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CONSENT AGENDA

Motion for GNSO Council Review of ICANN80 GAC Communiqué

Submitted by Tomslin Samme-Nlar

Whereas,

1. The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) advises the ICANN Board on issues of public policy, and especially where there may be an interaction between ICANN's activities or policies and national laws or international agreements. It usually does so as part of a Communiqué, which is published towards the end of every ICANN meeting.
2. The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) is responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains.
3. The GNSO Council has expressed a desire to provide feedback to the ICANN Board on issues in the GAC Communiqué as these relate to generic top-level domains to inform the ICANN Board as well as the broader community of past, present, or future gTLD policy activities that may directly or indirectly relate to Advice provided by the GAC.
4. The GNSO Council's review of GAC Communiqué Advice and Issues of Importance is intended to further enhance the co-ordination and promote the sharing of information on gTLD related policy activities between the GAC, Board, and the GNSO.

Resolved,

1. The GNSO Council adopts the GNSO Review of the ICANN80 Kigali Communiqué Advice and Issues of Importance and requests that the GNSO Chair communicate the GNSO Council Review of ICANN80 GAC Communiqué Advice and Issues of Importance to the ICANN Board.
2. The GNSO Council requests that the GNSO Liaison to the GAC also informs the GAC of the communication between the GNSO Council and the ICANN Board.

(Updated with friendly amendments submitted by Susan Payne and Justine Chew)

Motion - Appointment of a GNSO Liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee

Submitted by Tomslin Samme-Nlar

Seconded by Lawrence Olawale-Roberts

Whereas:

1. The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) role was first piloted in FY15-16 (1 July 2014 to 30 June 2016) as part of a broader initiative of the GAC-GNSO Consultation Group to facilitate early engagement of the GAC in GNSO policy development activities.
2. Due to the success of the pilot, the GNSO Liaison to the GAC is now a permanent role and an integral part of communications between the GAC and GNSO.
3. The term of the liaison role is two years, and the term limit is two consecutive two-year terms.
4. As the current liaison’s term will expire at the 2024 Annual General Meeting (ICANN81), the GNSO Council will now appoint a new liaison to assume the role at ICANN81.
5. The GNSO Council initiated a call for candidates to fill the vacancy and delegated the responsibility of the review and selection process to the GNSO Standing Selection Committee (SSC).
6. Two applications were received and were evaluated by the SSC based on the criteria outlined in the call for candidates.
7. Following a review of candidates the SSC agreed by full consensus to recommend that Sebastien Ducos will be appointed as the new GNSO Liaison to the GAC commencing at the ICANN81 AGM in November 2024.
8. The SSC also agreed to recommend Sophie Hey as alternate if deemed appropriate by her and the GNSO Council should the need arise.

Resolved:

1. The GNSO Council hereby appoints Sebastien Ducos to the role of GNSO Liaison to the GAC, for a two-year term,assuming the role at the ICANN81 AGM in November 2024 and expiring at the AGM in 2026. 
2. The GNSO Council will review the role annually and if the review indicates and/or, at any time, the Liaison has indicated that he is no longer available to continue in this role the Council will consider Sophie Hey as alternate for the remaining period of the term if she is willing at the time, otherwise the SSC will conduct a new selection process.
3. Prior to and in anticipation of the expiry of this two-year term, Council will open a new Expression of Interest process, for which the retiring Liaison, will be eligible to apply. 
4. The GNSO Council directs the GNSO Secretariat to inform the candidates and the GAC leadership of the GNSO Council’s decision.
5. The GNSO Council thanks Jeff Neuman for his four years of service as the GNSO Council Liaison to the GAC.

Motion to Adopt the Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (SPIRT) Charter

Submitted by: Anne Aikman-Scalese

Seconded by:  Damon Ashcraft

Whereas,

1. On 22 January 2024, the GNSO Council Leadership called for volunteers to serve on the Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (SPIRT) Charter Drafting Team (hereafter “Drafting Team”).
2. The Drafting Team’s mission was to develop a draft charter for the SPIRT on how it should operate and utilize the Predictability Framework when issues arise during the course of the New gTLD Program, following the Annex E guidelines as provided in the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) Final Report.
3. The Predictability Framework is an output of the implementation effort developed by ICANN org, in coordination with the SubPro Implementation Review Team (IRT); the Predictability Framework and the SPIRT Charter should be mutually coherent.
4. From 26 February through 22 July 2024, the Drafting Team, consisting of individuals and representatives from the ICANN community, held eleven (11) meetings to deliberate the contents of the charter, including but not limited to the SPIRT’s scope, formation, decision-making and operational procedures.
5. On 12 June 2024, the GNSO Council received an update on the draft charter, focusing on the sections that differed from the implementation guidance in Annex E of the New gTLD SubPro Final Report, including specific language.
6. On 29 July 2024, the Drafting Team completed its work and submitted a final version of the SPIRT charter to the full GNSO Council.
7. The GNSO Council acknowledges that the Drafting Team may need to reconvene and be tasked with amendments to the charter after its adoption, as the Predictability Framework is scheduled for another round of Public Comment in May 2025.

