At-Large Talking Points:
ICANN 74 The primary focus of the At-Large community remains two big issues. First is the progress towards a new round of applications for gTLDs, so-called “Subsequent Procedures,” because of the opportunity it provides for further inclusion of underserved communities through applicant support, community prioritization and internationalized domain names (IDNs). The second is the issue of DNS Abuse because cyber criminals continue to be the biggest DNS related challenge for individual end users, the constituency whose interests we represent. There is a convergence between these issues in that a new round of applications represents an opportunity to break down some barriers to progress on DNS Abuse as well.
Subsequent Procedures:
The At-Large community is involved in numerous discussions surrounding Subsequent Procedures but remained focused on those issues with the greatest impact to individual end users.
- ALAC supports movement towards a new round, seeks improvements from previous round.
- ALAC believes ICANN needs to assess the New gTLD Program: re-examine program objectives, evaluating how they are being met, to ensure any expansion will be beneficial to all stakeholders while not compromising stability, security and resiliency of DNS.
- SubPro ODP (as initiated by the ICANN Board and undertaken by ICANN org) is welcomed as it provides:
o insight into how SubPro Outputs are being considered for implementation by ICANN org,
o through that process, identifies need for clarity on parts of SubPro Outputs; and
o monitoring on timelines for the ODP, towards ODA.
- ALAC is ready to participate in implementation aspects of SubPro Outputs requiring further work by ICANN community, currently, of interest to ALAC are:
o the Applicant Support Program (ASP);
o Limited Public Interest objections; and
o Community Priority Evaluation (CPE).
- Separately, ALAC notes ICANN Board's invitation for GNSO and GAC to dialogue and clarify how applications for Closed Generics might be handled in next round, ALAC is seeking participation in that conversation.
Sessions at ICANN74:
- New gTLD Subsequent Procedures - Working Together, 13 June 2022 07:00 UTC
- At-Large Policy: Closed Generics - Finding a Balance, 15 June 2022 08:30 UTC
DNS Abuse
DNS Abuse is a broad issue with many aspects and many players. The baseline definition of DNS Abuse, within the ICANN remit, is Phishing, Malware and Spam, to the extent it carries malware. While many, within the At-Large community, believe that definition is too narrow, there is no current consensus on what should be included in an expanded definition. Discussion continues but, for the time being, that definition is the working definition for the At-Large. Concerns about DNS Abuse drive our participation in a number of different discussions, taking place around the ICANN Community. There are efforts by the GNSO to determine what policy options should be explored, efforts by the Contracted Party House (CPH) to promote cooperative efforts on DNS Abuse and efforts by the DNS Abuse Institute to standardize both complaints and reporting on DNS Abuse.
Some brief talking points include:
- DNS Abuse continues to be a significant issue, with ransomware, in particular, on the rise.
- Different players are responsible for mitigation of different threats (ie maliciously registered domains versus hijacked domains that are best handled by hosting providers)
- Registrant data remains critical to combat DNS Abuse and identify offenders
- Accuracy of registrant data is critical
- Efficient access to redacted registrant data is critical
- Registrar and Registry Agreements need amending to empower ICANN’s office of Contract Compliance to deal effectively with bad actors.
- Contracted parties should be incentivized to adopt industry best practices
- ICANN should invest in technology to predict malicious registration
Sessions at ICANN74:
- At-Large Policy: An End User's Perspective on the Role of At-Large in DNS Abuse, 13 June 2022 13:00 UTC
