Correspondence

SSAC2022-14 Request to the Board to reappoint 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2025: Joe Abley, Jeff Bedser, Merike Kaeo, Warren Kumari, Jacques Latour, John Levine, Danny McPherson, Tara Whalen

SSAC2023-01 To appoint SSAC representative Robert Guerra to the Community Selection Panel for the 2023 Community Excellence Award Program 

SSAC2023-02 Public Comment on Proposed Procedure for Selecting a Top-Level Domain String for Private Use 

SSAC2023-03 Response to SAC059 Initial Assessment and Feasibility Study (closing out SAC059 Recommendations 1-2)

Summary of activity during ICANN76 in Cancun

Joint meeting RSSAC and SSAC: RSSAC members briefed the SSAC on: Updating RSSAC001, updating RSSAC002, RSS Cyber Security Oversight and Disclosure and updating RSS messaging. SSAC members briefed the RSSAC on: SSAC2023-02: SSAC Public Comment on Proposed Procedure for Selecting a Top-Level Domain String for Private Use, Evolution of DNS Resolution work party, DNSSEC DS Automation, Registrar NS Management, and NCAP.  Message on RZERC Charter is now up for public comment

Joint meeting ALAC and SSAC: Jonathan Zuck updated the SSAC on ALAC’s correspondence to the ICANN Board regarding the improvements to 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) and Current Registry Agreement (RA).  Johnathan Zuck briefed the SSAC on ALAC’s correspondence to the ICANN Board regarding their comments and concerns on the SubPro Operational Design Assessment (ODA).  ALAC members and SSAC members discussed the SSAC’s perspective on DNS abuse in relation to SubPro and the ODA. Matt Thomas briefed the ALAC on the current status of NCAP.  SSAC members briefed the ALAC on the work parties: Evolution of DNS Resolution, DNSSEC DS Automation, Registrar NS Management, and NCAP. Julie Hammer provided an overview of what skills the SSAC is seeking in its 2023 recruitment cycle. Action Items: Rod and Jonathan will continue coordinating at the leadership level on issues of mutual concern, particularly once we have more info on the DNS Abuse negotiations.

Joint meeting PSWG and SSAC: Rod briefed the PSWG on the newly chartered Registrar NS Management work party. PSWG members led a discussion on DNS abuse mitigation, specifically related to the expectations from ongoing contractual negotiations, prospects of policy developments on DNS Abuse, and the implementation/status of relevant CCT and SSR2 review recommendations. PSWG members led a discussion on WHOIS and data protection, specifically related to the possibilities for mandating participation in the WHOIS Disclosure System, status of implementation of Phase 1 recommendations, and the accuracy of registration data. SSAC members led a discussion on the potential outcomes and impact of NIS2 legislation.

Work meetings: NCAP work session, Registrar NS management work party, Evolution of the DNS Resolution work party
Meeting with Sally Costeron and conversation about SSAC's and ICANN priorities. Sally’s top priorities in context of the meeting with SSAC: Getting to next stage of SubPro, WHOIS request system, CPH dns abuse negotiations, Grant program to distribute auction proceeds.
Amir Qayyum from the NomCom presented 9 open positions that NomCom is tasked to fill.
Kim Davies presented the technical evolution activities at IANA. 


SSAC public meeting: 
Rod provided updates on recent SSAC correspondence including: SSAC2023-02: SSAC Public Comment on Proposed Procedure for Selecting a Top-Level Domain String for Private Use, SSAC2022-12: SSAC Public Comment on Proposed Amendments to the Base gTLD RA and RAA to Add RDAP Contract Obligations, SSAC2022-11: SSAC Public Comment on Draft Terms of Reference for the Holistic Review Pilot
Matt Thomas and Suzanne Woolf provided an update on the progress of NCAP
Peter Thomassen gave an in depth overview of the work of the DNSSEC DS Auto work party
Barry Leiba gave an in depth overview of the work of the Evolution of DNS Resolution work party
Rod Rasmussen gave an in depth overview of the work of the Registrar NS Management work party
Rod Rasmussen gave on overview of SSAC’s comments on ICANN’s top priorities: DNS abuse, access to registration data, and add new gTLDs
Julie Hammer gave an overview of the SSAC membership recruitment process and the skills SSAC is looking to recruit in 20023

