ICANN: Proposed Renewal of .ORG gTLD Registry Agreement

ICANN is posting today for public comment the proposed renewal of the 2008 .ORG Registry Agreement. The proposal is a result of discussions between ICANN and Public Interest Registry, and will be considered by ICANN after public comment. Per recent amendment #5, the current agreement will expire on 31 August 2013.

The current registry agreement for .ORG provides for presumptive renewal so long as certain requirements are met. The agreement also provides that upon renewal, changes may be made to render the terms similar to other comparable agreements. The proposed renewal agreement includes modified provisions to make the agreement in line with other comparable agreements, as well as additional provisions that are currently proposed in the final draft of the New gTLD Registry Agreement posted for public comment.

Included in the proposed renewal agreement are the following provisions:

• Threats to Security and Stability: A new provision has been added to allow the registry operator to temporarily prevent the registration of one or more names in the TLD in order to respond to an imminent threat to the security and/or stability of the TLD or the Internet.
• Use of Registrars Accredited Under the 2013 RAA: A new provision is included to require the registry operator to amend its Registry-Registry Agreement to require registrars to use the 2013 RAA if registrars representing 67% of the registrations in the TLD sign the 2013 RAA. If the remaining registrars do not sign the amended Registry-Registrar Agreement requiring registrars to become a party to the final 2013 RAA within a certain time period, then the registrars’ access to the TLD registry system will be suspended (that is, those registrars will not be permitted to add new registrations). This requirement is dependent upon the registry operators of identified comparable gTLDs also submitting similar requests to amend their Registry-Registrar Agreements.
• Emergency Transition provisions: A new provision proposed in the New gTLD Registry Agreement is included in the renewal agreement to provide for emergency transition in the event the registry is unable to sustain certain critical registry functions for a period of time.
• Code of Conduct: The registry operator will be required to comply with the Registry Code of Conduct as proposed in the New gTLD Registry Agreement.
• Resolution of Disputes: The dispute resolution procedures were updated similar to the New gTLD Registry Agreement to require the parties to attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation before they may initiate arbitration.
• WHOIS: The WHOIS output is required to be compatible with ICANN‘s common interface for WHOIS (InterNIC), and if requested by ICANN, the registry operator must provide a link on its website to a webpage designed by ICANN containing WHOIS policy and education materials.
• Cross-ownership Restrictions: The renewal agreement lifts restrictions on cross-ownership of registry operators and registrars or registrar resellers.

Posted for public comment are both clean and “redline” versions of the agreement and modified appendices as follows:

• Proposed Renewal Registry Agreement [PDF, 396 KB]
• Redline showing changes from current .ORG Registry Agreement [PDF, 444 KB]
• Proposed Renewal Agreement Appendices [PDF, 1.09 MB]
• Redline showing changes from current .ORG Appendices [PDF, 1.18 MB]
• Summary of Changes [PDF, 421 KB]

Contractual Compliance Review: As part of the renewal process, ICANN conducted a review of recent .ORG Registry Agreement performance. The compliance review covered areas including: Timeliness and Content of Monthly Reports; Add Grace Period Limits Policy; Bulk Zone File Requirements; and Payment of Required Fees.

The Public Interest Registry was found to be in substantial compliance with their contractual requirements. The assessments can be found at: www.icann.org/en/resources/compliance/reports/operator-pir-org-03jun13-en.pdf [PDF, 267 KB]

ICANN and Public Interest Registry entered into Registry Agreements on 8 December 2008 for the operation of the .ORG top level domain. The current .ORG agreement may be viewed at: www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/org

Current .ORG Registry Agreement and Appendices