Network Working Group S. Bradner
Request for Comments: 2690 Harvard University
Category: Informational September 1999
 A Proposal for an MOU-Based ICANN Protocol Support Organization
Status of this Memo
 This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
 not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
 memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved.
1. Abstract
 This is a copy of the proposal for an MOU-based Protocol Supporting
 Organization that was submitted to ICANN on April 23, 1999.
2. Cover Letter
 This is a copy of the cover letter that was used to submit the draft
 to ICANN.
 Dear Esther,
 Enclosed please find a description of a proposed Protocol
 Support Organization (PSO) for ICANN's consideration. This
 description is purposefully informal as it is meant to be a basis for
 discussion and not a final formal legal document.
 This proposal was developed primarily by using the open
 Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) poisson working group mailing
 list to discuss successive versions of the proposal. In addition the
 proposal has benefited from extensive discussion within the IETF's
 Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) and Internet Architecture
 Board (IAB). The proposal also benefited from extended discussions
 with representatives of the International Telecommunication Union
 (ITU) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
 I look forward to ICANN's evaluation of this proposal and am
 also looking forward to the MOU development meeting noted in section
 1.c of the proposal.
 Thanks
 Scott
3. Proposal for a MOU-based PSO
 ICANN Protocol Supporting Organization
 1. Definition of the PSO.
 a. Purpose.
 The Protocol Support Organization (PSO) will be a consensus-
 based advisory body within the ICANN framework.
 b. Components.
 The PSO will establish a "Protocol Council" and host an annual
 open meeting (known as the "General Assembly" (described
 below)).
 c. Creation through a Memorandum of Understanding.
 Arrangements regarding the PSO are to be reflected in a
 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among ICANN and a group of
 open international Internet related standards development
 organizations (SDOs). SDOs must satisfy a set of objective
 criteria before they can be considered for membership. (see
 Appendix A) After ICANN has accepted a proposal for an ICANN
 PSO, including the SDO criteria, a meeting, open to all SDOs
 that believe they meet the criteria, will be held to develop
 the MOU.
 All existing MOU signatories must agree to the admission of new
 signatories. Rejected applicants can appeal to the ICANN Board
 where a 2/3rds majority can override such a rejection if the
 board finds the SDO meets the criteria.
 2. The Protocol Council
 a. Members
 The Protocol Council will have up to [12] individual members
 selected by the SDO signatories of the MOU. (see below)
 b. Term
 The term of Protocol Council members will be 2 years. Removal
 will be pursuant to procedures established through the MOU.
 (Initial terms will be 1 and 2 years to provide initial
 conditions for staggered terms.)
 c. Powers/Duties of the Protocol Council
 i Appointment of ICANN Directors
 The Protocol Council will nominate 3 Directors to the ICANN
 Board (By-laws, Art. V, Sec. 4(iii)). The initial directors
 would have terms of 1, 2 and 3 years (By-laws, Art. V, Sec.
 9(d)
 The Protocol Council will conduct an open call for
 nominations for any open PSO seats on the ICANN board. Each
 SDO signatory to the MOU is entitled to nominate candidates
 by procedures of its own choosing. Additionally,
 nominations from the public at large should be allowed
 under conditions to be defined by the Protocol Council.
 The Protocol Council will select the PSO nominees to the
 ICANN board from among these nominees by a means of its own
 choosing.
 ii Qualifications of ICANN Directors
 No more than 2 PSO-nominated Directors may come from the
 same geographic region.
 iii Role of ICANN Directors
 The Directors appointed by the Protocol Council will not
 represent the PSO on the Board, but will function as full
 Directors of ICANN. (By-laws, Art. V, Sec. 8)
 iv Advisory Role
 The Protocol Council will advise the Board of ICANN on
 matters referred to the Protocol Council by the ICANN
 Board. As per the ICANN By-laws, only matters relating to
 the assignment of parameters for Internet protocols would
 be so referred.
 d. Policy Development
 In the tradition of the Internet, standards development
 policies and conflict resolution mechanisms should be created
 by those institutions most directly involved, without undue
 interference from centralized bodies.
