[huridocs-tech] .UNION - an Internet Domain Name for Trade Unions

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.UNION - an Internet Domain Name for Trade Unions proposed
to ICANN

Brussels, October 2,2000: The International Confederation of
Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has submitted a proposal to the
Internet Corporation for Assigned names and numbers (ICANN)
for the creation of a global "top-level domain" (TLD) on the
Internet for trade unions.

This would give trade unions the possibility of registering
Internet addresses with a distinct trade union identity.

The ICFTU's proposal calls for a "restricted" non-commercial
domain, ".union", in which only trade union organisations
would be allowed to register domain names.

The proposal outlines in detail how the community of trade
union organisations around the world would be guaranteed a
democratic say in the formulation of policies in certain
areas of the TLD, such as guidelines for use, and the
eligibility of organisations to make name registrations in
the domain.

A group of over 20 national and international trade union
organisations contributed to the preparation of the
proposal. The group included the AFL-CIO (USA), ACTU
(Australia), COSATU (South Africa), RENGO (Japan), DGB
(Germany), TUC (UK), Union Network International
(representing unions in the information and service
sectors), and Public Services International (representing
public sector workers' unions).

The ICFTU teamed up with UK-based POPTEL Ltd to prepare the
technical and business-oriented "Registry Operator's
proposal" section of the application.

"This initiative, if successful, will be a valuable step
forward for trade unions, as we move forward into the
information age," said Bill Jordan, the ICFTU's
General-Secretary. "It will allow us to manage for ourselves
a section of the Internet along lines tailored to the needs
of trade union organisations around the world. This proposal
is symbolic of an international trade union movement
increasingly engaged in innovative use of new communications
technologies."

It is a general priority of the international trade union
movement to get trade unions connected, and taking advantage
of the new communications technologies.

A weighted pricing policy is therefore proposed to encourage
trade union organisations from even the least developed
parts of the world to make use of the TLD.

Any profits from the operation of the TLD will be placed in
a "digital divide" fund to support efforts to build union
connectivity around the world.

The proposal shows how supplementary policies, designed
especially for trade unions, would be put in place to
encourage conciliation in domain name disputes. The proposal
also includes provisions to make the TLD function, over
time, in other languages (eg. ".union", ".syndicat",
".sindicato", ".gewerkschaft").

The TLD, if approved by ICANN, can be used by trade union
organisations as an alternative to existing Internet
addresses, which use extensions like ".com", or ".org", or
country-based addresses such as ".uk", ".de" or ".za".

ICANN, whose deadline for proposals ends today at 5pm sharp
Pacific time, was instructed by its board to encourage
applications for new TLDs, and asked that proposals show
diversity. According to ICANN, the proposals received will
to be published on the web (http://www.icann.org) after
October 5th, to launch a public comment process, in which
workers' organisations around the world are encouraged to
participate. Comments will be used in an evaluation of which
TLD proposals will go on to form the basis of the first
names to be added to the Internet since the 1980s.

The ICFTU (http://www.icftu.org) has 125 million members, in
215 affiliated organisations in 145 countries and
territories.

POPTEL, a UK-based Internet-service provider
(http://www.poptel.net), is a fully unionised and
employee-owned co-operative. POPTEL was named number one ISP
in the UK by PCPlus Magazine in February of this year.

____________________________

For more information, please contact

Duncan Pruett, Information and IT Coordinator, ICFTU
Tel: +32 (2) 224 0219
Cell: +32 (477) 861 903
E-mail: duncan.pruett@icftu.org
http://www.icftu.org





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