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Expression of Interest for Arbitrators for Disputes under the .IN Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD)

The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has been set up to facilitate the exchange of domestic Internet traffic within the country by Internet service providers in India. NIXI has also been entrusted with the responsibility of setting up of the .IN country code top level domain (ccTLD) Registry by the Government of India. NIXI has ambitious plans to provide impetus to .IN Domain space and grow .IN registrations.

NIXI invites proposals from interested parties who wish to apply as Arbitrators for .IN Registry, who have proven expertise in this area as per the Eligibility Criteria (for details please see www.nixi.in and www.registry.in). The chosen party(ies) will function as authorized Arbitrators for .IN Registry. This will be a continuous process. Proposals should be sent to NIXI at the following address:

.IN Registry

c/o NIXI (National Internet eXchange of India)
Regd. Office: Incube Business Centre,5th Floor,
18,Nehru Place
New Delhi 110019
India
Tel: +91 11 3061 4624 / 4625
Fax: +91 11 3061 4629
E-Mail: registry@nixi.in
Website: www.nixi.in

Details of Requirements

1. Background

Internet Domain Names worldwide have assumed greater significance in recent times with the Internet increasingly being used as an effective medium for communication, governance, education and commerce. The system of registration of Internet Domain Names can facilitate the proliferation of Internet in a country. Many countries have, therefore, adopted liberal and market friendly policies to register large number of Domain Names under their country code, broadly consistent with globally accepted policy and procedures of Domain registration.

In order to bring about a substantially increased proliferation of .IN domain names, a new .IN Internet domain name policy framework and implementation plan has been formulated and the policy was announced by the Government in October 2004. The policy aimed to remove the restrictions in the existing procedures impeding a liberal, expeditious and market friendly approach to register large number of .IN domain names. In January 2005, the Ministry and National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) took the important step of setting up of the state-of-the art, hardware and software and relaunched the .IN country code top level domain (ccTLD) Registry. The NIXI has been promoted by the Department of Information Technology (DIT), in association with the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI as a Not-for-Profit Company under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act, 1956 with the objective of facilitating improved Internet services in the country). The entire process of registration is online. The opening of the .IN Registry has significantly improved and broaden the availability of the domain names. Between January and September 2005, registration of .IN domains has grown from 6,500 names to 130,000.

Presently, more than 35 registrars have been accredited to offer .IN domain name registration worldwide to customers. The Government is in the process of evolving a roadmap for implementation of multilingual domain names known as Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) under the Devnagari and Dravidian scripts. For resolving the domain name disputes pertaining to the .IN domains the NIXI has evolved an Dispute Resolution mechanism namely .INDRP (.IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) based on the Indian Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 and the principles given under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy of ICANN.

The .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and Procedures are available at Dispute Resolution

In pursuance of the .INDRP, NIXI proposes to appoint a panel of Arbitrators. Accordingly NIXI invites applications from potential candidates who are interested to act as Arbitrators in accordance with the .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and Procedures and who fulfill the eligibility criteria as given hereunder.

2. Eligibility criteria

2.1 Indian Origin

The panelists must be citizens of India. The Panelists must not have any criminal record. They should also not be bankrupt/insolvent.

2.2 Experience

The potential candidates must have experience in the field of law and / or information technology, possess a high sense of professional ethics, and should be capable of rendering independent and unbiased decisions.

Interested candidates are required to submit an application, which should include:

• Name and contact details
• Educational background
• Present and past professional experience
• Membership of professional organizations and associations, if any.
• Whether involved in any criminal case; if yes, give details.
• Any additional information supporting the application
• Documents Required: All documents in support of the application, such as copy of Photo ID Card, certificates of educational qualifications, professional qualifications, etc. should be submitted along with the application.

Other information

Selected Panelists shall have to furnish a Statement of Acceptance and declaration of impartiality and independence.

NIXI reserves the right to reject any application or to discontinue the services of any panelists in its sole discretion without assigning any reason whatsoever.

The name and particulars of selected candidates shall be displayed at http://www.registry.in/