Page History

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 
  • 10.4 Public comment period on the Draft ICANN FY25 Plans & Draft PTI FY25 Operating Plan and Budget

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 
    
  • 10.4 Public comment period on the Draft ICANN FY25 Plans & Draft PTI FY25 Operating Plan and Budget

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 general letter stating that there are issues worthy of consideration and encouraging the Board to consider a dialogue rather than resolving this issue on a legal technicality. The letter is expected to support the principle of dialogue and transparency when a policy recommendation may need to be changed. The letter may recognize, as in the IPC’s Request for Reconsideration (RfR), that there are issues that should be addressed, including the question of a broader fundamental Bylaws change.

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.

GNSO Council Meeting #11 of 2023 held on 16 Nov 2023

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

GNSO Council Meeting #11 of 2023 held on 16 Nov 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 - Approval Action Community Forum at ICANN78 - Fundamental Bylaws Amendments to Articles 18 and 19 of the ICANN Bylaws
• Item 5: COUNCIL UPDATE - EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names Phase 1 Final Report 
• Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Updates on Status of Data Processing Agreement (DPA) negotiations and Registration Data Accuracy
  • (i) DPA Negotiations
  • (ii) Registration Data Accuracy
• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - ICANN Board Action on the Final Report of the Cross-Community Working Group on New gTLD Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP)
• Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Consider whether further work is needed after ICANN org outreach to European Network Information Security Agency (ENISA) 
• Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS 

  • 9.1 SPS Planning

  • 9.2 Confirmation of RDRS Chair

  • 9.3 Update on Public Comment on Pilot Holistic Review - Terms of Reference

  • 9.4 Update on GAC Communique 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 Council Meeting on 21 September 2023 were posted on 08 October 2023.
  • Minutes of the GNSO Council Meeting Part 1 and Part 2 on 25 October 2023 were posted on 10 November 2023.
• Item 3: Consent Agenda
  • To confirm Tomslin Samme-Nlar as GNSO Representative as Decisional Participant to the Empowered Community
• Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Approval Action Community Forum at ICANN78 - Fundamental Bylaws Amendments to Articles 18 and 19 of the ICANN Bylaws

  • The Board is convening the Second IANA Naming Function Review ("IFR") to satisfy the requirement under Section 18.2(b) of the ICANN Bylaws that "Periodic IFRs after the first Periodic IFR shall be convened no less frequently than every five years, measured from the date the previous IFRT for a Periodic IFR was convened." The Board convened the first IFR on 16 September 2018.

  • The Board's noted its resolution for the Approval of Amendments to IANA Naming Function Review Bylaws is “an essential step in furthering the implementation of the recommendations of the first IANA Naming Function Review (IFR) team, as Recommendation 3 of the IFR identified changes necessary to Article 18 of the ICANN Bylaws. As well as the additional proposed changes to Articles 18 and 19, which serve to: (1) addressing a 2019 request from the Registries Stakeholder Group on updating the geographic diversity selection requirements for future IFR teams; and (2) clarifying ambiguities on the IFR processes identified through the first running of an IFR after the IANA Stewardship Transition.” The Bylaws changes aim to clearly set out the expected process as designed during the IANA Stewardship Transition Process, and do not represent a change to any of these processes.

  • Council will vote on the fundamental Bylaws amendments, which requires a simple majority to pass.
• Item 5: COUNCIL UPDATE - 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.
  • Council will receive a briefing on the EPDP - IDN Phase 1 Final Report (Slides) with the expectation that the report can be voted on during the subsequent Council meeting.
• Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Updates on Status of Data Processing Agreement (DPA) negotiations and Registration Data Accuracy

           (i) DPA Negotiations 

• • On 3 August 2023, the GNSO Council sent a letter to ICANN org and the chairs of the Registrar Stakeholder Group and Registries Stakeholder Group, notifying them of the Council’s decision to extend consideration of the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team recommendations until certain dependencies are met. The dependencies referenced include both (i) the outcome of the work by ICANN org on the scenario(s) in which the request and processing of registration data takes place and (ii) the finalization of the Data Processing Agreement (DPA).
  • ICANN org together with the chairs of the Registrar Stakeholder Group and Registries Stakeholder Group provided a response on 16 October 2023, notifying the Council that the “parties agreed that these agreements would take the form of a specification that may be added to the Registry Agreement (RA) and Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA), and as such we refer to them as the ‘Data Processing Specification’ or ‘DPS.’”
  • ICANN org noted that it has informed the Contracted Party House (CPH) Negotiating Team that its goal is to complete the negotiations, which include resolution of a few remaining items, by the end of the calendar year, with the eventual aim to have the DPS available for use by registrars and registries for the beginning of the Registration Data Policy implementation window.

          (ii) Registration Data Accuracy

• • 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 to help inform the team’s deliberations and 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 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 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 has confirmed 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.
  • ICANN org provided a verbal update to the Council during the 20 April meeting. During its meeting on 20 June 2023, the Council voted to extend the deferral of the consideration of recommendations #1 and #2, pending resolution of recommendation #3 (pausing the work on proposals that require access to registration data until there is clarity from ICANN org on if/how it anticipates the requesting and processing of registration data to be undertaken in the context of measuring accuracy). 
  • On 19 October 2023, ICANN org provided an update on Registration Data Accuracy efforts. 
  • Council will discuss these updates and determine if further outreach is needed for either of the items at this time.
• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - ICANN Board Action on the Final Report of the Cross-Community Working Group on New gTLD Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP)

  • On 12 June 2022, the ICANN Board accepted all recommendations in the Final Report of the Cross-Community Working Group on New gTLD Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP).

