1. ccTLD Management and Local Internet
Community (LIC)
Presented by Eric Akumiah
….Let your business standout with a .gh Domain
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Agenda
Introduction
DNS Introduction
History of ccTLD
ccTLD Basics
Role of ccTLD Manager
ccTLD and Community
ccTLD and National Law
Conclusion
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Definitions
ccTLD - A country code top level domain in the top level of the global domain name system, assigned according to the two-letter codes in the ISO 3166-1
standard codes for the representation of names of countries or territories.
ccTLD Registry - The entity which records names as domain names in a register of domain names for the country-code top level domain name, according
to policies and rules, and following procedures, established with the Local Internet Community (see below).
ccTLD Manager - A company, organisation or individual managing a ccTLD Registry.
DNS The Domain Name System (see RFCs 1031 and 1035)
Registrant - A company, organisation or individual for whom a name has been registered as a domain name in the ccTLD domain name register.
ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
IANA - Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (incorporated into ICANN in 1999).
Local Internet Community - The Internet industry and users and the government and authorities of the state or territory with which the ccTLD is
associated. The definition of the Local Internet Community may vary from one country/territory to another, and is essentially a matter for the community
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What is DNS?
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ROOT (.)
Country Code
Domain Name
B - ISOC.GH.GH
.ISOC
ORG
ISOC
B
A
Generic
Domain Name
A - ISOC.ORG
Top Level
Domains
Domain Name System (DNS)
www
Mail
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TLD & ccTLD
TLDs are divided into two main classes
gTLD – generic TLDs
.com, .org, .net ….
Sponsored ones : .mobi, .museum, .travel
New gtlds - .marketing
ccTLD – country code TLDs
Assign to – used and reserved for use by a country or territory
..mu, .za, .ke.
IDN – To address language issues on the Internet
need for major rethink of classification
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ccTLD Naming
Flat Vrs Hierarchical
Flat
Registrations directly on the TLD
.tg, .ci
Hierarchical
Registrations at the second level of TLD
Three types of naming
Two letter (.co.za. .ac.ke)
Three letter (.com.gh, .edu.ng)
Mixed ( .co.uk, .org.uk)
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History of ccTLD
Conceived by Jon Postel in the 80s
Aim was to assist in organizing Internet addressing
Chose to use two letter code ISO- 3166
ISO 3166-1:based on UN lists of territories
ccTLDs: Not originally intended to be official
First come – to manage ccTLD – first served
ICANN/IANA – does not create ccTLDs
Most early ccTLD in Academia
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Establishment of ccTLDs
.uk - First ccTLD operational
Now ~ 245 ccTLDs - global
Political changes cause sunrise and sunsets for ccTLDs
Zaire - .zr – sunset
Congo-DRC - .cd – sunrise
Others: USSR, Yugoslavia, …
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ccTLD Basic
ccTLD: geographic, country, national, community
Two letter coded TLD
Based on country codes in ISO 3166-1
Represents national, territorial interests
Internet identity
Flagship of country’s Internet participation
?? Owned by a country ?? Trademark ??
DNS – ccTLD is operationally just another TLD
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ccTLD Basics
The Internet is part of a Country’s Virtual Real Estate
The ccTLD is one of the virtual real estate’s inherent
natural resource
The resource should be developed for the benefit of all
As with any natural resource, governance issues are
paramount
Therefore the right approach is fundamental in
overcoming the issues and challenges
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ccTLD Setup
Manager – sponsoring organization
Recognized by root ~ ICANN/IANA
Contacts: Admin, Tech
Registry – registrar (s) – whois
Nameservers – entered in root
Policy – local – national law applies
Serves national Internet community + global
Maintains global interoperability
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Role of ccTLD Managers
Primary duty of the ccTLD Manager
is one of Public Service,
to manage and operate the ccTLD Registry in the interest of and in consultation
with the Local Internet Community
ccTLD Registry
trustee for delegated ccTLD
Duty to serve local community
Performing domain allocation function in term of DNS
Duty to serve global community
ccTLD registry Role
Two core functions
Entering and maintaining data into database (Data Entry Function)
Maintenaining and ensuring upkeep of name-server for the ccTLD (namae
server function)
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Duties of ccTLD Managers
ccTLD Managers must:
register domain names in an efficient and timely manner and
follow policies, rules and procedures that have been established
and published in a transparent manner in consultation with the
Local Internet Community;
must collect the necessary information to ensure that the
Registrant can be authoritatively identified.
ccTLD Managers should:
have a standard contract with Registrants;
recognise that a ccTLD Registry is a special function and, resulting
from this, has a special position which should not be abused.
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What constitutes a registry?
Source: AusRegistry: APTLD Kuala Lumpur, 2008
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Representation & Roles
Is the ccTLD an independent entity and how is it
structured.
Is the ccTLD representative of its local Internet
community (LIC)
Is the LIC involved in the ccTLD policy development
process
What roles are the LIC and stakeholders play in the ccTLDs
structure
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Neutrality & Autonomy
Neutrality is key to a ccTLDs success
ccTLDs neutrality yields autonomy
Autonomy promotes acceptance and Ownership
The ccTLDs location is a critical factor of neutrality
The management and governance structure should been
seen as neutral and balanced
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Policy development
The ccTLD registry model
A registry/Registrar, Open Registry or Hybrid registry
Model
The dispute resolution, Whois Policy etc
The sustainability model
Costing per Domain name
Other Revenue Streams i.e Membership support and
contributions
ccTLD location during infancy stages
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Technical Resources
Technical Skills & Capacity
Acquiring relevant skills
Sufficient staffing
Developing and maintaining technical capacities
Technical infrastructure
Access to stable and reliable infrastructure
Access to local Internet Exchange
Building redundancy and resilience
Implementing registry automation (Registry
software)
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Should ccTLDs be recognized under National ICT
Policies?
