Justine Chew is currently serving as the ALAC Liaison to the GNSO. Selected by the ALAC in October 2021, she was seated on the GNSO Council on 27 October 2021, just prior to the ICANN72 AGM which took place on 28 October 2021.
Previously serving ALAC Liaisons to the GNSO:
Cheryl Langdon-Orr served as the ALAC Liaison to the GNSO Council for a fifth and final term of office, between the 2020 AGM to the 2021 ICANN72 AGM, having been appointed on 10 September 2016.
Olivier Crepin-Leblond served as the ALAC Liaison to the GNSO Council from March 7th, 2015, to the end of the AGM at the ICANN54 meeting in Dublin 2015, and from September 22, 2015, through to ICANN57 Hyderabad November 2016.
Cheryl Langdon-Orr served briefly as the ALAC Liaison to the GNSO Council from October 2014 through to End February 2015, when due to her continuing service within the ICANN NomCom, she was required to tender her resignation from this role.
Alan Greenberg served as the ALAC Liaison to the GNSO Council for the following terms: 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014.
Bret Fausett 2005-2006
Previously serving as ALAC Liaison to the DNSO:
Thomas Roessler 2002-2003 (in October 2003 the Names Council of the DNSO became the GNSO) and to the GNSO, 2003-Feb 2005
POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS
Developments in 2021-2024 on:
- Diacritics in Latin Script
- Next Steps for New gTLD Round (post 2022/2023 Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA))
- Modifying gTLD Consensus Policies
- Transfer Policy Review Policy Development Process (TPR-PDP)
- Internationalized Domain Names Expedited Policy Development Process (IDNs-EPDP)
- Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team
- Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data / System for Standardized Access/Disclosure Operational Design Phase (SSAD ODP)
Diacritics in Latin Script
2024
- 16 May: Council resolved to adopt the request for an an Issues Report, directs staff to create the Report.
- 18 Apr: Council discussed ICANN org's proposal which was that a solution could be incorporated through Council's deliberation of the Subsequent Procedures Supplemental Recommendations on Topic 24 String Similarity, and accordingly suggested that Council withhold those supplemental recommendations 24A, 24B and 24C for further work, instead of considering their approval and onward submission to the ICANN Board. Council determined that this was not feasible and instead agreed to request an Issue Report on diacritics in Latin script.
2023
- Since Nov, discussion was deferred to facilitate ICANN org exploring on a possible "light-weight" solution to allow an exceptional process by which the existing registry operators of ASCII TLDs to apply for and obtain the respective diacritic versions of their TLDs in the Next Round.
- 25 Oct: Council received a detailed briefing on this issue and agreed to request a study from ICANN org to help inform the GNSO Council on the issue of diacritics in Latin Script. Prior to the request being made to ICANN org, the org volunteered to investigate what mechanism or mechanisms might be appropriate to address this issue.
- 23 Sep: 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.
- 24 Aug: The GNSO Chair led the commentary on this issue which essentially concluded that the issue of .quebec (TLD) not being a variant of “.québec” did not require an immediate resolution and one that did not squarely sit in the remit of the IDNs-EPDP.
- 17 Aug: GNSO Leadership circulated the 22 Jun 2023 letter from ALAC Chair to the GNSO Chair regarding the Latin script LGR and .québec issue
- 14 Jul: GNSO Leadership received a communication from the IDNs-EPDP Chair regarding 4 public comments related to creating an exceptional process by which the existing registry operator for .quebec could apply “.québec” in a future gTLD round ("the .québec issue") being out of scope of the IDNs-EPDP and its Charter, and referred the comments to the GNSO Council for consideration and action as determined appropriate.
Next Steps for a New gTLD Round 2023-2024 (post Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA))
2024
*8 Jun: ICANN Board resolves during its regular Board Meeting to adopt a number of decisions related to the Next Round:
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- IDN EPDP Ph1 Recommendations
- Resolved (2024.06.08.04), the ICANN Board adopts the Scorecard: IDN EPDP Phase 1 Recommendations in full. Section A of the Scorecard identifies the Outputs that the Board adopts. Section B identifies the Outputs that the Board designates as pending.
