Page History

Developments in 2021-2023 on:

• Next Steps for New gTLD Round (post 2022/2023 Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA))
• Additional Work on Subsequent Procedures (including re: Applicant Support; Closed Generics)
• Potential Council next steps regarding DNS abuse
• Modifying gTLD Consensus Policies
• Transfer Policy Review Policy Development Process (TPR-PDP)
• Internationalized Domain Names Expedited Policy Development Process (IDNs-EPDP)
• Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team
• Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data / System for Standardized Access/Disclosure Operational Design Phase (SSAD ODP)

Next Steps for a New gTLD Round 2023 (post Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA))  

2023 - Post ODA

• 15 Jun: GNSO Council submitted its ICANN77 Deliverable Work plan & Timeline SubPro Related Activities as requested by the ICANN Board in its 16 Mar resolution
• 5 Jun: GNSO Council holds extraordinary meeting to discuss completion of outstanding SubPro-related work.
• 22 May: GNSO Council meets with the ICANN Board on pending SubPro recommendations.
• 4 May: GNSO Council holds extraordinary meeting to discuss the Proposal of SubPro Small Team Triage Exercise and determine next steps on the 38 pending recommendations.
• 23 Mar: GNSO Council received letter from GAC in respect of GAC input on GAC Priority Topics relative to SubPro Recommendations marked as "pending" 
• 22 Mar: GNSO Chair sends letter to ICANN Board and Sally Costerton noting Council's appreciation on progress made during recent weeks and at ICANN76 towards "getting things done".
• 21 Mar: GNSO Council constitutes a Council Small Team to conduct Council triage for the 38 Pending SubPro Outputs, comprising Anne Aikman-Scalese (NCA), Bruna Martins dos Santos (NCSG), Jeff Neuman (GNSO Liaison to SubPro ODP), Justine Chew (ALAC Liaison to GNSO), Nacho Amados (RySG), Paul McGrady (NCA-NCPH), Sebastien Ducos (RySG), Stephanie Perrin (NCSG), Susan Payne (IPC) and Tomslin Samme-Nlar (NCSG).
• 16 Mar: GNSO Council receives letter from ICANN Board in respect of Board's action on SubPro Final Report

   *16 Mar: ICANN Board resolves during its Board Meeting at ICANN76 to adopt the SubPro Outputs in Section A of its "Scorecard on Subsequent Procedures PDP" (Scorecard); marking 38 Outputs in Section B of the Scorecard as "pending" and noting ongoing community discussions relating to Topic 17: Applicant Support, Topic 23: Closed Generics, and Topic 25: Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), as well as additional dependencies concerning specific Review Team Recommendations, the Name Collision Analysis Project Study 2 Report (NCAP2), and other items noted in Section C of the Scorecard.

Additional Work on Subsequent Procedures  – TO MONITOR THIS for ALAC/At-Large participation.

2022

• 21 Nov: GGP on Applicant Support kicks off.
• 20 Oct: Mike Silber was confirmed by Council as the Chair for the GGP.
• 25 Aug: Council resolved unanimously to initiate the GGP using a "Representative + Observers" WG model with each SG/C/AC to be invited to nominate a representative. The GGP will start with Applicant Support first, with the possibility of adding further topics down the line.
• 12 Aug: Council is expected to consider and vote on a new version of the GGP on Application Support. In brief, this version of the GPP on Application Support proposes as follows: 
  • A (smaller) Working Group employing a “Representative + Observers” model, to conduct and conclude its work, and oversight activities, in an efficient/effective manner while allowing for inclusive community participation. GNSO Council retains oversight, as with any GNSO WG.
  • Each AC/SG, ASO and ccNSO may appoint 1 Member to the WG, who are expected to represent the view of their appointing organization and may be called on to provide the official position of their appointing
    organization and will be responsible for participating in GGP consensus calls. Appointing organizations may replace their Member(s) at their discretion.
  • Members must either possess a level of expertise in previous deliberations and/or knowledge that may have been lacking during those initial deliberations.
  • The WG has the flexibility/discretion to rely on Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in specific fields to aid in deliberations for certain tasks, but these SMEs will not be considered as Members of the WG.
  • The GNSO Liaison to the ODP may serve as an non-voting member of the WG to advise on issues discussed within the SubPro PDP.
• 21 Jul: Council considered a late proposed amendment to the substantive motion to establish a GGP to work just on Applicant Support. The amendment received some support and it was decided to defer this issue to Council's August 2022 meeting to allow opportunity to incorporate supported element(s) into the substantive motion for Council's consideration.
• 15 Jun: Council to proceed with a motion in its Jul meeting to establish a GGP to work just on Applicant Support through a Steering Committee (of a representative+observer model) with ultimate oversight by Council. This GGP is the proposed mechanism to address SubPro Implementation Guidance 17.5, which suggests the creation of a dedicated IRT and it be charged “with developing implementation elements of the Applicant Support Program. In conducting its work, the Implementation Review Team should revisit the 2011 Final Report of the Joint Applicant Support Working Group as well as the 2012 implementation of the Applicant Support program.” This dedicated IRT was to be charged with making substantive decisions on outreach activities and allocation of scarce resources (e.g., when there are more qualified applicants than available funds), among other activities.
• 19 May: Council to explore (intersessionally) the Draft New gTLD Subsequent Procedures GNSO Guidance Process (GPP) Initiation Request.
• 5 May: Council received a Draft New gTLD Subsequent Procedures GNSO Guidance Process (GPP) Initiation Request for its consideration. This will likely be discussed at Council's May 2022 meeting.
• 9 Mar: Based on GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update - Question set #2, Council discussed options for the way forward to deal with a number of areas possibly considered as incomplete in terms policy-development: including on Applicant Support, SPIRT, challenges and appeals. But Council has yet to determine the mechanism to adopt. 