  • The CCWG-AP's Recommendation 7 states in relevant part "Existing ICANN accountability mechanisms such as IRP or other appeal mechanisms cannot be used to challenge a decision from the Independent Project Applications Evaluation Panel to approve or not approve an application. Applicants not selected should receive further details about where information can be found about the next round of applications as well as any educational materials that may be available to assist applicants. The CCWG recognizes that there will need to be an amendment to the Fundamental Bylaws to eliminate the opportunity to use the Request for Reconsideration and Independent Review Panel to challenge grant decisions." The CCWG-AP also issued guidance to the Board that after reviewing how other entities dealt with appeals, that allowing appeals appeared to add too much complexity.

  • The Board's June 2022 decision reflected the Board's initial agreement with the CCWG-AP's conclusion that a Fundamental Bylaws change was necessary to implement Recommendation 7 and identified such a Bylaws change as a dependency on the launch of the ICANN Grant Program. Upon further consideration, the Board determined that the CCWG-AP's recommendation to preserve the auction proceeds from being used to defend against usages of ICANN's accountability mechanisms for decisions on individual grant decisions can be implemented in alternative ways, including ways that do not require modification to ICANN's core Bylaws on accountability. As a result, the Board proposed updating its action on Recommendation 7 to reflect that ICANN org should implement this Recommendation 7 directly through the use of applicant terms and conditions rather than through a change to ICANN's Fundamental Bylaws.
  • During its meeting on 26 October 2023,  the ICANN Board passed a resolution, revisiting its 12 June 2022 decision on Recommendation 7 of the Cross-Community Working Group on New gTLD Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP) and issues the Revised Scorecard - CCWG on Auction Proceeds Final Report Recommendations – Board Action ("Revised Scorecard"), removing the requirement and dependency that a Fundamental Bylaws Amendment is required prior to the launch of the ICANN Grant Cycle, though the amendment would nevertheless be pursued. 
  • Council will discuss the Board action and determine if further action is needed.
• Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Consider whether further work is needed after ICANN org outreach to European Network Information Security Agency (ENISA) 
  • During the Council’s extraordinary meeting on 5 June 2023, Thomas Rickert introduced an area for further Council discussion. 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 by some Councilors to consider informal options of responding to the recital text to highlight the standards that are currently applicable. The Council formed a small team to further consider this effort; however, after hearing an update from ICANN org noting that ICANN org was already in the process of reaching out to the Network and Information Systems Cooperation Group Work Stream for art.28 NIS2, the Small Team agreed to await the draft from ICANN org instead of independently reaching out. The Small Team additionally noted that ICANN org was the appropriate entity to deliver this message, rather than the GNSO Council, but the Small Team requested ICANN org share the draft communication with the GNSO Council for an additional review prior to sending the communication. ICANN org shared its draft communication on 19 October 2023. 
  • Council will discuss any further work is needed.
• Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS 

  • 9.1 SPS Planning

  • 9.2 Confirmation of RDRS Chair

  • 9.3 Update on Public Comment on Pilot Holistic Review - Terms of Reference

  • 9.4 Update on GAC Communique Update

Records of 16 Nov 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 16 Nov 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 Nov 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Nov 2023 Meeting Records.

1. Fundamental Bylaws Amendments to Articles 18 and 19 of the ICANN Bylaws

• Council unanimously passed the motion to adopt the said Fundamental Bylaws Amendments.

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

• Council received a presentation on the Phase 1 Final Report of the EPDP on IDNs and after having a series of question answered, will move to vote on whether to adopt all the report's policy recommendations related to variant management at the top-level, at its next meeting.

3. Status of Data Processing Agreement (DPA) negotiations and Registration Data Accuracy

• Council was informed that ICANN org and Contracted Parties' negotiations on a DPA has reached an agreement that would take the form of a specification that may be added to the Registry Agreement (RA) and Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA), and as such we refer to them as the ‘Data Processing Specification’ or ‘DPS'.
  • The DPA, or now the DPS, is meant to be the replacement for the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data which established temporary requirements to allow ICANN and gTLD registry operators and registrars to continue to comply with existing ICANN contractual requirements and community-developed policies in light of the GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation requiring the redaction of certain registration data. 
• Based on this, Council opted to wait for the draft DPS to be put out for public comment before considering the need for further action.

4.  ICANN Board Action on the Final Report of the Cross-Community Working Group on New gTLD Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP)

• Concerns remained among councilors over the ICANN Board's 26 Oct resolution, revisiting its 12 June 2022 decision on Recommendation 7 of the CCWG-AP and issuance of the Revised Scorecard - CCWG on Auction Proceeds Final Report Recommendations – Board Action ("Revised Scorecard"), which removes the requirement and dependency that a Fundamental Bylaws Amendment is required prior to the launch of the ICANN Grant Cycle. This is despite the Board indicating that the Bylaw amendment would nevertheless be pursued over time.
• Council discussed the possibility of filing a Request for Reconsideration (RfR) on this Board decision but acknowledged that the time limit for filing RfR would be too short for Council to act on. 
• Council was informed by IPC Councilor Damon Ashcraft that IPC is already working on filing such an RfR, to which Council indicated that it would consider supporting such an RfR after having reviewed the same.

Action by ALAC Liaison

• •  Relayed the ALAC's position on the Board approach to CCWG-AP Rec 7 per its 26 Oct resolution.