- IDN EPDP Ph1 Recommendations
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- Resolved (2024.06.08.08), the ICANN Board determines that ICANN should exclude from the Next Round RAs any RVCs and other comparable registry commitments that restrict content in gTLDs.
- Resolved (2024.06.08.08), the ICANN Board determines that ICANN should exclude from the Next Round RAs any RVCs and other comparable registry commitments that restrict content in gTLDs.
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- Resolved, (2024.06.08.11), the Board adopts the June 2024 Scorecard: Subsequent Procedures Supplemental Recommendations, dated 8 June 2024 (Supplemental Recommendations Scorecard), consisting of:
- Section A, which details the Supplemental Recommendations that the Board adopts.
- Topic 17: Applicant Support (17.2)
- Topic 32: Limited Challenges and Appeals (32.1, 32.2 and 32.10)
- Section B, which details the Supplemental Recommendations that the Board does not adopt, including a rationale.
- Topic 9: Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments (9.2)
- Topic 18: Terms and Conditions (18.1 and 18.3)
- Section A, which details the Supplemental Recommendations that the Board adopts.
- Resolved, (2024.06.08.11), the Board adopts the June 2024 Scorecard: Subsequent Procedures Supplemental Recommendations, dated 8 June 2024 (Supplemental Recommendations Scorecard), consisting of:
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- Whereas, the Board has identified concerns with GAC Consensus Advice item 4.a.i (i.e. Washington, D.C. Communiqué includes advice concerning Topic 35, and, specifically, the use of auctions between commercial and noncommercial applications) including concerns regarding the feasibility of implementation from both a practical and legal standpoint.
- Whereas, the Board has noted that GAC Consensus Advice item 4.a.i does not align with the relevant SubPro recommendations related to Topic 35, which call for the continued use of ICANN Auctions of Last Resort as a contention resolution mechanism.
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- Resolved (2024.06.08.17), the ICANN Board adopts all nine guidance recommendations as documented in the GGP for Applicant Support Final Report.
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- Next Round Funding
- Whereas, the BFC has recommended that the Board approve funding from the New gTLD Program: 2012 Round Application Fees of up to US$23 million to cover further implementation costs for the New gTLD Program: Next Round through 31 March 2025.
- Resolved (2024.06.08.19), the Board authorizes the ICANN Interim President and CEO, or her designee(s), to spend up to US$23 million from the New gTLD Program: 2012 Round Application Fees to fund the implementation work of the New gTLD Program: Next Round through 31 March 2025.
- Next Round Funding
- Circa 30 Apr: Council will send new work re: Topic 24 on String Similarity Review in respect of Singular/Plurals only to the GNSO Council Small Team Plus to consider a strawman proposal developed by Staff. After evaluation of the proposal, the Small Team Plus will return to Council with its conclusions on whether this proposal is viable, and if so, provide draft (amendment) language on Topic 24 Supplemental Recommendation for Council to consider.
- 18 Apr: Council resolved to approve Supplemental Recommendations for the Non-Adopted New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP Recommendations on Topic 9: Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments, Topic 17: Applicant Support, Topic 18: Terms & Conditions, and Topic 32: Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanism. Council also elected to pursue further amendments to the Supplemental Recommendations related to Topic 24: String Similarity Evaluations, and accordingly, removed the relevant Supplemental Recommendations from consideration during its April meeting.
*26 Mar: ICANN org initiates public comment proceeding for input on proposed Registry System Testing 2.0 Test Specifications and API.
*13 Mar: ICANN org initiates public comment proceeding for input on proposed Draft Registry Service Provider (RSP) Handbook for the New gTLD Program: Next Round.
- 6 Mar: GNSO SubPro Small Team held a community consultation session during ICANN79, on the SubPro Supplemental Recommendations.
- 22 Feb: ICANN79 Prep Week session on the SubPro supplemental recommendations developed by the GNSO SubPro Small Team Plus.
