White Paper

White Paper is an official government report prepared by an individual or a group of individuals who conducted relevant research and with expert opinion on particular issues. The White Paper is informative and authoritative in nature and it used by its authors to present arguments, policy revisions and recommendations as solution to problems. In some cases, a White Paper is written after a Green Paper has been published as follow-up to give the community or the public the opportunity to provide their comments during the consultation process.If the White Paper is accepted by all the parties involved, an action will taken to put it into effect.

Purpose of White Paper

Generally, the main purpose of the White Paper is to encourage the community and promote that specific positions are the best solutions to the problem or the best route to improve the organization's policy.

ICANN and NTIA White Paper

The By-Laws and the articles of incorporation of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was based on the principles set forth by the United States government White Paper entitled, Management of Internet Names and Addresses prepared by the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA).

Call for Management Change

The main purpose of the White Paper is to create a new corporation that will manage the internet domain names and IP addresses. In 1992, the US government authorize the National Science Foundation (NSF) to manage the DNS system, however the internet community expressed a widespread dissatisfaction to its management style which led to a call for change. The issues raised by the internet community include:

• Lack of Competition in domain name registration
• Conflicts between trademark holders and domain name holders became common and the ways in solving the issues are complicated and expensive
• Commercial internet stake holders are calling for the successful growth of the industry and for more formal an robust management structure.
• The global use of internet is increasing rapidly and international internet stake holders expressed their interest to participate in coordinating internet development.
• The commercial value of internet names are growing and the decision to add new top-level domains cannot be made on an ad hoc committee by entities or individuals that are not formally accountable to the Internet community.
• The US government find that it is less appropriate for the US research agencies to directly supervise and provide funding since the internet is increasingly becoming commercial.

Key Principles in Establishing a New Corporation

The establishment of a new corporation to manage the internet domain names and IP addresses will follow the four core principles laid out by the White paper. These key principles include:

1. Competition-The management of internet should be driven consumer choice and market mechanism the support and promote competition
2. Stability- The corporation who will manage the internet should maintain and prioritize the security and stability of the Domain Name System (DNS).
3. Private Bottom-Up Coordination- The management of the DNS should maintain transparency and accountability.
4. Representation The management of the new corporation should benefit the whole internet community at it should ensure geographical representation and international participation in its activities and decision-making process.