RE: Closed Generics, specifically

2023

• End May: Draft framework for Closed Generics  expected to be delivered to the ALAC, GAC, GNSO and other SOACs for community input.
• 11 Mar: (CG) GNSO-GAC-ALAC Dialogue face-to-face meeting
• 31 Jan: (CG): GNSO-GAC-ALAC Dialogue face-to-face meeting.

2022

• 2 Sep: (CG): Council leadership initiates selection by SGs for their representatives for the dialogue.
• 9 Aug: (CG): ALAC receives invitation to formally join GNSO and GAC as parties to the Dialogue on Closed Generics.
• 21 Jul: (CG): Still awaiting convening of the Dialogue, which is inter alia subject to the identification/nomination of representatives from the GNSO and GAC.
• 29 Jun: (CG): Council has sent a letter to the Board and the GAC relaying its recommendations on the GAC-GNSO Dialogue; cc-ed to ALAC Chair, appending the Jun 2022 report of the Council Small Team on Closed Generics.
• 15 Jun: (CG): Council has agreed to relay its recommendations to the Board and GAC as the next step leading to the start of the GAC-GNSO Dialogue, with ALAC participation.  
• 19 May (CG): Council Chair Philippe Fouquart received a reply from Maarten Botterman to Council's 27 Apr letter; inter alia encourages GAC and Council to confer on the question of ALAC's participation in the consultative process.
• 5 May (CG): Council's reconstituted Small Team now comprises Paul McGrady (NCA-Non CPH), Kurt Pritz (RySG), Manju Chen (NCSG), Jeff Neuman (GNSO Liaison to GAC), Justine Chew (ALAC Liaison to GNSO), Greg Dibiase (RrSG), Desiree Miloshevic (NCA-CPH), and Marie Pattulo (CSG); also Council leadership comprising Philippe Fouquart, Sebastien Ducos, and Tomslin Samme-Nlar.
• 27 Apr (CG): Council replied to the ICANN Board, accepting the invitation for a facilitated dialogue with the GAC on Closed Generics.
  • In its reply, Council noted there being no SubPro recommendation to change current policy on Closed Generics, the approach for the immediate next round of New gTLD applications would be out of harmony with GAC Advice on Closed Generics (namely that closed generics ought to serve a public interest goal).
  • Council stated that Council will pursue next steps for the dialogue (a) on the basis of the Board having asked that its facilitated dialogue be limited to making Closed Generics available with restrictions, including for eg. that they serve a public interest goal; (b) subject to mutual agreement with the GAC on conditions for that dialogue.
  • Council also noted to the Board, NCSG's opposition to the limited dialogue party approach. 
  • (NB. The earlier convened Council small team will now be reconstituted with a larger/more representative membership of Councillors to develop conditions for the dialogue)
• 22 Apr (GC): GAC responded to the Board's 6 Mar and 10 Mar letters, raising points on the ICANN Org's Framing Paper.
• 6 Apr (CG): Council CGs Framing Paper Small Team convened with narrow remit of "proposing to Council next steps in responding to the Board proposal (i.e., whether or not the Council is open to working with the GAC on developing a framework for closed generics)" – Council to decide.
• 30 Mar (CG): Board replied to GAC's 10 Mar letter, acknowledging GAC’s willingness to have ALAC participate in the consultation process; encourages GAC and GNSO Council to consider this matter as part of the discussions regarding the proposed dialogue.
• 15 Mar (CG): Council to convene small team to review the ICANN Org's framework paper regarding the Board-facilitated dialogue between GNSO-GAC, and to suggest next steps.
• 10 Mar (CG):  Further to the 7 Mar correspondence, the Board forwarded ICANN Org's Framing Paper for the dialogue on Closed Generics.
• 10 Mar (CG): GAC replied to the Board's 6 Mar letter, agreeing to participate in dialogue and welcomed participation from the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) in this consultation process.
• 6 Mar (CG): ICANN Board wrote to the GAC and Council requesting for facilitated dialogue on way forward with Closed Generics (CG).

Potential Council next steps regarding DNS abuse  – TO MONITOR THIS and ENSURE ALAC input is understood.

2023

• 29 Jun: Council replies to RrSG, RySG, Contractual Compliance and DNSAI on Bulk registrations.
• 15 May: Council's small team shared its initial feedback regarding the input received on the issue of bulk registrations.

 * 25 Apr: ICANN announced its funding of a new project called Inferential Analysis of Maliciously Registered Domains (INFERMAL) to explore drivers of malicious domain name registrations.

• 20 Apr: Council has determined that this small team should continue its work reviewing the replies received from RySG, RrSG, ICANN Contractual Compliance and DNS Abuse Institute to the two 6 Jan letters. This Council small team now has a refreshed membership of Thomas Rickert, Mark Datysgeld, Wisdom Donkor, Theo Geurts, Sebastien Ducos, Greg DiBiase, Tomslin Samme-Nlar, Paul McGrady, Nacho Amadoz and Justine Chew.