*7 Feb: ICANN org initiates public comment proceeding for input on proposed String Similarity Review Guidelines for the New gTLD Program: Next Round.
*1 Feb: ICANN org initiates public comment proceeding for input on proposed language for 7 sections of the Applicant Guidebook (AGB) for the New gTLD Program: Next Round.
2023 - Post ODA
*7 Dec: ICANN Board initiates Public Interest Commitments/Registry Voluntary Commitments Consultation, issuing their Draft Implementation Framework for Content-Related Registry Commitments.
*21 Nov: ICANN Board previews Public Interest Commitments/Registry Voluntary Commitments Consultation
*26 Oct: ICANN Board resolves during its regular Board Meeting to adopt the Scorecard: Subsequent Procedures dated 26 October 2023 (the "October 2023 Scorecard"), comprising:
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- Section A, which details the recommendations that the Board adopts with the second Clarifying Statement.
- Section B, which details the recommendations that the Board does not adopt (Recommendations 32.1, 32.2 and 32.10) because they are not in the best interests of the ICANN community or ICANN, including a Board statement and rationale for each of the Outputs, per Bylaws Annex A, Section 9.
and directed ICANN org, to commence the implementation work related to the recommendations adopted by the Board in Section A of the October 2023 Scorecard, and to consider the recommendations and the second Clarifying Statement jointly for the purpose of implementation and operation of the New gTLD Program: Next Round.
- 21 Oct: GNSO Council transmitted to the ICANN Board its "New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Pending Recommendations - GNSO Council Second Clarifying Statement" (Second Clarifying Statement) developed by the SubPro Small Team to address the Board's concerns on 10 pending Outputs around the enforceability of Public Interest Commitments (PICs) and Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs).
*10 Sep: ICANN Board resolves during its regular Board Meeting to adopt the Scorecard: Subsequent Procedures dated 10 September 2023 (the "September 2023 Scorecard"), comprising:
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- Section A which details the Outputs that the Board adopts: Recommendations 16.1, 18.4, 19.1, and 19.3; also input on implementation of Recommendations 30.4, 30.5 and 30.6 post discussion with GAC.
- Section B, which details the Outputs that the Board adopts with the "New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Pending Recommendations - GNSO Council Clarifying Statement" transmitted to the Board on 5 September 2023 that provide relevant context to these Outputs; Affirmation with Modification 3.1, Recommendations 3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 6.8, 9.15, 26.9, 29.1, 34.12, 35.3 and 35.5.
- Section C, which details the Outputs that the Board does not adopt, including a Board statement and rationale for each of the Outputs, per Bylaws Annex A, Section 9a, because they are not in the best interests of the ICANN community or ICANN: Recommendations 9.2, 17.2, 18.1, 18.3, 22.7, 24.3, and 24.5.
- Section D, which details the recommendations that remain pending following this Board action, i.e. Recommendations 9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13, 30.7, 31.16, and 31.17 (all relating to the enforceability of PICs and RVCs), and 32.1, 32.2, and 32.10 (all relating to the proposed Challenge & Appeal mechanisms).
and directed ICANN org to commence the implementation work related to the Outputs adopted by the Board in Section A of the September 2023 Scorecard, taking into account the noted Board considerations regarding recommendations 18.4, 30.4 and 30.6.
- 5 Sep: GNSO Council transmitted to the ICANN Board its "New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Pending Recommendations - GNSO Council Clarifying Statement" (Clarifying Statement) developed by the SubPro Small Team to address the Board's concerns on the pending Outputs.
*31 Jul: ICANN Board Chair announces the New gTLD Program: Next Round Implementation Plan which (re-)establishes a target for the the next Applicant Guidebook to be finalized in May 2025, and which then enables the application round to open in Q2 2026 (with the goal of April 2026), noting that any delays to the timeline of the Policy Implementation work stream will cause delays to the opening of the round.
*27 Jul: ICANN Board resolves at a special meeting to acknowledges receipt of a draft New gTLD Program: Next Round Implementation Plan from ICANN org and plans to publish the plan on or before 31 July 2023.