"Greg (DiBiase, GNSO Chair) had during ICANN78 asked me if the ALAC had a position on the Board's action on CCWG-AP Rec 7. The answer is the ALAC has no objections to the Board's approach for that Rec per their 26 Oct resolution. The key reason is that the ALAC would like to see the ICANN Grant Program proceed to launch without the Bylaw amendment being a dependency, noting that the intention to limit access to Accountability Mechanism is addressed alternatively and the Board is looking at a potentially more complete/permanent solution for post-Cycle 1 grants."

5. ICANN org outreach to European Network Information Security Agency (ENISA)

• There was general consensus among councilors that it was not necessary for GNSO Council to, independently, intervene or further act on the communication from ICANN org to the ENISA Network and Information Systems Cooperation Group Work Stream for art.28 NIS2.
• IPC also relayed that they did not support ICANN org's letter on account of it carrying a perception that it is misleading and not wholly factual, therefore recommending that GNSO Council not support the letter.

6. Holistic Review Revised Terms of Reference

• Council is working on a comment to this Terms of Reference. 

7. Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) Standing Committee

• Council was informed that Sebastien Ducos has indicated the willingness to continue as Chair of the Council SSAD Small Team which will transition to the RDRS Standing Committee. Barring any objections, this will be confirmed by was of consent agenda item in Council's Dec meeting. 

GNSO Council Meeting #10 of 2023 held on 25 Oct 2023 during ICANN 78, over 2 parts, and including a Council Wrap-up Session on 26 Oct 2023:

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

GNSO Council Meeting #10 of 2023 held on 25 Oct 2023 during ICANN 78, over 2 parts, and including a Council Wrap-up Session on 26 Oct 2023:

Under Part 1 Agenda

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 - GNSO Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Recommendations Report on Review of the Statement of Interest (SOI) Requirements 
• Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Optional Topics for Potential Council Response
  • (i) Pilot Holistic Review Revised Draft Terms of Reference 
  • (ii) Proposed Process for the Retirement of Non-Policy Recommendations 
  • (iii) Continuous Improvement Program Community Coordination Group (CIP-CCG)
• Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO Liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Annual Report
• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Diacritics Issue in Latin Script
• Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS

  • 8.1 – Farewell to outgoing Councilors

  • 8.2 – Update - Open Contracted Party House DNS Abuse Calls

  • 8.3 – GNSO Framework for Continuous Improvement Pilot Review

  • 8.4 – Open microphone (Continuation of anniversary session discussion / input)

Under Part 2 Agenda

Full Agenda

• Item 1: Seating of the 2023-2024 Council
  INCOMING COUNCILORS:
  • Jennifer Chung: SOI Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG)
  • Lawrence Olawale-Roberts: SOI Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG - BC)
  • Damon Ashcroft: SOI Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG - IPC)
  • Taiwo Peter Akinremi: SOI Non-commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG)
• Item 2. Election of the Chair
  • One nomination was received for this position from Gregory DiBiase of the Contracted Party House. Gregory circulated his candidate statement to the GNSO Council on 5 October 2023.
• Item 3. Election of GNSO Council Vice Chair 2022-2023

  • Non-Contracted Party House - Tomslin Samme-Nlar

  • Contracted Party House - Nacho Amadoz

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 24 August 2023 were posted on 09 September 2023.

  • Minutes of the GNSO Council Meeting on 21 September 2023 were posted on 08 October 2023.

• Item 3: Consent Agenda
  • Confirmation of Appointment of Ashley Heineman as GNSO-appointed Co-Chair of the IANA Naming Function Review Team
• Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - GNSO Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Recommendations Report on Review of the Statement of Interest (SOI) Requirements 

  • The GNSO Framework for Continuous Improvement Pilot was initiated in June 2021 to determine whether the framework, as outlined here, could serve as an approach for dealing with the various projects that are focused on improvements to GNSO processes and procedures.

  • The CCOICI tasked the GNSO Statement of Interest (SOI) Task Force to address the following questions:

    1. Is the original objective of the SOI, as stated in the BGC WG Report, still valid? If not, why not and what should the current objective be?
    2. Based on the response to question 1), is the requested information to be provided as part of the SOI still fit for purpose? If not, why not, and what would need to be changed to make it fit for purpose?
    3. Are there any further measures that should be considered from an enforcement / escalation perspective, in addition or instead of those already included in the requirements?
  • During the meeting in August 2023, CCOICI Chair Manju Chen presented an overview of the CCOICI Recommendations Report on the SOI Requirements, but the vote on the recommendations was ultimately deferred in last month's Council meeting due to some last minute concerns from the CPH.
  • As it turned out, no changes are being proposed to the CCOICI Recommendations and Council will proceed with the vote on these recommendations as they are written - which maintains the ability to exempt participants from declaring in their GNSO SOI who they represented whenever they participated in a PDP in case of professional ethical obligations preventing complications. The motiononly requires a simple majority for it to be carried.
• Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Optional Topics for Potential Council Response

(i) Pilot Holistic Review Revised Draft Terms of Reference 

• • The ICANN Board is currently seeking the community's input on the proposed Pilot Holistic Review Revised Draft Terms of Reference. This is an update to the first version posted for Public Comment in August 2022 and has been modified to reflect community input. The primary focus of the Pilot Holistic Review Draft Terms of Reference (ToR) is to address the four primary issues raised during the first Public Comment proceeding:
    • The scope of Holistic Review is unclear
    • There is a lack of independent examination in the Holistic Review
    • There is a lack of identified dependencies
    • The community might not have the ability to support the Pilot Holistic Review work
  • The ToR Development Team also shortened and revised the ToR document to include more direct language and clearer deliverables.
  • Considering the potential implications on the ICANN structures and work, the Board is seeking input on whether the revised Draft ToR seems fit for purpose, and whether it sufficiently addresses the issues identified in the first Public Comment proceeding.
  • The following questions are designed to aid responders in formulating their views:

1. 1. 1. Do you support the Pilot Holistic Review Revised Terms of Reference as drafted?
      2. Does the Pilot Holistic Review Revised Terms of Reference sufficiently address the four primary issues identified in the first Public Comment proceeding?
      3. Does the Pilot Holistic Review Revised Terms of Reference sufficiently clarify the deliverables for the Pilot Holistic Review?
      4. Do you support the next steps for the Pilot Holistic Review (as noted below)?

