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Network Working Group S. Bradner Request for Comments: 2691 Harvard University Category: Informational September 1999

             A Memorandum of Understanding for an ICANN
                   Protocol Support Organization

Status of this Memo

 This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
 not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
 memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

 This is the text of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was
 signed by ICANN, the IETF, the ITU-T, W3C and ETSI on July 14, 1999
 in Oslo. This MoU creates the Protocol Support Organization (PSO)
 within the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
 (ICANN).  This MoU was developed by representatives of the IETF, ITU,
 W3C, ETSI, and ICANN with the help of Jorge Contreras of Hale and
 Dorr.
                      MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
                             July 14, 1999
                ICANN Protocol Supporting Organization
 (1) Purpose and Scope
     (a) The Protocol Support Organization (PSO) will be a consensus-
         based  advisory body within the ICANN framework.
     (b) The PSO will establish a "Protocol Council" and host an
         annual open  meeting (the "General Assembly").
     (c) The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is to
         establish a set of principles that ICANN and the Standards
         Development Organizations who have signed below (the Signing
         SDOs) will  use in forming and operating the PSO

Bradner Informational [Page 1] RFC 2691 MoU for an ICANN PSO September 1999

 (2) Composition and Action of Protocol Council
     (a) Size.  Each Signing SDO will appoint two (2) members to the
         Protocol Council, each such member to serve for a time period
         determined by such Signing SDO.
     (b) Each Signing SDO shall be responsible for choosing its
         members of the Protocol Council in a manner of its own
         choosing, and in accordance with its own open procedures.
         Each Signing SDO may remove or replace one or both of its
         members on the Protocol Council in its discretion.  Each
         Signing SDO must notify the Protocol Council Secretary and
         ICANN when it changes its members and, in addition, must
         ratify its choices at least annually.
     (c) Selection and Appointment.  Concurrently with the posting of
         notice of the date of the annual meeting of the PSO General
         Assembly on the PSO Web Site, ICANN and the Protocol Council
         shall make an open call for nominations to any potential
         vacancies on the Protocol Council.  Any nominations received
         will be forwarded to the Signing SDOs eligible to appoint
         members (i.e., they do not already have two members on the
         Protocol Council) for their consideration.
     (d) Action by Protocol Council.  Unless otherwise specified in
         this MOU, all actions of the Protocol Council shall be taken
         by majority vote of the total number of members.  Action may
         be taken at any meeting of the Protocol Council, which may be
         by telephone conference in which all participants can hear
         the others.  Meetings of the Protocol Council may be called
         by request of any three members of the Protocol Council, with
         at least 45 days for physical meetings or fifteen (15) days
         for telephonic or other electronic meetings prior written
         notice to each of the other members.  In order to conduct
         business at any meeting of the Protocol Council, at least a
         quorum of members must be present; a quorum shall be present
         when at least majority of the members of the Protocol Council
         are present, and when such members represent at least 3/4ths
         of the Signing SDOs.
     (e) Web Site.  The Protocol Council will arrange for the
         establishment and maintenance of a Web site devoted to PSO
         activities and news.
     (f) Secretary.  The Protocol Council will have a Secretary to
         coordinate administrative matters relating to the PSO and
         Protocol Council.  The Secretary's term of office shall be
         one year.  The position of Secretary will rotate among the

