ALAC: Advice to the ICANN Board on Subsequent Procedures (R-10)

Date IssuedDocumentReference IDCurrent Phase

 

ALAC: Advice to the ICANN Board on Subsequent Procedures (R-10)AL-ALAC-ST-0421-02-01-EN (R-10)

CLOSED





  1. Phase 1 Receive
  2. Phase 2 Understand
  3. Phase 3 Evaluate
  4. Phase 4 Implement
  5. Phase 5 Close
  6. Closed


DESCRIPTION

The ALAC applauds the SubPro WG’s inclusion of many of the At-Large suggestions to reform and improve the CPE process, evaluation criteria procedures and guidelines in the SubPro Final Report. However, the SubPro WG recommendations fell short on 2 counts for which we call on the ICANN Board to redress:

  • Implementation Guidance 34.4 fails to address an unreasonable impediment to proving both “awareness and recognition of the community members” for CPE Criterion 1- A; the allowance made only in respect of the “recognition of community members” aspect ignores the conjunctive “and” in Criterion 1-A, such that a worthy community applicant would still forfeit valuable points where “awareness of the community members” is also not measurable.
  • Implementation Guidance 34.12 fails to stipulate that the shortlisting and selection of CPE provider(s) by ICANN Org be subject to community input as a proactive measure for selecting the most suitable CPE Provider for subsequent procedures in order to avoid a repeat of the widespread criticisms resulting from the CPE evaluations for the 2012 round of applications.


DEPENDENCIES

Progress pending the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Final Report.


STATUS UPDATES

DatePhaseTypeStatus Updates

 

ClosedPhase ChangeThis Advice Item is now Closed

 

Phase 2Board UpdateA letter (https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/correspondence/sinha-to-zuck-22may23-en.pdf) was sent to the RSSAC regarding the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) Advice to the ICANN Board on the Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) Policy Development Process (PDP) Recommendations. Following the adoption of the Resolution and with the considerations described below, the Board believes that there is no further action required to address those aspects of the ALAC’s Advice relating to the Board’s decision on the Final Report, as these have already been taken One World, One Internet icann.org into account during its deliberations. Therefore, the Board regards these Advice items to have been fully considered.

 

Phase 2Phase UpdateThe ICANN Board and Org are currently reviewing and considering this advice. In December 2022, ICANN org delivered the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Operational Assessment to the Board, which identified the ALAC's advice as an item that may need a decision or action be taken before the next round is to proceed. On 16 March 2023, the Board adopted 98 recommendations contained in the New Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) Policy Development Process Final Report (Final Report). The Board's 16 March 2023 resolution acknowledged the ALAC's contributions on the Final Report, which was used to inform the Board's deliberations on the Final Report recommendations. The Board continues to review and consider the ALAC advice to determine whether there are actionable items that may require Board action now that the Board has taken action on a substantial number of SubPro policy recommendations. The Board anticipates that this exercise will be completed in the first half of 2023 and that a response to the advice would come before the Board takes action on the remaining SubPro policy recommendations.

 

Phase 2Phase UpdateAs noted at the joint Board-ALAC session at ICANN75, the Board greatly appreciates the ALAC's responses to the Board's questions. The Board continues to review and consider the ALAC advice, to determine whether, in addition to informing the Board’s deliberations, there are actionable items that may require Board action before (or after) the Board takes action on the SubPro policy recommendations. The Board anticipates that this exercise will be completed in the first half of 2023 and that a response to the advice would come at the time of action on the SubPro Final Report – or shortly thereafter.

 

Phase 2AP Feedback

The ALAC would like to reiterate its concerns regarding the two identified SubPro Implementation Guidance (IG) on CPE and to recommend to the Board the following approaches for addressing the same:

  • With respect to IG 34.4, the Board should consider remitting/sending this back to GNSO Council for reconsideration with an explanation. In brief IG 34.4 touches on CPE Criterion 1-A which requires two elements of “awareness and recognition of community members” to score [emphasis added]. It is highly conceivable that extenuating circumstances which impedes an applicant’s ability to demonstrate “recognition of community members” would equally apply to impede a demonstration of “awareness of community members”. While the SubPro PDP WG had accepted the possibility of “recognition” being immeasurable in some cases in IG 34.4, the WG omitted to acknowledge the possibility of “awareness” being equally immeasurable. Due to the “and” conjunctive in Criterion 1-A, an applicant that cannot demonstrate awareness of community members will fail to score points for this criterion even if the requirement to demonstrate recognition of community members were “waived”. As a result, the omission renders ineffectual the reform intended in IG 34.4 on this aspect of Criterion 1-A.
  • The Board should consider directing ICANN org to conduct its shortlisting and selection of CPE provider(s) subject to community input, in aid of transparency and especially to help avoid a repeat of the widespread criticisms of the CPE evaluations for the 2012 round largely due to biases held by the selected CPE provider.

 

Phase 2Clarifying QuestionThe ICANN Board would like to understand the ALAC’s preferred approach to addressing its concerns regarding the CPE process.

 

Phase 2Phase ChangeNow Phase 2

 

Phase 1Phase UpdateAcknowledgment sent to ALAC.

 

Phase 1Phase UpdateALAC published AL-ALAC-ST-0421-02-01-EN: Advice to the ICANN Board on Subsequent Procedures: https://atlarge.icann.org/advice_statements/13823.