JPNIC

Type:	Non-profit
Industry:	Internet
Founded:	1991
Headquarters:	6F Kokusai-Kougyou-Kanda Bldg. 2-3-4 Uchikanda, Chiyodaku, Tokyo 101-0047
Country:	Japan
Website:	JPNIC
Key People
Dr. Shigeki Goto, President

Japan Network Information Center (JPNIC) is the national registry of Japan; it is responsible for providing allocation and registration services for IP addresses and AS numbers; it formerly supervised the operations of the .jp ccTLD, a responsibility now overseen by JPRS. JPNIC also serves as coordinator of relevant information and activities of ICANN for the Japanese internet community. JPNIC is a non-profit, membership-based corporation.

History

The history of the Japanese Internet is based on four networks, which were instrumental in the establishment of JPNIC. The networks are: The Japanese University Network (JUNET), Widely Integrated Distributed Environment(WIDE), Todai International Science Network (TISN), and JAIN.

In 1984, Jun Murai, a computer scientist known as the Father of Japanese Internet established JUNET, which as the cornerstone of Japan's Internet and its development. In 1988, Murai created the WIDE Project, a research group to further develop JUNET, which served as a foundation for research, development, operations and industrial innovations in computer communications. WIDE became the backbone of Japan’s Internet and it was the first transfer control protocol/Internet protocol (IP) network in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 1989, TISN was set-up as a volunteer-based research WAN, interconnecting research institutes for science and technology. It was linked to WIDE and JAIN, with communication speeds of 48-64 Kbps. TISN connects to the internet in the US through the Universoty of Hawaii by 128 Kbps cable. JAIN was developed the same year by a research group for the interconnection of campus LANs in Japan.

The expansion of the Japanese Internet led to the establishment of JNIC in 1991. It was responsible for the registration and information services of .jp domain names using specific documented rules. In 1993, JNIC was reorganized as JPNIC, an organization with internet service providers as members. JPNIC was established to anticipate the mushrooming of the commercial use of the internet in the future. Jun Murai was the first president of JPNIC. In 1997 The Japanese government officially recognized JPNIC as a non-profit organization responsible in handling IP adress and domain name registration operating for the benefit of the public.

Due to the increasing number of Internet use and demand for domain names,the Japan Registry Service Co., Ltd (JPRS) was created in 2000. The organization also hosted the ICANN Yokohama meeting.

Subsequently, in 2002, JPRS signed the ccTLD sponsorship agreement with ICANN and JPNIC, which officially transferred the responsibility of management and registration of the .jp domain names to JPRS. In 2004, the Internet Governance Task Force, and VoIP/SIP System Interoperability Task Force were established. In June 2005, Dr. Shegeki Goto succeeded Jun Murai as President of JPNIC. Murai received the 2005 Jon Postel Award.

Services

JPNIC's primary services include: management of internet resources such as IP addresses(IPv4, IPv6 and AS number), IRR service, delegation of reverse DNS zone, Whois database and statistics, internet infrastructure development via surveys and training, follow-up research information services, ensuring that the registry for .jp domain names is carried out in the public interest as per the ICANN-JPRS ccTLD sponsorship agreement, develop the .jp Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (JP-DRP), provide data escrow services for JP domain names as well as the coordination of worldwide policy development.

JP-DRP

On August 22, 2000, JPNIC entered an agreement with the Japan Intellectual Property Arbitration Center formerly, known as Industrial Property Arbitration Center, to become the dispute resolution service provider of the jp domain name. The JP Dispute Resolution Policy (JP-DRP) was formulated and implemented by October of that year. The JP-DRP aims to resolve problems by quickly cancelling or transferring domain names that are registered or used in bad faith when the legal trademark owners file their complaints. In 2007, the JP-DRP was revised and the amended policy was immediately implemented.