In a major development, the Postal Operations Council today accepted without discussion or debate the UPU Domain Management Policy document that will govern who will be able to obtain a dot Post domain, and how.  The resolution delegated substantial continuing authority as  it resolved as follows:

“Decides

–       to submit the .post Domain Management Policy, as approved by Committee 4, to the Council of Administration for information and guidance;

–       to delegate to the POC Management Committee, until the beginning of the next POC sessions in 2011, the authority to take any decisions within the POC’s purview deemed necessary to ensure the continued development of the .post project in a timely manner, based on the proposals agreed by the E-Services Group under Committee 4,

Invites

The Council of Administration:

–       to study the .post Domain Management Policy and provide the Postal Operations Council with guidance on matters within its competence, including the formulation of further amendments to the Domain Management Policy as necessary,

Instructs

The E-Services Group under Committee 4, with the support of the International Bureau:

–       to formulate proposals to further enhance the .post Domain Management Policy and prepare the relevant .post business plans, technical design, financing arrangements, governance structure, legal considerations and other elements needed for implementing the .post project;

–       to oversee implementation plans to ensure the launch of the .post domain in a timely manner,

Further instructs

The International Bureau:

–       to ensure the effective implementation of the .post domain for the benefit of the entire UPU community, as mandated by the UPU bodies;

–       to carry out the secretarial work needed to support the activities of the E-Services Group under Committee 4 and the relevant decisions adopted by the POC Management Committee;

–       to maintain formal contacts with ICANN in order to ensure implementation of the .post domain;

–       to present a report on implementation of the .post project to the next CA and POC sessions.”

The Domain Management Policy will be published in the near future by the UPU.

We have been supporters of this forward-looking initiative to create a super-secure global Internet domain devoted to postal services and suppliers.  We see enormous opportunities for secure e-commerce and e-tailing, with the ability to provide consumers with a spam-free and phishing-free environment, and possibly guarantees of merchant integrity by the postal systems which permit them to have websites within the domain.

It is to be regretted that it has taken over 4 years to reach this stage.  Most of the delay was caused by the fact that ICANN’s process and requirements were not constructed or designed to include United Nations agencies.  A major issue is that ICANN’s contract for sponsoring a domain required the Sponsor to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of the State of California, something which no agency of the United Nations, including the UPU, is permitted under international law to do.  There has been remarkable speed in the discussions among the Posts involved in negotiating the DMP, and implementation will take time.   When some 191 countries must reach agreement on accomplishing something so new,  delays are to be expected.

It must also be acknowledged that the usefulness of dot Post to the “wider postal sector” is not self-evident.  A great deal of “marketing” and “education” will have to be conducted by the IB, something the staff knows full well. Of course, the first pioneer in a new land always has to create his own paths, which is what the UPU is doing.

Here at The Prescott Report we will continue to follow this story and report on ideas on how companies can use this domain to competitive advantage.   The department at the UPU in charge of this project has already begun developing materials and asked us to co-operate with them in further development.   We look forward to doing this and we will bring to the market’s attention the further information developed.

Editor