by Kieren McCarthy on June 19, 2009
One of the most consistent complaints I receive as general manager of public participation is that it is hard to follow what ICANN is doing, particularly with respect to navigating the main website and finding material.
So, we have embarked on a usability survey in which you, the community, will be asked about your use of the ICANN.org site as well as what you would like to see and what you like and dislike about the site. We have hired some experts in this field - Revere Group - to undertake the work and have an open ear and an open heart to ways in which we can improve the ICANN website.
So if you have ever had difficulty navigating ICANN’s site, now is your chance to help make it all work better. There is a simple online survey to gather information. Provide us with your email and say yes to being provided with updates and we will keep you up-to-date with progress as it happens.
You can find the survey here: http://icannsurvey.wufoo.com/forms/icannorg-site-survey/ or you should be able to view it and fill it in below.
[read the rest…]
by Kieren McCarthy on June 19, 2009
Following a very successful experiment at the last meeting in Mexico City with remote participation, we have expanded its use to the main room for the Sydney meeting.
We are using Adobe’s Connect software which will allow people to see everything going on in a particular session in one screen: live video, live audio, a live transcript, presentation slides updated as they are in the room and a chatroom.
This should provide everyone with the best remote participation so far - and we can archive the entire session to be viewed later. See http://mex.icann.org/ccnso-sessions for examples of the ccNSO sessions from Mexico City.
In order to get some idea of who is using this new service, you will need to fill in a quick two-minute registration form and then you are free to login and view all the main sessions.
If you choose on the registration form that you are interested in learning more about ICANN’s remote participation efforts, we will get back to you, ask for feedback and supply updates on future events and plans. Thank you and all the best with ICANN 35.
[read the rest…]
by Kim Davies on June 18, 2009
In managing the root zone, recently we clarified some of the technical conformance criteria for the name servers top-level domain operators use. Before we put the adjusted criteria in place, we did some research to find out real world compliance against some of the metrics.
One of the more interesting insights involved looking at network diversity. We want top-level domains to keep functioning no matter what is happening — any conceivable disaster shouldn’t knock a top-level domain off-line. One thing we ask is that top-level domains’ name servers be hosted in at least two distinct networks, so it is guarded against a failure (be it a technical failure, or some other business failure event).
Here is a map of all the country-code top-level domains, and one possibly measure of diversity — the number of “autonomous systems” their name servers are hosted in. Countries marked red are reliant on a single network, and if that network failed it could be disastrous for its users without alternatives. Those orange through green have increasing amounts of diversity in the networks that host their name servers:
If we take a minimum of two networks as our baseline requirement, we can look at how TLDs have met this criteria over a period of time — say the last five years:
The blue line shows IPv4 connectivity and it is pretty good, and rather consistent. But if we judge IPv6 connectivity against the same diversity requirement, shown as the green line, not even 50% of ccTLDs have this level of diversity. If we look at TLDs with any IPv6 it is a little better, but there is still about a third of all ccTLDs with no IPv6 connectivity at all!
The good news is the IPv6 trend lines are heading in the right direction, with the growth of IPv6 deployment even accelerating a little recently. Lets hope this continues so that these critical resources are stable not just for existing Internet users, but for future Internet users as well.
by Pablo Hinojosa on June 17, 2009
En los últimos meses han sido publicados en el sitio web de ICANN una cantidad considerable de documentos. Muchos de ellos están abiertos a comentarios públicos y también serán objeto de discusión durante la próxima reunión de ICANN, comenzando los próximos días en Sydney, Australia.
Documentos impresos: últimas cuatro semanas.
Información y propuestas que avanzan en el proceso de implementación del programa de nuevos gTLDs. Mejoras organizacionales a estructuras tales como la ccNSO, GNSO, ALAC y la Junta Directiva de ICANN. Sugerencias para mejorar la confianza institucional. El presupuesto de ICANN para el próximo año fiscal. Documentos relevantes del SSAC para preservar la seguridad y estabilidad de la red. Avances en la discusión para introducir códigos de país en formato IDN. Todos estos temas, y más, esperan tener avances y resoluciones en la reunión de Sydney.
Es importante destacar que muchos de estos documentos están disponibles también en español, así como en otros idiomas, en un intento de abrir oportunidades para una participación más activa de la comunidad hispanoparlante.
Por cierto, si pensabas que la foto anterior reflejaba la cantidad de documentos disponibles –tan sólo en las últimas semanas–, habrá que multiplicar dicha cantidad ¡por 4! (cuatro páginas por hoja).
¡Son cuatro páginas en cada hoja!
¡Te esperamos en Sydney!