• • For more background information, Councilors are invited to listen to the webinar on this topic. 
  • Deadline for feedback is 27 November 2023.

(ii) Proposed Process for the Retirement of Non-Policy Recommendations 

• • To implement the Board-approved Third Accountability and Transparency Review (ATRT3) Recommendation 5, and considering the numerous times the ATRT3 Final Report stresses the procedural gap of not having a process to retire approved recommendations, ICANN org is proposing a process for the retirement of community-developed Board-approved non-policy recommendations in exceptional cases and according to specific criteria. 
  • Non-policy recommendations refer to community recommendations developed outside of a policy development process, such as Specific Reviews or Cross-Community Working Groups. The process will be publicly documented in the planning prioritization framework, and referenced in relevant documentation, such as the revised version of the Operating Standards for Specific Reviews. 
  • Council will discuss the Proposed Process and determine whether input on the proposed process is needed. 
  • The deadline for input is 30 November 2023

(iii) Continuous Improvement Program Community Coordination Group (CIP-CCG)

• • The Third Accountability and Transparency Review (ATRT3) Recommendation 3.6 calls for Organizational Reviews to be evolved into a Continuous Improvement Program (CIP). The recommendation to create a Continuous Improvement Program states that ICANN org shall work with each Supporting Organization (SO), Advisory Committee (AC) and their stakeholder groups, and the Nominating Committee (NomCom) to establish a Continuous Improvement Program. It will include an annual satisfaction survey of members/participants, and a regular assessment, including a summary of continuous improvements published at least every three years. 
  • As the ICANN Community considers the implementation of ATRT3 Recommendation 3.6 as it relates to each community structure and for the ICANN Community overall, the CIP Community Coordination Group is intended to serve as a forum to exchange best practices, lessons learned, as well as for sharing information and progress related to already existing community continuous improvement activities. The representatives in the CIP-CCG will share best practices and collaborate on community-wide implementation of ATRT3 Recommendation 3.6, while relaying information back to their constituencies to inform the process and voice decisions. 
  • ICANN org plans to proceed with the approach outlined in its letter by the end of November; however, if there are objections, concerns, or further feedback/questions, input is due by 30 November 2023.
• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Diacritics Issue in Latin Script
  • PointQuébec, CORE Association, and the At-Large Advisory Committee raised an issue to the GNSO Council attention with regard to the challenge affecting future applied-for strings in the Latin script containing diacritics that may be confusingly similar to ASCII strings and are non-variants. 
  • For background, an applied-for IDN gTLD string in the Latin script containing diacritics, which is NOT an allocatable variant label of the base ASCII string (existing or applied-for) according to RZ-LGR, is widely recognized by users as its “equivalence” and may be determined to be confusingly similar (i.e., in which case, it would not pass the String Similarity Review).
  • One notable example of this problem known to the ICANN community is the string “québec”. PointQuébec Inc, the Registry of .quebec, has long held an interest in applying for this string, but it may face challenges obtaining it. PointQuébec regards the string “.québec” a necessity for serving the French speaking community in Quebec, Canada. Quebec is the only province in Canada whose sole official language is French; 71.2% of Quebecers are first language francophones. In the 2012 round, PointQuébec was advised not to apply for “.québec” due to considerations for technical readiness and financial predictability for an IDN gTLD. Hence it applied for the ASCII string without diacritics “.quebec” first, but has been waiting to submit an application for the IDN string in the next round.

  • A similar problem could happen to other existing Registries that currently manage ASCII gTLDs but may wish to apply for their IDN equivalence that are not deemed as allocatable variant labels according to the RZ-LGR. Future applicants may also be affected by this challenge.

  • To consider the development of an exception procedure for handling the consequence of String Similarity Review and create a potential path for future applications such as the “.québec” string, a GNSO Policy Development Process is likely the necessary avenue to do so. Understanding the seriousness of the issue and the potential harm to the interests or needs of the intended language committees, the GNSO Council agrees that requesting an Issue Report to thoroughly research and scope the problem is the appropriate step forward. The Issue Report will serve as the basis for launching a dedicated PDP on this topic, should the GNSO Council consider this path in the future. 

• Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS

  • 8.1 – Farewell to outgoing Councilors

  • 8.2 – Update - Open Contracted Party House DNS Abuse Calls

  • 8.3 – GNSO Framework for Continuous Improvement Pilot Review

  • 8.4 – Open microphone (Continuation of anniversary session discussion / input

Records of 25 and 26 Oct 2023 Meetings at ICANN78

Special Summary Report of 25 Oct 2023 Meeting & 26 Oct 2023 Wrap-Up 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 Oct 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Oct 2023 Meeting Records.

