The nut takes a deal of cracking...

Leni.

Subject: NEW DEADLINE FOR TESTBED REGISTRAR ACCREDITATION: APRIL 8,
1999
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 16:32:29 -0800 (PST)
From: Josh Elliott <elliott&#167;ISI.EDU>
To: icann-announce&#167;icann.org
CC: icann&#167;icann.org

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today
announced that it will extend the deadline for submission of
applications to participate in the SRS testbed program from March 29
to
April 8, 1999.

(For details on Registrar Accreditation and the SRS testbed program
for
the .COM, .NET, and .ORG generic top level domains, please see the
ICANN website at http://www.icann.org.)

Q: So what exactly is the new testbed registrar application deadline?

A: In order to be considered as one of the five testbed registrars,
applications for accreditation must be received by ICANN by 4pm U.S.
West Coast time (GMT 08:00) on Thursday, April 8, 1999.

Q: What does this mean if I've already submitted an accreditation
appliction?

A: Applicants who have already submitted accreditation applications
may
(but need not!) supplement or replace their application and supporting

materials, so long as new submissions are received by ICANN by 4pm on
Thursday, April 8,1999.

Q: Why is ICANN extending the deadline?

A:ICANN has received a number of messages from prospective testbed
accreditation applicants expressing concerns about the uncertainty
that
exists with respect to the technical and financial terms of their
anticipated future business relationship with Network Solutions, Inc.
(NSI), the current registry operator for the .com, .net, and .org
generic top level domains. The areas of uncertainty include the
following: (1) the technical requirements to interact with the SRS
registry/registrar interface; (2) the licensing fee that accredited
registrars will pay to NSI, for access to the SRS; (3) the
per-domain-name registry fee that NSI will be permitted to charge for
each domain name registration submitted by an accredited registrar;
(4)
the terms of the licensing contract that registrars will sign with NSI

in its capacity as the .com, .net, and .org registry; (5) the rules
that will allow competing registrars equal access to expiration and
renewal information for existing registrations in the .com, .net, and
.org registry. Without a better sense of that information, prospective

testbed applicants have stated, they have been unable to complete
satisfactory business plans and business risk analyses.

ICANN has been assured that NSI and the U.S. Department of Commerce
are
working expeditiously to resolve outstanding issues under Amendment
11,
including items (1) - (5), above. Indeed, ICANN today received and
posted a FAQ from NSI generally describing the technical requirements
for registrars to interact with its SRS registry/registrar interface.

In order to give prospective registrar applicants a better opportunity

to obtain needed information about the technical and financial terms
of
their anticipated future business relationships with NSI (the current
registry operator), while at the same time completing testbed
registrar
accreditation in time to launch the testbed program as soon as
possible
pursuant to Amendment 11 and Amendment 12 to the Cooperative Agreement

between NSI and the U.S. Government, ICANN has elected to extend the
deadline for the submission of testbed registrar applications.

Q: When will ICANN announce its decision on the five participants in
the testbed program?

A: Assuming that the necessary information is available to prospective

applicants soon, so that this new schedule can be maintained, ICANN
will announce the five accredited testbed registrars on April 21,
1999.

Q: Is this extended deadline a sign that the introduction of
competition to the market for registration services in the generic top

level domains is going to be delayed significantly?

A: No. ICANN intends to complete its accreditation responsibilities in

time to launch the testbed program as soon as possible pursuant to
Amendment 11 and Amendment 12 to the Cooperative Agreement between NSI

and the U.S. Government.