Proposed Governance Framework for The

Proposed Governance Framework for the .mu ccTLD

2 June 2014

1. Executive Summary………………………………………………………….

3

mu Council - Terms of reference ……………………………

2.1

Objective ……………………………………………………….

2.2

Purpose …………………………………………………………

2.3

Activities ……………………………………………………….

2.4

Composition of the .MU Council ………………………………

2.4.1

International Obligations……………………………………..

2.4.2

Stakeholder Representation …………………………………....

Appointment of the .MU Council ……………………………..

3.1

Establishment of the first .mu Council ………………………...

3.13

.mu Council Size ……………………………………………..

3.24

Tenure ….……………………………………………………..

3.35

Fees .…………………………………………………………..

3.46

Delegated Authorities ………………………………………….

ccTLD Manager ………………………………………………..

Conclusion ………………………………………………..…...

1.Executive Summary

The major outcome of tthe .mu Multistakeholders’ Committee meetings held recently is the consensus reached on the need to amend sections 12 & 13 of the ICT Act 2001so that the Internet Management Committee, is replaced by another appropriate instance, which is representative of the local Internet community.

In this context, this paper expands on the corporate governance/oversight of .mu to be carried out bya.mu Internet Governance Council (hereafter referred to for convenience as the ".muCouncil".) which, in turn, will emanate from the .mu Internet Governance Multisakeholders’ Forum. It is also proposed that the members of the .mu Council are elected by the .mu Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum, which is representative of the local Internet community of Mauritius.

2..mu Council - Terms of reference

2.1Objective

The objective for the Council is the effective stewardship of the .mu domain name space.

2.2Purpose

The purpose of the .mu Council is to discharge the .mu Internet Governance Multisakeholders’ Forum’s country code top level domain governance responsibilities for oversight of:

The general operation of the .mu domain name space and the contracts that underpin it
The authorisation of registrars
The development and implementation of .mu policies
International issues and developments as they affect .mu domain name space.

2.3Activities

Activities of the .mu Council include:

Developing a strategic view of .mu
Establishing the priorities for and supervising the Office of the ccTLD Manager
Regularly reviewing the robustness of the registrar market and the level of competition between registrars
Establishing standards for performance monitoring of the ccTLD manager, and the registry
Setting a budget for ccTLD activities and establishing the registry fees
Approving policy changes relating to the .mu ccTLD
Publishing information on .mu
Approving the risk management strategy for .mu (includes disaster recovery planning etc)

Other responsibilities as delegated by the .mu Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum.

2.4Composition of the .MU Council

2.4.1International Obligations

Based on recommendations of RFC 1591[1], the .mu Councilwill become the trustee of the top-level domain for both Mauritius and the global internet community.

Under the Best Practice Guidelines for ccTLD Managers,"the primary duty of the ccTLD Manager is one of Public Service and to manage and operate the ccTLD Registry in the interest of and in consultation with the Local Internet Community, mindful of the interests of the Global Internet Community.

"A ccTLD Manager is a trustee for the delegated domain, and has a duty to serve the community it represents as well as the global Internet community. Concerns about "rights" and "ownership" of top-level domains are inappropriate. It is appropriate to be concerned about "responsibilities" and "service" to the community. The ccTLD manager should be judged on his or her performance, and the extent to which it satisfies the needs of the Local and Global Internet communities.

Clearly there is an obligation for competent management of the ccTLD. Also there must be opportunities for consultation and input from the local internet community on management issues, and having stakeholders as members of the .mu Mutltistakeholder Forum and .mu Council is one way of achieving this.

2.4.2Stakeholder Representation

The key stakeholders to be considered are registrars and registrants. This representation could involve either one or two representatives each of registrars and registrants, with the remaining board member(s) being elected by members of the .mu Internet Governance Multisatkeholders’ Forum which will meet for this particular purpose yearly or every two years depending on the mandate of the Council which is to be agreed. . There are various combinations that could be considered, which will influence the number of .mu Council members required.

The registrar representatives will be selected from amongst all authorised .mu registrars. The nomination and selection process is to be run independently by the registrars.

The registrant representatives could be a combination of:

elected .mu registrants,

designated member by the Consumer Protection Agency,
designated member by the Minister of ICT
designated member by the MCCI
designated member by the Association of ISPs
designated member by the MITIA
designated member by the ISOC-MU

3.Appointment of the .mu Council

Members of the .mu Council will be appointed by the .mu Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum, and Appointed members will have a balance of governance, business and technical skills.

All members of the .mu Council will be required to act in good faith in the best interests of the .mu ccTLD and there should be no potential of conflict with a member's own personal interests. This therefore means that the proposal to include registrars as members of the .mu Council needs to be carefully considered.

The .mu Council will need access to comprehensive information on what is happening in .mu in order to have effective oversight. For example, one report that is expected on a regular basis is the number of registrars currently authorised, the number which are active, their relative market share, and changes in market share, issues around individual registrar behaviour, trends etc. This information however should not be available to a registrar. It would be difficult for the .mu Council collectively to effectively discharge its responsibilities without a thorough understanding of what is happening in .mu.

What is probably more pertinent is to consider how registrars' views are to be effectively heard on management of .mu issues.For this purpose, it is suggested that a .mu Registrar Supporting Organisation is set up as a specialised advisory body that will advise the .mu Council on issues relating to

Policies governing the .mu name space
Technical issues relating to the register and the DNS
Changes to monitoring/management requirements
Registry pricing changes
Other

For registrants, the main issues that affect them are policies governing the .mu name space and pricing changes.

