( BW)(CORE)
 

    WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 1998--The Internet Council of Registrars
(CORE) said the Green Paper released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce provides a
step in the right direction to ending the U.S. stewardship over the domain name system and opening
the Internet to self-governance and international competition.

    However, some of the proposed steps appear to add new levels of U.S. government regulation
for an undetermined amount of time. This could perpetuate the existing monopoly and slow the
transition to competition and self-governance, based on an initial evaluation by a panel of CORE
executives and Internet experts from around the world.

    "A quick reading of this draft indicates there are several areas the U.S., CORE and the
international Internet community agree on," said Alan Hanson, chairman of the executive committee
of CORE. "The first and most important is empowering the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
(IANA) to continue to serve as overall manager of the Root zone. IANA has been making policy
decisions for years and can continue to do so while the new IANA corporation is established.

    "Many CORE members throughout the world are concerned the proposed policy overlooks the
international nature of the Internet. The Green Paper appears to carve out a U.S.-centric process
designed to better serve the vested interests of Network Solutions rather than the broader interests
of the world Internet community."

    CORE members were encouraged that the Green Paper had included many concepts from its
generic Top Level Domain Memo of Understanding (gTLD-MoU). "There are many technical
details that have been covered in the Green Paper but none of the ethical ones," Hanson said. "As
we go forward, CORE will continue to promote international cooperation on this issue and ongoing
stewardship of the public trust. Self-governance and self-determination are key issues to be
pursued to better serve the world Internet community."

    CORE international members found additional concerns about the potential for U.S.
micro-management of the process, without international input.

    "A key question needs to be answered: how to shorten the long and possibly bumpy road on the
U.S. exit strategy?" Hanson said.

    Many of the issues raised in the Green Paper have been addressed and resolved through the
CORE process over the past 15 months. The U.S. government paper outlines the reasons for "The
Need for Change." CORE supports six of the seven points and provides answers to most,
including: adding competition to domain name registration, establishing a mechanism for resolving
conflict between trademark holders and domain name holders, recognizing the growing percentage
of users outside the U.S. and giving them a larger voice in the process, developing a system that is
accountable to the Internet community, and supporting the evolution of the Internet as a commercial
medium.

    "The draft discusses the Administration's proposed transition from government oversight to
private enterprise and largely outlines a process already completed by the International Ad Hoc
Committee (IAHC), the Policy Oversight Board (POC), and CORE to develop competition,"
according to David Maher, chairman of POC. "The paper envisions a board of directors for the
new corporation that is very much like the POC and CORE boards - drawn from stakeholders
around the world. It describes a model for open and fair corporate processes that replicates the
exact steps taken by IAHC to develop the gTLD Memo of Understanding (gTLD-MoU), which
established rules and procedures for the evolution of POC and CORE to administer domain name
registrations."

    Other areas in the Green Paper that have been addressed through the long POC and CORE
process include: promoting competition among registrars; establishing a fast and efficient system
through an independent world organization for resolving trademark disputes; and establishing
standards for all participants.

    "The Green Paper calls for the creation of up to five new registries, each of which would be
given one new gTLD," said Hanson. "CORE has been working more than 15 months through a
global process to create a Shared Registry System to manage seven gTLDs. Jon Postel, head of
IANA, and other technical experts have assured us, that adding new -- up to a hundred TLDs is
trivial. The system is sound. There should be no concerns about stability and no need to drag out
the transition process.

    "As of today, we believe CORE is the only organization that can accomplish most of the
organizational functions outlined in the Green Paper, while meeting the technical and management
qualifications outlined in Appendix 1 for Recommended Registry and Registrar Requirements."

    When additional acceptance testing of the CORE SRS is completed in two weeks, CORE will
be prepared to go live immediately with a proven, tested worldwide system for registering names.
CORE and its expert advisors and suppliers also designed the system for instant, ongoing analysis
of all aspects of the operation. This can satisfy the Administration's interest in evaluating the effects
on the addition of new gTLDs.

    "CORE is ready now to demonstrate the ease of adding up to seven new TLDs to the Root --
with no impact on stability and a quantum leap in competition and customer service," said Hanson,
CORE chairman. "In a very short amount of time, this will give the Administration the data
necessary to speed the transition process to a non-profit corporation far ahead of the 2000
timetable.

    "We will formally respond to the Green Paper and ask the Administration to move forward
quickly with the CORE model and system. The goal: to provide rapid proof that the addition of
more new competitive registries and registrars can be accomplished quickly and safely, thereby
achieving the President's direction to privatize, increase competition and promote international
participation in the domain name system as rapidly as possible."

