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GNSO Council Meeting #10 of 2022 held on 20 Oct 2022 

• Agenda
• Matters of Interest
• Meeting Record
• Special Summary Report

GNSO Council Meeting #10 of 2022 held on 20 Oct 2022

Full Agenda  |  Motions 

• Item 1: Administrative Matters
• Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
• Item 3: Consent Agenda
• Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Whois Disclosure System Next Steps
• Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team - Assignments #1 (Enforcement and Reporting) and #2 (Measurement of Accuracy) Write Up
• Item 6. COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Discussion of GAC’s request for additional members in Applicant Support GGP Working Group
• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS Abuse Small Team Report 
• Item 8: COUNCIL UPDATE - Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)
• Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SPS planning
• Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS 

For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above

Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large

• Item 1: Administrative Matters
  • 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 3: Consent Agenda

  • 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 Greg DiBiase, GNSO Council Vice-Chair as 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
  • 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.
• Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team - Assignments #1 (Enforcement and Reporting) and #2 (Measurement of Accuracy) Write Up
  • 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.
  • Council will discuss how to proceed.
• Item 6. COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Discussion of GAC’s request for additional members in Applicant Support GGP Working Group

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Council will discuss the GAC’s request and seek to agree on the appropriate outcome.

• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS Abuse Small Team Report 
  • 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 (ALAC, GAC, SSAC, the DNS Abuse Institute, SG/Cs) to better understand what DNS abuse related issues need to be addressed specifically via gTLD policy development.

  • The small team carefully considered all input received and has reached agreement on a set of 4 recommendations, 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. Council will receive a briefing on the report and consider next steps.

• Item 8: COUNCIL UPDATE - Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)
  • 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.
  • Council will be provided with an update on the EPDP on IDNs and an overview of the expected PCR.

Records of 20 Oct 2022 Meeting

• Audio Recording
• Zoom Recording (includes chat and visual and rough transcript. To access the rough transcript, select the Audio Transcript tab)
• Transcript
• Minutes

Special Summary Report of 20 Oct 2022 Meeting to ALT-PLUS

For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Oct 2022 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Oct 2022 Meeting Records.

1. Consent Agenda

• 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 Greg DiBiase, GNSO Council Vice-Chair as 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.

2. Whois Disclosure System (WDS) Next Steps

• Council received an update on the EPDP Phase 2 small team's progress post its preliminary report, that it is considering 3 remaining questions:-
  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.
• Council can expect recommendation(s) from the small team for Council's Nov 2022 meeting.
• In the mean time, Council will decide subsequently how it wishes to convey its decision on the WDS to the Board. 

3. Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team

• Council is supportive to pause next steps on the Registration Data Accuracy pending more information from the European Data Protection Board, and when DPA is executed between ICANN and contracted parties, then reassess the assignment and see if anything needs to be modified, and then go forward for a new chair. Council  retains concerns that we should not lose sight of the need to complete the relevant work.
• Council also thought it prudent to proceed with identifying a new Chair for the Scoping Team in the mean time.

4. Applicant Support GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) Working Group

• Council weighed the GAC's request to allow broader participation from interested GAC participants beyond the single member per Advisory Committee per Council's resolution to initiate the GPP, and appeared to be in favour of GAC - and every other group - having an alternate also, if they so choose, provided that the alternate would not be counted in any consensus call.
• GNSO Council leadership team will inform the GAC leadership team of the Council’s decision with respect to the GAC’s request for additional members, specifically, to revise the membership to allow each group to designate an alternate member; as well as to notify the SGs, SOs, and ACs of the change in membership structure.

5. Expedited Policy Development Process on Internationalized Domain Names

• Council receivednotice of a Project Change Request (PCR) to amend the EPDP's Project Plan. Essentially, a number of underlying factors have made it necessary for the project plan to be amended significantly but the leadership of the EPDP have made concerted effort to re-organise the EPDP's work in a conservative manner.
• The impact suggested in the pending PCR is to split the EPDP's work into 2 phases, which would result in 2 initial reports and 2 final reports (one each for TL and SL charter questions), and a significant extension of the timeline for concluding the EPDP's work. 
• Council is to confirm whether the suggested path is acceptable when the PCR is submitted for Council's Nov 2022 meeting. 

6. DNS Abuse Small Team

• The Small Team on DNS Abuse's report and 4 recommendations remains as discussed at ICANN75.
• Some Councilors sought clarity on next steps for recommendations #1, #2, #3 to which the answer was specific approaches had yet to be ascertained at this point and that more data was needed for that.  The Small Team was essentially seeking support for the Small Team to regroup to draft the letter to Contracted Parties (CP) for such a purpose, and asking CPs how best to address the gaps identified in the RA (namely, in Spec 11 3(b) and RAA (namely, in s. 3.18.1) which is the subject of recommendation #4.
• Council is expecting a motion to consider how to proceed on the report and recommendations.

GNSO Council Meeting #4 of 2022 held on 14 Apr 2022 

• Agenda
• Matters of Interest
• Meeting Record
• Special Summary Report

GNSO Council Meeting #4 of 2022 held on 14 Apr 2022 

Full Agenda   

• Item 1: Administrative Matters
• Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
• Item 3: Consent Agenda - None
• Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Small Team Reviewing the System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) Operational Design Assessment Preliminary Draft Report
• Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Overview of the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protection for IGOs Final Report
• Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS Abuse Small Team Update
• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Closed Generics Small Team Update
• Item 8: Any other business
  • 8.1: ICANN74 update and planning
  • 8.2: Council expertise survey reminder

For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above

Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large

• Item 1: Administrative Matters

  • Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on 17 February 2022 were posted on 07 March 2022.

  • Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on 09 March 2022 were posted on 24 March 2022 .

• Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Small Team Reviewing the System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) Operational Design Assessment Preliminary Draft Report
  • The small team delivered its preliminary report to Council on 4 April 2022.
  • Council will discuss the small team’s preliminary report and discuss next steps, including providing an update to the ICANN Board on the status of work and expected timing
• Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Overview of the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protection for IGOs Final Report
  • This EPDP Team reached full consensus on its five recommendations and delivered its Final Report on 4 April 2022

  • Council will receive an overview of the five recommendations contained in the EPDP Team’s Final Report.  Presentation

  • While the Council will not be voting on the Final Report during this meeting, a draft motion was also shared on 4 April 2022, which continues a recent practice of the Council reviewing and discussing PDP/EPDP final reports in detail prior to voting on them, generally at the subsequent meeting.

• Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS Abuse Small Team Update

  • Council sent outreach letters to the ALAC, GAC, SSAC, and the DNS Abuse Institute, with input due on 4 April 2022 (after an extension was granted).

  • The small team has worked to more precisely understand its work, developing and discussing a draft work plan. The work is broken into several phases, starting with the aforementioned outreach to the community, understanding the current landscape of DNS abuse, considering which elements of DNS abuse appear inadequately mitigated AND are in scope for GNSO policy making (if any), then making recommendations on next steps to the Council.

  • The small team will provide an update on its efforts and explain expected next steps.  

Action by ALAC Liaison

•  To ensure ALAC input is understood by DNS Abuse Small Team.

    See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking. 

• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Closed Generics Small Team Update
  • 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.” ICANN org's draft Framing Paper to support the potential collaboration between the GNSO and the GAC followed so after.
  • Council established a small team to consider both the letter and framework, to determine next steps, relying on an assignment form to help 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). All of the more substantive steps, both to  determine the parameters and modalities for a potential GNSO/GAC joint group, as well as seeking to establish a framework for closed generics, are out of scope for this small team.
  • Council will received an update on the small team's work.

Action by ALAC Liaison

•  To monitor developments and to ensure role for ALAC/At-Large in resulting process.

    See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking. 

Records of 14 Apr 2022 Meeting

• Audio Recording
• Zoom Recording (includes chat and visual and rough transcript. To access the rough transcript, select the Audio Transcript tab)
• Zoom Chat
• Transcript
• Minutes 

Special Summary Report of 14 Apr 2022 Meeting to ALT-PLUS

For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Apr 2022 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Apr 2022 Meeting Records.

1. SSAD ODA

• Council SSAD ODA small team lead Sebastien Ducos spoke to the small team's preliminary report and essentially asked Council for support to provide ICANN Board with an update (in response to concerns as to the SSAD's financial sustainability) and to pursue further work on the recommended "proof of concept" referred to in the said report.

NB. Alan Greenberg has presented on the preliminary report to CPWG on 6 Apr.   

2. EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protection for IGOs Final Report

• Council received a presentation of the 5 recommendations from this EPDP's Chair, Chris Disspain, which he noted as having had full consensus within the EPDP (ALAC included). As per normal practice, Council will only vote on a motion to the recommendations at Council's May 2022 meeting (i.e. the meeting following which a motion on a final report is submitted).

NB. Yrjo Lansipuro and I had presented on the substance of the Final Report to CPWG on 23 Mar, and Yrjo has provided updates re its consensus designation thereafter.

3. DNS Abuse

• Council DNS Abuse small team co-lead Mark Datysgeld spoke to the team's draft work plan comprising several phases, starting with outreach to the community, to understand the current landscape of DNS abuse, considering which elements of DNS abuse appear inadequately mitigated AND are in scope for GNSO policy making (if any), and ultimately to make recommendations on next steps to the Council.
• Small team has received initial inputs from ALAC, GAC, SSAC and DNSAI; followed by BC, and is currently awaiting submissions from other SG/Cs.

NB. In other words, there is nowhere near any concrete output yet.

4. Closed Generics

• To be clear, the GNSO Council Small Team on Closed Generics wasn't charged with substantive content-specific tasks, but instead it had only been charged with recommending whether GNSO should accept the Board's invitation to dialogue with the GAC. Also, there were remarks on the unrepresentative nature of the small team even though it was open to any councilor to volunteer for.
• The small team has had one meeting so far, which was spent attempting to resolve NCSG's objection to the Board-proposed GNSO-GAC Dialogue mechanism based on several grounds, inter alia - 
• unconventional and not provided for within GNSO processes or the ICANN Bylaws, 
• sets precedent for opening settled PDP for re-litigation, 
• gives GAC undue influence over Closed Generics (or any matter under the remit of GNSO per the Bylaws).
• Council discussed NCSG's objection and informally resolved to ask the small team to continue its work, on the assumption that Council will accept the Board's invitation to dialogue with GAC and specifically, in particular on how Council should approach the dialogue.

NB. Do note that (a) GAC has accepted the Board's invitation to dialogue with GNSO and Manal's letter to Maarten of 10 Mar 2022 clearly welcomed ALAC's participation in a consultation process on Closed Generics; (b) Philippe had also suggested that the small team may wish to consider the feasibility of ALAC's participation in the dialogue.

5. ICANN74 planning

• I raised the question whether there might be an ALAC-GNSO Council bilateral at ICANN74; due to brevity in length of ICANN74 and associated challenges of insufficient resources (suitable time, room and staff support) it is now thought that a meeting between the Leaderships of ALAC and GNSO Council would be a better approach to continue any intersessional work between the 2 groups.