.FR

Is France gearing up to change its registry? That question has been bugging the people at AFNIC ever since the French government published a decree on February 8th 2007 in which it was clearly stipulated that there would soon be an RFP (request for proposals) for the management of .FR.

AFNIC was both surprised and angered at the government's move, which clearly undermines its position as France's registry. Those reactions are understandable as AFNIC, since its creation on January 1st 1998, has always been state run. Its board has 10 members, four of which are elected. All the others are nominated representatives of various ministries and state institutions. The board's president (who enjoys a double vote) can only be chosen amongst the elected member. And an extra representative of the government sits in at every board meeting and has veto power over any decision the board makes.

The elected board members are representatives of the registrars and users communities. I have sat on the AFNIC board since 2004 as one of the two registrar representatives and I am currently serving my second consecutive term (the maximum allowed under AFNIC rules). In that time, I have seen first hand a system that, while giving registrars and Internet users the opportunity to voice their opinions, remains firmly in government control.

So when that same government decided a fresh look was needed on how the French namespace is run, it was a bit of a bombshell for AFNIC.