Dear all,
Given that the root zone maintainer function is one of the crucial parts 
of this moving ship along with the root zone administrator and the root 
zone operator, it is shocking that NTIA has decided to go ahead 
unilaterally on this issue by consulting the two parties who would argue 
for status quo on this issue.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Regards,
Pranesh

Rafik Dammak <[log in to unmask]> [2015-08-18 12:06:42 +0900]:
> Hi everyone,
>
> please find below the blog post from NITA with update about the process.
> quite interesting points: the extension of the contract till September 2016
> and also the proposal submitted by verisign and ICANN.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Rafik Dammak
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>
> Hi all,
>
> This is relevant to the IANA Stewardship Transition, and the
> CWG-Stewardship work by extension. Here is the original link:
> http://www.ntia.doc.gov/blog/2015/update-iana-transition. The text of the
> blog is copied below for your convenience.
>
> An Update on the IANA Transition
> August 17, 2015 by Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information
> and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling
> [image: Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA
> Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling]
>
> The Internet’s global multistakeholder community has made tremendous
> progress in its work to develop a proposal to transition the historic
> stewardship role NTIA has played related to Internet’s domain name system
> (DNS).
>
> When we announced
> <http://www.ntia.doc.gov/press-release/2014/ntia-announces-intent-transition-key-internet-domain-name-functions>
> our
> intent in March 2014 to complete the privatization of the DNS, we noted
> that the base period of our contract with ICANN to perform technical
> functions related to the DNS, known as the IANA functions, expired on
> September 30, 2015. However, it has become increasingly apparent over the
> last few months that the community needs time to complete its work, have
> the plan reviewed by the U.S. Government and then implement it if it is
> approved.
>
> Accordingly, in May we asked the groups developing the transition documents
> how long it would take to finish and implement their proposals.  After
> factoring in time for public comment, U.S. Government evaluation and
> implementation of the proposals, the community estimated it could take
> until at least September 2016 to complete this process. In response to
> their feedback, we informed Congress on Friday that we plan to extend our
> IANA contract with ICANN for one year to September 30, 2016. Beyond 2016,
> we have options to extend the contract for up to three additional years if
> needed.
>
> This one-year extension will provide the community with the time it needs
> to finish its work. The groups are already far along in planning the IANA
> transition and are currently taking comments on their IANA transition
> proposals. As we indicated in a recent Federal Register notice
> <http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/fr_iana_transition_comment_notice_08102015.pdf>,
> we encourage all interested stakeholders to engage and weigh in on the
> proposals.
>
> In preparation for the implementation phase of the IANA stewardship
> transition, NTIA also asked Verisign and ICANN to submit a proposal
> detailing how best to remove NTIA’s administrative role associated with
> root zone management, which the groups working on the transition were not
> asked to address. We asked Verisign and ICANN to submit a proposal
> detailing how best to do this in a manner that maintains the security,
> stability and resiliency of the DNS. Under the current root zone management
> system, Verisign edits and distributes the root zone file after it has
> received authorization to do so from NTIA. Verisign and ICANN have
> developed a proposal
> <http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/root_zone_administrator_proposal-relatedtoiana_functionsste-final.pdf>
> that
> outlines a technical plan and testing regime for phasing out the largely
> clerical role NTIA currently plays in this process. The testing will occur
> in a parallel environment that will not disrupt the current operation of
> the root zone management system.
>
> These developments will help ensure that the IANA transition will be done
> in a manner that preserves the security and stability of the DNS.
>

-- 
Pranesh Prakash
Policy Director, Centre for Internet and Society
http://cis-india.org | tel:+91 80 40926283
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https://twitter.com/pranesh_prakash