This message is sent on behalf of the Number Resource Organization (NRO). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATED THIRD DRAFT SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT FOR THE IANA NUMBERING SERVICES (SLAv3) AND CALL FOR ICANN TO PUBLICLY COMMENT ON SLAv3. 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/wp-content/uploads/Numbers-SLA-2.0.pdf Third Draft SLA As a result of the public consultation of the second draft of the SLA, a third draft of the SLA has been produced and is available at: https://www.nro.net/sla For the sake of clarity, you can find a track changes version of SLAv3 against the second draft at: https://www.nro.net/sla-track-changes Additionally, a document with the comments received during the consultation period and the legal team responses is available at: https://www.nro.net/wp-content/uploads/Draft-SLA_v2-comments_27Oct15.pdf In accordance with comments received from ICANN on 28 August 2015 during the public comment period for the second draft of the SLA, the RIRs now call for ICANN to provide its comments on SLAv3 in a public and transparent manner either through comments on the global IANA XFER mailing list (ianaxfer@nro.net) and/or open meetings between the RIRs and ICANN with capability for community members to observe. We invite ICANN and its legal team to provide any such comments by 30 November 2015 at 23:59 UTC in order to stay in line with the current timelines for successful and timely transition of the IANA Numbering Services. Subscription to the <ianaxfer@nro.net> mailing list is open and available at: About the Third Draft SLA The draft 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 SLAv3 is the result of consideration of public comments received during the public comment period on the second draft SLA as well as informational meetings with ICANN staff regarding the operational provisions of the SLA. It remains 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 acting together and being responsible collectively before ICANN. It 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 for its thoughtful comments and now publish this SLAv3 in the interest of transparency and keeping the community apprised of progress being made on the SLA. We are now in the negotiation phase with ICANN as IANA Numbering Services Operator which we intend to be an open process. During this final period wherein the RIRs invite ICANN to publicly comment and confer with the RIRs on SLAv3, our goal is to arrive at an SLA draft that is mutually acceptable to the RIRs and ICANN, is consistent with the SLA principles found within the Internet Number Community proposal, and is in a form that is ready for signature. After 30 November, 2015, the RIRs intend to publish the final mutually acceptable draft SLA as one of the key elements for implementation of the Internet Numbers Community proposal and transition of the IANA Numbering Services.