Announcement of Registry Services Technical Evaluation Panel [...]

ICANN is pleased to announce additional information regarding the processfor considering proposed registry services including the development of anonline tool for submissions, and the introduction of the members of theRegistry Services Technical Evaluation Panel.

In particular, ICANN is pleased to announce the launch of the RegistryRequest Service (RRS). As described in the 25 July 2006 Advisory and Implementation Notes, theRegistry Services Evaluation Process includes an online tool for gTLDregistries and sponsors to submit their requests for new registry servicesto ICANN. The RRS is a secure web-based application for gTLD registries andsponsors and is available at <https://rrs.icann.org/>. This site also contains publicly available information describing the process. An RSS beta version was tested from 31 July to 21 August; the live version of the RRS was launched on 22 August 2006. A non-interactive version of the RRS is available at<https://www.icann.org/registries/rsep/rrs_sample.html>.

As announced on 25 July 2006, the RegistryServices Technical Evaluation Panel will assist with the evaluation ofcertain requests for new registry services. Under the Registry Services Evaluation Policy, in the event that ICANN reasonably determines during the 15 calendar daypreliminary determination period that a proposed registry service mightraise significant security and stability issues, ICANN will refer theproposal to the Registry Services Technical Evaluation Panel. The Panelshall have 45 calendar days following referral to prepare a written reportregarding the effect of the proposed service on security and stability. Thereport will be posted for public comment on the ICANN website and providedto the ICANN Board, which will then reach a decision on the request. TheRegistry Services Evaluation Policy was effective on 15 August 2006.

For each matter referred to the RSTEP, the Chair shall select a Review Teamof no more than five members from the RSTEP to evaluate the referred matter,none of which shall have an existing competitive, financial, or legalconflict of interest. Selections will be made with due regard to theparticular technical issues raised by the referral. Note that some RSTEPexperts are from gTLD registry or registrar organizations. The Panel Membersfrom the gTLD registries that might be impacted by a specific decision of aReview Team will not participate as Review Team members, but they may becalled upon by the Review Team to provide expertise or information relatingto evaluations.

The members of the Panel are:

Len Bayles (ICM Registry; USA)

Rob Blokzijl (RIPE; Netherlands)

Jordyn Buchanan (Google; USA)

Lyman Chapin (Chair; Interisle Consulting Group; USA)

Mouhamet Diop (NEXT SA; Senegal)

Patrik Fältström (Cisco; USA)

Jayantha Fernando (LK Domain Name Registry; Sri Lanka)

Tony Harris (CABASE; Argentina)

Paul Hoffman (VPN Consortium; USA)

Hiro Hotta (JPRS; Japan)

Johan Ihrén (Autonomica; Sweden)

Rodney Joffe (UltraDNS/NeuStar; USA)

Mark Kosters (Verisign; USA)

Glenn Kowack (Consultant; USA)

Lars-Johan Liman (Autonomica; Sweden)

Kurtis Lindqvist (Internet Technology Advisors; Sweden)

Cricket Liu (Infoblox; USA)

Mark McFadden (University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee; USA)

Paul Mockapetris (Nominum; USA)

Russ Mundy (SPARTA; USA)

Frederico Neves (NIC .br; Brazil)

Cassidy Sehgal-Kolbet (Axiom Legal/Colgate-Palmolive; USA)

Mike St. Johns (Nominum; USA)

Andrew Sullivan (Afilias; Canada)