Interesting People mailing list archives

IP: More re dot-us registry


From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 14:02:53 -0400




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PUBLIC-INTEREST COALITION EMERGES TO SUPPORT .us DOMAIN
Group Proposes to Bring Accountability, Representation to  American 
Internet Space

July 27, 2001-On behalf of a broadly based coalition, the Center for 
Democracy and Technology (CDT) announced today the completion of 
agreements to form a policy organization for the United States Internet 
Top Level Domain Name Registry, known as the dot-us registry.

CDT Director Jerry Berman said, "I am delighted that public interest and 
business organizations, along with representatives of existing 
stakeholders in the dot-us registry from public sector groups such as 
schools, libraries, cities, counties and state governments have come 
together to establish the means by which the public may have an effective 
voice in the dot-us domain. The coalition members plan to work closely 
with the company which receives the registry contract from the Department 
of Commerce to serve the public interest in the United States national domain."

Today's announcement comes on the last day to submit bids to the U.S. 
Department of Commerce (DOC) to operate the dot-us registry. Members of 
the coalition have been working with potential bidders to form a policy 
organization that would respond to requirements of the DOC solicitation  - 
issued in June - for a new operator of the registry.

 It is anticipated that several of the most qualified bidders for the 
registry operating contract will include the coalition's proposals in 
their bids to the Department of Commerce. The coalition's work takes the 
form of two documents, a Memorandum of Understanding and a statement of 
Policy Principles and Structure. (Copies of the documents may be obtained 
from the press contact shown below.)

"Libraries have played a critical role in bringing Internet and electronic 
resources to the American public. In this capacity, libraries are 
important users of the dot-us domain. ALA's participation in this 
coalition will assure that libraries and the American public will have a 
continuing policy voice in the administration of this unique American 
resource," said Emily Sheketoff, Executive Director of the American 
Library Association's Washington Office.

Principles adopted by the coalition group include measures to represent 
the interests of all users of the dot-us registry, promote civil 
liberties, ensure sound management and operational stability of the 
registry, and achieve a balanced approach to protection of intellectual 
property.

"Dot-us must achieve its full potential to give companies and 
organizations of all sizes the ability to take advantage of this top-level 
domain space," said Joe Rubin, director of congressional and public 
affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "As the voice of American 
business, we are participating in the .us debate to ensure its expanded 
commercial use."

While awaiting the DOC selection of a new operator, the coalition members 
will continue work on details of the new policy organization so that it is 
ready to commence policy outreach and development simultaneously with the 
transfer of registry responsibility, which is planned by DOC to occur 
prior to expiration of the present operating agreement for the registry in 
early November.

Information about the solicitation, including a copy of its text, may be 
found at 
<http://www2.eps.gov/spg/DOC/NIST/AcAsD/SB1335-01-Q-0740/Attachments.html>

CONTACT:
Rob Courtney, CDT
202-637-9800
rob () cdt org
(additional contacts below)

COALITION PARTICIPANTS
American ISP Association
American Library Association
AT&T
Center for Democracy & Technology
Chamber of Commerce of the United States
Common Cause
Consumer Federation of America
Information Technology Association of America
The George Mason University Instructional Foundation
Media Access Project
National Association of Counties
National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors
National Education Association
National League of Cities
National School Boards Association
Progress and Freedom Foundation
United Church of Christ, Office of Communication

 PARTICIPANT CONTACT INFO:
American ISP Association
Contact: Sue Ashdown
sue () americanisps org
801-550-0411

American Library Association
Contacts: Rick Weingarten, Claudette Tennant
rweingarten () alawash org, cwt () alawash org
202-628-8410

AT&T
Contact: Marilyn Cade
mcade () att com
202-457-2106

Center for Democracy & Technology
Contacts: Jerry Berman, Rob Courtney
jberman () cdt org, rob () cdt org
202-637-9800

Chamber of Commerce of the United States
Contact: Joe Rubin
jrubin () uschamber com
202-463-5354

Common Cause
Contacts: Don Simon, Scott Johnson
dsimon () sonosky com, sjohnson () commoncause org
202-628-0242, 202-736-5753

Consumer Federation of America
Contact: Mark Cooper
markcooper () aol com
202-387-6121

Information Technology Association of America
Contact: Kimberley Claman
kclaman () itaa org
703-522-5055

The George Mason University Instructional Foundation
Contact: Dr. Michael R. Kelley
mkelley () gmu edu
703-993-3100

Media Access Project
Contacts: Andy Schwartzman, Harold Feld
andys () mediaaccess org, hfeld () mediaaccess org
202-232-4300

National Association of Counties
Contact: Jeffrey Arnold
jarnold () naco org
202-942-4286

National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors
Contact: Libby Beaty
lbeaty () natoa org
703-506-3295

National Education Association
Contact: Kim Anderson
kianderson () nea org
202-822-7341

National League of Cities
Contact: Juan Otero
otero () nlc org
202-626-3022

National School Boards Association
Contact: Dan Fuller
dfuller () nsba org
703-838-6763

Progress and Freedom Foundation
Contact: Jeff Eisenach
jeisenach () pff org
202-289-8928

United Church of Christ
Office of Communication
Contact:  Bob Chase
216-736-2222
Chaser () ucc org



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