1. GNSO Council Leadership 2023/2024

• Greg DiBiase, Tomslin Samme-Nlar and Nacho Amadoz, were elected by acclamation as GNSO Chair, GNSO Council Vice-Chair (NCPH), and GNSO Council Vice-Chair (CPH), respectively.

2. Diacritics Issue in Latin Script

• Following a staff presentation and after much discussion, Council settled on asking for a Study (and not an Issues Report as Councilors did not want to potentially trigger a subsequent PDP) in order to be able to make a better informed decision on subsequent next step.

3.  DNS Abuse Mitigation by Contracted Party House (CPH)

• The CPH (i.e. the Registry SG and Registrar SG) has opened their meetings, and plan to invite SOACs to share information with them, to inform on projects and develop possible inputs to such meeting.

    Action by ALAC Liaison

• •  As the ALAC's designated contact point, to liaise with CPH on such outreach opportunities.

4. GNSO Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Recommendations Report on Review of the Statement of Interest (SOI) Requirements 

• In August, Council received an overview of the CCOICI Recommendations Report on the SOI Requirements which concluded that no consensus was reached on the ability to exempt participants from declaring in their GNSO SOI who they represented whenever they participated in a PDP in case of professional ethical obligations preventing complications. Although it was recommended that the GNSO SOI format be updated to form two parts (see below), the existing SOI language which allows for the exemption was to remain as is. Further, it is proposed that the SOI be organised into 2 parts:
  
  • a) General Statement of Interest which contains general information about a participant (parent).
    
  • b) Activity Specific Statement of Interest which contains information that is provided specific to the activity, for example, motivation for participation (child)
• The vote to adopt these CCOICI recommendations was withdrawn at Council's Sep 2023 meeting as CPH were not prepared to vote on the one recommendation, as written, to retain the exemption. Hence this matter went back to the CCOICI for further consideration. CCOICI could not come to agreement to change the relevant recommendation.
• Following this, the vote to adopt these CCOICI recommendations was put without any amendment at this Council meeting, requiring only a simple majority to pass.
• The vote failed, with the CPH voting nay and the NCPH voting yay. As a result, none of the CCOICI recommendations were adopted. No change to the GNSO SOI is effected.

5. Topics for Potential Council Response

• Pilot Holistic Review Revised Draft Terms of Reference - Council is considering drafting a comment to this.
• Proposed Process for Retirement of Non-Policy Recommendations - Council is also considering drafting a comment to this.
• Letter regarding Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) Community Coordination Group - it appears that Council does not have any reaction to this.

ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Meeting on 21 Oct 2023 

• Agenda 
• Meeting Details
• Meeting Record
• Summary Report

ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Meeting held on 21 Oct 2023

Agenda:

1. Welcome and Introduction - Justine Chew, ALAC Liaison to the GNSO, Jonathan Zuck, ALAC Chair and Sebastien Ducos, GNSO Chair (10 mins)
2. GNSO Council Guidance Statement on ".québec", 14 Sep 2023 [gnso.icann.org] (20 mins)
   1. What is the GNSO Council's view on the issue(s) arising from the public comments to the IDNs EPDP Phase 1 Initial Report on ".québec"?
   2. How does the GNSO Council plan to address the issue(s)?
      Speakers: Sebastien Ducos (GNSO), Olivier Crepin-Leblond (ALAC)
      Followed by discussion / Q&A
3. New gTLD Program Next Round (formerly Subsequent Procedures) (20 mins)
   1. How is the GNSO Council addressing the community-developed SubPro Outputs which either remain marked as "pending" or have not been adopted by the Board?
   2. How will the GNSO Council draw community participation and/or input in any efforts in "revising" those SubPro Outputs to address the Board's concerns?
      Speakers: Paul McGrady (GNSO), Tijani Ben Jemaa / Justine Chew (ALAC)
      Followed by discussion with GNSO Council SubPro Small Team / Q&A
4. Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) (20 mins)
   
   1. What are the GNSO or GNSO Council's plans in moving the RDRS forward, in respect of registrar on-boarding and post launch of the RDRS? 
      Speakers: Sebastien Ducos / Greg DiBiase (GNSO), Alan Greenberg (ALAC)
      Followed by discussion / Q&A
5. Next Steps - Justine Chew (5 mins)

Records of ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Meeting held on 21 Oct 2023

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

Notes on the 21 Oct 2023 ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Meeting

Jonathan Zuck, ALAC Chair, provided an update on incoming and outgoing ALAC leadership and Sebastien Ducos, GNSO Chair, provided an update on incoming and outgoing GNSO councilors and the change in GNSO Council leadership.

ALAC and At-Large community members and Council leadership and councilors discussed 3 issues per the agenda:

1. Diacritics in New gTLDs (eg .Quebec and .Québec)

• The GNSO Council recognised that the ALAC, among others, have brought to Council's attention, the potential unsettling impact of certain existing gTLDs (in ASCII or not) running into string similarity issues if the existing registry operators of those certain gTLDs or other applicants were to apply for delegation of what are perceived as confusingly similar strings to those gTLDs but with diacritics. This situation could also impact applications for strings with or without diacritics in the next round.
• Sebastien Ducos, GNSO Chair, reported that Council has not yet determined how they would like to proceed with the issue (whether eventually running a PDP , ie. a policy path, if required or an implementation for edge cases), and will be discussing this further at the Council meeting on Wed, 25 Oct. 
• Justine Chew, ALAC Liaison to the GNSO, would be able to provide an update in due course.

