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/iwTVD.
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 on Thursday, 20 October 2022 at 20:00 UTC: https://tinyurl.com/4yanvjs5
13:00 Los Angeles; 16:00 Washington DC; 21:00 London; 22:00 Paris; 23:00 Moscow; (Friday) 07:00 Melbourne
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: https://icann.zoom.us/j/92399217049?pwd=WU1GZmlaOTh6NzJ1NndkRVF0MnJEUT09
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 minutes)
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 25 August 2022 were posted on 07 September 2022.
Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on 21 September 2022 part 1 and part 2 were posted on 15 October 2022.
Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List (0 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 (5 minutes)
- Approval of the updated standard term for the GNSO liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC).
- Reappointment of Jeffrey Neuman to serve as the GNSO liaison to the GAC for a two-year term ending AGM 2024.
- Confirmation of the GNSO representative to the Empowered Community Administration.
- Confirmation of Mike Silber to serve as the Chair of the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) on Applicant Support.
Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Whois Disclosure System Next Steps (20 minutes)
The proposed design of the Whois Disclosure System was published prior to ICANN75 and ICANN org provided a presentation of the system design to the EPDP Phase 2 small team during ICANN75. Subsequently, the small team and Council held initial discussions amongst themselves, as well as with the Board during their joint session on Tuesday. The Council discussed during its meeting on Wednesday and the small team met informally on Thursday of ICANN75.
The small team has since met several times to determine whether 1) does the Whois Disclosure System align with the expectations as set out in the small team’s preliminary report, 2) will implementation of the Whois Disclosure System deliver the information to help inform Council-Board consultations on the cost-benefit of the SSAD recommendations, 3) Does the small team recommend to the GNSO Council that it requests the ICANN Board to proceed with the implementation of the Whois Disclosure System. The small team is recording its conclusions in an addendum to the preliminary report that it will share with the GNSO Council for its review and adoption.
Here, the Council will consider the status of work of the small team on the Whois Disclosure System.
4.1 – Introduction of topic (Sebastien Ducos, small team lead)
4.2 – Council discussion
4.3 - Next steps
Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team - Assignments #1 (Enforcement and Reporting) and #2 (Measurement of Accuracy) Write Up (20 minutes)
The Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team was initiated by the GNSO Council in July 2021 per the formation instructions. The Scoping Team was tasked with considering a number of accuracy-related factors such as the current enforcement, reporting, measurement, and overall effectiveness of accuracy-related efforts. These considerations are expected to help inform its deliberations and the development of recommendations to the GNSO Council on whether any changes are recommended to improve accuracy levels, and, if so, how and by whom these changes would need to be developed (for example, if changes to existing contractual requirements are recommended, a PDP or contractual negotiations may be necessary to effect a change).
The RDA Scoping Team submitted a Project Change Request (PCR) to Council on 10 May 2022. The Scoping Team has since completed Assignment #1 (enforcement and reporting) and Assignment #2 (measurement of accuracy) and submitted its write up to the Council on 5 September 2022. In the write up, the group is suggesting moving forward with two proposals that would not require access to registration data, namely a registrar survey (recommendation #1) and a possible registrar audit (recommendation #2) that may help further inform the team’s work on assignment #3 (effectiveness) and #4 (impact & improvements), while it awaits the outcome of the outreach to the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) by ICANN org in relation to proposals that would require access to registration data (recommendation #3).
As has been communicated previously, Michael Palage will be confirming his resignation as Chair of this group to the Council. The Council will need to consider the proper timing for identifying a new Chair for this effort.
Here, the Council will seek to identify whether to approve the recommendations put forward by the Scoping Team (e.g., registrar survey and/or registrar audit).
5.1 – Introduction of topic (Council leadership)
5.2 - Discussion
5.3 – Next steps
Item 6. COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Discussion of GAC’s request for additional members in Applicant Support GGP Working Group (15 minutes)
On 25 August 2022, the GNSO Council voted to initiate a GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) on Applicant Support. Shortly thereafter, GNSO support staff sent messages to the SO/AC/SG/Cs, inviting them to identify Members for the Working Group, following the Working Group composition described in the initiation request.
In the GAC’s ICANN75 Kuala Lumpur Communique, the GAC communicated that its desire for the Council to, “allow broader participation from interested GAC participants, as well as other members of the community, beyond the single member per Advisory Committee presently envisioned by the call for volunteers communicated to the GAC.” The GAC also sent correspondence to the GNSO Council, requesting that membership be expanded from a single member to two (2) members and two (2) alternates from the GAC.
