of the League of Arab States;

in case a Proposal is submitted by a consortium, at least the lead party of this consortium should meet the requirement laid down in the first indent above.


General Information The Candidate shall submit the following general

information in its proposal:

name of the individual, company or organization;

status of the company or organization (under establishment, established, incorporated, …);

its address and contact details (telephone, fax, email, …);

the name, address and contact details of the primary and secondary contact person;

in case the Candidate is a company or organization, a copy of the articles of incorporation, statutes and/or by-laws of such company or organization;


General Information The Candidate shall submit the following general

information in its proposal:

in case the Candidate is a consortium of individuals, companies and/or organizations, it will submit all the above details in respect of each party to the consortium, as well as a clear indication in the proposal which tasks will be performed by whom (including details and curricula vitae of the individuals performing such tasks).


Technical Requirements The Candidate will need to provide, as a minimum, a

detailed overview of the systems, software, hardware, facilities, and infrastructure it proposes for the following services:

operation and maintenance of the primary authoritative server for the .ARAB gTLD;

operation and/or administration of the network of secondary servers for the .ARAB gTLD;

how consistency between the various servers will be guaranteed;

creation and management of the .ARAB gTLD zone file(s);

maintenance of an accurate, up-to-date, thick registration database for all .ARAB gTLD registrations;


Technical Requirements operation of a proven domain name registry system with the

following functions, functionalities and features:

having several levels of privileges and authorizations that differentiate amongst different users of the domain name registration system (system administrator, domain name registrar, domain name registrant, general public);

availability of a detailed reporting system, enabling authorized users to view and review (a history of) transactions (creation, renewal, deletion, … of domain names), updates of WHOIS information, transfers and trades, financial reporting (account balances, revenues, etc.), etc. Furthermore, the system should enable the creation of ad hoc reports; where available, examples of reports should be provided in the proposal;


Technical Requirements With respect to the use of the Extensible Provisioning

Protocol (EPP):

The proposed domain name registration system must be compliant with ICANN’s requirements to support electronic domain name transactions by using the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP), and in particular with the most recent requirements laid down in the relevant RFCs published by the IETF in this respect. The candidate shall submit copies of the EPP schemes corresponding with the most common domain name transactions, including the mapping of domain names, hosts, and contacts;


Technical Requirements With respect to the use of the Extensible Provisioning

Protocol (EPP):

The proposed EPP system must be highly customizable in order to support policy requirements, including rights protection mechanisms currently contemplated by ICANN, as well as aspects which support the community character of the .ARAB gTLDs;

The candidate’s proposed EPP system and service must include a free EPP toolkit to be distributed to domain name registrars in order to quickly and effectively integrate the registrars’ and the registry’s systems. These toolkits must be actively maintained during the term of the contract with the League of Arab States.


Technical Requirements maintenance of an accurate and up-to-date database of .ARAB

gTLD accredited registrars;

the system proposed by the candidate should indicate the ways how it will manage accounts of registrars, including registration and renewal volumes per registrar, payment details, pre-payments and credit lines given to registrars, as well as reporting functionalities;

the candidate should also propose how the registration of domain names through ICANN accredited registrars should be promoted;

information should be provided on the conditions that are to be imposed – on a technical, operational and financial level – by domain name registrars;




establishment of a third-party data escrow for .ARAB gTLD zone file and domain name registration information in compliance with ICANN’s requirements;

information on how the candidate would propose the implementation of DNSSEC, as well as the technical and operational aspects (benefits, constraints, …) that are to be taken into account by the domain name registry and its accredited registrars in order to implement DNSSEC should the League of Arab States decide in favor of this technology;




compliance with relevant international standards (including IETF standards and future standards and procedures such as those being developed for internationalised domain names) and best practice procedures for the functions outlined above and in order to ensure the interoperability of the .ARAB gTLD with the rest of the domain name system. Provisions for taking account of migration to IPv6 as and when appropriate;

promotion of awareness and registration in the .ARAB gTLD by maintaining a website with up-to-date policy and registration information for the .ARAB gTLD, and through other promotion and awareness means;




the candidate should propose in detail how it will approach, implement and organize the registration of Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs), in particular in Arabic script; and

the operation and maintenance of associated public query services.


Operational Requirements Quality of Service

a description of its ability to organize, administer and manage the .ARAB gTLD in the general interest and on the basis of principles of quality, efficiency, reliability and accessibility including general capabilities, expertise, previous relevant experience and, if applicable, current business operations. If the organization is set up by a consortium of firms or groups of contractors, a description of the general capabilities, expertise, previous relevant experience and, if applicable, current business operations for each firm or group;

information on the management expertise of the proposed directors and managers, including personal experience and qualifications;


Operational Requirements Quality of Service

a description of the proposed registrar accreditation procedure and conditions, including technical considerations, and the Candidate's proposed method to ensure effective and fair conditions of competition among registrars; and

a description of the measures intended to be taken by the Candidate to ensure the promotion of the .ARAB gTLD, to generate consumer/user confidence, be conducive to innovation and adapt to the future requirements of potential registrants, and promote linguistic diversity.


