Please note that all documents referenced in the agenda have been gathered on a Wiki page for convenience and easier access: https://community.icann.org/x/dBR1Cw.
This agenda was established according to the GNSO Operating Procedures v3.5, updated on 24 October 2019
For convenience:
- An excerpt of the ICANN Bylaws defining the voting thresholds is provided in Appendix 1 at the end of this agenda.
- An excerpt from the Council Operating Procedures defining the absentee voting procedures is provided in Appendix 2 at the end of this agenda.
GNSO Council meeting held 13:15 CEST (11:15 UTC): https://tinyurl.com/45b569zw
04:15 Los Angeles; 07:15 Washington DC; 12:15 London; 13:15 Paris; 14:15 Moscow; 21:15 Melbourne
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: https://tinyurl.com/2vad75nk
Councilors should notify the GNSO Secretariat in advance if they will not be able to attend and/or need a dial out call.
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Item 1: Administrative Matters (10 mins)
1.1 - Roll Call
1.2 - Updates to Statements of Interest
1.3 - Review / Amend Agenda
1.4 - Note the status of minutes for the previous Council meetings per the GNSO Operating Procedures:
Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on 14 April 2022 were posted on 29 April 2022.
Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on 19 May 2022 were posted on 03 June 2022.
Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List (5 minutes)
2.1 - Review focus areas and provide updates on specific key themes / topics, to include review of Projects List and Action Item List.
Item 3: Consent Agenda (0 minutes)
- None
Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Final Report and Recommendations From the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protections for IGOs (20 Minutes)
In January of 2020, the GNSO Council approved an Addendum to the All Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) in All gTLDs PDP charter to support work related to Recommendation 5 from the IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protections Mechanisms PDP. During the Council’s August meeting, the Council voted to take the procedural step of initiating an EPDP to allow the efforts of the IGO Work Track to continue in an uninterrupted manner, with an EPDP charter that substantively mirrors the Addendum that governed the IGO Work Track.
The EPDP Team published its Initial Report for public comment on 14 September 2021. The EPDP Team duly took into consideration the 33 comments received and made revisions as applicable to its draft recommendations. The EPDP Team completed its deliberations, revised its final recommendations, and prepared its Final Report. The EPDP Team reached full consensus on its five recommendations and delivered its Final Report on 4 April 2022, along with a draft motion, which continues a recent practice of the Council reviewing and discussing PDP/EPDP final reports in detail prior to voting on them. The Council received an overview of the recommendations from the Chair of the EPDP, Chris Disspain, during the April meeting. The Council was scheduled to conduct a vote on the EPDP Team’s Final Report during its May meeting but a deferral request was received and granted.
Here, the Council will vote to adopt the EPDP Team’s Final Report.
4.1 – Presentation of motion (GNSO Council liaison to the EPDP, John McElwaine)
4.2 – Council discussion
4.3 – Council vote (voting threshold: Supermajority)
Taking this action is within the GNSO’s remit as outlined in ICANN’s Bylaws as the GNSO ‘shall be responsible for developing and recommending to the Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains and other responsibilities of the GNSO as set forth in these Bylaws’ (Art.11.1). Furthermore, this action complies with the requirements set out in Annex A-1: GNSO Expedited Policy Development Process of the ICANN Bylaws.
Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Impact of SSAD Light on Other Work (15 Minutes)
On 25 January 2022, the Operational Design Assessment (ODA), the final output of the System for Standardized Access/ Disclosure (SSAD) to Nonpublic generic Top-Level Domain Registration Data Operational Design Phase (ODP) was published. Just prior to the publication of the ODA, the ICANN Board sent a letter to the GNSO Council, outlining some of its concerns as well as questions it hoped to receive input on from the Council. The Council agreed to establish a small team to review the ODA in detail, focusing on several elements as identified in the assignment form:
The GNSO Council met with the ICANN Board on 8 March during ICANN73, just prior to the March Council meeting and discussed the ODA and the efforts of the small team. The small team has continued to meet and has focused on an SSAD Proof of Concept while also engaging with members of the Board GDPR Caucus and ICANN org. The small team delivered its preliminary report to Council on 4 April 2022.
As part of the small team’s consultations with ICANN org, the org provided an SSAD Light Design Concept overview, guided by the proof of concept contained in the preliminary report. The paper anticipates a six week effort to produce the SSAD Light Design Concept paper. Notably, the resources needed to produce that document are responsible for other areas of work and developing the document will delay the timelines for each of the following projects/initiatives by 1.5 months:
- SubPro ODP
- CZDS 3.0
- EBERO Program and DEA improvements
While ICANN org resources are directed by the ICANN Board, the Council may want to provide input to the Board if there are concerns about the impact to these projects. The Council discussed during its May meeting whether or not it had input to provide to the ICANN Board.
The small team has since received additional information from ICANN Org that indicates that the impact to the three aforementioned projects/initiatives would not be equal. Specifically, CZDS 3.0 and the EBERO Program and DEA improvements would be paused while the SubPro ODP would be delayed but not paused. Further information is expected to better understand the impact, including whether the delays would mean missing key milestones.
Here, the Council will discuss next steps for the SSAD Light Design Concept.
5.1 – Introduction of topic (Council leadership)
5.2 – Council discussion
5.3 – Next steps
Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro GGP (20 Minutes)
In relation to the SubPro ODP, ICANN org shared question set #2 with the GNSO Council’s liaison to the ODP on 11 February 2022, who subsequently shared the questions and an update with the Council. While the question set was specifically about the topic of Applicant Support, it introduced broader procedural concerns, about whether the level of substantive work recommended by SubPro to be conducted by an IRT, would be beyond the commonly understood scope of the IRT.
