[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 21 (Thursday, January 31, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6811-6813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02058]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Docket No. 130124072-3072-01]
RIN 0660-XC005


Country Code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) for the United States; 
Policies and Requirements; Comments Request

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Inquiry.

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SUMMARY: The United States Department of Commerce's (Department) 
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) 
administers the contract for the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) 
for the United States, ``.us'' (usTLD). The current contract expires on 
August 31, 2013. Given the expiration date of this contract, NTIA is 
seeking input from interested parties on the policies and requirements 
that should govern the usTLD. NTIA will utilize the comments received 
in response to this Notice in the procurement process leading to the 
award of a new usTLD contract.

DATES: Comments due on or before March 4, 2013

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by mail to Fiona M. 
Alexander, Associate Administrator, Office of International Affairs, 
National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW., Room 4701, Washington, DC 20230. Comments may 
be submitted electronically to [email protected]. All email 
messages and comments received are a part of the public record and will 
generally be posted without change to the NTIA Web site at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/federal-register-notice/2013/comments-ustld-policies-and-requirements-noi. All comments received will be posted without 
change or redaction, so commenters should not include information they 
do not wish to be posted (e.g., personal or confidential business 
information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about this Notice 
contact: Elizabeth B. Bacon, National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW., Room 4701, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 
(202) 482-2097; email: [email protected]. Please direct media 
inquiries to the Office of Public Affairs, NTIA, at (202) 482-7002.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NTIA is committed to maintaining a stable, 
secure Internet that is open for economic growth and innovation. One of 
the many ways that NTIA supports this commitment is through its role in 
administering the contract for the operation of the usTLD. The usTLD 
has historically served as a home for American business, individuals, 
and localities for the benefit of the nation's Internet community. The 
current

[[Page 6812]]

contract expires on August 31, 2013.\1\ Given the expiration date of 
this contract, NTIA is seeking input from interested parties on the 
policies and requirements that should govern the usTLD. Comments 
received in response to this Notice will inform the procurement process 
leading to the award of a new usTLD contract.
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    \1\ The current contract (2007) is available at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/page/2011/us-domain-space.
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    NTIA's goal is that the usTLD be attractive to both business and 
individual users, be open to and encourage innovation, growth and use 
of the space, and reflect the multistakeholder model of Internet 
governance. This notice of inquiry (NOI) seeks to meet that goal by 
requesting public comment on current policies and how they could be 
updated to better serve the community's needs. This NOI also seeks 
views as to how the usTLD can be managed consistent with the 
multistakeholder model; for example, by developing a mechanism for 
public input and community engagement in policy development for the 
usTLD space.