2. Next Round of New gTLD Program - Progress on pending or not adopted Subsequent Procedures recommendations

• There are a number of recommendations from the Subsequent Procedures PDP WG that have been marked (as still) pending and some which have been not adopted (rejected) by the ICANN Board on account of the Board holding that they are not in the best interest of ICANN.
• GNSO Council had established a Council Small Team to address these pending/rejected recommendations to see if they can be clarified (for those pending) or revised in some way (for those rejected) that would address the Board's concern and rationale, respectively.
• Paul McGrady, GNSO Councilor and the Council's Small Team Lead, reported that the GNSO Council is expanding the existing Council Small Team to a "Small Team Plus" to address such recommendations, which includes Recommendation 17.2 on Applicant Support, which he acknowledged as something the At-Large community have a major interest in. Paul encouraged the ALAC to send their very best representatives (a subject matter expert (SME) and an alternate) to join this Small Team Plus to work on those recommendations.
• A workplan is being finalised and the invitation for an SME and alternate from every SOAC, C, and SG, will follow soon.
• Tijani Ben Jemaa, AFRALO, expressed a hope that the major increased of interest in this topic is one that supports the success of an improved Applicant Support Program as compared to the 2012 Round.

3. Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) 

• Greg DiBiase, GNSO Council Vice Chair, explained a bit of the background of the RDRS, from the GNSO recommendations to the Board on the System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (for registration data) (SSAD) and how those recommendations were viewed as prohibitively expensive to implement as-is, and that the Board wanted more data before considering committing a large fund to implement the same. This led to the idea to create a more lightweight system, i.e. a pilot, now called the RDRS, which is to serve as a central place for requestors of registration data that have been redacted to request such data. These requests would be routed to the appropriate registrar for evaluation (and disclosure where appropriate).
• Greg DiBiase, GNSO Council Vice Chair, also reported that work has been done to define what the RDRS would look like and the sort of metrics that would be gathered and shared with the community. Also, that Registrar pre-onboarding has begun (around 10% of domains under management, with up to 35% pledged for on-boarding by launch) and that the RDRS should launch by the end of the calendar year. Onboarding by registrars to the RDRS is voluntary and will inform the paths forward for pending System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) policy recommendations. The RDRS will run for 2 years and pending policy recommendations will then be revisited.
• Greg DiBiase, GNSO Council Vice Chair, also reported that the GNSO Council Small Team that had worked on the RDRS design input will be transitioning to a Standing Committee which is tasked to look into issues with the RDRS as they arise, including metrics and reporting.
• Jonathan Zuck, ALAC Chair, expressed a hope that the data being captured/stored will offer the community the ability to do some real analysis as opposed to just relying on reports generated by ICANN org. Sebastien Ducos, GNSO Chair and GNSO Council EPDP Small Team Lead, replied that the data is being stored for as long as the pilot runs but the data that will be shared will only be aggregate data.
• Thomas Rickert, GNSO Councilor and GNSO Council EPDP Small Team member, reminded that the RDRS is in effect just of a basic design which excludes many better features per the SSAD recommendations. However, he reminded participants that it is important for us all to advocate for the use of the RDRS to help ensure that the system will work well to meet the needs both requestors and disclosers, in terms of better quality of requests and better quality disclosures.
• Greg Shatan, NARALO Chair, inquired whether there has been discussions to handle privacy/proxy service providers who "hide" real registrant data and even registrar data.  Sebastien Ducos, GNSO Chair and GNSO Council EPDP Small Team Lead, replied that there have been discussions but since the RDRS is not based on policy but is voluntary for registrars and related service providers, we can only encourage privacy/proxy service providers to also participate in the RDRS. Greg DiBiase, GNSO Council Vice Chair confirmed that there is only existing policy to handle redacted data but no policy to handle data under privacy/proxy services, and there could be future work on that.
• Marie Patullo, GNSO Councilor, asked about what happens to requests are "ignored" by "unresponsive registrars".  Sebastien Ducos, GNSO Chair and GNSO Council EPDP Small Team Lead, clarified that data related to requests that are unattended to will be stored and followed up in some way that would not disincentivize "responsive registrars".  

      Action by ALAC Liaison

• •  To look into periodic intersessional updates from GNSO and discussions with At-Large on the above topics.

GNSO Council Meeting #9 of 2023 held on 21 Sep 2023

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

GNSO Council Meeting #9 of 2023 held on 21 Sep 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 (none)
• Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE (Withdrawn) - GNSO Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Recommendations Report on Review of the Statement of Interest (SOI) Requirements
• Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - Charter for Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) Standing Committee to help inform the next steps on the SSAD policy recommendations
• Item 6: COUNCIL VOTE (Deferred) -  SubPro Clarifying Statement on Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs) and Public Interest Commitments (PICs) 
• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Updated Assignment Form
• Item 8: ICANN78 Planning 
  • Sat, 21 Oct, 13:15-14:30 CEST - Joint At-Large & GNSO meeting
• Item 9: Cross Community Working Group - Auction Proceeds Response
• Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
  • 10.1 GNSO Prep Week Webinar - Tue, 10 Oct at 13:00 UTC
  • 10.2 Planning for GNSO Council Strategic Planning Session
  • 10.3 ccNSO [& GAC] Liaison updates
  • 10.4 Review of CCOICI pilot
  • 10.5 IGO next steps
  • 10.6 WS2 Community Coordination Group (CCG) 
  • Ad hoc 10.7 Confusing Similarity / IDN in Latin Script

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 July were posted on 06 August 2023.
  • Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on 24 August were posted on 09 September 2023.
• Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE (Withdrawn) - GNSO Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Recommendations Report on Review of the Statement of Interest (SOI) Requirements
  • The GNSO Framework for Continuous Improvement Pilot was initiated in June 2021 to determine whether the framework, as outlined here, could serve as an approach for dealing with the various projects that are focused on improvements to GNSO processes and procedures.

