Provisioning Registry Protocol
charter-ietf-provreg-01

Administration of Domain Name Service (DNS) registration increasingly
distinguishes between the operation of a "back-end" registry data base
service for registrations, versus "front-end" support services by
registrars who interact with registrants and with the registry.
Especially for various Top-Level Domains, the desire is to permit
multiple registrars to share access to the database. Conversely, there
is a desire to allow a registrar to access multiple registries via the
same protocol, even if the registries differ in operational models.

This working group will develop a specification of the requirements and
limitations for a protocol that enables a registrar to access multiple
registries and will develop a protocol that satisfies those
requirements. The protocol will permit interaction between a
registrar's own application and registry applications.

The initial specification will allow multiple registrars to register
and maintain domain names within multiple Top Level Domains (TLDs). The
specification should be flexible enough to support the different
operational models of registries. The specification should allow
extension to support other registration data, such as address
allocation and contact information. The working group will use as input
the "Generic Registry-Registrar Protocol Requirements"
(draft-hollenbeck-grrp-reqs-nn) and the Extensible Provisioning
Protocol presentation, documented in (draft-hollenbeck-epp-nn).

The group will consider support for multiple operational choices, such
as for transport and security; it will create no new transport or
security protocols. The group may consider use of the new protocol for
diverse registration and update scenarios, in order to understand
limitations and possible extensions that are appropriate.
Specification
for user interface access, such as by a web front end, is beyond the
scope of this working group.

Documentation from the working group will:

• Specify the objects exchanged between the registry repository
  and registrars, the relationships among the objects, and the protocol
  for exchanging objects between a registrar and the registry; at a
  minimum the objects will include: domain name, IP address, and contact
  details for registrants

• Describe appropriate mechanisms for security during registrar access

• List useful examples of registrar access transactions