 * 19 Apr: Justine's 4th presentation on a summary of the replies below

• 13 Mar: RrSG reply re: Bulk Registrations
• 7 Mar: CPH (RySG & RrSG) reply re: Targeted contractual amendments
• 3 Mar: RySG reply re: Bulk Registrations
• 27 Feb: DNSAI reply re: Bulk Registrations
• 23 Feb: ICANN Contractual Compliance reply re: Bulk Registrations
• 6 Jan: GNSO Council letters (borne out of the work of the GNSO Council Small Team on DNS Abuse) have been distributed and posted:
  • The DNS Abuse - Targeted contractual amendments letter to RrSG & RySG
  • The DNS Abuse – Bulk Registrations letter to RrSG, RySG, DNSAI, ICANN Contractual Compliance

2022

• 15 Dec: Leadership of Council's small team on DNS abuse has prepared the draft letter to the Contracted Parties for Council's approval, per the small team's Recommendation #4
• 17 Nov: Council has accepted the small team's report, containing 4 recommendations, delivered on 10 October. For more specific details on the recommendations and action, refer to the 17 Nov Special Summary Report.
• 20 Oct: Council acknowledged the Small Team's report and recommendations; acquiesced to the Small Team regrouping to work on Recommendation #4 (drafting of letter to Contracted Parties).
• 10 Oct:  Small Team's final report and recommendations were submitted to GNSO Council for consideration.
• 21 Sep:  Small Team's draft report and recommendations were presented and discussed at ALAC-GNSO meeting at ICANN75.

  *17 Aug: Justine's 3rd Presentation to CPWG on Small Team deliberations on comments received from SGs/Cs/DNSAI; + discussion on draft report

• 4 Aug: Small Team completes deliberation on comments received from outreach exercise and moves onto producing their report

  *20 Jul: Justine's 2nd Presentation to CPWG on Small Team deliberations on comments received from ALAC, GAC, SSAC

• 16 Jun: Small Team conducts meeting at ICANN 74
• 2 Jun: Small Team begins review of responses from Contractual Compliance. 

  *25 May: Justine's 1st Presentation to CPWG on responses from Contractual Compliance

• 19 May: Small Team completes review of comments received from outreach to ALAC, GAC, SSAC and DNSAI, as well as SGs (RySG) and Cs (BC).
• 20 Apr: ALAC input to 7 Mar letter considered by Small Team and well received, in general.
• 6 Apr: Input received from BC. Small Team met, to proceed with info gathering from Contractual Compliance in respect of action to do with DNS Abuse vis a vis Contracted Parties. Still awaiting input from other SG/Cs.
• 4 Apr: Small Team received responses from ALAC, GAC, SSAC and DNSAI to 7 Mar letters. Small Team to meet 6 Apr.
• 18 Mar: Reply date for 7 Mar letter to ALAC extended to 4 Apr.
• 7 Mar: Council issued letters to ALAC, GAC, SSAC and the DNS Abuse Institute (DNSAI) to seek input on what DNS abuse issues are best mitigated via policy development specifically, if any, as a mechanism to help determine the Council’s next steps on DNS abuse; to reply by 21 Mar. Input to be sought from each SG also. More respondents may be approached at a later date. 
• 9 Feb: Small Team initial meeting. Updates to be provided at Council Meeting #2 of 2022.
• 4 Feb: Council small team (comprising Thomas Rickert, Mark Datysgeld, Wisdom Donkor, Maxim Alzoba, Sebastien Ducos, Greg DiBiase, and Justine Chew, also Philippe Fouquart, Tomslin Samme-Nlar, and Paul McGrady) set to begin work on 9 Feb.

2021

• 28 Oct: A Council small team (comprising Thomas Rickert, Mark Datysgeld, Wisdom Donkor, Kristian Ormen, Maxim Alzoba, Sebastien Ducos) to draft potential GNSO Council next steps regarding DNS abuse. 

ICANN Org Discussion paper on Modifying gTLD Consensus Policies –  TO MONITOR THIS and assess for ALAC input opportunities.

2022

• 4 May: ICANN Org (GDS) met with Council and SG/C Chairs to progress ongoing discussions on the Oct 2021 Discussion Paper on Modifying gTLD Consensus Policies (Zoom Recording). Discussions to continue.
• 25 Apr: Council received a GNSO-sec-developed Discussion Paper on suggested Tracking & Coordination of PDP Improvements
• 6 Apr: Exchanges between Council and GDS ongoing.
• 20 Jan: Council to approach ICANN Org on efficient way to address concerns raised in Discussion Paper.
• NB. Council small team has expanded (now comprises John McElwaine, Maxim Alzoba, Stephanie Perrin, Antonia Chu, Thomas Rickert, Steve DelBianco, Chris Disspain, Susan Mohr, Sebastien Ducos, and Owen Smigelski)

2021

• 28 Oct: A Council small team (comprising John McElwaine, Maxim Alzoba, Stephanie Perrin, Antonia Chu, Thomas Rickert and possibly others) to review the Discussion Paper on Modifying gTLD Consensus Policies and develop a draft response. 