Resolved,

1. The GNSO Council adopts the charter for the SPIRT, acknowledging the possibility of future amendments as a result of material changes to the Predictability Framework which could occur after the final public comment on the draft Applicant Guidebook (AGB) for the next round of new gTLDs.
2. The GNSO Council requests the GNSO Support Staff to communicate the result of the motion to the Drafting Team as well as the SubPro IRT.
3. The GNSO Council thanks the Drafting Team members, Chair and Vice-Chair for their contribution and looks forward to the SPIRT’s role in the Next Round New gTLD Program.

**WITHDRAWN UNTIL September 2024** 

(Updated with friendly amendments submitted by Tomslin Samme-Nlar and Kurt Pritz)

Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team Recommendations #1 and #2

Submitted by Tomslin Samme-Nlar

Seconded by Kurt Pritz

Whereas, the GNSO Council resolved on 17 November 2022 to defer consideration of Recommendations #1 and #2 of the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team until such time as the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) negotiations between ICANN org and Contracted Parties have completed and there is feedback from ICANN org on if/how it anticipates the requesting and processing of registration data will be undertaken in the context of measuring accuracy, or for six months, whichever is the shorter;

Whereas, recommendation #1 from the Scoping Team recommended ICANN org to carry out a voluntary registrar survey regarding registrar practices for data accuracy;

Whereas, recommendation #2 from the Scoping Team recommended ICANN org to conduct a registrar audit;

Whereas, ICANN org conducted a comprehensive assessment of the four scenarios and provided its assessment on Registration Data Accuracy efforts on 19 October 2023, noting specifically:  

1. It is unclear whether [the scenarios] would provide useful data to inform the Accuracy Scoping Team’s efforts;
2. The scenarios are not expected to provide data as it relates to identity verification of the registrant or veracity of the contact information (i.e., the data belongs to the data subject);
3. The costs associated with a full-scale registrar audit [Scoping Team Recommendation #2] may be prohibitive when taking into account the relatively low level of insight the audit may yield;
4. ICANN does not have the authority to mandate collection of nonpublic registration data necessary to conduct reviews outside of auditing current contractual requirements; and
5. ICANN may not be able to demonstrate the purpose of some of the data processing outweighs the rights of the impacted data subject;
6. Based on the voluntary nature of the survey [Scoping Team Recommendation #1], should a significant portion of registrars not participate, information collected may be statistically disproportionate to registration data that exists across all registered gTLD domain names.

Whereas, the GNSO Council discussed ICANN org’s assessment during its meeting on 16 November 2023.

Whereas, the GNSO Council deferred the consideration of the Scoping Team’s recommendations for an additional six months on 15 February 2024, noting that, barring (i) completion of the Data Processing Agreement, (ii) implementation of the NIS2 directive, or (iii) publication of the Inferential Analysis of Maliciously Registered Domains (INFERMAL) Study, it may not be the appropriate time to consider the Accuracy Scoping Team’s recommendations.

Whereas, the GNSO Council further discussed the limitations noted in ICANN org’s assessment during its meetings on 12 June 2024 and 18 July 2024 and agreed not to proceed with the Scoping Team’s recommendations and not to restart the Scoping Team at this time.

Whereas, the GNSO Council recognizes the importance of Registration Data Accuracy to the ICANN community and commits to continue its discussion of how best to move forward on this topic.

Resolved,

1. The GNSO Council will not proceed with the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team’s Recommendations #1 and #2 due to the limitations noted in ICANN org’s Assessment of Registration Data Accuracy Scenarios.
2. The GNSO Council will not restart the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team at this time due to limitations in processing data for the purpose of assessing accuracy.
3. The GNSO Council recognizes the importance of Registration Data Accuracy to the ICANN community and commits to continue its discussion of how best to move forward on this topic

Motion to Approve Supplemental Recommendations for the Non-Adopted Topic 24: String Similarity Evaluation SubPro Recommendations

Submitted by: Paul McGrady

Seconded by: 

WHEREAS,

...

RESOLVED,

1. The GNSO Council approves the Supplemental Recommendations for the non-adopted SubPro recommendations related to Topic 24: String Similarity Evaluations and instructs the GNSO Secretariat to transmit the Supplemental Recommendations to the ICANN Board.