AS Domain RegistryOverview

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

email 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