ITU Press Release: Council Endorses ITU Role in Internet Top LevelDomain Names

[Robert Shaw <robert.shaw@itu.int>]

Hi,

Below is an ITU press release announcing the ITU's Admininstrative
Council's Endorsement of the ITU's Role in Internet Top Level Domain
Names. The reference on the ITU web site is 
http://www.itu.int/PPI/press/releases/1997/itu-11.html

Robert

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                                                                ITU/97-11
                                                             27 June 1997
                                                        Original: English

     Council Endorses ITU Role in Internet Top Level Domain Names

Geneva – The annual meeting of ITU Council yesterday endorsed the approach 
taken by the International Telecommunication Union to act as the depository 
for a new Memorandum of Understanding on Internet generic Top Level Domain 
names.

The gTLD Memorandum of Understanding is the result of a meeting hosted by 
the ITU in Geneva last April. This meeting was convened to present to the 
Internet community the results of a study undertaken by the International 
Ad-Hoc Committee on changes to the registration system of Internet Top Level 
Domain names, which is the system by which Internet addresses are allocated. 
At that meeting, ITU Secretary-General Dr Pekka Tarjanne took the initiative 
of accepting to act as the Depository of the MoU.

The new role for the ITU was welcomed by Council members when it was presented 
to the meeting at a special late-night session on Thursday 26 June. It was 
acknowledged that wider consultation was required among ITU membership but
that, when time was of essence, opportunities of such crucial importance should 
not be missed.

The delegates from France and Switzerland underlined the special role the ITU 
had to play in the future development of the Internet, being the international 
telecommunication organization par excellence. The ITU was praised for the 
initiative taken on account that having failed to do so would have meant a lost 
opportunity for the Union to be involved in a very important issue.

The French representative urged all ITU Members to interest themselves in this 
work, which would benefit from the widest possible international consultation to 
achieve global Internet self-governance. He also added that his administration
was concerned to ensure that the Internet did not become over-regulated, while 
at the same time safeguarding principles of fair and broad competition in the 
operation of the network.

The German delegation, while regretting the short notice given for the April 
meeting, said his delegation was very positive about the ITU's role, but felt 
that a better representation of interests from European entities was necessary. 
He stressed that the ITU representation in the Policy Oversight Committee should 
safeguard the interests of the Members of ITU (187 Member States and 432 Sectors 
members representing public and private companies and organizations with an interest 
in telecommunications).

Adding its voice to the discussion, the delegate of Pakistan said he believed the 
Internet would be of great importance in the future, and that is was vital that 
the ITU play a leadership role in this area. He said the enormous impact the Internet
has already had on text transmission would very soon also be seen in the areas of 
voice telephony and broadcasting. "At present, in developing countries there is a 
lack of information which would enable us to prepare ourselves for the technical, 
social, legal and cultural implications of this new technology," said Mr Javed, 
Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. "There is a need for collective 
action to find common ground so that instead of fearing this new technology we can 
instead make good use of it."

A proposal from the US delegation to entrust the Chairman of Council, Mr Mauricio 
Bossa of Argentina, with the task of carrying out an inquiry into the substance of 
the MoU and on the ITU's role, was unanimously approved. Mr Richard Beaird, Senior 
Deputy Coordinator with the US State Department, said April's meeting of the Internet 
Ad-Hoc Committee "went to the heart of the future expansion of Internet services, 
including its commercialization." He proposed that all ITU Members be surveyed with 
a view to making comments on the role envisioned for the ITU in the implementation of 
the MoU and on its substance. A period of 60 days would be allowed for response, 
after which the ITU would circulate the results to its membership and all concerned. 
Mr Beaird stated that although the US Government was considering several options on 
the question of Internet gTLDs and had not endorsed any plan, the momentum of the 
April meeting should not be lost.

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