  • The CCOICI tasked the GNSO Statement of Interest (SOI) Task Force to address the following questions:

    1. Is the original objective of the SOI, as stated in the BGC WG Report, still valid? If not, why not and what should the current objective be?
    2. Based on the response to question 1), is the requested information to be provided as part of the SOI still fit for purpose? If not, why not, and what would need to be changed to make it fit for purpose?
    3. Are there any further measures that should be considered from an enforcement / escalation perspective, in addition or instead of those already included in the requirements?
  • The CCOICI submitted to  Council for consideration its Recommendations Report following its review of the Recommendations Report submitted to the CCOICI by the GNSO Statement of Interest Task Force based on their review of the GNSO Statement of Interest (SOI) Requirements as well as their review of the input received in response to the public comment forum.
  • Council received an overview of the CCOICI Recommendations Report on the SOI Requirements at their Aug meeting and will vote on this vide a motion that only requires a simple majority for it to be carried.
• Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - Charter for Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) Standing Committee to help inform the next steps on the SSAD policy recommendations

  • In Sep 2022, ICANN org published a WHOIS Disclosure System (System) Design Paper based on the "proof of concept" approach outlined by the Small Team.

  • Council then informed the ICANN Board on 17 November 2022 that Council unanimously accepted the Addendum to the Preliminary Report (Addendum) prepared by the Small Team and supported the implementation of the System, after which on 27 Feb 2023, the ICANN Board directed ICANN org to “proceed to develop and launch the System as soon as possible”. The ICANN Board also “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". 

  • In Mar 2023, Council instructed the small team to continue working with ICANN org on the implementation of the System as well as “provide the Council with a recommendation on the approach and format through which, following implementation of the system, data should be reviewed and analyzed to help inform subsequent decisions on how to proceed with the SSAD recommendations”.

  • Council has received the small team's proposed charter for a Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) Standing Committee (to help inform the next steps on the SSAD policy recommendations) and will vote on this charter that only requires a simple majority for it to be carried.

• Item 6: COUNCIL VOTE (Deferred) - SubPro Clarifying Statement on Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs) and Public Interest Commitments (PICs)
  • During its informal session at ICANN76 and the subsequent Council meeting, Council discussed and agreed to task a small team of interested councilors to review the recommendations that the Board placed in a pending status and suggest to the full Council how the underlying concerns that caused the pending status can be best addressed (i.e., a limited triage exercise).
  • 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. Council discussed the main output of that triage effort, the proposed paths forward for each pending recommendation, during an Extraordinary Meeting on 4 May. During that meeting, Council agreed to further task the small team with taking interim steps (e.g., provision of clarifying information, developing speaking points) in order to support the Council’s dialogue with the ICANN Board on 22 May. Council debriefed after the dialogue with the ICANN Board and discussed next steps. 
  • During ICANN77 Day 0 Session, Council heard from 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”).
  • During its meeting in July, Council received an update from the Small Team on the proposed clarifying statement and during its August meeting, Council approved a clarifying statement for a number of pending recommendations, though it removed text in the Clarifying Statement relating to the enforceability of PICs and RVCs and holding this over to a future Clarifying Statement, pending further feedback from the ICANN Board. Additional feedback was delivered to the small team and subsequently considered.
  • The Small Team worked on the second Clarifying Statement relating specifically to the enforceability of PICs and RVCs (but should be read as complementary to the relevant pending recommendation(s) and should be considered jointly with the recommendations for the purposes of implementation), which Council had expected to vote on (vide a motion that only requires a simple majority for it to be carried).
  • As it turned out, this second Clarifying Statement remains a work in progress and hence required that the Council vote be deferred.
• Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Updated Assignment Form
  • During its informal session at ICANN76 and the subsequent Council meeting, Council discussed and agreed to task a small team of interested councilors to review the recommendations that the Board placed in a pending status and suggest to the full Council how the underlying concerns that caused the pending status can be best addressed (i.e., a limited triage exercise).
  • Since ICANN76, this the Council SubPro Small Team has, as part of the limited triage exercise, worked on and drafted the first Clarifying Statement and second Clarifying Statement for Council's consideration.
    • The first Clarifying Statement had been approved by Council in its Aug meeting and subsequently submitted to the ICANN Board on 5 Sep. 
    • The ICANN Board has on 10 Sep resolved to, among other things, adopt 12 SubPro Outputs with the 5 Sep GNSO Council Clarifying Statement.
    • The second Clarifying Statement had been planned to be voted on by Council at this meeting but was withdrawn.
  • As the triage exercise is now complete, the Small Team’s assignment form has been updated to reflect the updated assignment regarding how the non-adopted recommendations should be handled, e.g., supplemental recommendation, Section 16, etc.  Council will hear an update on the proposed updated assignment form.
• Item 8: ICANN78 Planning 
  • A Joint At-Large & GNSO meeting is scheduled for Sat, 21 Oct, 13:15-14:30 CEST, the agenda for which is still in planning.
• Item 9: Cross Community Working Group - Auction Proceeds Response
  • On 17 Jul 2023, Xavier Calvez sent a written update on the progress of ICANN org’s implementation of the Cross Community Working Group’s - Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP) Final Report.  The update noted the implementation work will result in the launch of the ICANN Grant Program at the end of the first quarter of 2024. The program will distribute the 2012 New gTLD Program Auction Proceeds in line with the recommendations, as adopted by the ICANN Board in June 2022.
  • As implementation progresses, ICANN org has considered organizing a meeting, with former members of the CCWG-AP, should any of the former members be interested and available to participate. This will help to ensure that implementation preserves the intent of the group’s recommendations.
  • Council will discuss a response to this message. Specifically, the Council is asked to consider if it is comfortable with former CCWG-AP members engaging in a conversation with ICANN org or whether the discussion should be conducted differently.

