Notes from 24 March 2022 APAC Space Web Conference

Overview

This APAC Space session was a Readout of the ICANN73 Community Forum featuring debriefs and takeaways from seven community leaders/members. Elliott Mann (Youth4IGF) facilitated the open community discussion. For AOB, Jia Rong Low (ICANN APAC) encouraged the community to participate in the inaugural APAC DNS Forum.

Details of Session

ICANN73 Overview: Jia-Rong Low, ICANN APAC

The ICANN73 By the Numbers Report listed total participation at 1,578 attendees from 146 countries/territories. APAC matched Europe (both 22%) in regional participation, behind North America (35%). Jia-Rong noted that overall attendance figures had declined since virtual-only ICANN Meetings began due to COVID-19. He hoped a return to hybrid participation will reinvigorate the community.

Jia-Rong also gave an overview of the most popular ICANN73 sessions and topics, which included the three plenaries – “Evolving the DNS Abuse Conversation”, “Discussion Forum on Geopolitical, Legislative and Regulatory Developments”, and “The Global Public Interest (GPI) Framework: Is it Useful?”. In addition, he highlighted the blockchain/NFT session as being a noteworthy topic for the community to follow.

Transfer Policy Review PDP: Antonia Chu, Transfer Policy Review PDP Working Group Member

Phase 1A and 1B of the PDP were progressing well and on schedule. The PDP is expected to produce recommendations on eight issues related to the current Transfer Policy. This includes areas like auth-info code (or transfer code) management, transfer denials, transfer dispute resolution policy, change of registrant, and transfer emergency contact mechanisms.

The PDP Working Group (WG) mainly focused on Phase 1A work areas in the past year, e.g. the Form of Authorisation (FOA) for gaining and losing registrars, and the transfer of auth-info codes. At ICANN73, the WG discussed denial of transfers and other additional security measures. The Phase 1A Initial Report is expected to be ready for public comment in June, while the one for Phase 1B and the WG’s Final Report are both planned for next year. Antonia Chu encouraged everyone to follow the WG’s progress through its workspace.

ICANN Board Perspectives: Edmon Chung, ICANN Board Member

Edmon Chung encouraged the community to apply for two ICANN job positions for Universal Acceptance (UA)/Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs). Before that he shared thoughts on various topics he is interested in as a Board member, particularly on:

1. Planning Prioritisation Framework (PPF) – Community consultations were being carried out before a pilot is slated for 2023, and implementation for 2024. The Board was also undergoing its own prioritisation process, which takes into account feedback from these larger ongoing processes.
2. DNS Abuse – This issue remained of high interest for many Board members. While more work still generally needed to be done, Edmon observed that Domain Abuse Activity Reporting (DAAR) indicated some abuse decline in the last two years. This was a good sign, which also showed that registries/registrars were taking measures.  
3. System for Standardized Access and Disclosure (SSAD) and New gTLD Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) Operational Design Phases (ODPs) – Good feedback/questions were received for both ODPs and the SSAD’s Operational Design Assessment (ODA). Overall, these processes allowed better transparency on Board work and how ICANN org prepares the Board for decision-making. The Board looked forward to developments and feedback on applying the GPI Framework to SSAD. For SubPro, continuing discussions on the topics of Closed Generics and Applicant Support showed that some recommendation aspects need not wait for an ODP.
4. Ukraine Conflict – Edmon hoped the Board’s response to the situation would be measured in terms of upholding the Internet’s interoperability and a heartfelt solidarity with the people of Ukraine. He also hoped that efforts like the emergency fund for Ukraine can have the community’s support to expand to other places of conflict.