Human and Technical Resources The Candidate should:

demonstrate an adequate level of human and technical resources to put in place and ensure the operation of a registration management system which provides a high level of reliability (including contingency provisions in the event of failure), accuracy and efficiency;

demonstrate the geographical diversity of the management structure and the staff;

provide a detailed description of the Candidate's technical capability to carry out the tasks outlined herein. This should include information on the number, experience and qualifications of key technical personnel and access to system maintenance and development tools and resources;


Human and Technical Resources The Candidate should:

describe the technical plan for the proposed registry operations. This should include a general description of the proposed facilities and systems, the registry-registrar model, database capabilities, procedures for zone-file management, billing and collection systems, third party data escrow, associated public query services, system security, capability for handling peak capacities, system reliability and system recovery procedures;

demonstrate that the .ARAB gTLD shall be managed in a way which is consistent with the minimum ICANN required functional and performance specifications outlined in the Applicant Guidebook.


Marketing and Outreach

In order for the .ARAB Project to be successful, the candidate will be required to develop and implement a detailed marketing, outreach and launch plan, a draft outline whereof will need to be provided in the candidate’s proposal. This draft outline should at least contain the following:

how the candidate will collaborate with ICANN accredited domain name registrars



Working with registrars

how the candidate would reach out to ICANN accredited registrars in order to accredit them in the .ARAB gTLDs;

how the candidate will deal with the fact that only few domain name registrars within the Arab region have effectively obtained an accreditation by ICANN;

how the candidate will approach non-ICANN accredited registrars in the Arab region in order to involve them into the successful development and deployment of the .ARAB gTLDs;

which marketing actions and activities it proposes to organize in order to target and engage the Arab geographical and language community within the Arab region and beyond



Working with registrars

for each of the activities and actions defined above, the candidate shall provide for detailed proposed budgets, expenses to be incurred, as well as timelines.


Financial Requirements

Financial Requirements

The Candidate should provide a description of the business plan for the proposed registry operation, including the services to be provided, the anticipated cost and capital requirements, availability of capital, the revenue model (including a pricing model), a market analysis/forecast, a marketing plan, a cost analysis, a resource requirement projection, an expansion plan for the five-year period of the contract, a risk analysis and a indication of registry failure provisions. The Candidate can submit any additional information felt to be appropriate, but is in particular invited to provide detailed information about the options provided by the Candidate to formulate the revenue/cost model.


Contractual Requirements The contract entered into between the League of Arab States

and the entity whose proposal has been accepted by the League of Arab States will be of a [five year] term, and can be renewed by the League of Arab States for the total term of League of Arab States’ contract with ICANN, if the latter should award the .ARAB gTLD to the League of Arab States.


Investment Opportunities and the Arab TLD Registry as a Business Opportunity

Investment Opportunities

LAS intends to engage with one or more expert providers and/or business partners that are able to and have experience in one or more of the following areas:

implementing, launching and managing a top-level domain, being it a country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) and/or a generic top-level domain (gTLD) (“domain name registry provider”);

operating as a domain name registrar for one or more ccTLDs or gTLDs;

provide technical functions or solutions for domain name registry providers and/or registrars;


LAS intends to engage with one or more expert providers and/or business partners that are able to and have experience in one or more of the following areas:

provide ISP or telecommunications functions, in the region or beyond, with a direct access to a large potential user base for the Arab TLDs;

being active / have a presence in the Arab region;

have experience in working with governments and/or international institutions, in the region or beyond;

any other areas that could be relevant in relation to any of the functions or activities referred to above.


Target Group:

individuals, companies and organizations with geographical link to LAS Member States

population of LAS Member States: more than 360 million

more than 347 million people speak Arabic

7th biggest language on the Internet

fastest growing language on the Internet over the past decade: 2,500% growth

about 65 million Arabic speakers use the Internet


Domain Name Industry:

more than 200 million domain names registered

more than half in gTLDs (about 120 million)

for TLDs focused on a particular country or region:

country codes: about 1 domain name per 10 – 20 residents

.EU: about 1 domain name per 100 residents

on average, the number of domain names registered in a TLD increases with 7% on an annual basis

Applicable fees for the registration / renewal: between USD 10 and USD 20 per domain name per year

on average, the domain name renewal rate (by the same domain name registrant) is 80%


Non-binding forecasts:


Estimated costs for setting up and managing the Arab TLDs:

Preparation of ICANN application:

covered by ITU, with assistance from Steering Committee, UN-ESCWA, and LAS

where appropriate, selected candidate(s) will be required to provide input

Set-up of Registry Operator

to be determined

Submission of ICANN application: USD 185,000 per application

covered entirely by ITU


Estimated costs for setting up and managing the Arab TLDs (cont’d):

Costs relating to Extended Evaluation, Contention, Objection, Negotiation, … (optional processes):

to be determined

Costs relating to the Registry Operator’s activities

ICANN annuities: min. 50k annually

between USD 500k – 800k annually, depending on technical set-up (insourcing or outsourcing) and number of domain name registrations


Objective: Arab TLD operation should be

deployed within the Arab region

self-funding for the Registry Operator

cost-neutral for LAS

Revenue model to be agreed upon between Registry Operator and LAS

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

involvement of LAS, UN, and ITU

regional alternative for ccTLDs in the region

Weaknesses:

low number of ICANN Accredited Registrars in the region, so the Registry Operator should propose workable options and alternatives

Opportunities:

unlikely that many TLDs in Arabic script will be proposed

Threats:

general TLD fatigue; “paradox of choice”

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