Transfer Policy Review Policy Development Process (TPR-PDP)

2023

• 11 Jan: In the course of Phase 1 work conducted to date, the WG discovered that certain Phase 2 topics must be addressed before Phase 1 recommendations can be fully developed. As a result, the PDP leadership team alerts Council to Project Change Request (PCR) to update its work plan to consolidate all work into a single phase and change the order in which topics are considered. This will impact the timeline for key deliverables.

2022

• 21 Jun - 16 Aug: WG conducts public comment for its Phase 1A Initial Report 

2021

• 16 Dec: Council approved a Project Change Request (PCR) to update charter topics considered in Phase 1 of the TPR-PDP by moving the topic of NACK (rejection of transfer request) of an unauthorized transfer to Phase 1a scope from Phase 2.
• May: WG begins meeting
• Feb: Council initiated the two-phased Transfer Policy Review PDP

Internationalized Domain Names EPDP

2023

• 14 Jun: GNSO Council received the latest project plan from the IDNs EPDP Working Group (WG), which provides that:
  • Phase 1 Final Report is expected to be delivered to Council in Nov 2023
  • Council then considers this Phase 1 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
  • Phase 2 Initial Report is expected to be published for public comment in May 2025
  • Phase 2 Final Report is expected to be delivered to Council in Nov 2025
  • Council then considers this Phase 2 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
  • The IDNs EPDP WG is already taking steps to improve its timeline to expedite completion of its work well ahead of the Nov 2025 target 
• 25 May: GNSO Council received a presentation from the EPDP Chair in response to the ICANN Board's request to Council noted in the Board's 16 Mar letter to Council.
• 16 Mar: GNSO Council receives letter from ICANN Board in respect of Board's action on SubPro Final Report; item 4 pertains to the work of the IDNs EPDP.

2022

• 17 Nov: Council approved the EPDP's Project Change Request (PCR). With this PCR, the EPDP seeks to facilitate the implementation planning of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures by bifurcating its work into two phases, with Phase 1 covering topics related to top-level IDN gTLD definition and variant management, and Phase 2 covering issues pertaining to second-level IDN variant management, which also requires a timeline extension due to the diversity and complexity of IDN issues, additional data collection needs, review of ICANN org input for draft recommendations, and public comment-related processes. The timeline now contemplated is:
  • Publish Phase 1 Initial Report for Public Comment by April 2023
  • Submit Phase 1 Final Report to the GNSO Council by November 2023
  • Publish Phase 2 Initial Report for Public Comment by April 2025
  • Submit Phase 2 Final Report to the GNSO Council by November 2025
• 10 Oct: Council is alerted to an impending Project Change Request (PCR) which seeks significant changes to the EPDP's project plan. 

  * 22 Sep: ICANN Board has approved the IDN Guidelines version 4.1 except the deferred guidelines 6a, 11, 12, 13, 18 and associated Additional Notes, and directed these to be published as IDN Guidelines version 4.1 and to supersede version 3.0.

• 20 Jan: Council to send letter to ICANN Board responding to the Board’s 20 Oct letter regarding the IDN Implementation Guidelines v4.0.

2021

• 16 Dec: Council Leadership to draft a response to the ICANN Board’s 20 Oct letter regarding the IDN Implementation Guidelines v4.0.
• 18 Nov: Council has yet to discuss its approach for the response to the ICANN Board’s 20 Oct letter regarding the IDN Implementation Guidelines v4.0.
• Aug: The Expedited Policy Development Process on Internationalized Domain Names (EPDP on IDNs) commenced work on its Charter Questions.

Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team

2023

• 20 Apr: Council considered the RDA Scoping Team Survey Summary Results and ICANN org's 14 Mar input.
• 14 Mar: ICANN org replies to Council's 1 Dec 2022 letter for an update on outstanding issues related to registration data accuracy and the pending work of the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team.

2022

• 1 Dec: Council sent letter to ICANN org requesting an update on outstanding issues related to registration data accuracy and the pending work of the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team.
• 17 Nov: Council adopted recommendation #3 and deferred consideration of recommendations #1 and #2 as contained in the Scoping Team's write up to the Council of 5 September 2022. For more specific details on the recommendations and action, refer to the 17 Nov Special Summary Report.
• 10 Oct: The Scoping Team has 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). Council is seeking a new Chair for the Scoping Team.
• 10 May: The RDA Scoping Team submitted a Project Change Request (PCR) to Council. 

18 Nov 2021

• Council received notice that the ICANN Board has selected two Board members to serve as liaisons to this Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team. They are Becky Burr and Harald Alvestrand (alternate).
• Council has acknowledged the Registration Data Accuracy - Scoping Team (RDA_ST) Project Plan

Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data / System for Standardized Access/Disclosure Operational Design Phase (SSAD ODP);  See: https://www.icann.org/ssadodp for more official info

2023

• 22 Mar: GNSO Chair sends letter to ICANN Board and Sally Costerton noting Council's appreciation on progress made during recent weeks and at ICANN76 towards "getting things done".
• 11 Mar: GNSO EPDP Phase 2 (SSAD) - Implementation of Whois Disclosure System at ICANN76 - Whois Disclosure System (WDS) now known as Registration Data Request Service (RDRS).
• 6 Mar: Council receives ICANN Board's reply to Council's 17 Nov 2022 letter on Council’s recommendations for how to proceed with the WHOIS Disclosure System (WDS).
• 27 Feb: ICANN Board adopted a resolution directing ICANN org to proceed to develop and launch the WDS as soon as possible. The Board also authorized the use of the Supplemental Fund for the Implementation of Community Recommendations to support this work. In addition, the Board has directed ICANN org to continue to engage with the Phase 2 Small Team throughout the development and operation of the System, and ensure periodic publication of the collected usage data, once operational.

