Letter from Jun Murai to Michael Roberts

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Feb. 1, 2001

Mr. Michael Roberts
President and Chief Executive Officer
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
Marina del Rey, CA 90292, USA

Dear Mr. Roberts:

As you know, .jp domain name registration and management have been carried out by JPNIC, of which Jun Murai is administrator and President. JPNIC is a public organization approved by 3 different ministries. Its activities have been supported by its members' General Meeting, which mainly consists of profit-making and nonprofit ISPs, and hosting service providers.

Regarding administration of domain name services, where environmental changes are furious and the service is expected to be fair and efficient, service provider should be a private company in order to provide better services to customers and maintain competitiveness and openness.

With this in mind, at the December 2000 General Meeting it was decided by JPNIC members to establish a private subsidiary company to which .jp domain registration and management services would be transferred. Based on this decision, Japan Registry Service Co., Ltd. (JPRS) was established on December 26, 2000.

The transfer of domain name registration and management services to JPRS will be carried out according to the following schedule. Additionally, JPNIC employees will be transferred to JPRS to maintain continuity of service.

Step 1: From February 22, 2001, JPRS will commence execution of all operations related to .jp domain name services, and JPNIC will have overall responsibility.

Step 2: Early in 2001, JPRS and ICANN are expected to effect a redelegation contract regarding .jp. After this contract, JPRS will be responsible for policies and procedures for .jp domain name services. This will complete the transfer of all .jp domain name services both in name and in practice.

JPNIC and JPRS are currently discussing the details of entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with regards to the transfer of responsibilities, and the details of JPNIC sponsorship. JPNIC is proceeding with care, to ensure that the Government of Japan will recognize this as a rightful transfer.

Any advice on further process regarding fruitful agreements among ICANN, JPNIC, JPRS, and the Government of Japan would be very much appreciated.

For inquiries regarding this matter, please contact:

Yumi Ohashi
Japan Network Information Center
yumi@nic.ad.jp

Sincerely Yours,

Jun Murai (sealed)
President
Japan Network Information Center
Fuundo Bldg 1F, 1-2 Kanda-ogawamachi,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0052, Japan
+81-3-5297-2311
jun@nic.ad.jp