- 25 Jul: GNSO Council submitted to the ICANN Board an updated ICANN77 Deliverable Workplan & Timeline SubPro Related Activities to provide further clarity to its 15 Jun submission
- 15 Jun: GNSO Council submitted to the ICANN Board its ICANN77 Deliverable Work plan & Timeline SubPro Related Activities as requested by the ICANN Board in its 16 Mar resolution
- 5 Jun: GNSO Council holds extraordinary meeting to discuss completion of outstanding SubPro-related work.
- 22 May: GNSO Council meets with the ICANN Board on pending SubPro recommendations.
- 4 May: GNSO Council holds extraordinary meeting to discuss the Proposal of SubPro Small Team Triage Exercise and determine next steps on the 38 pending recommendations.
- 23 Mar: GNSO Council received letter from GAC in respect of GAC input on GAC Priority Topics relative to SubPro Recommendations marked as "pending"
- 22 Mar: GNSO Chair sends letter to ICANN Board and Sally Costerton noting Council's appreciation on progress made during recent weeks and at ICANN76 towards "getting things done".
- 21 Mar: GNSO Council constitutes a Council Small Team to conduct Council triage for the 38 Pending SubPro Outputs, comprising Anne Aikman-Scalese (NCA), Bruna Martins dos Santos (NCSG), Jeff Neuman (GNSO Liaison to SubPro ODP), Justine Chew (ALAC Liaison to GNSO), Nacho Amados (RySG), Paul McGrady (NCA-NCPH), Sebastien Ducos (RySG), Stephanie Perrin (NCSG), Susan Payne (IPC) and Tomslin Samme-Nlar (NCSG).
- 16 Mar: GNSO Council receives letter from ICANN Board in respect of Board's action on SubPro Final Report
*16 Mar: ICANN Board resolves during its Board Meeting at ICANN76 to adopt the SubPro Outputs in Section A of its "Scorecard on Subsequent Procedures PDP" (Scorecard); marking 38 Outputs in Section B of the Scorecard as "pending" and noting ongoing community discussions relating to Topic 17: Applicant Support, Topic 23: Closed Generics, and Topic 25: Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), as well as additional dependencies concerning specific Review Team Recommendations, the Name Collision Analysis Project Study 2 Report (NCAP2), and other items noted in Section C of the Scorecard; and directed ICANN org to commence implementation work related to Section A.
ICANN Org Discussion paper on Modifying gTLD Consensus Policies – TO MONITOR THIS and assess for ALAC input opportunities.
2022
- 4 May: ICANN Org (GDS) met with Council and SG/C Chairs to progress ongoing discussions on the Oct 2021 Discussion Paper on Modifying gTLD Consensus Policies (Zoom Recording). Discussions to continue.
- 25 Apr: Council received a GNSO-sec-developed Discussion Paper on suggested Tracking & Coordination of PDP Improvements
- 6 Apr: Exchanges between Council and GDS ongoing.
- 20 Jan: Council to approach ICANN Org on efficient way to address concerns raised in Discussion Paper.
- NB. Council small team has expanded (now comprises John McElwaine, Maxim Alzoba, Stephanie Perrin, Antonia Chu, Thomas Rickert, Steve DelBianco, Chris Disspain, Susan Mohr, Sebastien Ducos, and Owen Smigelski)
2021
- 28 Oct: A Council small team (comprising John McElwaine, Maxim Alzoba, Stephanie Perrin, Antonia Chu, Thomas Rickert and possibly others) to review the Discussion Paper on Modifying gTLD Consensus Policies and develop a draft response.
Transfer Policy Review Policy Development Process (TPR-PDP)
2023
- 11 Jan: In the course of Phase 1 work conducted to date, the WG discovered that certain Phase 2 topics must be addressed before Phase 1 recommendations can be fully developed. As a result, the PDP leadership team alerts Council to Project Change Request (PCR) to update its work plan to consolidate all work into a single phase and change the order in which topics are considered. This will impact the timeline for key deliverables.