Registrants' interests can be adequately represented by a combination of consultation with the .mu Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum and inviting wider participation on issues through public consultations, press releases/articles and information on the website.

3.1Establishment of the first .mu Council

It is proposed that, for the first time, members of the .mu Council are appointed by the current .mu Multistakeholders’ Committee who will also need to agree on the size and composition of the .mu Council.

3.2 Establishment of the Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum

Upon the appointment of the members of the .mu Council for the first time, it is suggested that the establishment of this Forum will be the priority mandate of the .mu Council. Development of the terms of reference for the Multistakeholders’ Forum should be guided by the following questions, among others:

What is the purpose of the Forum?

Who should be a member of the Forum?

What criteria are used for choosing Forum members?

How is the Forum’s Executive Committee chosen?

How often should the Forum meet?

What are its responsibilities?

Who does the Forum report to?

Who will ensure that concrete actions are taken to address the Forum recommendations?

How will the activities of the Forum be funded?

How will the Forum engage with the larger community?

These questions are not cast in stone. They are intended to guide discussions on the nature, composition and responsibilities of the Multistakeholder Forum.

3.13.mu Council Size

The Council has to be large enough to have a breadth of skills, experience, knowledge and enthusiasm and with sufficient number of members to carry the workload but balanced against the efficiency and effectiveness generally of a smaller group. The caliber of the first Board chair will be important in ensuring the successful establishment and implementation of the governance arrangements.

3.24Tenure

All members will be appointed for a term of two years with rotation of members except for the initial appointments of members.

3.35Fees

Fees are be paid that are at a level to attract and retain board members of suitable caliber. There is a need to ensure that the governance of .mu is in the hands of people who have the standards of ability and character to carry out the functions and will spend the time required to fully consider the issues.

3.4 Authorities3.6Delegated Authorities

The .mu Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum can fully delegate decision making on .mu issues to the .mu Council, retaining only the power to appoint members and the Chair and set their remuneration, or it can retain decision making on what it perceives to be critical issues.

It is recommended that the .mu Council has full delegated authority (within budget) to take decisions on issues related to .mu, including but not limited to:

approve .mu policies
authorise and de-authorise a registrar
annually review the performance of the registry pursuant to its contract
request information from registrars and the registry pursuant to the contracts
approve technical changes to the register and DNS (following appropriate consultation)
initiate reviews of specific areas - registry operations, a specific registrar etc - and to appoint third parties to assist in investigation(s) of any aspect of domain name activity within .mu
seek external advice as required
appoint the ccTLD manager, conduct the annual review of the manager's performance and approve remuneration changes
approve participation at international meetings and select the participants at these
direct the ccTLD manager as appropriate
publish reports on .mu

issue press releases on .mu issues

The .mu Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum could retain decision making only on:

Long term strategy for .mu

Changes to the .mu position on international issues/at international fora

Membership of the Council and members' fees

Terms of reference for the Council and any sub-committees it establishes

The Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum members will assemble twice yearly to decide on .mu domain space policy and to elect members of the .mu Council. The domain name policies will be developed through an open policy development process. There will be no prior requirement to participate in the process and anybody can propose and discuss policy matters related to the .mu ccTLD. Participants will only be required to subscribe to the policy working group mailing list.

The .mu Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum may choose to delegate final decision-making on a number of these matters to the .mu Council.

3.7Reporting Mechanisms to the .mu Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum

A summary report will be provided to the .mu Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum every 6 months, reporting on the major events and issues. This should include both financial and non-financial data. The .mu Council should provide an annual report to the .mu Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum which provides an overview of registry/registrar/registrant activity in .mu.

For issues which require the decision of the .mu Internet Governance Multistakeholders’ Forum, the reporting mechanism will be a recommendation to the Forum supported by adequate documentation for the Forum to take a decision. An example would be the annual budget for the Office of the ccTLD manager. It should be the exception for the Forum to not accept a recommendation of the .mu Council. If this occurs, then it is an indication that the .mu Council is ineffective, or the Forum is not managing itself appropriately.

4.ccTLD Manager

The current ccTLD manager will be responsible for the operational aspects of the following:

Maintaining the policy for .mu domain name management
Authorising new registrars
Monitoring registrar activity - "market" surveillance, specific investigations of any registrar, de-authorising a registrar
Contracting for registry services and monitoring the registry's performance and register charges
Convening the Registry-Registrar Committee
Monitoring of and influencing international developments in relation to the management of the DNS, in so far as they may impact on the .mu domain name space.
Running the process for creating the second level domains

The ccTLD manager will report to the .mu Council.The relationship between the .mu Council and the ccTLD manager needs to be clear and unambiguous. The ccTLD manager will have all the operational responsibilities and sufficient authority to carry them out on a daily basis.

5.ConclusionConclusion

The .mu Council as described above will be a not-for-profit independent body having the required legal sanctity and authority to replace the current Internet Management Committee as per the ICT Act 2001, as amended.Governance of .mu should be discharged through a .mu Council. The .mu Council's objective is the effective stewardship of the .mu domain name space, discharging the Forum's governance responsibilities for oversight of the following:

The general operation of the .mu domain name space and the contracts that underpin it

The authorisation of registrars

The development and implementation of` .mu policies

International issues and developments as they affect .mu domain name space.

[1]

Proposed Governance Framework for The