• Yes, since ccTLDs:
• are a public/national resource;
• represent the country’s identity in the
Internet space;
• form an important aspect in the management
of (DNS) cybersecurity /cybercrime, among
other reasons.
• As such, they should be recognized under
relevant national laws/policies.
• In Ghana dot Gh is recognized by law.
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Should ccTLDs have a commercial or not-for-profit
approach?
• Generally the ccTLD management model
should be agreed upon by the ‘local
Internet community’.
• However, for a ccTLD registry to be self-
sustaining, it has to have a financial
sustainability aspect/plan/objective.
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Should ccTLDs receive government
subsidies?
o Yes, being a public/national resource, it
should receive government subsidies.
o This would be one way of reducing the
cost of the domain names, and ensuring
universal access.
26. • Initiated by the Regional Organisations AfTLD,
APTLD, CENTR & LACTLD
• Background: RO meeting in Brazil early 2014 and
discussion on how ccTLDs are treated by National
Legislation/Government and their legal structures
• Survey Timing: July – September 2014
• 76 responses from ccTLDs across the 4 Regional
Organisations
Global Survey on ccTLD and
National Legislature
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The Legal Structure of ccTLD operators
1%
9%
30%
9%
18%
20%
12%
State-owned…
Regulator
Private company
Government…
Foundation or…
Association
Academic inst.
A majority of ccTLDs operate in private
sector
• 68% of ccTLDs are either a private
company, Association, Foundation or
Cooperative
• 20% of ccTLDs are either in a
Government department, the Regulator
or are state-owned
• 12% of ccTLDs are an part of an academic
institution (could be private or public)
Public Private Academic
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
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Local Presence Requirements of ccTLDs
• 45% of ccTLDs have some form of
Local Presence requirements.
• The most common requirement
for local presence is a postal
address of one of the
admin/billing/tech contacts
All ccTLDs,
45% CENTR
39%
APTLD
62%
AFTLD
50%
LACTLD
31%
% ccTLDs with at least one req. for local
presence
Brand
registered
in country,
21%
Physical
presence in
country,
36%
Company
registered
in country,
36%
Postal
address of
contact
(admin/billi
ng etc),
42%
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Basis for carrying out the ccTLD
Most ccTLDs consider they have
a formal basis by which they
operate their ccTLD
• 63% of ccTLDs base (at least in
part) on National Legislation,
contract with Government or
Ministerial Directive – or
combination of these.
• 78% stated they base (at least in
part) on either an ICANN contract,
MOU or Accountability framework
• Others did not mention any
particular basis for carrying out
the ccTLD other than historic
reasons (eg given by IANA)
National Legislation,
contract with
Government or
Ministerial Directive
ICANN contract,
MOU or
Accountability
framework
54%
69%
Governmental (Hard
Law)
ICANN related
% ccTLDs with element included as one
of their 'basis for operating the ccTLD'
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Basis for carrying out the ccTLD
Combinatio
n
(27%)
• National
Legislation
• Government
Contract
• Ministerial
Directive/Decree
• ICANN Contract
• ICANN MOU
• Accountability
Framework
Government
27% ccTLDs
ICANN related
42% ccTLDs
6 ccTLDs (8%)
stated the
Letter/Email
from John Postel
as a basis for
carrying out the
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Basis for carrying out the ccTLD
• National
Legislation
• Government
Contract
• Ministerial
Directive/Decree
Scope of legislation/contract/directive
11%
17%
23%
31%
46%
Financial status
Tender
Accountability
Reporting
Service policy
Government
27% ccTLDs
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How are ccTLDs communicating with Government
Private sector ccTLDs % ccTLDs
1. Informal meetings and or/calls 78%
2. Attend Gov committees on national Internet
issues
59%
3. Invite Gov Reps to join committee/advisory
board
39%
Public sector ccTLDs
1. Informal meetings and or/calls 77%
2. Attend Gov committees on national Internet
issues 46%
3. Invite Gov Reps to join committee/advisory
board 38%
• Most ccTLDs whether in private
or public sector interact with
Government by organising
meetings and/or calls with
Government Authorities
• 47% of ccTLDs stated they
interact with their GAC
representative ‘frequently’ and
a further 22% stated
‘sometimes’
• 26% of ccTLDs have an Internet
Caucus in their country (group of
politicians with keen interest in
Internet issues). Most ccTLDs do
not have a group like this (or at
least do not know of one)
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Summary of Survey
• Most ccTLDs are working in the private sector
• Most (55%) ccTLDs do not have any local presence
requirements on registrations
• 54% of ccTLDs have some form of Government hard law
as their basis for carrying out the ccTLD however only
27% define this as their sole basis
• 70% of ccTLDs are explicitly mentioned in some form of
operating agreement, directive, enabling legislation or
other.
• Most ccTLDs, whether private or public, interact with
Government in an informal basis (meetings and calls)
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Conclusion
ccTLD is a critical Resource for the country
Management requires particiaption of Local Internet
Community (LIC)
ccTLDs must be run in a sustainable manner with support
from Government
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