2022

• 17 Nov: Council sent letter to ICANN Board alerting on Council’s recommendations for how to proceed with the WHOIS Disclosure System (WDS).
• 17 Nov: Council accepted the EPDP Phase 2 small team findings and recommendations as outlined in the small team's addendum and confirmed that pending the implementation and subsequent running of the Whois Disclosure System (WDS) for a period of up to two (2) years, the SSAD recommendations should remain paused for consideration by the ICANN Board.
• Oct: Council is to further discuss next steps on the Whois Disclosure System (WDS) in November.
• Sep-ICANN75: Attention on SSAD has now been redirected to ICANN Org's proposal for the Whois Disclosure System (WDS). Design for this WDS 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.
• Mar: Council Small Team seated (comprising Members: Paul McGrady, Sebastien Ducos, Marc Anderson, Stephanie Perrin, John McElwaine, Olga Cavalli, Thomas Rickert, Laureen Kapin (GAC- shared membership), Chris Lewis-Evans (GAC- shared membership), Alan Greenberg, Sarah Wyld, Steve DelBianco, Becky Burr, Steve Crocker, Philippe Fouquart (GNSO Council Observing) , Tomslin Samme Nlar  (GNSO Council Observing); and Alternates: Gregory DiBiase).
• 1 Feb: GNSO Council Chair invited GNSO SG/Cs, ALAC, GAC to nominate their EPDP Phase 2 representatives for a Council Small Team led by Sebastien Ducos to analyse the SSAD ODA to develop recommendations on next steps.  On 4 Feb, the ALAC Chair nominated Alan Greenberg (being one of the 2 ALAC EPDP Phase 2 representatives) for this Council Small Team.
• 27 Jan: Council and ICANN Board Consultation on SSAD ODP
• 18 Jan: SSAD ODP Project Update Webinar #5
• 12 Jan: A follow up discussion is held for Council and and GNSO-appointed EPDP Phase 2 members to discuss next steps ahead of Council's meeting with the ICANN Board on 27 January on concerns around financial sustainability of the SSAD (wiki)
• 5 Jan: A 4 Jan 2022 summary paper was circulated to Council members ahead of a 12 Jan call

2021

• 20 Dec: A closed session is held for Council and GNSO-appointed EPDP Phase 2 members only with the SSAD ODP Project Team focusing on the SSAD Cost Model information (presentation)
• 16 Dec: Council did not discuss GAC's letter of 15 Dec 2021 to Council regarding SSAD ODP
• 3 Dec:  ICANN's SSAD and Governmental Accreditation Authorities Webinar
• 18 Nov: ICANN Webinar: SSAD ODP Project Update Webinar #4 on the Business Process Design
• 2 Nov: ICANN Update: Contractual Compliance and Identity Verification Methodology
• 28 Oct: ICANN72 Webinar: SSAD ODP Project Update #3
• 24 Sep: ICANN Webinar: SSAD ODP Project Update #2  
• 13 Jul: ICANN Webinar: SSAD ODP Project Update

GNSO Council Meeting #7 of 2023 held on 20 Jul 2023  

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

GNSO Council Meeting #7 of 2023 held on 20 Jul 2023

Full Agenda  |  Documents  | Motions

• Item 1: Administrative Matters
• Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List. 
• Item 3: Consent Agenda
  • Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team Recommendations #1 and #2 – extending deferral of consideration by six months
  • GNSO Review of GAC Communiqué 
  • GNSO Non-Registry Liaison to the Customer Standing Committee (CSC) - Milton Mueller; [GNSO Non-Registry Liaison Alternate to the CSC - [candidate under review]]
• Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy 
• Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Operational Design Phase and Operational Design Assessment Liaison & Small Team Survey Feedback
• Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Update on Pending Recommendations - Clarifying Statement
• Item 7: Follow up on IGO Curative Rights IRT and Other Work Necessary to Achieve Release of the IGO Acronyms  Under Interim Reservation
• Item 8: IDNs EPDP Timeline
• Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
  • 9.1 ccNSO Liaison update
  • 9.2 Closed Generics Update

