diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d53fedd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+The MIT License (MIT)
+
+Copyright (c) 2013 Verisign, Inc.
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+THE SOFTWARE.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2302e946..716fc41e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,42 @@
-getdns
-======
+getdns API
+==========
 
-A modern asynchronous DNS API
+* Date:    2013-06-20
+* GitHub:  <https://github.com/verisign/getdns> 
 
-http://www.vpnc.org/getdns-api/
+getdns is a [modern asynchronous DNS API] intended to make all types of DNS information easily available as described by Paul Hoffman.  This implementation is licensed under the [MIT license](http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT).
+
+This file captures the goals and direcxtion of the project and the current state of the implementation.
+
+The goals of this implemtation of the getdns API are:
+
+* Provide an open source implementation, in C, of the formally described getdns API described by Paul Hoffman at <http://www.vpnc.org/getdns-api/>
+* Initial support for FreeBSD x.y, MS-Windows Ver. X, OSX 10.x, Linux (CentOS/RHEL R6uX, Ubuntu Ver X) via functional "configure" script
+* Include examples and tests as part of the build
+* Document code using doxygen
+* Leverage github as much as possible for project coordination
+* Coding style/standards follow the BSD coding style
+* Follow the git flow branching model described at <http://nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-model/>
+* Both synchronous and asynchronous entry points with an early focus on the asynchronous model
+ 
+Contributors
+============
+Neel Goyal, Verisign, Inc.
+Allison Mankin, Verisign, Inc.
+Melinda Shore
+Glen Wiley, Verisign, Inc.
+
+External Dependencies
+=====================
+External dependencies are linked outside the getdns API build tree (we rely on configure to find them).
+
+The project relies on [libdns from NL](https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/projects/ldns/) for parsing and constructing DNS packets.  Version 1.6.16
+
+Although [libevent](http://libevent.org) is used initially to implement the asynchronous model, future work may include a move to other mechanisms (epoll based etc.).  Version 2.0.21 stable
+
+Current State of the Implementation
+===================================
+TBD
+
+--
+end README