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D -- INTERNET ASSIGNED NUMBERS AUTHORITY SOL 52SBNB9C1020 DUE 032999 POC Teresa A. Reefe, Contract Specialist, (301) 975-6364 ; Sandra Febach, Contracting Officer, (301) 975-6326 WEB: NIST Contracts Homepage, http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract.htm. E-MAIL: NIST Contracts Office, Contract@nist.gov. The synopsis that was originally published in the CBD on January 6. 1999 is hereby amended. This amendment: 1) gives a more detailed description of the services to be performed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN); 2) provides more detail regarding the Government's justification for awarding a sole-source, no-cost contract to ICANN; and 3) incorporates numbered Note 22 into the synopsis. Background: The Department of Commerce (DOC) has initiated an effort to transition the technical management of Internet Names and Addresses from the United States Government to the private sector. In June, 1998, DOC issued its Statement of Policy "Management of Internet Names and Addresses," 63 Fed. Reg. 31741 (1998) (Statement of Policy) that sets forth the transition process. The Statement of Policy indicates that in order to maintain Internet stability and continuity of services, the United States Government will continue to participate in oversight of Internet technical management functions during the transition, phasing out as soon as possible, but in no event later than September 30, 2000 (transition period). *******On September 9, 1998, in order to ensure the seamless and stable transition from the existing government sponsored framework to private sector management, DOC assumed responsibility from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to administer Cooperative Agreement NCR 92-18742 (Cooperative Agreement) with Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI) under which, among other things, domain names in the top level domains .com, .net, and .org are registered. DOC and NSI amended the Cooperative Agreement to extend through the transition period, providing for a coordinated ramp-down of government sponsored functions. The Cooperative Agreement was also amended to initiate the introduction of competition in domain name registration in the .com, .net and .org domains, as described in the Statement of Policy. ******On November 25, 1998, DOC, through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (Joint Project Agreement or JPA), 15 U.S.C. 1525, with a nonprofit entity, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Pursuant to this JPA, the parties will jointly design, develop and test the mechanisms, methods and procedures that should be in place and the steps necessary to transition management responsibility for DNS functions now performed by or on behalf of the U.S. Government to a private sector nonprofit entity. The term of the JPA, consistent with the Statement of Policy and the Cooperative Agreement, extends through the transition period, unless otherwise determined by the parties. Part of the transition process relates to the performance of certain Internet technical management functions collectively known as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). The IANA functions are currently performed by the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) at the University of Southern California (USC) pursuant to a contract with the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The IANA functions performed under the DARPA/USC contract are nearing completion, however, the continued performance of these technical functions are vital to the stability and smooth functioning of the Internet. In anticipation of the completion of the DARPA/USC contract, NTIA, on behalf of the U.S. Government has initiated this contract action to fulfill its need for stability and continuity of services in the performance of the IANA technical functions during the transition period described in the Statement of Policy, the Cooperative Agreement, as amended, and the JPA. NTIA expects that the work performed under this contract will be completed by the end of the transition period. *******Functions Performed: The contractor will perform the following IANA functions: 1) Coordination of the assignment of technical protocol parameters. This currently involves the review and assignment of unique values to numerous parameters (e.g., operation codes, port numbers, object identifiers, protocol numbers) used in various Internet protocols. This function also currently includes the dissemination of the listings of assigned parameters through various means (including on-line publication) and the review of technical documents for consistency with assigned values. 2) Administrative functions associated with root management. This function primarily involves making routine updates of ccTLD contact and nameserver information. This function, however, does not include authorizing modifications, additions, or deletions to the root zone file. The contract award will not alter root server system responsibilities defined in Amendment 11 of the Cooperative Agreement. 3) Allocation of IP address blocks. This involves IPv4 and IPv6 delegations of IP address blocks to regional registries for allocation to downstream providers. ******Performance Reporting. The contractor will also prepare reports related to the performance of the functions. The contractor will: 1) Prepare and submit a final report on the performance of the IANA functions that documents standard operating procedures (including a description of all techniques, methods, software, and tools.) 2) Prepare and submit a progress report every six months that contains statistical and narrative information on the performance of the functions during the previous six months. The report will include a summary of the major work performed for each of the functions during the previous six months, including technical status, major events, problems encountered, and any projected significant changes related to performance of the functions. *****Performance Exclusions. The contract, in itself, does not authorize to contractor to make substantive changes in established policy associated with the performance of the functions. Future procedures for policy development will remain the subject of the JPA between DOC and ICANN. ******Further details regarding the Government's need for a sole-source contract to ICANN are as follows: The stability of the Internet is the first priority of this sole source award. Security and reliability of all aspects of DNS management are paramount. NTIA has determined that it is in the Government's best interest to achieve this stability and ensure the security and reliability of the Internet by entering a sole source contract to bridge the gap between the anticipated expiration of the DARPA/USC contract and the anticipated completion date for the transition by entering into a contract with only the entity that can assume the continued seamless performance of the IANA functions within the required timeframe. Under its arrangement with USC, ICANN will secure directly from USC, the entity that has performed the functions under contract with DARPA for over three years all necessary resources including, the key personnel, intellectual property, and computer facility access critical to performing the functions. Therefore, ICANN is the only entity that can perform the IANA functions in a seamless manner that will ensure the stability, security and reliability of the Internet consistent with the transition period described in the Statement of Policy, Cooperative Agreement, as amended, and JPA. See Numbered Note 22 Posted 02/09/99 (W-SN296704). (0040)

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