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GNSO Council Meeting #12 of 2023 held on 21 Dec 2023

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

GNSO Council Meeting #12 of 2023 held on 21 Dec 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
• Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names Phase 1 Final Report
• Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - GNSO Guidance Process (“GGP”) for Applicant Support Guidance Recommendation Final Report
• Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Update on Non-Adopted Recommendations 
• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - EPDP on Temporary Specification Phase 1 Urgent Requests
• Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Request for Reconsideration from Intellectual Property Constituency 
• Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on Key Outcomes and Action Items Coming out of GNSO Council Strategic Planning Session
• Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS

  • 10.1 ccNSO & GAC Liaison updates

  • 10.2 Update on Diacritic Study Request

  • 10.3 Community Consultation on Public Interest Commitments/Registry Voluntary Commitments 

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 Part 1 and Part 2 on 25 October 2023 were posted on 10 November 2023.
  • Minutes of the GNSO Council Meeting on 16 November 2023 were posted on 01 December 2023.
• Item 3: Consent Agenda
  • To confirm Sebastien Ducos as Chair of the RDRS Standing Committee
  • GNSO Review of GAC ICANN78 Communique
• Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names Phase 1 Final Report 

  • On 24 April 2023, the EPDP Team published its Phase 1 Initial Report, which contains 68 recommendations for Public Comment. The Working Group reviewed the public comments, adjusted its report in light of the comments received, and the Final Report has received the full consensus of the Working Group.

  • During its 16 November meeting, the GNSO Council received a briefing on the Final Report from Donna Austin, the EPDP Chair.

  • Council will vote on the motion to adopt the EPDP on IDNs Phase 1 Final Report, for which a Supermajority is needed to pass the motion.

• Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - GNSO Guidance Process (“GGP”) for Applicant Support Guidance Recommendation Final Report
  • The GGP Working Group reviewed all public comments on its Guidance Recommendation Initial Report and deliberated as appropriate to properly evaluate and address comments received during the public comment period. This included the careful consideration and analysis of the public comments, explaining the rationale for agreeing and disagreeing with the different comments received, and, if appropriate, how these were addressed in the Guidance Recommendation Final Report. The working group updated its recommendations and sent its Final Report to the GNSO Council on11 Dec.
  • Council will vote on the motion to adopt the GGP on ASP Final Report, for which a Supermajority is needed to pass the motion.
• Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Update on Non-Adopted Recommendations
  • Council had adopted this Small Team’s updated assignment form with a work plan to address the 10 recommendations not adopted by the Board. Following that plan, the Small Team initiated first steps (i.e., developed background materials, preliminary Supplemental Recommendation language, and issued a call for volunteers for the Small Team Plus).
  • The Small Team Plus has begun developing Supplemental Recommendation language, beginning with Recommendation 17.2, Applicant Support, according to the above-mentioned work plan.
  • Council will receive an update on the Small Team Plus' work thus far. (Refer to my report to CPWG on 13 Dec)
• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - EPDP on Temporary Specification Phase 1 Urgent Requests
  • On 18 May 2019, the ICANN Board adopted the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data to enable contracted parties to continue to comply with existing ICANN contractual requirements and community-developed policies as they relate to registration directory services. The GNSO Council initiated a one-year policy development process to confirm whether or not the Temporary Specification should become a consensus policy, and whether it provided an enduring framework for complying with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
  • The EPDP Team sent its Phase 1 Final Report to Council on 20 Feb 2019, and Council voted to approve the Final Report on 4 Mar 2019. The Board subsequently adopted the Phase 1 Final Report on 15 May 2019, with the exception of Recommendation 1, Purpose 2, and Recommendation 12, which the Board did not adopt in full. The Board directed the ICANN President and CEO or their designee(s) to implement the adopted policy recommendations. 
  • ICANN org convened an Implementation Review Team (IRT) in May 2019. ICANN org published the draft Registration Data Policy for public comment on 24 August 2022. Several commenters expressed dissatisfaction with the implementation of Recommendation 18, specifically around the issue of the response timeline for urgent requests. The relevant portion of Recommendation 18 reads, “A separate timeline of [less than X business days] will considered for the response to ‘Urgent’ Reasonable Disclosure Requests, those Requests for which evidence is supplied to show an immediate need for disclosure [time frame to be finalized and criteria set for Urgent requests during implementation].”
  • Following the public comment period and subsequent discussion by the IRT, the GAC wrote to the Board about the topic of urgent requests on 23 Aug 2023. The Registrar Stakeholder Group wrote to the Board on 8 Sep 2023 in response to the GAC’s letter.
  • Following the receipt of these letters and further communication amongst Board members, the Board would like to discuss urgent requests and its related concerns with Council. Council is to discuss this matter.
• Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Request for Reconsideration from Intellectual Property Constituency 
  • On 22 Nov 2023, the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) filed a Request for Reconsideration (RfR) of the ICANN Board Resolutions 2023.10.26.11 and 2023.10.26.122, regarding (i) the actions and inactions that led to (a) the ICANN Board’s public comment of 6 December 2018 on the Initial Report of the Cross-Community Working Group on New gTLD Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP), (b) the organization of the public comment phase on the Proposed Final Report of the New gTLD Auction Proceeds Cross Community Working Group, (c) the ICANN Board Resolutions 2022.06.12.13 to 2022.06.12.16 , and (ii) the actions and inactions involving the implementation of the ICANN Grant Giving Program.
  • Council will hear an update on the RfR and discuss the same.
• Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on Key Outcomes and Action Items Coming out of GNSO Council Strategic Planning Session