2022
- 21 Jun - 16 Aug: WG conducts public comment for its Phase 1A Initial Report
2021
- 16 Dec: Council approved a Project Change Request (PCR) to update charter topics considered in Phase 1 of the TPR-PDP by moving the topic of NACK (rejection of transfer request) of an unauthorized transfer to Phase 1a scope from Phase 2.
- May: WG begins meeting
- Feb: Council initiated the two-phased Transfer Policy Review PDP
Internationalized Domain Names Expedited Policy Development Process (IDNs-EPDP)
2024
- 11 Apr: GNSO initiates call for public comments to the Phase 2 Initial Report of the IDNs EPDP
* 26 Mar: The ICANN Board calls for public comments to the IDNs EPDP Phase 1 Final Report.
- 18 Jan: GNSO Council resolved to submit the IDNs EPDP Phase 1 Final Report to the ICANN Board for approval.
2023
- 21 Dec: GNSO Council adopts the IDNs EPDP Phase 1 Final Report containing 69 policy recommendations on topics related to top-level IDN gTLD definition and variant management.
- 6-8 Dec: IDNs EPDP had their F2F workshop in Kuala Lumpur.
- 8 Nov: GNSO Council receives the IDNs EPDP Phase 1 Final Report with a full consensus designation on all 69 recommendations on topics related to top-level IDN gTLD definition and variant management.
- 14 Sep: GNSO Leadership relays GNSO Council Guidance Statement on ".québec” to the EPDP Team.
- 24 Aug: At the GNSO Council meeting, the GNSO Chair led the commentary on this issue which essentially concluded that the issue of .quebec (TLD) not being a variant of “.québec” did not require an immediate resolution and one that did not squarely sit in the remit of the Expedited Policy Development Process on Internationalized Domain Names (EPDP on IDNs). The letter from the ALAC Chair to the GNSO Chair on this issue was referred to also.
- 17 Aug: GNSO Leadership circulated the 22 Jun 2023 letter from ALAC Chair to the GNSO Chair regarding the Latin script LGR and .québec issue
- 20 Jul: GNSO Council received a revised project plan from the IDNs EPDP Working Group which shaves 13 months off the earlier timeline. The key milestones for this EPDP are now as follows:
- Phase 1 Final Report remains expected to be delivered to Council in Nov 2023
- Council then considers this Phase 1 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
- Phase 2 Initial Report is expected to be published for public comment in Apr 2024 (vs May 2025 earlier)
- Phase 2 Final Report is expected to be delivered to Council in Oct 2024 (vs Nov 2025 earlier)
- Council then considers this Phase 2 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
- Assumptions for this revised project plan must hold for the EPDP to meet the new milestone dates:
- Progress to be achieved via multiple sessions during ICANN78 (similar to ICANN77)
- A planned F2F workshop scheduled for early Dec 2023
- No change to the EPDP Charter / scope of quarter questions
- 14 Jul: GNSO Leadership received a communication from the EPDP Chair regarding 4 public comments related to creating an exceptional process by which the existing registry operator for .quebec could apply “.québec” in a future gTLD round ("the .québec issue") being out of scope of the IDNs EPDP and its Charter, and referred the comments to the GNSO Council for consideration and action as determined appropriate.
- 14 Jun: GNSO Council received the latest project plan from the IDNs EPDP Working Group, which provides that:
- Phase 1 Final Report is expected to be delivered to Council in Nov 2023
- Council then considers this Phase 1 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
- Phase 2 Initial Report is expected to be published for public comment in May 2025
- Phase 2 Final Report is expected to be delivered to Council in Nov 2025
- Council then considers this Phase 2 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
- The IDNs EPDP WG is already taking steps to improve its timeline to expedite completion of its work well ahead of the Nov 2025 target
- 25 May: GNSO Council received a presentation from the EPDP Chair in response to the ICANN Board's request to Council noted in the Board's 16 Mar letter to Council.
