confidential draft 2/12/08 -- 1
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL: JPAMidTermReview@ntia.doc.gov
TO: Ms. Suzanne R. Sene, Office of International Affairs, National
Telecommunications and Information Administration
FM: Richard Nessary, Associate General Counsel, eBay Inc.
RE:
Response to Notice of Inquiry, Docket No. 07102363-7617-01
DT:
February 15, 2008
eBay Inc. is pleased to submit these comments in response to NTIA’s Notice of Inquiry
(NOI) on mid-term review of the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between the Department of
Commerce and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Summary
eBay has been an active participant in the work of ICANN throughout the organization’s
history. We support the basic framework of ICANN as an independent entity charged with
management of the domain name and addressing systems. We also acknowledge the
considerable progress ICANN has recently made to improve its effectiveness and its
transparency. However, we do not agree with ICANN’s contention that it has fully executed all
the tasks that it assigned itself in the Annex to the JPA (reflecting an “Affirmation of
Responsibilities” adopted by the ICANN Board in September 2006). 1 This is especially the case
in areas such as private sector leadership within the organization, and contract compliance.
Accordingly, eBay believes that the JPA should not be terminated at this time. Instead, ICANN
should be encouraged to take further steps to increase its engagement with the private sector, to
improve contract compliance, and otherwise to meet the goals it set for itself in the JPA. The US
government should make use of its relationship with ICANN under the JPA to advance this
objective in the remaining 18-month term of the agreement.
eBay and ICANN
eBay is the world’s largest online trading community and has the world’s leading e-
commerce brand. The future and growth of the Internet depends on the effective technical
management of resources such as domain names and addresses –