Regular readers will know that I am a proud member of EURid's Requirements Panel (RP). In fact, I'm writing this on the train back from EURid's Brussels headquarters where the 5th meeting of this group, set up to help provide EURid with registrar input on improving their domain management systems and processes, was held.
In addition to the RP, EURid now has a second registrar group to work with. On October 8, the Registrar Advisory Board (RAB) had its first meeting. Nine registrar representatives serve on this RAB, the main function of which is to provide EURid's board with advice on its long-term business decisions. The RAB is very much a "supporting organisation" in the ICANN sense of the phrase, just like the GNSO for example exists to advise the ICANN board on issues and policies relating to the generic TLD namespace.
So where the RP will focus on practical implementation issues, the RAB will consider more long-term strategic decisions.
Why this second registrar group? Simply put, it's a European Commission requirement. The EC insists that all stakeholders be involved in .EU's governance. That includes registrars. However, rather than have registrar representatives sit directly on its board, EURid opted for a support group. EURid felt its board would not be able to function properly if its customers, the registrars, were able to impact its high-level managerial decisions.
It's a notion I don't fully understand and I'm not quite sure why they felt that way. In France, since its inception the registry has included registrar representatives on its board. They are elected by the registrar community (I am currently serving my second consecutive term as one of the two registrar representatives on AFNIC's board) and term limited (two consecutive terms max). That format works and has never prevented the AFNIC board from functioning. Quite the opposite, as the registrars' everyday experience of working with domain registrants probably helps the board stay in tune with the realities of managing .FR domains.
EURid's solution also rests on elected registrar reps. For practical reasons, the initial RAB members were chosen by EURid directly. However future members will be elected for 3-year terms.
Registrars can follow the RAB's work through their secure online registry interface, were the minutes of the inaugural meeting have already been posted. Among the first suggestions to come from the RAB: the introduction of multi-year registrations for .EU, which would allow registrants to secure their names for more than a year at a time. This is a good example of the interaction EURid will build into its two registrar groups. For if the board approves the multi-year registration principle, the proposal will then come to us at the RP so that we can determine how best to implement it on a practical level so that all registrars can work with it.