GAC Perspectives: Shi-Young Chang, GAC Vice Chair

73 GAC members and 8 observers attended ICANN73. On Ukraine, the GAC welcomed the Board resolution for emergency support. At the GAC Opening Plenary, 11 members also delivered statements on Ukraine’s situation. Important topics the GAC discussed at ICANN73 included:

1. Global Public Interest (GPI) Framework – The GAC felt that the application of the Framework to the SSAD ODA seemed limited. It nevertheless recognised the Framework’s importance, welcoming the development of a tool to embed GPI in ICANN policymaking. ICANN73 discussions were a good first step towards this goal.
   1. During the Readout's open community discussion, Pam Little (NomCom) asked why the GAC felt the Framework was applied in a limited manner, and how much further it could apply. She felt it was challenging to apply the Framework to an ODP in general. Shi-Young Chang clarified that the GAC, like other SO/ACs, was trying to understand the extent to which the Framework could be used. While the initial impression was that the current application could be limited, wider discussion is needed to understand the Framework better.
2. DNS Abuse Mitigation – The GAC recognised the importance of the discussion on malicious vs. compromised domains in the DNS abuse plenary. It also separately discussed the European Commission’s abuse study which covered how different actors could respond to abuse.
3. SubPro – The GAC will continue seeking a solution on Closed Generics, in a manner keeping with its Beijing Communique that “exclusive registry access should serve a public interest goal”.
4. UA/IDNs – The GAC noted the significant progress made in the last few years in the acceptance of non-Latin scripts, but felt more needed to be done. It welcomed the proposals for collaboration/discussion received from the ALAC and the Universal Acceptance Steering Group.
5. National Cooperation – A topic raised in the GAC-ALAC bilateral meeting, Shi-Young cited South Korea as a good example of national cooperation. Here, the size and scope of multistakeholder involvement in Korea’s Internet Address Resources Act were expanded through national collaboration with different stakeholders. The expansion of the Act meant that the members on the Act’s policy deliberation committee were increased from 10 to 20, and their powers increased from only policy deliberation to policy deliberation and resolution.  

ccNSO Perspectives: Ai-Chin Lu, ccNSO Council Member 

Key sessions and focus topics for the ccNSO at ICANN73 were:

1. ccNSO-GAC Joint Session
   1. ccPDP3 on ccTLD Retirement – The WG intends to establish a binding review mechanism and was waiting for ICANN Legal’s response on collaborating.
   2. ccPDP4 on IDN ccTLDs – The WG completed a basic policy document and agreed on basic policy recommendations.
   3. DNS Abuse – A ccNSO draft roadmap on DNS abuse was shared with the ccTLD community in Feb 2022. The roadmap aims to build a repository for information-sharing, identify messaging channels, create metrics, and set up a DNS Abuse Standing Committee.
      1. The ccNSO Council adopted the roadmap during its Council meeting later in the ICANN73 Meeting week. On a separate note, it also held its Chair and Vice Chair elections then.
   4. ccNSO Governance Session – This session had two parts. It the first part, work progressed on new rules for ccNSO membership. After ICANN73, voting on the rules opened for ccNSO members from 23 Mar till 6 Apr 2022. If adopted, the new rules will replace those from 2004. The session’s second part discussed the Conflict of Interest (COI) policy. The COI WG will refine its proposal and consult the community at ICANN74.
   5. Q&A with ccTLD-related Board Members – The ccNSO shared about its work prioritisation approach, and felt that removing the bottlenecks impacting ICANN efficiency and effectiveness should be a major concern. The ccNSO was also concerned about financial transparency as to how surpluses are handled.

ALAC Perspectives: Maureen Hilyard, ALAC Chair 

Maureen Hilyard highlighted several major topics/sessions of focus for the ALAC and At-Large at ICANN73. On the Global Public Interest (GPI) Framework, she felt more community discussion was needed, and appreciated Pam and Shi-Young’s comments. Separately, DNS abuse remained a priority issue, with At-Large having high interest in the DNS abuse plenary on registry/registrar perspectives in handling maliciously-used domains.

