ICANN Meeting 47 Durban July 2013 – SSAC Liaison Report
(as at 20Jul13)
1. ROLE OF SSAC LIAISON. My role, as I see it, is to provide a conduit whereby ALAC can provide the SSAC with input to and feedback on SSAC Reports, and suggest and influence the selection of topics that the SSAC might study. Additionally, I seek to ensure that SSAC reports are written in a way that is understandable and meaningful to the ALAC audience. Like all other liaisons, this role means that I not only need to keep up to date with all SSAC topics that are being worked on (whether I am a member of the Working Group or not), but also need to keep a watching eye on topics being discussed in the ALAC. It is also the case that much of the work that SSAC is doing cannot be discussed in open forum, and so my reporting cannot usually be as detailed as other liaisons.
2. MEETINGS ATTENDED IN DURBAN. The schedule of SSAC and security related meetings in Durban was a full one and only allowed me to attend a limited number of ALAC Meetings and other general ICANN sessions:
SSAC Meetings
Sunday, 14July
1600-1700: SSAC Update to the ALAC
Monday, 15July
0730-0830: SSAC Meeting with the ATRT 2
Tuesday 16July
0800-1800: SSAC Private Meetings at ICANN Meeting
0900-1000: SSAC Update to the GAC
1000-1030: SSAC Update to the Commercial Stakeholders Group
1045-1115: SSAC Update to Registrar Stakeholder Group
1415-1445: SSAC Update to Registry Stakeholder Group
1500-1800: SSAC Full Committee Meeting
Wednesday 17July
0830-1445: DNSSEC Workshop at ICANN Meeting
0900-1030: SSR Update
Thursday, 18July
0800-0900: SSAC Public Meeting at ICANN Meeting
ALAC Meetings
Sunday, 14July
0800-1800: ALAC and Regional Leadership Meeting
Monday, 15July
1800-1930: AFRALO Multistakeholder Policy Roundtable
Friday, 19July
0900-1200: ALAC ExCom Meeting
0900-1000: Reports from ALAC Liaisons
Other Sessions and Meetings
Monday, 15 July
0900-1030: Welcome Ceremony and President's Open Session
1030-1200: Creating a New ICANN 5-Year Strategic Plan
1300-1400: New gTLD Update
1400-1600: ccNSO Tech Day
1630-1800: Internet Governance Update
Thursday, 18July
0900-1030: DNS Risk Management Framework Update
1100-1230: DNS Security and Stability Analysis Working Group (DSSA-WG)
1330-1800: Open Forum
1800-1900: Board Meeting
3. SSAC MEETING WITH ALAC. The briefing provided by Patrik Fältström, the SSAC Chair, on Sunday 14 July provided a summary of SSAC Reports released in the last 18 months, and specific discussion of the recently released SAC059 SSAC Letter to the ICANN Board Regarding Interdisciplinary Studies. SSAC Members also provided updates on the scope of two reports nearing completion:
Root Key Rollover – Russ Mundy
Abuse of the DNS for DDOS Attacks – Merike Kaeo
Patrik also advised of the other current active Working Parties within SSAC:
Identifier Abuse Metrics
New gTLD Success Metrics
Comment on Active Variant TLDs Report
Namespace Collisions
Response to Expert Working Group on gTLD Directory Services
4. SSR UPDATE. This session (0900-1030 Wednesday 17July) provided an update on action taken in response to the issue of internal name certificates which conflict with potential new gTLDs and a briefing by the leader of the Name Collision Study commissioned by the ICANN Board.
This ICANN Meeting showed a much higher level of awareness and concern in the community about the potential issues of internal certificates, namespace collisions, and dotless domains (although there was still a degree of misunderstanding of the difference between the first two). The community is keen to see the results and outcomes of the two studies (Name Collision and Dotless Domains) currently underway on these issues. Both studies have been completed but the draft reports are not yet publicly released.
5. PROMOTING SSAC REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. The community has also expressed concern that the recommendations of a number of SSAC Reports over recent years have not been implemented by either ICANN or DNS Operators. The SSAC is examining ways in which its recommendations can be better promoted in the community, and there is scope for the ALAC to collaborate in that effort. I will work with both ACs to examine ways in which this can be progressed, possibly through the ALAC Outreach Program.