The Council agreed that it should explore finding avenues to complete that level of substantive work in advance of the expected IRT that would be convened upon ICANN Board adoption of the SubPro Outputs. The potential model to address this work is the GNSO Guidance Process. ICANN org staff worked with Jeff Neuman and Council leadership to prepare a draft GGP Initiation request, which was shared on Council list on 4 May 2022.
The Council first discussed the potential GGP durings its May meeting and concerns, as well as uncertainty about the mechanism itself, were expressed both during the meeting and afterwards on the Council mailing list. With that in mind, this agenda item will provide additional clarity about the GGP mechanism itself, discuss expectations for a potential GGP, and timing considerations.
Here, the Council will consider the potential GGP Initiation Request and discuss next steps.
6.1 – Introduction of topic (Council leadership)
6.2 – Council discussion
6.3 – Next steps
Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro ODP Update (15 Minutes)
On 12 September 2021 the ICANN Board directed the ICANN President and CEO to organize the resources required to begin work on the Operational Design Phase (ODP) for the GNSO’s New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Final Report and the Affirmations, Recommendations, and Implementation Guidance contained in that report. On 27 November 2021, the Council appointed Jeff Neuman to serve as its liaison to the SubPro ODP.
On 20 December 2021, ICANN org announced that the SubPro ODP had formally launched, starting at the beginning of January 2022. The ODP Team has shared several updates to the community and sent assumptions/questions to the GNSO Council via the Council’s liaison to the ODP. The latest update was shared on 5 May 2022. Since then, the GNSO liaison to the ODP has shared a Google doc to review Question Set #4, which includes quite a number of questions and responses.
Here, the Council will receive an update from the liaison and discuss Questions Set #4.
7.1 – Introduction of topic (Council leadership; GNSO liaison to the ODP - Jeff Neuman)
7.2 – Council discussion
7.3 – Next steps
Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Closed Generics Small Team (15 Minutes)
On 6 March 2022, the ICANN Board sent a letter to both the GNSO and the GAC, inviting them to “explore a mutually agreeable way forward, for which the Board could facilitate a dialogue to formulate a workable framework to identify and handle closed generic applications for the immediate next round of new gTLDs.” Shortly thereafter, and as requested by the Board, ICANN org prepared a draft Framing Paperto support the potential collaboration between the GNSO and the GAC.
The Council established a small team to consider both the letter and framework, to determine next steps. To support this work, Council leadership and staff developed an assignment form, which helps make clear the narrow ask of the small team (i.e., whether the GNSO Council is open to working with the GAC to seek to develop a framework on closed generics). On 27 April 2022, the Council responded to the Board affirmatively, that it is willing to pursue next steps. Subsequently, the Council tasked the small team with preparing for the next step, of mutually agreeing with the GAC on the parameters, processes, and procedures for the facilitated dialogue. The small team provided its recommendations to the Council on 11 June 2022.
Here, the Council will receive an update on the work of the small team.
8.1 – Introduction of topic (Council leadership)
8.2 – Council discussion
8.3 – Next steps
Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO PDP Improvements - Tracking and Coordination Discussion Paper (10 minutes)
During the ICANN73 wrap up, the Council discussed a number of parallel conversations that have emerged since implementing PDP 3.0, identifying other aspects of the PDP where improvements could be considered. In addition, there are a number of projects on the Council’s Action Decision Radar (ADR) related to PDP improvements which will need to be addressed at some point in the future.
To provide the Council with a clear picture of these different parallel initiatives and projects, and to avoid overlap and ensure complementarity, the staff support team developed a discussion paper. In addition to an overview of the different initiatives and projects, the paper also suggests a possible approach for managing these different initiatives by focusing on 1) which elements could be implemented with relatively minimal effort, 2) which elements could be implemented with some effort, 3) which elements need careful planning and consideration before these can be implemented. It is envisioned in the paper that going forward, progress on these different initiatives could be tracked through a PDP improvements tracker to ensure oversight and allow for forward planning which can factor in these commitments. The GNSO Council discussed the discussion paper and agreed that to better understand the concept, it would be helpful to have an example of what the tracker may look like.
Here, the Council will receive a preview of the potential GNSO PDP Improvements tracker.
9.1 – Introduction of topic (Council leadership)
9.2 - Presentation (ICANN Org - Marika Konings)
9.3 – Council discussion
9.4 – Next steps
Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS (10 minutes)
10.1 – Open microphone
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Appendix 1: GNSO Council Voting Thresholds (ICANN Bylaws, Article 11, Section 11.3(i))
See https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-en/#article11.
Appendix 2: GNSO Council Absentee Voting Procedures (GNSO Operating Procedures, Section 4.4)
See https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/file/field-file-attach/op-procedures-30jan18-en.pdf
References for Coordinated Universal Time of 11:15 UTC
Local time between March and November in the NORTHERN hemisphere
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California, USA (PDT) UTC-7 04:15
San José, Costa Rica (CST) UTC-6 05:15
New York/Washington DC, USA (EDT) UTC-4 07:15
Buenos Aires, Argentina (ART) UTC-3 08:15
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (BRT) UTC-3 08:15
London, United Kingdom (BST) UTC+1 12:15
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (WAT) UTC+1 12:15
Paris, France (CEST) UTC+2 13:15
Moscow, Russia (MSK) UTC+3 14:15
Singapore (SGT) UTC+8 19:15
Melbourne, Australia (AEST) UTC+10 21:15
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DST starts on Sunday 27 March 2022, 2:00 or 3:00 local time (with exceptions) for EU countries and on Sunday 13 March 2022 for the US.
DST ends on Sunday 30 October 2022 for EU countries, and on Sunday 06 November 2022 for the US.
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For other places see http://www.timeanddate.com and https://tinyurl.com/45b569zw.