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 Extraordinary Council meeting on 05 June 2023 were posted on 19 June 2023
  • Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on 14 June 2023 were posted on 01 July 2023
• Item 3: Consent Agenda
  • Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team Recommendations #1 and #2 – extending deferral of consideration by six months
• Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy 
  • During Council’s extraordinary meeting on 5 June 2023, Thomas Rickert introduced an area for potential discussion at a future GNSO Council meeting.
  • Specifically, the European Union's Second Network and Information Systems Directive (“NIS2”) entered into force on 16 January 2023. Article 28, subsection 3 provides, "Member States shall require TLD name registries and the entities providing domain name registration services, those are registrars, resellers and privacy and proxy services, to have policies and procedures, including verification procedures in place to ensure that the databases referred to in paragraph 1 include accurate and complete information. Member States shall require such policies and procedures to be publicly available." Additionally, the corresponding recital number 111, provides, in part, “Those policies and procedures should take into account to the extent possible the standards developed by the multi-stakeholder governance structures at the international level." 
  • There was a suggestion to consider informal options of responding to the recital text to highlight the standards that are currently applicable.
  • Council will discuss if further work is needed on this topic, and if the GNSO is the appropriate venue for further work at this time.
• Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Operational Design Phase and Operational Design Assessment Liaison & Small Team Survey Feedback
  • Council will receive an overview of the feedback provided in the surveys issued to two GNSO Liaisons to the ODP (Janis Karklins and Jeff Neuman) and the members of both ODA review teams, and consider potential next steps such as sharing this feedback to ICANN org to help inform the upcoming community consultation.
• Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Update on Pending Recommendations - Clarifying Statement
  • Since ICANN76, the Council SubPro Small Team has met several times and has completed a comprehensive review of the issues chart, with Board member input on why the Board placed specific recommendations into a pending status. The Council discussed the main output of that triage effort, the proposed paths forward for each pending recommendation, during an Extraordinary Meeting on 4 May, in order to support the Council’s dialogue with the ICANN Board on 22 May. 
  • During the ICANN77 Day 0 Session, Council heard from the members of the Board regarding the Board’s views on potential “landing spots” on the pending recommendations. Following this discussion, the Small Team has drafted clarifying statements for items in landing spot one (“Provision of Clarifying Statement to the Board”). Immediately after ICANN77, Council submitted its ICANN77 Deliverable Work plan & Timeline SubPro Related Activities as requested by the ICANN Board in its 16 Mar resolution.
  • Council will receive an update from the Small Team on the proposed clarifying statement to the Board as well as the work that is ongoing in relation to the recommendations for which the Board has indicated likely non-adoption.
• Item 7: Follow up on IGO Curative Rights IRT and Other Work Necessary to Achieve Release of the IGO Acronyms  Under Interim Reservation
  • On 14 April 2013, the Board passed a resolution placing certain IGO acronyms under temporary reservation. In recent correspondence, the Board confirmed that its intention in passing this resolution was to “withhold these IGO acronyms from registration at the second level on an interim basis, pending resolution by the community of the inconsistencies between GAC advice and GNSO policy recommendations from the GNSO’s 2012-2013 Policy Development Process (PDP) on IGO-INGO Protections in All gTLDs.” 
  • Since the April 2013 Board resolution, the GNSO has completed two PDPs specific to curative rights protections for IGOs: (1) the PDP on IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms that was completed in 2019 and (2) the Expedited PDP (EPDP) on Specific Curative Rights Protections for IGOs that was completed in 2022.
  • On 30 April 2023, the Board voted to adopt all four recommendations that the GNSO Council approved from the 2019 PDP and all five Full Consensus recommendations from the 2022 EPDP. The Board also directed ICANN org to proceed with implementation “as soon as feasible; and to develop and submit to the Board an implementation plan … to inform the Board as to how the implementation of these recommendations fit into ICANN org’s operational planning and prioritization of its ongoing work to implement other community-developed recommendations that the Board has adopted.” 
  • Council will discuss whether it wishes to take any steps to request that ICANN org implementation of these Consensus Policy recommendations remains a high priority, understanding the need to resource this work appropriately in the context of other ongoing implementation work.
• Item 8: IDNs EPDP Timeline
  • In accordance with ICANN Board request (16 Mar resolution), the EPDP Team delivered an updated project plan by the last day of ICANN77.  It identifies that almost all of its charter questions will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, and determines that its timeline for the EPDP Team’s delivery of relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council remains unchanged, which is November 2025. 

  • Nevertheless, the EPDP Team made a commitment to reconsider its delivery date shortly after ICANN77 by taking into consideration: 

    • Closure of the Phase 1 Initial Report Public Comment period and gaining a better understanding of the breadth and quantity of comments received; 
    • A better sense of progress made on Phase 2 charter questions in advance of the schedule; and
    • More certainty of approval for the EPDP Team’s request for its dedicated face-to-face workshop, etc.  
  •  Council will hear an update on the EPDP Team’s revised schedule.
• Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
• • 9.2 Closed Generics Update 

GNSO Council Meeting #7 of 2023 held on 20 Jul 2023 at 21:00 UTC: https://tinyurl.com/5n99j4vt 

14:00 Los Angeles; 17:00 Washington DC; 22:00 London; 23:00 Paris; (Friday) 00:00 Moscow; (Friday) 07:00 Melbourne 

Non-Council members are welcome to attend the call as listen-only observers.

GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: https://icann.zoom.us/j/97891627902?pwd=RURCTitiNEVwd2UySEk1QkRESmlFZz09 

Records of 20 Jul 2023 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 Jul 2023 Meeting to ALAC

For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Jul 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Jul 2023 Meeting Records.