Bradner Informational [Page 2] RFC 2691 MoU for an ICANN PSO September 1999

         Signing SDOs, with the initial Secretary to be selected by
         the IETF, and subsequent Secretaries to be appointed by a
         randomly selected Signing SDO that has not appointed  the
         Secretary in the current rotation.
     (g) No Compensation.  Neither the Secretary, nor any Protocol
         Council member or designated ICANN Board member shall be
         entitled to any compensation or reimbursement of expenses
         from the PSO.  The PSO shall not be required to obtain
         insurance coverage for, or to indemnify, the members of the
         Protocol Council or persons acting in any other capacity by
         or for the PSO.
 (3) ICANN Directors
     (a) The Protocol Council will appoint Directors to the ICANN
         Board of  Directors in accordance with the By-laws of ICANN,
         for such terms as  are specified by such By-laws.  ICANN will
         notify the Protocol Council of any vacancies on the ICANN
         Board which may be filled by the Protocol Council.
     (b) The Protocol Council will conduct an open call for
         nominations for any open PSO seats on the ICANN Board.  Each
         Signing SDO is entitled to nominate candidates by procedures
         of its own choosing. Additionally, nominations from the
         public at large will be allowed under conditions to be
         defined by the Protocol Council.  The Protocol Council will
         select the PSO nominees to the ICANN Board from among these
         nominees.  ICANN Directors selected by the Protocol Council
         may, but need not, be members of the Protocol Council or any
         SDO.
     (c) No more than 2 PSO-nominated Directors may be residents of
         the same Geographic Region (as defined in the ICANN By-laws).
     (d) The ICANN Directors appointed by the Protocol Council will
         not represent the PSO on the ICANN Board, but will function
         as full Directors of ICANN.
 (4) Duties of Protocol Council
     (a) Advisory Role.  The Protocol Council will advise the ICANN
         Board on matters referred to the Protocol Council by the
         ICANN Board relating to the assignment of parameters for
         Internet protocols.

Bradner Informational [Page 3] RFC 2691 MoU for an ICANN PSO September 1999

     (b) Policy Development
         (i)   In the tradition of the Internet, standards development
               policies and conflict resolution mechanisms should be
               created and utilized by those institutions most
               directly involved, without undue interference from
               centralized bodies.
         (ii)  The ICANN By-laws vest in the PSO the primary
               responsibility for developing and recommending
               substantive policies in the area of protocol parameter
               assignment.
         (iii) The PSO is committed to the proposition that policies
               for parameter assignments for particular protocols are
               the responsibility of the individual Signing SDO that
               developed the protocol.
         (iv)  The Protocol Council, and, when requested, ICANN, will
               be available as needed by the Signing SDOs to develop
               policies and procedures for conflict resolution between
               Signing SDOs.
         (v)   Any such policies and procedures will be adopted only
               with the agreement of all SDOs.
 (5) Annual Open Meeting
     (a) The Protocol Council will periodically convene an open
         meeting  ("General Assembly") for promoting discussion and
         receiving input  regarding the work of the PSO.
     (b) A General Assembly  will be held at least once per year, and
         will permit open participation by all interested individuals.
     (c) Each annual General Assembly will be hosted by a Signing SDO
         in  conjunction with one of its major meetings, as determined
         by the  Protocol Council (with an effort to hold no 2
         consecutive General  Assemblies in the same Geographic
         Region.)
     (d) It is expected that the major organizations within the
         Internet  protocol standards development community will
         provide the  constituency of the General Assembly.
 (6) Open Proceedings and Documents
     (a) Communications between ICANN and the Protocol Council.  All
         official communications between ICANN and the Protocol
         Council will be made public on the PSO web site.  In the
         event that ICANN requests that a communication be kept

Bradner Informational [Page 4] RFC 2691 MoU for an ICANN PSO September 1999

         confidential, the Protocol Council will honor this request
         for a fixed period of time not to exceed one year, and then
         make the communication public.
     (b) Protocol Council Proceedings.  All meetings of the Protocol
         Council and official discussions of Protocol Council business
         will be conducted or reported on a publicly-archived mailing
         list accessible through the PSO web site.
     (c) Meeting Announcements.  The schedule and agenda for the PSO
         General Assembly will be posted on the PSO Web Site at least
         90 days in advance of the meeting date.  Notice of Protocol
         Council meetings will be posted on the PSO Web at least 45
         days before each physical meeting or fifteen (15) days before
         any telephonic or other electronic meeting, or such shorter
         time period agreed upon by each of the Signing SDOs.  The
         minutes from all PSO meetings will be publicly posted on the
         PSO web site within 30 days of the meeting.
 (7) Review and Modification of MOU.  ICANN and the Signing SDOs will
     periodically review the results and consequences of their
     cooperation under this MOU.  When appropriate, the signatories
     will consider the need for improvements in the MOU and make
     suitable proposals for modifying and updating the arrangements
     and scope of the MOU.  Any modification to the MOU must be
     approved by all signatories.
 (8) Standards Development Organizations
     (a) The initial signatories to this MOU shall include ICANN and
         the Signing SDOs who have signed below.  Each Signing SDO
         must be an international, Internet-related standards
         development organization that establishes that it meets the
         criteria for SDOs set forth below.
         (i)  SDOs must be open, international, voluntary technical
               standard and technical specification development
               organizations which:
               (A) Develop standards and/or specifications for use
                   over the public Internet.
               (B) Can demonstrate active membership in the IP-related
                   standards and/or specification development process
                   of more than 800 individuals, if individual
                   memberships are used by the organization, or 80
                   companies, if corporate memberships are used by the
                   organization.