PD: Síguenos en el canal @ICANN_es de twitter en español.
by Kieren McCarthy on June 16, 2009
The Public Participation Board Committee (PPC) is holding a public meeting on Wednesday in Sydney at 9am. In order to get the most out of that session, a backgrounder documents covering the topics that the Committee has been working on has been published.
Those topics are:
Status reports
- Document deadlines
- Language
- Calendar of meetings
For discussion
- Public comment process
- Public Forum
- Electronic tools for participation
You can download the backgrounder document here, or read the whole thing below. Everyone is encouraged to read it and come along to the meeting to discussion how ICANN can improve its public participation.
[read the rest…]
by Kieren McCarthy on June 15, 2009
La séance ACSO prévue le lundi 22 juin 2009 à Sydney se concentrera sur le thème suivant :
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Améliorations institutionnelles
Les rôles et les responsabilités des comités consultatifs (AC), des organisations de soutien (SO), du personnel chargé des politiques et du Conseil d’administration dans le cadre des processus de l’ICANN : la situation actuelle et les évolutions possibles
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Ce thème sera examiné dans le contexte actuel de l’ICANN en tant qu’organisation et notamment : les pratiques actuelles et leur contribution à la transparence et à la responsabilisation ; les revues indépendantes continues des AC et SO et les réorganisations à venir ; la consultation sur l’amélioration de la confiance institutionnelle (IIC) qui a suivi la revue semestrielle de l’accord de projet conjoint (JPA) entre l’ICANN et le gouvernement des Etats-Unis ; et la revue actuelle du JPA qui est en cours.
[read the rest…]
by Kieren McCarthy on June 15, 2009
La sesión de Comités Asesores y Organizaciones Auxiliares (ACSO) que se celebrará el lunes 22 de junio de 2009 en Sídney, se enfocará sobre el siguiente tema:
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Mejoras Institucionales
Los roles y responsabilidades de los Comités Asesores (ACs), Organizaciones Auxiliares (SOs), Personal de Políticas y Junta Directiva, en los procesos de la Corporación para la Asignación de Números y Nombres en Internet (ICANN): situación actual y evoluciones posibles.
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Este tema será explorado dentro del contexto actual donde la Corporación para la Asignación de Números y Nombres en Internet (ICANN) es una organización, en particular: las prácticas actuales y su contribución a la transparencia y rendición de cuentas; continuas revisiones independientes de los Comités Asesores (ACs) y Organizaciones Auxiliares (SOs) y posterior reorganización; consulta sobre la Mejora de la Confianza Institucional (IIC) que siguió a la revisión intermedia del Acuerdo de Proyecto Conjunto (JPA) de la Corporación para la Asignación de Números y Nombres en Internet (ICANN) con el gobierno de los EE.UU.; y la revisión actual del Acuerdo de Proyecto Conjunto (JPA) que se está llevando a cabo.
[read the rest…]
by Francesco Cetraro on June 11, 2009
In just a few days, hundreds of people from all over the world will reach Sydney to participate in the upcoming 35th ICANN Meeting.
Many interesting discussions and important decisions will involve people with many different backgrounds, areas of expertise, opinions and expectations. Probably one of the few things they will all have in common is a mobile phone in their pocket.
Building on the very positive experience from Mexico City, ICANN and dotMobi have once again joined forces to bring the meeting closer to all its attendees.
The icann.mobi site aims to provide all of you with immediate, up-to-date information on the events and topics of the ICANN meeting.
[read the rest…]
by Kieren McCarthy on June 10, 2009
Each meeting, we provide a guide that provides basic information for all attendees.
The guide features information about the venue, the main topics of the conference, information about how to participate, the lowdown on social events, pictures of the Board and chairs, emergency details, and lots more.
The meeting guide is printed and included into attendees bags at registration. Click on the image to the left to download the guide as a pdf, or visit http://syd.icann.org/meeting-guide.
by Brad White on June 9, 2009
As part of my job at ICANN… I have to read a lot of news clips. This morning, one headline in particular caught my eye: “Domain changes coming”. It was from Reuters and started: “Two thirds of businesses are unaware they will be able to use their own name in place of domain extensions such as .com, .org, or .net when Internet domains are liberalized next year, according to a survey.”
Well, they are probably aware now.
For many of us at ICANN it can come as a shock - where the new gTLD process has been a part of everyday life for more than two years - to suddenly be reminded that despite all the discussions, the meetings, the public comment periods, the sessions across the world, and the seemingly endless documents, the whole process of opening up the domain name space has until recently gone largely unnoticed by the wider world.
From my perspective, a number of reporters “buried the lead” when they reported on this new study commissioned by British registrar Gandi. What they buried or didn’t report at all is that of 100 UK businesses surveyed, 81 percent say the gTLD expansion will be innovative, and 75 percent say it will be advantageous.
[read the rest…]