DNSSEC and Security Workshop was divided into three sessions.
The first session contained general presentations on DNSSEC deployment around the world, DNSSEC in Africa, deployment metrics, and DNS trust registries. The second session had a presentation on “DNSSEC Failure, now what?” and a DNSSEC provisioning automation panel. The third session had a presentation on the challenges of blockchain-based naming systems for malware defenders and a live demo on DNSSEC stats by Wes Hardaker.
Many interesting presentations were given: Session 1, Session 2, Session 3

Joint meeting ICANN Board and SSAC
On behalf of the SSAC, SSAC Chair Rod Rasmussen asked the ICANN Board about the  importance of promoting Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) as part of ICANN strategic objectives and how SSAC can assist. Rasmussen noted that DNSSEC is an enabling technology with security implications that requires a lot of time, energy, and resources. Rasmussen also noted the challenges for adoption. SSAC member Peter Thomassen discussed developments in DNS automation; Rasmussen and Galvin called out the related policy implications. DNS operators play an important role and did not exist when ICANN started.
SSAC member Barry Leiba highlighted other uses for DNSSEC beyond name resolution. SSAC member Jacques Latour shared experiences in Canada with DNSSEC and building digital trust. DNSSEC can be trusted because it is a unique identifier with global scalability in a decentralized model. Latour asked ICANN to develop documentation that demonstrates that digital trust and DNSSEC work well together. Rasmussen talked about the success of the DNSSEC and Security Workshop over the years.
RSSAC Liaison to the ICANN Board Wes Hardaker discussed education and outreach and encouraged more validation. ICANN is also planning another Key Signing Key rollover. ICANN Board member Edmon Chung noted that ICANN should engage in the strategic direction of promoting DNS security. Rasmussen suggested identifying remaining gaps in the development of the next ICANN strategic plan. ICANN Board member Matthew Shears noted that the ICANN Board plans more interaction with the ICANN community in strategic planning. ICANN Board member Maarten Botterman suggested the SSAC could analyze threats and opportunities across the evolving technology landscape.
IETF Liaison to the ICANN Board Harald Alvestrand described three areas of SSAC work and how ICANN is best positioned to help; however, there is remaining work in the industry and in the IETF. SSAC member Russ Mundy noted that there has never been an effort to analyze the overall gaps and requirements to accomplish widespread use of DNSSEC. This effort could be somewhat analogous to the Universal Acceptance effort, which ICANN has supported.
The ICANN Board asked how SSAC advice can be communicated to the ICANN Community and addressed more efficiently within the multistakeholder model. Rasmussen described the existing process, which includes tracking. There are opportunities for improvement such as earlier engagement and dialogue between the ICANN Board, SSAC, and ICANN organization. SSAC recognizes that some of its advice cannot be implemented solely by the ICANN Board or ICANN organization. In these circumstances, SSAC could work with the ALAC or ICANN Global Communications function to share its advice more broadly. Rasmussen also called on other Supporting Organizations and Advisory Communities to share information and input more openly and regularly.
SSAC member Greg Aaron shared that SSAC strives to develop practical advice that stands on its merits. If SSAC advice is not accepted, the SSAC would like to receive honest feedback from the multistakeholder community, in addition to the feedback from the ICANN Board. Interim ICANN President and Chief Executive Officer Sally Costerton noted that the ICANN organization is ready to provide more resources. Botterman explained that SSAC advice is discussed in the ICANN Board Technical Committee and then tracked. Chung noted that GNSO policy development scoping often includes SSAC advice in its consideration and encouraged SSAC to consider early engagement in that work. Shears proposed an interactive session about security opportunities and threats to raise awareness about SSAC perspectives. Rasmussen agreed that more dialogue across the ICANN community and with the ICANN Board and ICANN organization is good.


  • No labels