Bradner Informational [Page 5] RFC 2691 MoU for an ICANN PSO September 1999

               (C) Has been in operation for 3 or more years at the
                   time of their application.
               (D) Can demonstrate that there is significant
                   deployment of its standards on the Internet.
               (E) The significant protocols controlled by the
                   organization can be implemented without paying a
                   licensing fee to the organization.
         (ii)  Open, international, voluntary standards organizations
               are defined as international organizations that plan,
               develop or establish voluntary standards.  An
               organization shall be considered open and international
               if its standards and/or specifications development
               process is open to any person or organization of any
               nationality on equitable terms.  An organization shall
               be considered voluntary if it makes no claim to compel
               use of its standards and specifications.  Additionally,
               to be considered 'international', an organization's
               voting (or other "full") membership must include
               individuals or companies primarily located in at least
               three different Geographic Regions and at least two
               different countries within each of those Geographic
               Regions.
     (b) New Signatories
         (i)   Any organization that believes it satisfies the SDO
               qualifications set forth above may apply in writing to
               the  Protocol Council to become a party to this MOU.
               In order for an organization to become a party to this
               MOU, all then-existing MOU signatories must agree that
               such organization qualifies as  an SDO.
         (ii)  Rejected applicants can appeal to the ICANN Board,
               which may override such a rejection if the ICANN Board
               finds, by at least a two-thirds vote, that the
               organization meets the SDO criteria set forth above.
         (iii) Any organization that is accepted as an SDO under this
               MOU  must execute a copy of this MOU, and agree to be
               bound by all of its terms and conditions, upon which it
               shall be considered  a Signing SDO for all purposes
               under this MOU.

Bradner Informational [Page 6] RFC 2691 MoU for an ICANN PSO September 1999

     (9) General.  This MOU does not constitute any of the parties as
         a partner, joint venture, agent, principal or franchisee of
         any other party. The waiver of any provision of this MOU on
         any occasion shall not constitute a waiver for purposes of
         any other occasion.  No party may transfer or assign any
         interest, right or obligation arising under this MOU without
         the prior written consent of each other party to this MOU.
     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Memorandum of Understanding is executed
     this 14 day of July 1999 by the undersigned, acting through their
     duly authorized representatives:
     INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS
       By: (signature)
       Name: Michael W. Roberts
       Title: Interim President / CEO
     INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE
       By: (signature)
       Name: Fredrick J.  Baker
       Title: Chair, IETF
     INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNATIONS UNION
       By: (signature)
       Name: Houlin Zhao, on behalf of Secretary-General of ITU
       Title: Director, TSB
     WORLD WIDE WEB CONSORTIUM
       By: (signature)
       Name: Henrik Frystyk Nielsen
       Title: HTTP Activity Lead
     EUROPEAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS INSITITUTE
       By: (signature)
       Name: Bridget Cosgrave
       Title: Deputy Director General

Bradner Informational [Page 7] RFC 2691 MoU for an ICANN PSO September 1999

Security Considerations

 This type of non-protocol document does not directly effect the
 security of the Internet.

Editor's Address

 Scott Bradner
 Harvard University
 1350 Mass Ave, rm 876
 Cambridge, MA
 02138
 USA
 Phone: +1 617 495 3864
 EMail: sob@harvard.edu

Bradner Informational [Page 8] RFC 2691 MoU for an ICANN PSO September 1999

Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.
 This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
 others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
 or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
 and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
 kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
 included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
 document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
 the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
 Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
 developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
 copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
 followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
 English.
 The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
 revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
 This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
 TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
 BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
 HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
 MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

Bradner Informational [Page 9]

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