Negotiations Between ICANN and Registrars to Amend the Registrar Accreditation Agreement Concluded

ICANN-accredited registrars and ICANN commenced a series of direct bilateral negotiations to amend and update the current Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) in November, 2011.  ICANN and the registrar negotiation teams have concluded their negotiations.    The ICANN Board of Directors approved the new 2013 RAA on 27 June  2013.

Negotiation Goals/Objectives 

During the ICANN Dakar Meeting, ICANN and the Registrar Stakeholder Group announced their agreement to commence negotiations on possible amendments to the RAA to address recommendations made by law enforcement agencies and the GNSO, provide increased protections for registrants, to enhance  security generally, and to increase predictability for all stakeholders.  

At its meeting in Dakar, the ICANN Board directed these negotiations to commence immediately, with the goal of reaching agreement on amendments that are “in the global public interest with the twin goals of registrant protection and stability...” for consideration by the ICANN Board at the Costa Rica Meeting.  

ICANN and the Registrars have agreed to discuss the following topics in these negotiations: 

• The law enforcement RAA recommendations, including as formulated by law enforcement in its proposed code of conduct;
• The “High Priority” recommendations from the joint GNSO/ALAC RAA Drafting Team’s Final Report (see Final Report);
• To the extent time permits, the  “Medium Priority” recommendations from the joint GNSO/ALAC RAA Drafting Team’s Final Report;
• Other topics that would advance the goals of registrant protection, DNS stability, and increased predictability for all stakeholders.

Background

In 2009, the GNSO Council embarked on a collaborative process with the At Large Advisory Committee regarding the RAA.  As part of this process, a joint GNSO/ALAC drafting team was formed (known as the RAA Drafting Team or, “RAA DT”) to consider various proposals for improvements to the RAA. The RAA DT reviewed proposals from the law enforcement community, the Intellectual Property Constituency, as well as other stakeholders.  The RAA DT published a Final Report on 18 October, 2010, that identified potential topics to be addressed in an amended RAA.  The RAA DT also propose several  next steps for the GNSO Council to consider in determining whether to recommend a new form of RAA.   

Prior to Dakar, Staff published a Discussion Paper on the Next Steps for the RAA that recommended the immediate commencement of bilateral negotiations with the Registrars.   At Dakar, law enforcement representatives and other stakeholders debated the need for additional amendments to the RAA. 

In Dakar, the ICANN Board adopted a resolution (2011.10.28.31) <http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-28oct11-en.htm#7> acknowledging that the effort to evolve the RAA is an important element in a program to protect registrants and safeguard the stability of a single interoperable Internet.  The resolution called for immediate negotiations and called on the negotiating teams to publish proposed amendments for consideration at ICANN’s meeting in Costa Rica in March 2012. The Board resolution called on the negotiating teams to address of law enforcement and GNSO working group recommendations as well as other topics that would advance the twin goals of registrant protection and DNS stability.  The ICANN Board also directed Staff to prepare an Issues Report with respect to any remaining items suited for a PDP.

The Registrars Stakeholder Group and ICANN announced in Dakar the immediate commencement of negotiations on the RAA. 

Update:

 

ICANN published the Proposed Final 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement for public comment at:

http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-22apr13-en.htm

For a detailed overview of the improvements to the Proposed Final 2013 RAA, please listen to  the webinar recording   or view the slides from the webinar conducted by ICANN Staff on April 30th.   

Archive

Archive of Documents Related to the Beijing Meeting:

In advance of the Beijing Meeting, on   ICANN posted a group of documents on the status of negotiation of amendments to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). These include:

• Public Comment Announcement for Draft RAA
• ICANN's Posting Memorandum
• Registrar Stakeholder Group Statement
• Proposed 2013 RAA
• Redline from 2009 RAA
• Redline from the June 2012 Posting

More information iis available by reviewing the archives of the Beijing Session.

Archive of Documents Related to the Toronto Meeting:

In advance of the Toronto Meeting, on 24 September 2012,  ICANN posted a group of documents on the status of negotiation of amendments to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). These include:

• RAA Toronto Update Memorandum
• RAA Toronto Summary Chart
  
  

More information is available by reviewing the Transcript and recording of the Toronto Update on the RAA Session.

  Archive of Documents Posted Prior to the Prague Meeting:

• Correspondence delivered from the Registrar Stakeholder Group on the status of the negotiations 
• Law enforcement representatives produced updates to their recommendations with respect to two issues:
  • Data maintenance
  • WHOIS Validation
• Documents published with the 4 June 2012 announcement in advance of the ICANN Prague Meeting:
  • RAA Negotiations Summary
  • Draft RAA
  • Summary Chart
  • Summary of Changes to the 2009 RAA 
  • WHOIS Specification
  • WHOIS Accuracy Specification Program
  • Data Retention Specification
  • Additional Registrar Operation Specification
  • Consensus Policy and Temporary Policy Specification
  • Registrar Information Specification
• Documents submitted by the Registrar Stakeholder Group for the Prague Meeting:
  • Registrar NT Scorecard
  • RAA Critical Issues- Data Retention and WHOIS
  • RAA Critical Issues- Consensus Policies
  • Status of Issues that are the Subject of the LE Recommendations
  • RAA Summary Notes

More Information

• The ICANN Board’s Dakar resolution on the RAA is posted at: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-28oct11-en.htm#7
• To review the Final Report on Improvements to the RAA, please see: http://gnso.icann.org/issues/raa/raa-improvements-proposal-final-report-18oct01-en.pdf
• To review the Staff Discussion Paper published prior to Dakar, please see: http://gnso.icann.org/issues/final-raa-discussion-paper-13oct11-en.pdf 
• To learn more about the RAA, please refer to the Non-Lawyers Guide to the RAA, posted at: http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/non-lawyers-guide-to-ra-agreement-15feb10-en.htm
• Reports of each of the RAA meetings and discussion of amendment topics addressed at each meeting will be posted on separate WIKI pages attached to this Home Page.
• The GNSO  Final Issue Report delivered by Staff in response to the Board Dakar Resolution identifies the policy avenues for addressing these amendment topics.
• A Status Report on the RAA Negotiations was published on the ICANN website on 1 March 2012, at  http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-01mar12-en.htm
• An updated Status Report on the RAA Drafting Team recommendations as of 1 March 2012 

 

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