AS Domain Registry Overview Stephen Deerhake Apia, Samoa June 2006

Topics History Namespace structure Market Registry – Registrar Model Technical Operation Administrative Operation Policy

History (Then) Established in 1997 Samoan Domain Administrator designated by Jon Postel No formal Government relationship Technical, Administrative, and Marketing provided by NetNames UK No relationship with ICANN

History (Now) Informal relationship with Government Technical, Administrative, and Marketing provided by GDNS, LLC Developing relationships with local Internet community Informal relationship with ICANN Developing formal Registry – Registrar relationships as part of a cohesive marketing and Registry growth strategy

Namespace Structure Direct second level registrations.GOV.AS -- reserved for AS Government

Market Primary market is in Scandinavia “A/S” = “Aksjesekskap” = “Joint Stock Company” = “LLC”, “LTD”, “INC” Bulk of Registrations come from Scandinavian Corporations Secondary set of Surname Registrations (precursor to.NAMES) Local usage is increasing (Names are free to AS Residents and Businesses)

Registry – Registrar Model Currently have both “direct” customers and “indirect” customers (i.e., customers of ISP’s) Moving towards formal “Registry – Registrar” model Goal is to eliminate “direct” customers Seen as a natural evolution of the Registry

Technical Operation (1) Major Components –Registry Web Site –Registry Database –Zone File –Primary Name Server –Secondary Name Servers –Whois

Technical Operation (2) Hardware –Sun Microsystems Ultrasparc –Intel Servers –Hardware is co-located in US and UK

Technical Operation (3) Software –Sun Solaris –Perl –Cold Fusion –Exchange –Sendmail –Bind –Other bits and pieces

Technical Operation (4) Zone File –Primary zone file is generated and controlled by Registry –Secondary zone files are handled both by the Registry and by a third party firm

Technical Operation (5) Whois –Offered on Web Site –Offered via Port 43 –Minimal information provided: Domain Name Holder name Name server details Throttled to prevent data mining

Administrative Operation (1) Very small staff Domain Administrator focuses on –Policy issues –Registry – Government relations –Other relations

Adminstrative Operation (2) Staff focus –“nuts and bolts” of technical operations –development of handle based Web site and template systems –policy advising to Domain Administrator –marketing and Registry – Registrar relationship development and management –representing Domain Administrator at various meetings and functions (e.g., ICANN)

Policy Registrations are on a “first-come” basis Registrations are free to residents and businesses based in America Samoa Registration in.gov.as is restricted to ASG Disputes are handled via UDRP process managed by WIPO (5 – 6 so far) Privacy oriented –minimal information available via whois