We read carefully Scott Hollenbeck’s call to form a Domain Name Industry association to promote consistency in technical operations across the many moving parts of the industry and we, the Board and members of the Domain Name Association, largely agree.

More formal coordination among registry operators and domain name registrars would improve the domain name registration experience for registrants and business operations for the domain name industry in general. This is because:

1. registry-registrar operational issues are being solved on a one-off basis as each new registry operator paired off with its set of registrars, and
2. resolving these issues in an industry-wide collaborative manner is preferable in order to create operational consistency and save time.

With those issues in mind, the Domain Name Association Board met this past June to set the DNA’s strategic objectives for the this fiscal year. Among them was the creation of a DNA-driven, community-wide technical operations working group to address operational issues between registries and registrars.

Given its multi-functional and global diversity, the DNA will be an effective place to coordinate discussion of these issues and to involve broader domain name industry involvement.

Recognizing that industry-wide issues are… well ... industry wide, the DNA Board determined that this work must include those inside and outside the DNA, welcoming all domain name industry members. Scott and others from Verisign and other firms are invited regardless of whether they join the DNA.

There has been a brief period where we have initially populated the working group with members of the Domain Name Association; we are now repeating this invitation to industry members outside the DNA. Emails are prepared to go out.

General operation framework:

We welcome discussion on this draft “charter.” The working group will be staffed by DNA and non-DNA members. Members will raise issues for discussion and form industry-wide teams to address single issues (or a set of related issues).

It is important to form teams in a timely way because as soon as issues are identified, registry-registrar pairs develop one-off solutions. Once they have made an investment in a solution, it is difficult to undo with an industry-wide solution.

Distinctions such as dues paying mechanisms membership restrictions would slow participation and discussion. Therefore, there will be no fee for participation. Participation in these discussions will be open to all domain name registrars, gTLD and ccTLD registry operators, and parties providing software or back-end services.

The use of single issue, focused teams is a good feature because attendance and influence will rotate around the industry and those most interested in a particular issue would get to participate. The formation, and subsequent disbandment of single-issue teams will avoid the trappings of administration, allow industry members to participate when it is important to them, and avoid capture by one or of a small group of entities.

Initial issues for consideration:

Issues for discussion might include (based on initial member input) —

• A forum to discuss making it easy for registrars to do business with registries by, for example, harmonizing services such as premium names, TMCH registrations, other new rights protection mechanisms or launch phases. Some of these might be handled in an intra-DNA discussion but should also be discussed on an industry-wide basis.
• Variations in EPP implementations: understand which parts of EPP might be standardized: error messages, business logic, launch phases, premium name processes, handling of data fields required.
• The potential effects of the recommendations of the Whois Expert Working Group.
• Integrations of Asian registrars into the Domain Name Industry environment.

We hope to see many of you there. As Scott said, we are “convinced that this is an idea worth exploring.”

Kurt Pritz, Executive Director and
The DNA Board of Directors