  • Council held its annual Strategic Planning Session (SPS) in Washington, D.C. from 29 Nov - 1 Dec 2023. Over the course of the three days, Council identified a number of key outcomes and associated action items. From the previous SPS, Council built in more review and checkpoint mechanisms to ensure that there was proper follow through in executing the identified action items. This was determined to be a good practice and, accordingly, is included as a Council discussion item shortly following the SPS to ensure continued progress. 

  • Council will review the key outcomes and action items identified during the SPS, as well as discuss a more detailed action plan to ensure progress.

• Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS

  • 10.1 ccNSO Liaison update (presentation)  & GAC Liaison update

  • 10.2 Update on Diacritic Study Request

  • 10.3 Community Consultation on Public Interest Commitments/Registry Voluntary Commitments 
    

GNSO Council Meeting #12 of 2023 held on 21 Dec 2023 at 13:00 UTC:  https://tinyurl.com/yuau3nvd 

 05:00 Los Angeles; 08:00 Washington DC; 13:00 London; 14:00 Paris; 16:00 Moscow; 00:00 Melbourne (Friday)

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

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

Records of 21 Dec 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 21 Dec 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 Dec 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Dec 2023 Meeting Records.

1. Consent Agenda

• Sebastien Ducos is confirmed as Chair of the RDRS Standing Committee.

2. EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names (EPDP on IDNs)

• Council has adopted the Phase 1 Final Report of the EPDP on IDNs containing 69 policy recommendations related to variant management at the top-level.

3. GNSO Guidance Process (“GGP”) for Applicant Support Guidance (GGP on Applicant Support)

• Council has adopted the Final Report of the GGP on Applicant Support containing 9 policy guidance recommendations related to certain aspects of the Applicant Support Program implementation for the next round of New gTLDs.

4. SubPro Small Team Update on Non-Adopted Recommendations

• Proposed Supplemental Recommendation to SubPro Recommendation 17.2 on Applicant Support resources is stable, accompanied by a number of implementation proposals for consideration.
• Councilors are to review the Supp Rec 17.2 by 2 Jan 2024 after which Council Leadership will determine how this would be taken forward in term of approval and transmission to the ICANN Board. 

5. EPDP on Temporary Specification Phase 1 Urgent Requests

• Council had been informed of the ICANN Board's concern over the EPDP on Temporary Specification Phase 1 Recommendation 18 after ICANN org convened an IRT to discuss this upon Public Comment, and several commentors had expressed dissatisfaction with how Recommendation 18 was implemented.
  • Rec 18 reads, “A separate timeline of [less than X business days] will considered for the response to ‘Urgent’ Reasonable Disclosure Requests, those Requests for which evidence is supplied to show an immediate need for disclosure [time frame to be finalized and criteria set for Urgent requests during implementation].” 
  • It should be noted that GAC had also written to the ICANN Board in the context of urgent requests for registration data as the Board was reviewing the final plans for the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) Launch.
• Council heard that from a Board member that the Board thinks the RDRS was conceptually not fit for purpose in respect of urgent requests since there are no service levels associated with the RDRS, and therefore decided that functionality should be considered separately to the RDRS launch. Concerns were also indicated by registry and registrar groups especially since it is difficult to say with certainty the time needed to authenticate any requestor.
• Council concluded the discussion by requesting a formal communication from the Board with respect to its concerns with the EPDP on Temporary Specification Phase 1 Urgent Requests to enable Council to determine what Council can do to help resolve the concern.

6. ICANN Grant Program - Request for Reconsideration from Intellectual Property Constituency

• On 22 Nov 2023, the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) filed a Request for Reconsideration (RfR) of the ICANN Board Resolutions 2023.10.26.11 and 2023.10.26.122, regarding (i) the actions and inactions that led to (a) the ICANN Board’s public comment of 6 December 2018 on the Initial Report of the Cross-Community Working Group on New gTLD Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP), (b) the organization of the public comment phase on the Proposed Final Report of the New gTLD Auction Proceeds Cross Community Working Group, (c) the ICANN Board Resolutions 2022.06.12.13 to 2022.06.12.16 , and (ii) the actions and inactions involving the implementation of the ICANN Grant Giving Program.
• After some discussion, Council felt is was appropriate to issue a letter of support for IPC's filed RfR.

7. Update on Diacritic Study Request

• GNSO Council Leadership is reviewing a draft request prepared by Mark Datysgeld on the Diacritic Study and will report back to Council in due course.