TELECOMMUNICATION ASSIGNMENT 2

THANKAM KRISHNAN, A3211117327, B.A., L.L.B (H) SEC-E

Q1 Discuss the role of ICANN in telecommunications law?

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a non-profit corporation
which is responsible for the coordination of key internet functions (names, numbers, and protocol
parameters) and also facilitates the development of policy with respect to these key internet
functions

• ICANN was established on September 18, 1998. Subsequently it was incorporated on

September 30, 1988.
• ICANN Articles of Incorporation was finalized on November 21, 1988. According to the
Article of Incorporation, the main function of the ICANN was laid down as the following:
"In furtherance of the foregoing purposes, and in recognition of the fact that the Internet
is an international network of networks, owned by no single nation, individual or
organization, the Corporation shall, except as limited by Article 5 hereof, pursue the
charitable and public purposes of lessening the burdens of government and promoting
the global public interest in the operational stability of the Internet by:

1. Coordinating the assignment of internet technical parameters as needed to maintain

universal connectivity on the Internet;
2. Performing and overseeing functions related to the coordination of the internet
protocol ("IP") address space;
3. Performing and overseeing functions related to the coordination of the internet domain
name system ("DNS"), including the development of policies for determining the
circumstances under which new top-level domains are added to the DNS root system;
4. Overseeing operation of the authoritative internet DNS root server system; and
5. Engaging in any other related lawful activity in furtherance of items (i) through (iv).”

• ICANN implements regulatory policies through contracts with the "rule takers", i.e.
businesses providing services related to internet names or number spaces.

• ICANN is a corporation subject to California law and reports to the US government.

There are no formal relations between ICANN and other international organisations.
However, some intergovernmental bodies such as the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) participate in the
Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) of ICANN.

• ICANN coordinates the domain name system (DNS), internet protocol (IP) addresses,
space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD), country code (ccTLD)
top level domain name system management and root server system management
functions. These functions were previously performed by the Internet Assigned Number
Authority (IANA) under a US Government contract.
 • The ICANN by-laws outline the powers and responsibilities of the ICANN by laying down
its mission and core values. It also establishes the offices of the Ombudsman (Article V), Board
of Directors (Article VI), Nominating Committee (Article VII), Address Supporting
Organization (Article VIII), Country Code Name Supporting Organization (Article IX),
Generic Name Supporting Organization (Article X) and Advisory Committees (Article XI). It
also lays down guidelines related to fiscal matters, membership, offices and seal and the
procedure for amendment of by-laws.

• ICANN in collaboration with Verisign and National Telecommunication and Information

Administration (US) completed the deployment of the DNS security extensions for the root
zone. The ICANN has also been successful in setting up of a cost-effective uniform domain
name dispute resolution policy which has been efficient in solving domain name disputes.

• The structure of the ICANN, has adopted a bottom-up, consensus driven, multi-stakeholder
approach. The ICANN currently comprises of three supporting organizations and four
advisory committees apart from the Board of Directors and other advisory committees.
a) The Board of Directors comprises of 16 members ("Directors") who have voting rights.
Additionally it has five non-voting liaisons. The five liaisons appointed by Governmental
Advisory Committee, Root Server and Stability Advisory Committee, Technical Liaison
Group and Internet Engineering Task Force. Each body appoints one liaison member. The
Directors are expected to act in the best interest of ICANN rather than acting in the best
interest of the entity they have been selected from. The main function of the Board of
Directors is to put to vote various policy recommendation made by the Supporting
Organizations and the Advisory Committees.
b) The Supporting Organizations are Address Supporting Organization, Country Code Name
Supporting Organization and Generic Name Supporting Organization. They are tasked
with policy making on IP Addresses, country code top level domain and generic top level
domain respectively.
c) Advisory Committee- ICANN also takes into consideration suggestions and
recommendations from the Advisory Committees. This also assists the ICANN to make
note of the demands and interests of the stakeholders, who do not participate in the
Supporting organizations. The four Advisory Committees are:

1. Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) – The GAC is composed of representatives from

the national governments across the world.
2. Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) – The SSAC comprises of cyber security
experts tasked to study security issues related to ICANN’s mandate.
3. Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) – The RSSAC also comprises of technical
experts who provides recommendation and advise on the operation of the DNS root server
system.
4. At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) – The ALAC consists of representatives from the
organizations of individual internet users. The main function of the ALAC is to "consider and
provide advice on the activities of ICANN, in so far as they relate to the interests of individual
internet users."
5. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
6. NRO (Number Resource Organization) – It is a body that co-ordinates the 5 regional internet
registries that manage the distribution of internet number resources. These include IP addresses
and the autonomous system numbers. Nominating Committee (NomCom) – This committee
invites statements of interest and candidate recommendations from the internet community to
fill important leadership positions to carry out ICANN’s role in technical and policy
coordination.

d) The other advisory mechanisms are put in place in order to seek expert advice on ICANN’s
policy development and setting of technical standards. The two other advisory mechanisms
are: (i) External Expert Advice and (ii) Technical Liaison Group.

Q2 Discuss the relation of WTO and Telecommunications law?

The World Trade Organization is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates
international trade between nations. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and
enforce the rules that govern international trade.WTO came into existence on 1.1.1995, precisely
as a response to need for; more effective regulatory, supervisory and enforcement environment for
world trade & investment than the GATT could provide.

WTO’s aim is to promote free trade and stimulate economic growth. It is made up of a series of
agreements and incorporates old GATT. GATT only focused on trade in goods, WTO's rules
extended to include; Intellectual Property, Investment, Services, Telecommunications and
Financial services (banking).