 The ICANN By-laws vest in the PSO the primary responsibility
 for developing and recommending substantive policies in the
 area of protocol parameter assignment. The PSO is committed to
 the proposition that policies for parameter assignments for
 particular protocols are the responsibility of the individual
 SDO that developed the protocol. The Protocol Council will be
 available as needed by the SDOs to develop policies and
 procedures for conflict resolution between SDOs. (By-laws, New
 Art. VI, Sec. 2(b)). Any policies must be adopted by consensus
 of all SDOs. The ICANN Board of Directors will take no
 addition action regarding disputes between SDOs related to
 protocol assignment or registration.
 3. Annual Open Meeting (General Assembly)
 a. Hosting an open meeting
 The Protocol Council will periodically host an open meeting
 ("General Assembly") for promoting discussion and receiving
 input regarding the work of the PSO. A General Assembly meeting
 will be held at least once per year, and will permit open
 participation by all interested individuals.
 The annual open meeting will be held in conjunction with a
 major meeting of one of the SDOs that have signed the MOU.
 (with an effort to hold no 2 consecutive meetings in the same
 geographic region.
 It is expected that the major SDOs within the Internet protocol
 standards development community will provide the constituency
 of the General Assembly.
 b. Selection of Protocol Council Members
 Prior to the annual open meeting, the Protocol Council shall
 make an open call for nominations to the upcoming vacancies in
 the Protocol Council. Each SDO signatory to the PSO MOU will be
 entitled to make nominations for some or all of the vacant
 seats by a procedure of its own choosing. In the event that
 there are more nominees than vacancies, an election will be
 held in which each SDO signatory to the PSO MOU has equal votes.
 Protocol Council Members should fairly represent, to the extent
 reasonable, all constituencies within the member SDOs,
 including the major technical areas and geographical regions.
 4. Open Proceedings and Documents
 a. Communications between ICANN and the PSO
 All communications between ICANN and the PSO will be made
 public on the PSO web site. In the event that ICANN requests
 that a communication be kept confidential, the PSO will honor
 this request for a fixed period of time not to exceed one year,
 and then make the communication public.
 b. PSO Proceedings
 All discussions of PSO business will be conducted on a
 publicly-archived mailing list accessible through the PSO web
 site. The schedule for the PSO meetings will be posted 90 days
 in advance of the meeting date. The agenda for the Protocol
 Council and annual open meetings will be posted on the PSO web
 site at least 30 days before the meetings. The minutes from
 all PSO meetings will be publicly posted on the PSO web site
 within 30 days of the meeting.
 5. Review of MOU
 The MOU signatories will periodically review the results and
 consequences of their cooperation under the MOU. When appropriate,
 the signatories will consider the need for improvements in the MOU
 and make suitable proposals for modifying and updating the
 arrangements and scope of the MOU.
 6. Recognition
 ICANN will officially recognize the PSO described in this memo as
 the PSO under the ICANN By-laws Art. 6, Sec. 3.
Appendix A - requirements for consideration as a PSO-qualified SDO
 SDOs must be open, international, voluntary technical standard and
 technical specification development organizations which:
 1) Develop standards and/or specifications for use over the public
 Internet.
 2) Can demonstrate active membership in the IP-related standards
 and/or specification development process of more than 1000
 individuals, if individual memberships are used by the
 organization, or 100 companies, if corporate memberships are
 used by the organization.
 3) Has been in operation for 3 or more years at the time of their
 application.
 4) Can demonstrate that there is significant deployment of its
 standards on the Internet.
 5) The significant protocols controlled by the organization can be
 implemented without paying a licensing fee to the organization
 Open international voluntary standards bodies are defined as
 international organizations that plan, develop or establish
 voluntary standards.
 An organization shall be considered open and international if its
 standards and/or specifications development process is open to any
 person or organization of any nationality on equitable terms. It
 shall be considered voluntary if it makes no claim to compel use
 of its standards and specifications.
 In either case, to be considered as 'international', the voting
 (or other "full") membership must include individuals or companies
 primarily located in at least three different regions and at least
 two different countries within each of those regions.
4. Security Considerations
 This type of non-protocol document does not directly effect the
 security of the Internet.
5. Editor's Address
 Scott Bradner
 Harvard University
 1350 Mass Ave, rm 876
 Cambridge, MA
 02138
 USA
 Phone: +1 617 495 3864
 EMail: sob@harvard.edu
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