GNSO Council Meeting #6 of 2023 held on 14 Jun 2023 during ICANN 77 

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

GNSO Council Meeting #6 of 2023 held on 14 Jun 2023 during ICANN 77

Full Agenda  |  Documents  |  Motions

• Item 1: Administrative Matters
• Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List. 
• Item 3: Consent Agenda
  • Motion to Commemorate Pam Little

• Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Non-Objection of SubPro Timelines

• Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS ABUSE
• Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Consideration of Accuracy Scoping Team recommendations in light of 6 month timeline originally established (factoring in April meeting discussion and input received from ICANN org)
• Item 7: GNSO TOWN HALL 
• Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
  • 8.1 ccNSO & GAC Liaisons updates

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 20 April 2023 were posted on 07 May 2023.
  • Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on 25 May 2025 were posted on 09 June 2023.
  • Minutes of the GNSO Extraordinary Council meeting on 05 June will be posted on 19 June 2023.

• Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Non-Objection of SubPro Timelines

  • At ICANN76, the Board resolved to adopt the majority of the recommendations from the Final Report of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP. The Board also resolved that the Outputs in Section B of the Scorecard be designated as pending.

  • Further, the Board resolved that several deliverables be completed by the last day of the ICANN77 Public Meeting (15 June 2023):

    1. A plan and timeline as agreed upon by the ICANN Board and the GNSO Council for consideration and resolution of all Outputs contained in Section B of the Scorecard;
    2. A working methodology and IRT work plan and timeline as agreed upon by ICANN org and the GNSO Council;
    3. A GNSO Council project plan and timeline for policy work, or an alternate path, on how to handle closed generics for the next round of new gTLDs; and
    4. A project plan from the GNSO Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Working Group (WG) identifying all charter questions that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, along with considerations to ensure a consistent solution on IDN Variant TLDs with the ccPDP4 on IDN ccTLDs (in accordance with prior Board Resolution 2019.03.14.09), and a timeline by when the IDNs EPDP WG will deliver relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council.
  • For item 2, the GNSO Council agreed upon a methodology (Open + Representative) at ICANN76 which effectively completed that item from a Council perspective. However, for items 1, 3, and 4, Council has diligently worked on the each of the items, in conjunction with the respective teams as necessary (e.g., the IDNs EPDP leadership team). 
  • During the Council’s Extraordinary Meeting on 5 June, Council had an initial discussion on all of the work plans and timelines. The work plans and timelines will have been further discussed during Council’s pre-ICANN77 sessions on 11 June, which will likely have been supplemented by Board input on how to resolve the pending recommendations.
  • Council will acknowledge the three work plans and timelines (i.e., for the pending recommendations, IDNs EPDP Phase 2, and closed generics EPDP) and agree to their submission to the ICANN Board.
• Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS ABUSE
  • In February 2022, the GNSO Council formed a small team of interested Council members to consider what policy efforts, if any, the GNSO Council should consider undertaking to support the efforts already underway in the different parts of the community to tackle DNS abuse. 
  • On 7 October 2022, the DNS Abuse Small Team transmitted its Report to the GNSO Council. Recommendation #2 from the Report recommended the GNSO Council to request, et.al., the Registrar Stakeholder Group “to further the role that bulk registrations play in DNS Abuse as well as measures that Registrars may have already put in place to address this vector. Based on the feedback received, the GNSO Council will consider whether further action on bulk registrations is deemed necessary.”

  • The DNS Abuse Small Team received input from the following groups:

    • Contractual Compliance, ICANN Org
    • DNS Abuse Institute
    • gTLD Registries Stakeholder Group
    • Registrar Stakeholder Group
  • Upon reviewing the feedback, the DNS Abuse Small Team preliminarily concluded that there is not enough information available for bulk registrations to be the subject of further policy work at this time.
  • Council will receive an update from the DNS Abuse small team.
• Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Consideration of Accuracy Scoping Team recommendations in light of 6 month timeline originally established (factoring in April meeting discussion and input received from ICANN org)
  • The Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team was initiated by Council in July 2021 per the formation instructions. The Scoping Team was tasked with considering a number of accuracy-related factors including the current enforcement, reporting, measurement, and overall effectiveness of accuracy-related efforts. 
  • The Scoping Team 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 suggested 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). 
  • In November 2021, Council adopted recommendation #3 of the Scoping Team’s write up, which recommended;
    • (i) pausing the work in relation to proposals that require access to registration data,
    • (ii) encouraging ICANN org to proceed with their outreach to the EDPB as well as the Data Protection Impact Assessment in connection with the scenario(s) in which the request and processing of registration data takes place as a matter of urgency, and
    • (iii) requesting that ICANN org and Contracted Parties finalize the negotiations on the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) as soon as practicable as the absence of a completed DPA may act as a roadblock for policy work before Council.
    • In response to the Council’s requests, ICANN org provided the following written update to the GNSO Council on 14 March 2023.
  • ICANN org provided a verbal update to Council during the 20 April meeting. Six months has now passed from the Council’s initial deferral of the Scoping Team’s recommendations 1 and 2. 
  • Council will consider whether a further six month deferral is appropriate or if other next steps are timely e.g., the consideration of the Scoping Team’s recommendations 1 and 2.
• Item 7: GNSO TOWN HALL 
  • To encourage GNSO community engagement with Council, Council is inviting the community to engage directly with it during the ICANN77 meeting. The objective is to have an open and frank discussion with the GNSO Community during which any topics or questions can be raised.
  • One particular topic that Council would like to draw your attention to is the recent trend of attrition in GNSO Working Group participation - a topic discussed during the recent GNSO Policy Webinar. Council is interested to hear from the community on how it can best address this trend.
  • Additional topic prompts will be included closer to the session.