The Commitments in telecommunications services were first made during the Uruguay Round
(1986-94), mostly in value-added services. In post-Uruguay Round negotiations (1994-97), WTO
members negotiated on basic telecommunications services. Since then, commitments have been
made by new members, upon accession to the WTO, or unilaterally at any time.
The trade rules that apply to telecommunications services include the framework articles of the
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which contain the principles for trade in all
services.
In addition, the GATS also contains an Annex on telecommunications.

Objectives of the Annex on telecommunication

Recognizing the specificities of the telecommunications services sector and, in particular, its dual
role as a distinct sector of economic activity and as the underlying transport means for other
economic activities, the Members have agreed to the following Annex with the objective of
elaborating upon the provisions of the Agreement with respect to measures affecting access to and
use of public telecommunications transport networks and services. Accordingly, this Annex
provides notes and supplementary provisions to the Agreement.

This provides guarantees for reasonable access to and use of public telecommunications, in a given
market, by suppliers of all services benefiting from commitments scheduled by the member
concerned.
Scope

a) This Annex shall apply to all measures of a Member that affect access to and use of public
telecommunications transport networks and services.
(b) This Annex shall not apply to measures affecting the cable or broadcast distribution of radio
or television programming
(c) Nothing in this Annex shall be construed:
(i) to require a Member to authorize a service supplier of any other Member to establish, construct,
acquire, lease, operate, or supply telecommunications transport networks or services, other than
as provided for in its Schedule; or
(ii) to require a Member (or to require a Member to oblige service suppliers under its jurisdiction)
to establish, construct, acquire, lease, operate or supply telecommunications transport networks
or services not offered to the public generally.

Transparency

In the application of Article III of the Agreement, each Member shall ensure that relevant
information on conditions affecting access to and use of public telecommunications transport
networks and services is publicly available, including: tariffs and other terms and conditions of
service; specifications of technical interfaces with such networks and services; information on
bodies responsible for the preparation and adoption of standards affecting such access and use;
conditions applying to attachment of terminal or other equipment; and notifications, registration
or licensing requirements, if any.

Access to and use of Public Telecommunications Transport Networks and Services

(a) Each Member shall ensure that any service supplier of any other Member is accorded access
to and use of public telecommunications transport networks and services on reasonable and non-
discriminatory terms and conditions, for the supply of a service included in its Schedule. This
obligation shall be applied, inter alia, through paragraphs (b) through (f).
(b) Each Member shall ensure that service suppliers of any other Member have access to and use
of any public telecommunications transport network or service offered within or across the border
of that Member, including private leased circuits, and to this end shall ensure, subject to paragraphs
(e) and (f), that such suppliers are permitted:
(i) to purchase or lease and attach terminal or other equipment which interfaces with the network
and which is necessary to supply a supplier's services;
(ii) to interconnect private leased or owned circuits with public telecommunications transport
networks and services or with circuits leased or owned by another service supplier; and
(iii) to use operating protocols of the service supplier's choice in the supply of any service, other
than as necessary to ensure the availability of telecommunications transport networks and services
to the public generally.
(c) Each Member shall ensure that service suppliers of any other Member may use public
telecommunications transport networks and services for the movement of information within and
across borders, including for intra-corporate communications of such service suppliers, and for
access to information contained in data bases or otherwise stored in machine-readable form in the
territory of any Member. Any new or amended measures of a Member significantly affecting such
use shall be notified and shall be subject to consultation, in accordance with relevant provisions of
the Agreement.
(d) Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, a Member may take such measures as are necessary
to ensure the security and confidentiality of messages, subject to the requirement that such
measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable
discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade in services.
(e) Each Member shall ensure that no condition is imposed on access to and use of public
telecommunications transport networks and services other than as necessary:
(i) to safeguard the public service responsibilities of suppliers of public telecommunications
transport networks and services, in particular their ability to make their networks or services
available to the public generally;
(ii) to protect the technical integrity of public telecommunications transport networks or services;
or
(iii) to ensure that service suppliers of any other Member do not supply services unless permitted
pursuant to commitments in the Member's Schedule.
(f) Provided that they satisfy the criteria set out in paragraph (e), conditions for access to and use
of public telecommunications transport networks and services may include:
(i) restrictions on resale or shared use of such services;
(ii) a requirement to use specified technical interfaces, including interface protocols, for inter-
connection with such networks and services;
(iii) requirements, where necessary, for the inter-operability of such services and to encourage the
achievement of the goals set out in paragraph 7(a);
(iv) type approval of terminal or other equipment which interfaces with the network and technical
requirements relating to the attachment of such equipment to such networks;
(v) restrictions on inter-connection of private leased or owned circuits with such networks or
services or with circuits leased or owned by another service supplier; or
(vi) notification, registration and licensing.
(g) Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs of this section, a developing country Member may,
consistent with its level of development, place reasonable conditions on access to and use of public
telecommunications transport networks and services necessary to strengthen its domestic
telecommunications infrastructure and service capacity and to increase its participation in
international trade in telecommunications services. Such conditions shall be specified in the
Member's Schedule.

Collaboration between WTO and ITU is mandated in the GATS Annex on Telecommunications
para 6.
Under the cooperation agreement cooperation agreement between the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the WTO, the two organizations participate as observers in
each others' meetings and collaborate at the staff level on such activities as research, publications,
conferences and workshops. For example, during 2006 the WTO Secretariat provided technical
and drafting comments on portions of an ICT Regulation Toolkit being prepared by the ITU.
Funding for the project was provided by the World Bank-managed Information for Developments
(infoDev) donor facility. The WTO also participated in ITU Study Groups and Expert Meetings,
including, for example, one on the regulatory implications of “next generation” IP-enabled
networks. WTO is also an observer at the ITU.