Several recent postings have suggested that the ICANN sTLD
process is not appropriate for the creation of a “.tel” sponsored TLD.
In response, outlined below are several points of clarification for
consideration and discussion.
Complement to IAB/ITU “e164.arpa” implementation
of ENUM: The IAB/ITU implementation of a public User-ENUM
solution under the domain “e164.arpa” will provide a potentially
valuable infrastructure for use by end-user telephone number subscribers on a
country-by-country basis. However, the “e164.arpa”
implementation of ENUM has not been defined to meet the specific addressing
needs of service providers. The requirement for multiple ENUM
implementations (e.g. user-ENUM, operator-ENUM, private-ENUM, etc.) is widely
understood and accepted by the majority of industry bodies that focus on this
subject. The single IAB/ITU implementation of User-ENUM under
“e164.arpa” is not meeting the diverse needs of the entire global
communications industry.
National laws need to be respected:
Everyone agrees with this statement. The Pulver/NetNumber application
proposes a sponsored TLD for use by IP communications service providers
(IPCSPs). IPCSPs all over the world provide communications services to
end-users under appropriate national laws today. The proposed
“.tel” sTLD simply provides an infrastructure for supporting IPCSPs
in the delivery of perfectly legal and appropriate communications services to
end-users. Applicants agree that IPCSPs should be required to conform to
the laws of the countries in which they deliver services as a prerequisite for
participating in the proposed “.tel” sTLD.
ICANN oversight is appropriate for “.tel”:
Applicants have made a request for a sponsored TLD that will be utilized for
the delivery of ENUM addressing services to IPCSPs with policies set by a Board
of Directors established under ICANN oversight. Given the requirement for
multiple ENUM implementations, the ICANN sTLD creation and oversight process
represents a perfectly valid and appropriate mechanism for establishing a
sponsored TLD for use exclusively by the IPCSP community.
Douglas Ranalli
Founder, Chief Strategy Officer
NetNumber, Inc.