- 24 Apr: GNSO initiates call for public comments to the Phase 1 Initial Report of the IDNs-EPDP.
- 16 Mar: GNSO Council receives letter from ICANN Board in respect of Board's action on SubPro Final Report; item 4 pertains to the work of the IDNs EPDP.
2022
- 17 Nov: Council approved the EPDP's Project Change Request (PCR). With this PCR, the EPDP seeks to facilitate the implementation planning of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures by bifurcating its work into two phases, with Phase 1 covering topics related to top-level IDN gTLD definition and variant management, and Phase 2 covering issues pertaining to second-level IDN variant management, which also requires a timeline extension due to the diversity and complexity of IDN issues, additional data collection needs, review of ICANN org input for draft recommendations, and public comment-related processes. The timeline now contemplated is:
- Publish Phase 1 Initial Report for Public Comment by April 2023
- Submit Phase 1 Final Report to the GNSO Council by November 2023
- Publish Phase 2 Initial Report for Public Comment by April 2025
- Submit Phase 2 Final Report to the GNSO Council by November 2025
- 10 Oct: Council is alerted to an impending Project Change Request (PCR) which seeks significant changes to the EPDP's project plan.
* 22 Sep: ICANN Board has approved the IDN Guidelines version 4.1 except the deferred guidelines 6a, 11, 12, 13, 18 and associated Additional Notes, and directed these to be published as IDN Guidelines version 4.1 and to supersede version 3.0.
- 20 Jan: Council to send letter to ICANN Board responding to the Board’s 20 Oct letter regarding the IDN Implementation Guidelines v4.0.
2021
- 16 Dec: Council Leadership to draft a response to the ICANN Board’s 20 Oct letter regarding the IDN Implementation Guidelines v4.0.
- 18 Nov: Council has yet to discuss its approach for the response to the ICANN Board’s 20 Oct letter regarding the IDN Implementation Guidelines v4.0.
- Aug: The Expedited Policy Development Process on Internationalized Domain Names (EPDP on IDNs) commenced work on its Charter Questions.
Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team
2023
- 20 Jul: Council resolved to extend deferral of consideration of recommendations #1 and #2 of the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team write up for another six months or at an earlier date if the DPA negotiations have been completed before six months have passed and/or there is feedback from ICANN org if/how it anticipates the requesting and processing of registration data will be undertaken in the context of measuring accuracy.
- 20 Apr: Council considered the RDA Scoping Team Survey Summary Results and ICANN org's 14 Mar input.
- 14 Mar: ICANN org replies to Council's 1 Dec 2022 letter for an update on outstanding issues related to registration data accuracy and the pending work of the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team.
2022
- 1 Dec: Council sent letter to ICANN org requesting an update on outstanding issues related to registration data accuracy and the pending work of the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team.
- 17 Nov: Council adopted recommendation #3 and deferred consideration of recommendations #1 and #2 as contained in the Scoping Team's write up to the Council of 5 September 2022. For more specific details on the recommendations and action, refer to the 17 Nov Special Summary Report.
- 10 Oct: The Scoping Team has 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). Council is seeking a new Chair for the Scoping Team.
- 10 May: The RDA Scoping Team submitted a Project Change Request (PCR) to Council.
18 Nov 2021
- Council received notice that the ICANN Board has selected two Board members to serve as liaisons to this Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team. They are Becky Burr and Harald Alvestrand (alternate).
- Council has acknowledged the Registration Data Accuracy - Scoping Team (RDA_ST) Project Plan
Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data / System for Standardized Access/Disclosure Operational Design Phase (SSAD ODP); See: https://www.icann.org/ssadodp for more official info / Registration Data Request Service (RDRS)
2024
* 24/25 Jan: ICANN runs webinars to provide usage data on the RDRS and answer any questions about the service which handles requests for access to nonpublic registration data related to generic top-level domains (gTLDs).
2023
* 28 Nov: ICANN launches the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS)
- 21 Sep: Council adopted the EPDP Phase 2 small team's proposed charter for a Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) Standing Committee, which is expected to replace the EPDP Phase 2 small team shortly.