Background

    Country code TLDs (ccTLDs) are two-letter suffixes based on the 
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 3166, and that 
represent a particular country or autonomous territory, such as .jp for 
Japan, or .uk for the United Kingdom. The ccTLD is usually delegated to 
a trustee or designated manager that is responsible for its 
administration, operations, and stability.\2\ The structure, policies, 
and registration requirements for each ccTLD are developed at the 
discretion of its country or territory, carried out by the designated 
manager, and may vary widely to meet the needs of its user community. 
Currently, there are 254 active ccTLDs, with some operating as open 
TLDs, others limited to government use, some requiring a local 
presence, and others operating as global commercial TLDs.\3\
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    \2\ The ISO 3166 list is available at http://www.iso.org/iso/iso-3166-1_decoding_table.
    \3\ DomainWire Statistical Report, Autumn 2012, CENTR; http://www.centr.org/DomainWire_Stat_Report_2012_1.
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    The ccTLD for the United States is reflected as ``.us'' and 
referred to in this NOI as the usTLD. Currently, the usTLD is comprised 
of approximately 1,786,738 domains. The current structure also includes 
the operations of an estimated 3,666 ``delegated managers'' in the 
usTLD within the locality name space.\4\
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    \4\ ``Delegated Managers'' are managers of delegated subdomains 
in the TLD space such as state.maryland.us or ci.baltimore.md.us. 
The delegated manager facilitates and manages domain name 
registrations using this locality name such as 
tourism.ci.baltimore.md.us to be operated by local registrants. The 
usTLD contractor is required to have an agreement in place with each 
delegated manager. In most cases, the usTLD contractor does not have 
direct contractual agreements with locality registrants within 
delegated subdomains, however, the ``delegated managers'' are 
required to enforce usTLD policies with their registrants. For 
current ``delegated manager'' policies, see http://www.neustar.us/delegated-managers/. For a definition and description of ``locality 
name,'' see RFC1480, ``The US Domain,'' available at http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1480.
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    The usTLD has historically served as a home for American 
businesses, individuals, and localities and is managed by NTIA through 
a contract with Neustar, Inc.\5\ Recognizing the value of the continued 
operation of the usTLD, NTIA initiated a procurement process for the 
usTLD contract, selecting Neustar, Inc. in 2001, for a term of six 
years. NTIA again initiated a procurement process for the usTLD 
contract in 2007 and again selected Neustar, Inc. The current contract 
expires on August 31, 2013. Given the expiration date of the current 
contract, NTIA is taking this opportunity to solicit comment on ways to 
enhance the current policies and requirements to encourage continued 
innovation, growth, and increased use of the usTLD space.
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    \5\ The usTLD was originally administered, prior to 2001, 
through a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Government and 
Network Solutions, Inc. Network Solutions subcontracted 
administration of the usTLD to the Information Sciences Institute of 
the University of Southern California. Dr. Jon Postel established 
the original structure and administrative mechanisms of the usTLD in 
RFC 1480.
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    In 2007, NTIA issued a Statement of Work (SOW) that outlined 
several key requirements that govern the usTLD space.\6\ For example, 
to operate in the usTLD space, domain owners must fulfill a U.S. Nexus 
requirement by providing proof of a bona fide presence or residence 
within the United States.\7\ Each registrar in the usTLD space must 
provide publicly accessible, accurate, and up-to-date WHOIS information 
for each .us registrant. Also, the Dot Kids Implementation and 
Efficiency Act of 2002 (Dot Kids Act), Pub. L. No. 107-317, requires 
the creation and maintenance of a second level domain within the usTLD 
(kids.us) as a safe place on the Internet for children.\8\ NTIA 
welcomes comments on whether these requirements are still relevant, and 
if so, how they might be updated.
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    \6\ The Statement of Work for the 2007 contract is available at 
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/ustld2007_contract.pdf, Section C, pages 4-27.
    \7\ The full text of the current U.S. Nexus policy can be found 
at http://www.neustar.us/policies/.
    \8\ On July 27, 2012, NTIA determined that the kids.us domain 
was not serving its intended purpose and suspended the operation of 
the kids.us domain as authorized by the Dot Kids Act. Per statutory 
requirement any request for proposal issued for the usTLD will 
contain a requirement to operate the kids.us space.
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    In addition, security and stability of the Internet remains a 
cornerstone of all United States Government (USG) Internet policy 
concerns. These concerns are reflected in the current contract and SOW 
through high-level security requirements, including a new requirement 
for Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) deployment within 
the usTLD.
    Community feedback and input into the development of policies and 
processes is an important component to the management and operation of 
the usTLD and reflects the USG policy supporting the multistakholder 
model of Internet governance. Input regarding the value of and interest 
in developing a mechanism that would allow for community input and 
consultation into policy development processes within the usTLD is 
encouraged. Policies of the usTLD should, to the extent practicable, be 
informed by best practices as developed by the global multistakeholder 
Internet community.\9\
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    \9\ For example, the Country Code Names Supporting Organization 
(ccNSO), which is a part of the Internet Corporation for Assigned 
Names and Numbers (ICANN), is a forum in which best practices are 
discussed and developed. For more information regarding the work of 
the ccNSO, please see: http://ccnso.icann.org/.
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Request for Comment

    The current usTLD contract will expire on August 31, 2013. Given 
this expiration date, NTIA is seeking public comments regarding how the 
current policies and requirements impact the ability to create a policy 
environment that allows for continuing innovation, growth, and use of 
the usTLD space.
    Comments that contain references, studies, research, or other 
empirical evidence or data that are not widely published should include 
copies of the referenced materials with the submitted comments. While 
commenters are welcome to submit comments regarding the questions below 
and other issues relating to the effective operation and innovation of 
the usTLD, this NOI is not seeking comments directly regarding the 
current contractor's performance. Specifically, NTIA is seeking input 
on the following questions:
    1. In general, what are your views on the current policies and 
requirements

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that govern the usTLD space? Are they still relevant? Are there ways to 
update the policies and practices currently utilized in the management 
of the usTLD that would add value to the space? Please be specific in 
your response.
    2. Are there policies and practices developed or employed by other 
ccTLDs, ccTLD organizations, and the stakeholder community that could 
be incorporated into the usTLD space to spur innovation, growth, and 
use of the usTLD or improve the domain name registrant experience? 
Please be specific in your response.
    3. How best could the management of the usTLD be structured to 
reflect the multistakeholder model of policy development, particularly 
in developing mechanisms that could engage the usTLD community? Please 
be specific in your response.
    4. An important aspect of the multistakeholder model of policy 
development is a focus on transparency. Is there additional information 
related to the administration and performance of the usTLD contract 
that should be collected or shared publicly in the interest of 
transparency? Please provide specific information as to why or why not. 
If yes, please provide specific suggestions in particular on what that 
information should be and how that information can be made available.5. 
Please provide your views of the usTLD Nexus policy. Does it enhance, 
impede, or have no impact on the innovation and growth of the usTLD 
space? Please be specific in your response.
    6. What updates could be made to the current usTLD WHOIS policy and 
practices that could benefit the usTLD registrants, law enforcement, 
and the broader user community?
    7. How can the kids.us space be improved? Please be specific in 
your response.
    8. What updates could be made to usTLD security policies and 
practices to better align with TLD best practices and ensure continued 
security and stability of the usTLD?

    Dated: January 25, 2013.
Lawrence E. Strickling,
Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information.
[FR Doc. 2013-02058 Filed 1-30-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-60-P