The Council has noted that it has intentionally kept the membership narrow in order to better ensure an efficient and effective outcome. In that regard, the Council has noted that beyond the Working Group membership, external subject matter expertise can be pursued.
Here, the Council will discuss the GAC’s request and seek to agree on the appropriate outcome.
6.1 – Introduction of topic (Council leadership)
6.2 – Council discussion
6.3 – Next steps
Item 7: COUNCIL UPDATE - Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) (15 minutes)
The EPDP on IDNs was initiated by the Council on 20 May 2021 and the team began meeting in August 2021. While Edmon Chung was initially approved to serve as the Chair of the EPDP, he stepped down upon being appointed to the ICANN Board. Donna Austin was confirmed to replace Edmon as Chair of the EPDP in September 2021. In October 2021, the Council acknowledged the EPDP on IDNs’ work plan.
The EPDP Team has been meeting weekly and making progress against its charter, but the complexity of the subject matter and the charter questions, as well as the implications on the New gTLD Program processes and other ICANN policies and procedures (and thus, the need to adequately understand all of these elements) has challenged agreed upon timelines in the work plan. The EPDP Team is anticipating submitting a Project Change Request (PCR) in November, but the Chair and the EPDP believes that it is important for the Council to understand the need for a project plan update, what is changing, and the implications of those changes, prior to being asked to make a decision on the PCR.
Here, the Council will be provided with an update on the EPDP on IDNs and an overview of the expected PCR.
7.1 – Introduction of topic (Donna Austin, Chair of the EPDP on IDNs): Slides
7.2 – Council discussion
7.3 – Next steps
Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS Abuse Small Team Report (15 minutes)
At ICANN72, the GNSO Council agreed to establish a small team to consider and recommend next steps for the Council related to DNS abuse, if any. An assignment form was drafted and the team held its first meeting 9 February 2022. The team performed outreach to interested community groups to better understand what DNS abuse related issues need to be addressed specifically via gTLD policy development. The small team considered this same question amongst its members and respective SG/Cs. The Council sent outreach letters to the ALAC, GAC, SSAC, and the DNS Abuse Institute and received input from all of these groups, as well as from a number of the SG/Cs.
The small team carefully considered all input received and has reached agreement on a set of 4 recommendations. The small team reached these conclusions by thinking of DNS abuse as taking place in phases (e.g., malicious domain registration/domain being compromised, DNS abuse being reported, action being taken by a well-positioned party). These phases helped the small team to better understand which elements are best addressed via policy development versus another mechanism. To that end, the small team has concluded that improvements in DNS abuse mitigation can be sought via three buckets: through education / communication / outreach, through contractual negotiations, and/or policy development.
The small team delivered its report to Council on 10 October 2022.. Any next steps for the recommendations will be determined by the Council.
Here, the Council will receive a briefing on the report and consider next steps.
8.1 – Introduction of topic (Mark Datysgeld & Paul McGrady, small team co-leads)
8.2 – Council discussion
8.3 – Next steps
Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SPS planning (10 minutes)
The GNSO Council will hold its Strategic Planning Session (SPS) from 14-16 December in Los Angeles, a return to the face to face format. The Council leadership team has been coordinating with GNSO support staff on the planning of this event and has put together a proposed set of themes and high level agenda for the SPS. The themes for the SPS are inspired by and take into account input received to date from Councilors through the early input survey that was circulated in July of this year .
Here, Council leadership will provide an overview of the proposed themes for the SPS and invite input from Councilors on how the agenda might be improved.
9.1 – Introduction of topic (Council leadership): Slides
9.2 – Council discussion
9.3 – Next steps
Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS (10 minutes)
10.1 – Vacant Council Liaison positions (TPR, Accuracy) + Council liaison to the RPMs IRT
10.2 – Council participant in the ICANN Academy Leadership Program prior to ICANN76
10.3 - Potential Council public comment on the Pilot Holistic Review Draft Terms of Reference
10.4 – Zoom photo shoot of new Council
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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 20:00 UTC
Local time between March and November in the NORTHERN hemisphere
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San José, Costa Rica (CST) UTC-6 14:00
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Paris, France (CEST) UTC+2 22:00
Moscow, Russia (MSK) UTC+3 23:00
Singapore (SGT) UTC+8 (Friday) 04:00
Melbourne, Australia (AEST) UTC+10 (Friday) 07:00
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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/4yanvjs5.