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

1. GNSO Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Recommendations Report on Review of the Statement of Interest (SOI) Requirements 

• Last month, Council received an overview of the CCOICI Recommendations Report on the SOI Requirements which concluded that no consensus was reached on the ability to exempt participants from declaring in their GNSO SOI who they represented whenever they participated in a PDP in case of professional ethical obligations preventing complications. Although it was recommended that the GNSO SOI format be updated to form two parts (see below), the existing SOI language which allows for the exemption was to remain as is. Further, it is proposed that the SOI be organised into 2 parts:
  
  • a) General Statement of Interest which contains general information about a participant (parent).
    
  • b) Activity Specific Statement of Interest which contains information that is provided specific to the activity, for example, motivation for participation (child)
• Just prior to this Council meeting, the vote to adopt these CCOICI recommendations was withdrawn as CPH were not prepared to vote on the one recommendation, as written, to retain the exemption. Hence this matter now goes back to the CCOICI for further consideration and, hopefully, resolution.

2. Charter for Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) Standing Committee

• The GNSO Council EPDP Phase 2 Small Team's work has wrapped up - since their final task in guiding the design of the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) (formerly known as the SSAD - System for Standardized Access/Disclosure to Registration Data) has concluded - and ICANN org is slated to launch the RDRS in November. 
• Given this, the focus moves towards monitoring of ICANN org's implementation of the RDRS and how well it will function.  To facilitate this, Council is transitioning the EPDP Phase 2 Small Team into the RDRS Standing Committee, and Council has approved the Charter for this Standing Committee.
  • Impact for ALAC: ALAC retains a member seat by virtue of having had a member on the EPDP Phase 2 Small Team, along with an alternate.

3. New gTLD Program Next Round / Subsequent Procedures 38 Pending Recommendations 

• As reported at the At-Large CPWG 20 Sep call, the GNSO Council SubPro Small Team had been working towards recommending a Second Clarifying Statement for Council approval. This Second Clarifying Statement was aimed at clarifying and resolving the ICANN Board's concerns on the group of 10 SubPro Outputs associated with the use, and hence, enforceability, of PICs/RVCs (i.e. SubPro Recommendations 9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13, 30.1, 31.16 and 31.17).
• At the time Council met, this Second Clarifying Statement is subject to further work by the Small Team and hence required that a Council vote on it be deferred to Council's October meeting.
• In parallel, also as reported at the At-Large CPWG 20 Sep call, the ICANN Board held a recent workshop where the Board resolved to, per its Scorecard;
  • Section A, adopt 7 SubPro Outputs with no further concern;
  • Section B, adopt 12 SubPro Outputs with the 5 Sep GNSO Council Clarifying Statement (i.e the First Clarifying Statement);
  • Section C, NOT adopt 7 SubPro Outputs at this this time, with given rationales; and
  • Section D, consider adopting 10 SubPro Outputs with the provision of the pending GNSO Council Second Clarifying Statement, and to continue discussing a remaining 3 SubPro Outputs with the GNSO Council SubPro Small Team with a goal of resolving them via the clarification mechanism.
• Given the above development out of the Board workshop, the Small Team's assignment form (i.e. charter) required a revision to reflect the updated assignment regarding how the non-adopted recommendations should be handled. Council considered and approved this Small Team updated assignment form. 
• The updated assignment form expands participation in the Small Team to each GNSO Stakeholder Group and Constituency, and each Advisory Committees (mainly ALAC and GAC), to elect to put forward one subject matter expert (SME) plus alternate to help inform the Small Team's final assignment #7 (which is to develop proposed Supplemental Recommendations or develop proposed modifications through GNSO's section 16 process).
  • Impact for ALAC: ALAC will be invited to appoint a SME and an alternate to the Small Team. These appointments may be changed from time to time to facilitate the relevant SME's participation to the different the topics being addressed. For avoidance of doubt, these appointments do not affect my participation as an existing member of the Small Team.

4. ICANN78 Joint Meeting of the At-Large and GNSO

• A call for additions/changes to the proposed topics of SubPro Updates, RDRS and .quebec was made to Councilors.
• The plan is to revisit this list of proposed topics in a fortnight for finalization.

5.  Cross Community Working Group - Auction Proceeds Response

• Council is in favour of responding to Xavier Calvez's written update on the progress of ICANN org’s implementation of the Cross Community Working Group’s - Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP) Final Report, noting that there is a bigger procedural issue going on regarding how changes to a working group’s recommendations should occur. The next step is to put together a draft response to Xavier Calvez with some of the Councilors' concerns and circulate it on the GNSO Council mailing list.

6. Confusing Similarity / IDN in Latin Script

• Council Chair addressed the issue of accents and diacritics in Latin languages that could be deemed confusingly similar to existing strings or other applications, and suggested chartering something with a narrow scope to ensure that this topic does not slide elsewhere into the string similarity discussion and ensure that solutions are found that match requirements imposed on variants.
• ICANN org staff clarified that next steps from the staff perspective would be for Council to request an Issues Report.