[discuss] [governance] U.S. to Give Up Oversight of Web Policymaking Body

Sun Mar 16 16:30:08 UTC 2014

On Mar 16, 2014, at 11:05 AM, SM <sm+1net at elandsys.com> wrote:

> Hi John,
> At 06:24 16-03-2014, John Curran wrote:
>> I'd like to explore the various roles just a bit, so I can better understand what is
>> really proposed in "the IGP plan".  To do this, I'd like to consider the tasks performed
>> for the generic case of IANA protocol parameter registries and then for the specific
>> case of the DNS root zone registry, as revised per the IGP proposal.
>> 
>> (I'll spare repeating all of the IETF registry background, but one can refer to for
>> <http://1net-mail.1net.org/pipermail/discuss/2014-March/002434.html> for reference)
>> 
>> When the IETF specifies a protocol, there are often associated registries.  To a rough
>> approximation, the IESG is the policy development body (as it works with the community
>> via working groups and approves the registry creation via the "IANA Considerations'
>> section of an RFC) and the IAB is the registry authority.  Via the mechanisms in RFC
>> 6220 and per an MOU with ICANN (RFC 2860), the IAB has arranged for ICANN to perform
>> the IANA registry administration and operations tasks.  In this role, IANA receives
>> requests from third parties to make entries in any IETF registry, and if they conform
>> with the established policy for the registry then the entry is made.  This approach
>> encourages both clarity of registry policy as well as fair and impartial administration
>> of the registry itself.
> 
> The policy for the IETF protocol parameter registry is set by the IETF.  It is usually discussed at the working group level.  There is very little (IETF Community) interest in registry policy as it is a matter of documenting the administrative details.  The work on the IANA side is clerical.  The registrations are free.

SM - Yes, I am quite aware... I intentionally remained high-level in this description
(omitting WG/IETF and IAB/IOHC details) for clarity; the point being that the IANA
performs clerical work but also policy _administration_ (i.e. receiving and processing
individual requests for assignments, see <http://www.iana.org/protocols/apply>)  Some 
of these requests require expert review per the specified registry policy but some are 
simply made by the IANA via first-come, first serve assignment policy.

The question is whether Milton's DNSA receives DNS root zone registration requests from 
the global community or whether such requests go to ICANN-sans-IANA and only the valid 
ones go to DNSA for assignment.

FYI,
/John

Disclaimer: My views alone.