European Commission , DG XIII

Internet Governance

- European Community Panel of Participants (EC-POP) -

Report of Consultative meeting Brussels, 5 July 1999

The European Panel of Participants held a well attended meeting in Brussels, hosted by the European Commission, on the 5 July 1999.

The participants represented a wide range of interests and views, including industry, ISP, Registrars, Intellectual Property Owners, Business communities and non-commercial interests. Some governments sent representatives to attend the meeting. Three members of the interim ICANN Board also participated.

There was an extensive review of the ICANN meeting held in Singapore and Berlin, as well as discussion of the pending issues in preparation for Santiago.

The participants renewed their support for the private sector initiative in the co-ordination of the centralised functions of the internet

In the light of the open and transparent processes, it is now considered essential that ICANN concentrates in building a community that is cohesive and stable. Many participants welcomed the introduction of new faces to this meeting and there was a general hope to further out-reach the communities and interests not yet represented. This was considered beneficial for the various supporting organisation and more generally ICANN at-large Membership.

The participants discussed the WIPO report, in response ICANN observed there were a number of issues above and beyond what had been considered by the WIPO report that has been referred to the DNSO.

The European Commission Department for Competition Policy (DG IV) reported that it has launched an enquiry into NSI, and has issued a number of requests for information and has also written to the Department of Commerce of the USA.

Delegates were pleased to learn that the DNSO (Domain Names Supporting Organisation) has made significant progress in it formulation and some members of the Provisional Name Council presented progress reports on the current status. The meeting was informed that a number of organisations have reached consensus on a PSO (Protocol Supporting Organisation) proposal for submission to ICANN in advance of the Santiago meeting.
Participants noted that ASO (Address Supporting Organisation) proposal is still under discussion and the ICANN Board members strongly encourage the submission of one common proposal.

Participants were given a progress report on the introduction of competition in the gTLD space. The Test-bed registrars in attendance indicated that whilst most of the technical elements of their registration systems were in place there still remains some outstanding legal and policy issues before they could accept applications. The ICANN Board Members present were urged to consider having an "Escrow House" based in Europe as a supplementary service to that proposed California.

Funding issues were discussed and ICANN Board projects a budget of $6m for the financial year 1999/2000. A number of participants expressed concern at the ICANN proposal for a fee per name, in favour of a self-select banded minimum contribution to ICANN, raised from a broad range of interests.
There was strong support to ensure ICANN is funded in an efficient and stable manner and the Board members expressed a willingness to revisit the funding proposals.

An invitation was extended to all participants to use the Mailing list of the European Panel of Participants ec-pop@anwalt.de to continue and further the exchange of ideas and debate.

The meeting was closed at 17:15.

List of participants :

EC-POP Consultative meeting - 5 July 1999 - List of Participants

The agenda for the meeting can be found here.