D -- MAINTENANCE OF THE OPERATION OF THE INTERNET BY PERFORMANCE OF INTERNET ASSIGNED NUMBERS AUTHORITY (IANA) FUNCTIONS

Notice Date

January 12, 2001

Contracting Office

National Institute of Standards & Technology, Acquisition & Assistance Div.,100 Bureau Drive Stop 3572, Bldg. 301, Rm B117, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-3572

ZIP Code

20899-3572

Solicitation Number

SB1335-01-Q-0251

Response Due

February 27, 2001

Point of Contact

Joseph L. Widdup, Contracting Officer; Email: JWiddup@nist.gov (email is the preferred medium for responses to this notice); Phone: (301) 975-6324

E-Mail Address

NIST Contracts Office (Contract@nist.gov)

Description

This is a notice of intent to award a sole-source, no-cost purchase order consisting of a base period of one year and two six-month options to extend the term of the contract to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330, Marina del Rey, CA 90292-6601. The specific exception to the Competition in Contracting Act that applies to this procurement action is 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1), which applies when the property or services needed by the agency are available from only one responsible source and no other type of property or services will satisfy the agency need. The DoC continues to transition technical management of the Internet Domain Names System (DNS) from the United States Government to the private sector. This process was begun in June of 1998 when the DoC issued a Statement of Policy "Management of Internet Names and Addresses," 63 Fed. Reg. 31741 (1998) in which it indicated that the U.S. Government would continue to participate in the technical management of the DNS during the transition to maintain Internet stability and continuity of services. On November 25, 1998, the DoC, through NTIA, and ICANN entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) through which the parties are jointly designing, developing and testing the mechanisms, methods, and procedures that should be in place and the steps necessary to transition DNS management to the private sector. As set forth in the Statement of Policy and the MOU, the original target date for completing the transition to private sector management was September 30, 2000. While significant progress has been made towards the transition, some work remains to be completed, and thus, DoC and ICANN agreed to extend the MOU for an additional 12-month period. Part of this transition process relates to the continued performance of the critical Internet technical coordinating functions, collectively known as the IANA functions. These functions were previously performed under contract between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the University of Southern California (USC) as part of a research project known as the Terranode Network Technology (TNT). As the TNT project neared completion and the DARPA/USC contract neared expiration in 1999, the U.S. Government recognized the need for the continued performance of the IANA functions as vital to the stability and smooth functioning of the Internet. On December 24, 1998, USC entered into a transition agreement with ICANN under which ICANN secured directly from USC, all necessary resources, including key personnel, intellectual property, and computer facility access critical to the continued performance of the IANA functions. Pursuant to this agreement, ICANN was the only known entity that at the time possessed the unique knowledge and attributes necessary to undertake performance of the IANA functional tasks. Today it is still believed that ICANN is the only entity that can continue to perform the IANA functions in a seamless manner that will ensure the stability, security and reliability of the Internet during the transition period. In recognition of ICANN's unique ability to perform the IANA functions, DoC NIST published a notice on January 4, 1999 of its intent to award a sole source purchase order to ICANN in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD). On February 8, 2000, DoC NIST awarded Purchase Order Number 40SBNT067020 to ICANN to perform the IANA functions for a period ending September 30, 2000. On September 6, 2000, DoC NIST exercised option clause 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, to extend the performance period for the purchase order for an additional six months. That six-month extension expires on March 31, 2001. ICANN maintains close relationships with the key organizations involved in Internet technical coordination throughout the world through its supporting organizations. These supporting organizations -- the Address Supporting Organization (ASO), the Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO), and the Protocol Supporting Organization (PSO) -- are responsible for developing recommendations to ICANN in their respective areas of expertise. The ASO has three members that are the three Regional Internet Registries (APNIC, ARIN, and RIPE NCC) that have been delegated responsibility under the IANA for routine allocation and assignment within their respective regions. The DNSO consists of a Names Council selected by seven constituencies representing entities that use and operate the domain name system. The PSO has four members that are the principal standards-development organizations involved in developing Internet protocols, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and the International Telecommunication Union's Telecommunications Standards Sector (ITU-T). Moreover, in March 2000, ICANN entered into an agreement with the IETF, the unincorporated association that creates Internet standards and related documents, to define the technical work to be carried out under the IANA functions on behalf of the IETF. The stability, security and reliability of the Internet are the first priority of this sole source award. Security and reliability of all aspects of the technical management of the Internet are paramount. While it may be possible that another entity over some period of years could obtain the unique experience and facilities that ICANN now has through the transition agreement with USC, the technical management agreement with the IETF, and the performance of the IANA functions under the award from the DoC, the only responsible entity that can continue to provide seamless performance of the IANA functions, and thus, maintain the security, stability and reliability of the Internet is ICANN. DoC NIST anticipates awarding a follow on purchase order to ICANN on or about 02/26/2001. See Note 22.

Web Link

NIST Contracts Homepage (http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/contract.htm)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010117/DSOL006.HTM (W-012 SN50A868)