    In addition to supporting several key U.S. Government concepts based on its initial reading of
the Green Paper, CORE reiterated its key positions on the steps it feels are essential toward
deregulation:

    - Continuing recognition of IANA's full authority for domain name system decisions.

    - Support for transferring IANA to status as a new non-profit U.S. corporation over the next
three to six months at the latest.

    - Support for IANA maintaining physical control and authority over the root zone contents.

    - Giving IANA the immediate authority to manage the short-term details of the transition during
the U.S. Government's exit strategy.

    - Opening domain name registration to new generic Top Level Domains immediately, with IANA
determining the schedule based on technical criteria and the qualifications of proposed registries or
registrars, similar to the criteria established for CORE registrars.

    - Encouraging the expansion of multiple shared registrars to ensure the continued growth and
vitality of the Internet as a global resource.

    - Embracing the process established through the Arbitration and Mediation Center at the World
Intellectual Property Organization to provide trademark and domain name owners with a means of
resolving disputes quickly and inexpensively.

    - Understanding that litigation is inevitable in today's society, whatever the final plan; it is essential
that the transition move forward rapidly and in good faith to the ultimate benefit of the most users.

    - Using the process outlined in the gTLD-MoU to encourage ongoing broader international
participation in the self-governance and expansion of the Internet

    "The Internet needs to move quickly to international self-governance because demand for new
domain names from outside the U.S. is growing exponentially," said Hanson. "It would be a
disservice to the world Internet community to create artificial limitations on competition and growth
in the short-term under the proposed plan to regulate the transition to deregulation. President
Clinton, in his state of the union message, even talked about the Internet getting clogged."

    CORE will begin preparing its detailed response to the Green Paper immediately, based on input
from throughout the world.

    "In terms of registering names, until there are final decisions by the U.S. Government, CORE will
continue with its preparations to begin serving Internet users throughout the world while doing
whatever is necessary to speed up the transition process to self-governance and competition," said
Hanson. "The Green Paper has established a good starting point and we look forward to working
with the White House to move quickly to the new era of self-governance."

ABOUT CORE

    The long process toward self-governance began in late 1995 when NSI was allowed to begin
charging for registering domains, a service that had previously been free. The Internet community
was upset, but there was no recourse because NSI was a monopoly. A plan proposed by Jon
Postel, head of the IANA, sought to break the monopoly and add up to 150 Top Level Domains
to the Internet. He presented his concepts to the Internet Society (ISOC) and their joint efforts led
to the formation of the International Ad Hoc Committee, which launched a rigorous public process
in fall 1996 to solve the logjam and lead the Internet toward self-governance.

    CORE and the Policy Oversight Committee (POC) evolved from this process and have
developed protocols, procedures, systems and software to administer competitive domain
registration. CORE has been privately financed and developed with global consensus. It is nearing
completion of a turnkey share registry system with working infrastructure, well-defined operating
standards and a dedicated membership.

    As a result of this rigorous process and quality of input from many sources and interests, the
CORE model has drawn widespread support from the Internet community, major corporations and
organizations worldwide.

    Key signatories to the Memo of Understanding for the POC and CORE include Digital
Equipment Corporation (DEC), MCI, Bell Canada, the Internet Policy Oversight Committee
(POC), the Internet Society (ISOC), the Internet Assigned Names Authority (IANA), the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the European Telecommunications Standard Institute,
France Telecom, the International Trademark Association and the Internet Society of Australia.

    CORE currently lists 88 registrars in 23 countries, including 25 U.S. registrars with a presence in
103 American cities. It plans to begin accepting applications from potential new registrars
immediately under a process outlined in the generic Top Level Domain-Memorandum of
Understanding (gTLD-MOU). Applicants must meet the same financial and technical requirements
as the current registrars. Applications will be audited by an independent third party to be chosen in
the near future.

    For further information, see the CORE Web site at www.gtld-mou.org .

   --30--NG/sd   KRH/sd

   CONTACT:  The Gable Group
             Tom Gable (tomg@gablegroup.com)
             Dianne Gleason (dianne@gablegroup.com)
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                or
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             Judy Whittlesey (judithhw@aol.com)
             Clarkson Hine (cchine@aol.com)
             Catharine Dickey
             Sheila O'Neil
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   KEYWORD:  DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CALIFORNIA
   INDUSTRY KEYWORD:  INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET GOVERNMENT