- 8 Sep: Council 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.
- 22 Mar: GNSO Chair sends letter to ICANN Board and Sally Costerton noting Council's appreciation on progress made during recent weeks and at ICANN76 towards "getting things done".
- 15 Mar: GNSO 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”.
- 11 Mar: GNSO EPDP Phase 2 (SSAD) - Implementation of Whois Disclosure System at ICANN76 - Whois Disclosure System (WDS) now known as Registration Data Request Service (RDRS).
- 6 Mar: Council receives ICANN Board's reply to Council's 17 Nov 2022 letter on Council’s recommendations for how to proceed with the WHOIS Disclosure System (WDS).
- 27 Feb: ICANN Board adopted a resolution directing ICANN org to proceed to develop and launch the WDS as soon as possible. The Board also authorized the use of the Supplemental Fund for the Implementation of Community Recommendations to support this work. In addition, the Board has 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.
2022
- 17 Nov: Council sent letter to ICANN Board alerting on Council’s recommendations for how to proceed with the WHOIS Disclosure System (WDS).
- 17 Nov: Council accepted the EPDP Phase 2 small team findings and recommendations as outlined in the small team's addendum and confirmed that pending the implementation and subsequent running of the Whois Disclosure System (WDS) for a period of up to two (2) years, the SSAD recommendations should remain paused for consideration by the ICANN Board.
- Oct: Council is to further discuss next steps on the Whois Disclosure System (WDS) in November.
- Sep-ICANN75: Attention on SSAD has now been redirected to ICANN Org's proposal for the Whois Disclosure System (WDS). Design for this WDS was published prior to ICANN75 and ICANN org provided a presentation of the system design to the EPDP Phase 2 small team during ICANN75. Subsequently, the small team and Council held initial discussions amongst themselves, as well as with the Board during their joint session on Tuesday. The Council discussed during its meeting on Wednesday and the small team met informally on Thursday of ICANN75.
- 13 Sep: ICANN org published a WHOIS Disclosure System (System) Design Paper based on the "proof of concept" approach outlined by the Small Team.
- Mar: Council Small Team seated (comprising Members: Paul McGrady, Sebastien Ducos, Marc Anderson, Stephanie Perrin, John McElwaine, Olga Cavalli, Thomas Rickert, Laureen Kapin (GAC- shared membership), Chris Lewis-Evans (GAC- shared membership), Alan Greenberg, Sarah Wyld, Steve DelBianco, Becky Burr, Steve Crocker, Philippe Fouquart (GNSO Council Observing) , Tomslin Samme Nlar (GNSO Council Observing); and Alternates: Gregory DiBiase).
- 1 Feb: GNSO Chair invited GNSO SG/Cs, ALAC, GAC to nominate their EPDP Phase 2 representatives for a Council Small Team led by Sebastien Ducos to analyse the SSAD ODA to develop recommendations on next steps. On 4 Feb, the ALAC Chair nominated Alan Greenberg (being one of the 2 ALAC EPDP Phase 2 representatives) for this Council Small Team.
- 27 Jan: Council and ICANN Board Consultation on SSAD ODP
- 18 Jan: SSAD ODP Project Update Webinar #5
- 12 Jan: A follow up discussion is held for Council and and GNSO-appointed EPDP Phase 2 members to discuss next steps ahead of Council's meeting with the ICANN Board on 27 January on concerns around financial sustainability of the SSAD (wiki)
- 5 Jan: A 4 Jan 2022 summary paper was circulated to Council members ahead of a 12 Jan call
2021
- 20 Dec: A closed session is held for Council and GNSO-appointed EPDP Phase 2 members only with the SSAD ODP Project Team focusing on the SSAD Cost Model information (presentation)
- 16 Dec: Council did not discuss GAC's letter of 15 Dec 2021 to Council regarding SSAD ODP
- 3 Dec: ICANN's SSAD and Governmental Accreditation Authorities Webinar
- 18 Nov: ICANN Webinar: SSAD ODP Project Update Webinar #4 on the Business Process Design
- 2 Nov: ICANN Update: Contractual Compliance and Identity Verification Methodology
- 28 Oct: ICANN72 Webinar: SSAD ODP Project Update #3
- 24 Sep: ICANN Webinar: SSAD ODP Project Update #2
- 13 Jul: ICANN Webinar: SSAD ODP Project Update
CONCLUDED OR SUSPENDED ISSUES / PDPs / ODPs
Concluded Issues / PDPs etc
- Additional Work on Subsequent Procedures - GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support (2022-2024)
- Closed Generics (2022-2024)
- Potential Council next steps regarding DNS abuse (2021-2023)
- Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Phase (SubPro ODP) & Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA) (2022-2003)
- Specific Curative Rights Protection for IGOs EPDP (2022)
Additional Work on Subsequent Procedures
2024
- 18 Jan: GNSO Council resolves to submit the GGP Applicant Support Guidance Recommendation Final Report to the ICANN Board for approval.
