Page History

Joanna Kulesza is currently serving as the ALAC Liaison the GAC. She was selected by the ALAC in October 2021 and took on the role on Thursday, 28 October 2021 at the end of the ICANN72 AGM. Yrjö Länsipuro previously served in this role since 2016 when the ALAC unanimously voted to appoint him as the first ALAC Liaison to the GAC.

GAC Liaison's Report: ICANN77 Governmental Advisory Committee Communiqué Now Available, June 20th, 2023 [by Joanna Kulesza]

Full text of the Communique available here: https://gac.icann.org/contentMigrated/icann77-washington-d-c-communique

In its statement the GAC highlighted several issues of importance, including closed generic gTLDs, registry voluntary commitments (RVCs) and public interest commitments (PICs) in new gTLDs, GAC consensus advice and GAC early warnings, DNS abuse, registration data accuracy, registration data request service (RDRS), and registration data consensus policy. Regarding closed generic gTLDs, the GAC discussed a proposed draft framework and raised concerns about fundamental matters, competition issues, economic and social impacts, evaluation panel criteria, and government intervention during the evaluation process. They emphasized the need for further clarification and committed to elaborating their position during the community comment period. On other topics, the GAC expressed support for additional PICs to address emerging public policy concerns in new gTLDs, emphasized the importance of GAC early warnings and advice, and discussed the role of DNS abuse mitigation in combating negative impacts. They also emphasized the need for accurate registration data while considering privacy concerns. The GAC welcomed the launch of the RDRS and supported efforts to generate data for further community discussion. They highlighted the importance of user-friendly access, training, and guidance. The GAC also welcomed the implementation of the EPDP Phase 1 recommendations and stressed the need for the Consensus Policy to comply with data protection principles.

The GAC provided consensus advice to the ICANN Board on various topics. Firstly, they advised the Board to ensure equitable participation in the proposed Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (SPIRT) by all interested ICANN communities. They emphasized the importance of clarifying the implementation of SPIRT and the role of the GAC in it. Secondly, the GAC advised the Board to make future Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs) and Public Interest Commitments (PICs) enforceable through clear contractual obligations with specified consequences for failure to meet those obligations. They highlighted concerns about the weak implementation and dispute resolution process of PICs in highly-regulated sectors. Regarding applicant support in new gTLD applications, the GAC advised the Board to specify ICANN's plans related to expanding financial support and engaging with actors in underrepresented or underserved regions. They also recommended substantial reduction or elimination of application and ongoing fees to provide financial support for applicants from these regions. The GAC emphasized the importance of increasing diversity in new gTLD applications through awareness raising, capacity development, and exploring potential back-end service support. In relation to contention sets in new gTLDs, the GAC advised the Board to avoid using auctions of last resort between commercial and non-commercial applications. They recommended exploring alternative means, such as drawing lots, for resolution. They also urged the banning or strong disincentivization of private monetary means, including private auctions, to prevent applications under false pretenses for monetary gain. The GAC also provided an update on the follow-up to previous advice. They thanked the Board for reprioritizing the Privacy Proxy Services Accreditation Issues (PPSAI) policy recommendations based on their previous advice. They requested regular updates from the Board on the status of activities related to Privacy and Proxy services. 

The GAC also discussed internal matters, including membership and elections. They announced that the election process for GAC Vice-Chairs would be initiated shortly after the meeting. The GAC Working Groups, such as the Public Safety Working Group (PSWG) and the Underserved Regions Working Group (USRWG), provided updates on their ongoing activities and capacity development workshops. Emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, alternative DNS roots, and blockchain, were briefly discussed, and the GAC agreed to have capacity building on these topics during a future meeting.

GAC Liaison's Report: GAC Discussion on WHOIS and Preparation for ICANN Board Meeting, ICANN 77, June 12th, 2023 [by Joanna Kulesza]

...