Maureen also shared her thoughts/updates on key sessions:

1. At-Large Welcome Session – This included a focus on At-Large’s talking points on various issues, which were well-crafted in easily understandable language.
2. “Achieving Universal Acceptance: The Way Forward” – UA remains a major priority. At-Large is working on a survey about IDN adoption this year for end-users in India. The survey is an initial trial on behalf of ICANN org, and the org is seeking a vendor to replicate the survey for the region.
3. Two At-Large Policy Sessions – One session about the Planning Prioritisation Framework (PPF) focused on the development of ALAC’s prioritisation tool. The other session was on the rights of end-users and registrants, and discussed the policies and regulations that provide them protection.
4. Three ALAC Bilateral Meetings
   1. With the Board – Board input was sought on retaining volunteers, which is a very important area for At-Large. Volunteer numbers were generally declining and At-Large’s work relies on volunteers. Being highly concerned, At-Large was also preparing a paper to the Board on volunteerism.
   2. With the GAC – The bilateral relationship is growing. The ALAC will also help the GAC with capacity building, seeing as how the ALAC is doing so for its own community and the GAC has a high member turnover.
   3. With the GNSO Council – This meeting was long overdue, and so also quite exciting to resume discussing about policy development directly with GNSO experts.

GNSO Perspectives: Tomslin Samme-Nlar, GNSO Council Vice Chair

The hot topics for the GNSO Council at/around ICANN73 were focused on:

1. SSAD ODA – The Council has a small team to review the SSAD ODA findings and determine certain considerations, i.e. whether the ODA had correctly interpreted the SSAD recommendations, and if the ODA had overlooked any key recommendation aspects that should be factored in by the Board. The team sent clarifying questions to ICANN org just before ICANN73. In addition, the team had concerns that the ODA did not provide enough information to confidently determine SSAD costs and benefits. The Council did not decide next steps as the team had yet to finish its work.
2. SubPro
   1. SubPro ODP – The Council was considering if there could be opportunity for the community to help with eventual PDP implementation. Hence, it was considering whether existing recommendations might need modifying, or if additional guidance might be needed to ease implementation.
   2. Closed Generics – The Council discussed the Board letter on this, and formed a small team to review a framework paper and draft a proposal on the way forward. The team had yet to hold its first meeting.
3. DNS Abuse – The Council did not have a specific way forward and had formed a small team to consider whether DNS abuse issues could be best mitigated through policy development. The team was currently consulting the community for inputs.

RSSAC Perspectives: Hiro Hotta, RSSAC Member

RSSAC advises the Board and community on matters related to the Root Server System (RSS), and has existed since ICANN was established. Topics discussed after ICANN72 and around ICANN73 focused on the success criteria for the RSS governance structure (RSSAC058, RSSAC059), and on revising the metrics that measure RSS health (RSSAC047v2; all three documents are found here).

On governance, the RSS Governance Working Group (GWG) paused its work after Root Server Operators (RSOs) said the GWG’s interim discussion results may not appropriately support RSS security, stability, and resiliency. The RSOs proposed a set of success criteria after ICANN72 in RSSAC058. RSSAC059 was then issued to recommend the Board to accept RSSAC058, and incorporate the latter in all ongoing and future RSS governance work. After the Board accepted both RSSAC058 and 059, the GWG was resuming work on 24 Mar 2022.

Open Community Discussion

Related to support for Ukraine, Rafik Dammak (GNSO) suggested that the Board consider an overall approach for consistency as there are many conflict areas in the world. Edmon replied that the Ukraine approach was largely driven by community response and the conflict’s sudden occurrence, in addition to considerations about the Internet’s security and stability. He welcomed more community feedback about such support. Elliott noted that ICANN had proved itself responsive to current world events in discussing issues of public interest and events in Europe.

On return to face-to-face meetings, Pam personally felt that travel was still complicated in the COVID environment. Pablo Hinojosa (APNIC) shared that while initially apprehensive about his first work trip in two years, it was very refreshing to see people in-person. He called on the community to consider travelling for APNIC54, which will be held in Singapore in Sep 2022.