[arin-announce] Updated 5th Draft SLA for the IANA Numbering Services

[ARIN]

This message is sent on behalf of the Number Resource Organization (NRO)

UPDATED FIFTH DRAFT SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT FOR THE IANA NUMBERING 
SERVICES (SLAv5) AND CALL FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS

Background

On 15 January 2015, the Consolidated RIR IANA Stewardship Proposal 
(CRISP) Team submitted the Internet Number Community Proposal to the 
request for proposals issued by the IANA Stewardship Coordination Group 
(ICG).

One of the key elements of the Internet Number Community proposal is to 
replace the current NTIA IANA agreement with a new contract, a Service 
Level Agreement (SLA), between the IANA Numbering Services Operator and 
the five RIRs.

A first draft of the SLA was published on 1 May 2015 and opened for 
public comments until 14 June 2015. The first draft of the SLA is 
available at:

https://www.nro.net/sla-v1

A second draft of the SLA was published on 6 August 2015 and opened for 
public comments until 31 August 2015. The second draft of the SLA is 
available at:

https://www.nro.net/sla-v2

A third draft of the SLA was published on 30 October 2015 and invited 
ICANN legal staff to provide comments by November 30th 2015. The third 
draft of the SLA is available at:

https://www.nro.net/sla-v3

A fourth draft of the SLA was published on 25 February and invited ICANN 
to move forward to signing the SLA. The fourth draft of the SLA is 
available at:

https://www.nro.net/sla-v4

Fifth Draft SLA

As a result of ICANN comments on the fourth draft and additional 
feedback received at meetings during ICANN 55 in Marrakech, a fifth 
draft of the SLA has been produced and is available at:

https://www.nro.net/sla

The SLAv5 is open for public comments. Comments can be sent to IANAXFER 
mailing list at https://www.nro.net/mailman/listinfo/ianaxfer. The 
deadline for comments is April 15th 2016.

For the sake of clarity, you can find a track changes version of SLAv5 
against the fourth draft at:

https://www.nro.net/sla-track-changes

Additionally, a document with the comments on SLAv5 and the legal team 
responses is available at:

https://www.nro.net/slav4-comments

In accordance with the transparency commitment to our the community, we 
share the exchange of a clear track of comments between ICANN and RIR 
staff working towards a final SLA document.

About the Fifth Draft SLA

The fifth draft of the SLA has been developed by a team consisting of 
individuals from different RIRs. It responds to the principles included 
in the Internet Number Community proposal and is based on the already 
existing provisions of the NTIA IANA agreement. The content of SLAv5 is 
the result of consideration of public comments received during the 
public comment period on the second draft SLA,informational meetings 
with ICANN staff regarding the operational provisions of the SLA, and 
ICANN’s written comments regarding the third and fourth draft SLA. It is 
written in such a way that it can be signed as part of the 
implementation of the IANA transition when this occurs or before, 
without pre-judging the outcome of the ICG coordinated proposal.

The SLA includes legally important provisions, such as those that 
regulate the five RIRs collective actions and responsibilities in its 
dealings with ICANN under the SLA. It also includes background and 
definitions.

The SLA also includes explanatory footnotes that reference the source of 
each article according to the Internet Number Community proposal 
principles or the NTIA IANA agreement.

Next Steps

The RIRs thank the community and ICANN staff for its thoughtful comments 
and now publish this SLAv5 in the interest of transparency and keeping 
the community apprised of progress being made on the SLA. We trust that 
all comments and concerns have been addressed and that the current 
draft, SLAv5, represents a mutually acceptable SLA that is consistent 
with the principles found within the Internet Number Community proposal. 
We invite public comments as we approach the final version, which will 
be signed with ICANN/IANA as part of the IANA Transition planning 
process and will take effect upon release of their existing agreement 
with NTIA.