Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited

Type:	Non-Profit
Industry:	Domain Registry
Founded:	2001
Headquarters:	Hong Kong
Country:	Hong Kong
Website:	www.hkirc.hk
Facebook:	HKIRC
Key People
John Estmond Strickland, Chairman

Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) is a Hong Kong based non-profit, non-statutory corporation responsible in managing the operations of the .hk country code top level domain name (ccTLD). It was designated by the government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)to administer domain names with the string .com.hk, .org.hk, .gov.hk, .edu.hk, .net.hk and .idv.hk.

History

HKIRC was established by the Hong Kong government, academia and the legal sector on December 14, 2001 as a company limited by guarantee with no share capital. On April 2002, the corporation became the registry operator of the .hk ccTLD after it was designated by HKSAR. Mr Joseph Yu served as Chairman of the Board while Jonathan Shea served as CEO. Since 1992, the Joint Universities Computer Center Limited (JUCC) was the original administrator of the .hk ccTLD and during the transition ceremony HKRIC promised that JUCC will receive $10 million from the corporation within 6 years in recognition for its early efforts in administering the .hk ccTLD. The Hong Kong government also provided JUCC with $4.1 million for the extra facilities, equipment and manpower resources incurred by the university during early implementation of the new registration policies and services.

The founding members of HKIRC include:

• Information Technology Services Department represented by its Assistant Director Mr. YAN Sik Lun
• Joint Universities Computer Centre Limited represented by its Director Dr. NG Na
• The Chinese General Chamber represented by its Committee Member Mr. YU, Joseph Shin Gay
• The Hong Kong General Chamber represented by its Assistant Director for Operations Dr. CHEUNG, Yiu Sing
• Hong Kong Information Technology Federation Limited represented by its President Mr. MOK, Charles Pete
• Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association represented by its Chairman Mr. SOONG, Chester Tak Kar
• The Law Society of Hong Kong represented by its President Mr. Herbert TSO

Currently the registration of .hk domain names is primarily handled by Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Co Ltd (HKDNR), a wholly-owned subsidiary of JUCC.

Objectives

As registry operator, HKIRC aims to achieve the following objectives:

• Promote Hong Kong as an international center for e-commerce for the benefit of the internet community in the country and to encourage them to better understand the internet and its related technologies.
• Establishment and development of a self regulatory framework to be able to enhance the administration and registration system for all .hk domain names
• Accreditation and monitoring of the performance of registrars in providing registration services
• Manage the allocation of IP addresses in Hong Kong
• Establish a Uniform Dispute Resolution Process to be able to properly address complaints

Board of Directors

• Mr. John Estmond Strickland, Chairman
• Dr. Robin S. Bradbeer, Deputy Chairman
• Dr. Carlye W L Tsui BBS, Deputy Chairman
• Prof. Joseph Kee-Yin Ng
• Mr. Ben Li Ming Pan
• Mr. Young Wo Sang
• Ms. Susanna Chiu Lai-kuen
• Mr. Joseph Yu

HKIRC and ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved the re-delegation of the .hk ccTLD to HKIRC during on June 28, 2005. On March 23, 2010, ICANN delegated the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) string 香港 for .hk in Chinese language to HKIRC after completing the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process. HKIRC is a member of the country code names supporting organization and it also an active member of the Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Association (APTLD) and serves as Secretariat of the organization since July 1, 2009. In 2011, the corporation hosted APTLD's meeting in Hong Kong. Since its inception HKIRC has been an active participant in the different activities, meeting and issues raised within the ICANN community.

In 2004, HKIRC commented on the issue regarding the proposed .asia TLD citing that it may cause confusion to the internet community because it represents a geographical scope and it may cause an overlap with the ccTLDs. It also pointed out that .asia violates the general practice that generic top level domain names (gTLDs) serves specific industries, organizations without a geographical scope ans it should not be evaluated under the same process along with the other proposed gTLDs. The corporation also expressed its concern regarding the financial capability of DotAsia. HKIRC admitted that .asia is a good concept but it strongly expressed its opposition to the proposal.

Country code top-level domain

Internationalized Domain Name

Top-Level Domain