Records of 14 Jun 2023 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 14 Jun 2023 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 Jun 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Jun 2023 Meeting Records.

1. Next Round of New gTLDs / Subsequent Procedures 38 Pending Recommendations & Other Dependencies

• To recap, GNSO Council considered a draft combined project plan, which attempts to address the 3 of the 4 deliverables requested of Council by the ICANN Board. For convenience, the 3 of 4 deliverables are replicated as follows, as drawn from the ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution:

1. 1. A plan and timeline as agreed upon by the ICANN Board and the GNSO Council for consideration and resolution of all Outputs contained in Section B of the Scorecard (the 38 Pending Recommendations);
   2. A working methodology and Implementation Review Team (IRT) work plan and timeline as agreed upon by ICANN org and the GNSO Council;
   3. A GNSO Council project plan and timeline for policy work, or an alternate path, on how to handle closed generics for the next round of new gTLDs; and
   4. A project plan from the GNSO Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Working Group (WG) identifying all charter questions that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, along with considerations to ensure a consistent solution on IDN Variant TLDs with the ccPDP4 on IDN ccTLDs (in accordance with prior Board Resolution 2019.03.14.09), and a timeline by when the IDNs EPDP WG will deliver relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council.

• Anchor
  A-23-06-38 A-23-06-38

  Ongoing conversations with the Board SubPro Caucus co-leads, Avri Doria and Becky Burr, have led to an update of the approach for the 38 Pending Recommendations. Based on this development, Council did not object to 3 deliverables as contained in the SubPro ICANN77 Deliverables: Workplan and Timeline that has since been submitted to the Board on 15 Jun 2023:

a. The 38 Pending Recommendations have been re-organised into 3 categories of "a", "b" and "c":

c. Project plan and timeline for Closed Generics policy recommendations

• • Currently, following the comment period for the draft Framework for Closed Generics gTLDs (ending 15 July), the draft Framework is expected to then be finalized pursuant to a plan to initiate an EPDP to confirm policy recommendations for Closed Generics
  • The planned EPDP is expected to take the normal course of an EPDP, running for not more than 96 weeks in total from 14 June.
  • Team deliberations and publication of an Initial Report is projected to take 36 weeks.

d. Project plan from the GNSO Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Working Group (WG)

• • Phase 1 Final Report is expected to be delivered to Council in Nov 2023
  • Council then considers this Phase 1 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
  • Phase 2 Initial Report is expected to be published for public comment in May 2025
  • Phase 2 Final Report is expected to be delivered to Council in Nov 2025
  • Council then considers this Phase 2 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
  • The IDNs EPDP WG is already taking steps to improve its timeline to expedite completion of its work well ahead of the Nov 2025 target 

2. DNS Abuse (from the perspective of the GNSO Council / Small Team on DNS Abuse)

Two aspects were discussed (as per the ALAC-GNSO Bilateral of 6 Jun 2023)

• 1. Contractual Amendment Negotiations
  • CPH and ICANN have reached an agreement on the Registrar Accreditation Agreement and the Registry Agreement in strengthening the DNS Abuse provisions. 
  • The DNS Abuse Small Team had been tasked with finding out which areas of DNS Abuse were suitable for policy development, through which Contractual Compliance provided information no how they view the contracts and clauses that are ambiguous. 
  • The amendments developed are out for public comment until 13 Jul.
  • Council to keep Small Team in abeyance until public comment outputs are determined to have addressed gaps highlighted by Contractual Compliance, and as such would not require any further work to be done from a policy development point of view.

Action by ALAC Liaison

• •  To encourage ALAC/At-Large to examine those proposed amendments and the Contractual Compliance Advisory

• 2. Bulk Registrations
  • Small Team does not have evidence to start policy work on bulk registrations.  Discussion was useful nevertheless. ICANN has now commissioned the Inferential Analysis of Maliciously Registered Domains (INFERMAL) study which touches on bulk registrations. DNS Abuse Institute is said to be looking into this area as well.
  • Small Team consensus was to wait for results to restart next steps.

Action by ALAC Liaison

• •  To follow up on any outstanding intersessional conversation on bulk registrations

3. Registration Data Accuracy

• Council had agreed to put the Accuracy Scoping Team on pause for 6 months, pending a number of inputs required before reopening the issue. These include the data protection agreements (DPAs) that had been due since the EPDP Phase 1 recommendations were adopted by the ICANN Board, otherwise there can be no progress on GDPR compliance.
• The registries had a number of queries on the DPAs and have received responses from ICANN org (no details spoken); so the DPAs are expected to be made available in due course.
• Council is to consider extending the pausing of the Accuracy Scoping Team further in its July meeting.

4. GNSO Town Hall

Several issues of concern / remarks were raised;

• Volunteer attrition and how to encourage participation of newcomers
• Transparency of GNSO Council Small Team work / calls
• Discouraging use of Chatham House Rule in future
• Support for PDPs to ask for F2F workshops to expedite work

5. Motion to commemorate Pam Little, esteemed colleague, mentor, and previous GNSO Council leader who passed away earlier in 2023. This portion of the meeting begins at one hour and thirty minutes into the recording.