Please note that all documents referenced in the agenda have been gathered on a Wiki page for convenience and easier access: https://community.icann.org/x/toXxDg
This agenda was established according to the GNSO Operating Procedures v3.5, updated on 24 October 2019
For convenience:
- An excerpt of the ICANN Bylaws defining the voting thresholds is provided in Appendix 1 at the end of this agenda.
- An excerpt from the Council Operating Procedures defining the absentee voting procedures is provided in Appendix 2 at the end of this agenda.
GNSO Council meeting held in Hamburg, Germany 13:00 - 15:00 CEST: https://tinyurl.com/ycktn6se
Coordinated Universal Time: 11:00 - 13:00 UTC
04:00 Los Angeles; 07:00 Washington DC; 12:00 London; 13:00 Paris; 14:00 Moscow; 22:00 Melbourne
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: (TBD)
Councilors should notify the GNSO Secretariat in advance if they will not be able to attend and/or need a dial out call.
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Item 1: Administrative Matters (5 minutes)
1.1 - Roll Call
1.2 - Updates to Statements of Interest
1.3 - Review / Amend Agenda
1.4 - Note the status of minutes for the previous Council meetings per the GNSO Operating Procedures:
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 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List (5 minutes)
2.1 - Review focus areas and provide updates on specific key themes / topics, to include review of Projects List and Action Item List.
Item 3: Consent Agenda (5 minutes)
- 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 (15 minutes)
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:
- 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?
- 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?
- 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 Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) submitted to the GNSO 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. During the meeting in August 2023, Manju Chen presented an overview of the CCOICI Recommendations Report on the SOI Requirements
Here, the Council will vote on the CCOICI Recommendations Report on the SOI Requirements.
4.1 – Presentation of motion (Manju Chen, CCOICI Chair)
4.2 – Council discussion
4.3 – Council Vote (voting threshold: simple majority)
Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Optional Topics for Potential Council Response (30 minutes)
(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:
- Do you support the Pilot Holistic Review Revised Terms of Reference as drafted?
- Does the Pilot Holistic Review Revised Terms of Reference sufficiently address the four primary issues identified in the first Public Comment proceeding?
- Does the Pilot Holistic Review Revised Terms of Reference sufficiently clarify the deliverables for the Pilot Holistic Review?
- 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.
Here, the Council will discuss the Proposed Process and determine whether input on the proposed process is needed.
The deadline for input is 30 November 2023 and can be sent directly to giovanni.seppia@icann.org and alice.jansen@icann.org.
(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 should be directed to larisa.gurnick@icann.org and evin.erdogdu@icann.org and is due by 30 November 2023.
Here, the Council will discuss if it would like to provide further feedback on the three above topics.
5.1 – Introduction of topic (Greg DiBiase, Vice-Chair of the GNSO Council)
5.2 - Discussion
5.3 – Next steps
Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO Liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Annual Report (10 minutes)
The GNSO Liaison to the GAC role was first piloted from 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. 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.
The Liaison is primarily responsible for providing timely updates to the GAC on GNSO policy development activities in order to complement the existing notification processes; the Liaison is also a resource for answering questions in relation to these (GNSO) activities that GAC members may have. Furthermore, the Liaison is responsible for providing the GNSO Council with regular updates on progress, including on GAC activities, specifically in so far as these relate to issues of interest to the GNSO. The objective of the liaison mechanism, in combination with other mechanisms and early engagement tools, is to facilitate effective early engagement of the GAC and assist with the flow of information between the GAC and the GNSO.
The Liaison is responsible for delivering to the Council an annual report, which includes updates on relevant engagement activities and progress.
Here, the Council will receive a presentation on the annual report from the Liaison.
6.1 – Introduction of topic (Jeff Neuman, GNSO Liaison to the GAC)
6.2 – Council discussion
6.3 – Next steps
Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Diacritics Issue in Latin Script (20 minutes)
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.
Here, this briefing will serve the purpose of the initial issue identification and scoping in preparation for the Council’s consideration for requesting the Issue Report.
7.1 – Introduction of topic (Sebastien Ducos, GNSO Council Chair)
7.2 – Council discussion
7.3 – Next steps
Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS (30 minutes)
8.1 – Farewell to outgoing Councilors
8.2 – Update - Open Contracted Party House DNS Abuse Calls (Greg DiBiase)
8.3 – GNSO Framework for Continuous Improvement Pilot Review (Manju Chen)
8.4 – Open microphone (Continuation of anniversary session discussion / input
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Appendix 1: GNSO Council Voting Thresholds (ICANN Bylaws, Article 11, Section 11.3(i))
See https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-en/#article11.
Appendix 2: GNSO Council Absentee Voting Procedures (GNSO Operating Procedures, Section 4.4)
See https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/file/field-file-attach/op-procedures-30jan18-en.pdf
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