2023
- 21 Dec: GNSO Council adopts the GGP Applicant Support Guidance Recommendation Final Report .
- 25 Sep: ICANN org publishes the Public Comment Summary Report on the GGP Applicant Support Guidance Recommendation Initial Report.
- 31 Jul - 11 Sep: GGP Applicant Support Guidance Recommendation Initial Report out for public comment
2022
- 21 Nov: GGP on Applicant Support kicks off.
- 20 Oct: Mike Silber was confirmed by Council as the Chair for the GGP.
- 25 Aug: Council resolved unanimously to initiate the GGP using a "Representative + Observers" WG model with each SG/C/AC to be invited to nominate a representative. The GGP will start with Applicant Support first, with the possibility of adding further topics down the line.
- 12 Aug: Council is expected to consider and vote on a new version of the GGP on Application Support. In brief, this version of the GPP on Application Support proposes as follows:
- A (smaller) Working Group employing a “Representative + Observers” model, to conduct and conclude its work, and oversight activities, in an efficient/effective manner while allowing for inclusive community participation. GNSO Council retains oversight, as with any GNSO WG.
- Each AC/SG, ASO and ccNSO may appoint 1 Member to the WG, who are expected to represent the view of their appointing organization and may be called on to provide the official position of their appointing
organization and will be responsible for participating in GGP consensus calls. Appointing organizations may replace their Member(s) at their discretion. - Members must either possess a level of expertise in previous deliberations and/or knowledge that may have been lacking during those initial deliberations.
- The WG has the flexibility/discretion to rely on Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in specific fields to aid in deliberations for certain tasks, but these SMEs will not be considered as Members of the WG.
- The GNSO Liaison to the ODP may serve as an non-voting member of the WG to advise on issues discussed within the SubPro PDP.
- 21 Jul: Council considered a late proposed amendment to the substantive motion to establish a GGP to work just on Applicant Support. The amendment received some support and it was decided to defer this issue to Council's August 2022 meeting to allow opportunity to incorporate supported element(s) into the substantive motion for Council's consideration.
- 15 Jun: Council to proceed with a motion in its Jul meeting to establish a GGP to work just on Applicant Support through a Steering Committee (of a representative+observer model) with ultimate oversight by Council. This GGP is the proposed mechanism to address SubPro Implementation Guidance 17.5, which suggests the creation of a dedicated IRT and it be charged “with developing implementation elements of the Applicant Support Program. In conducting its work, the Implementation Review Team should revisit the 2011 Final Report of the Joint Applicant Support Working Group as well as the 2012 implementation of the Applicant Support program.” This dedicated IRT was to be charged with making substantive decisions on outreach activities and allocation of scarce resources (e.g., when there are more qualified applicants than available funds), among other activities.
- 19 May: Council to explore (intersessionally) the Draft New gTLD Subsequent Procedures GNSO Guidance Process (GPP) Initiation Request.
- 5 May: Council received a Draft New gTLD Subsequent Procedures GNSO Guidance Process (GPP) Initiation Request for its consideration. This will likely be discussed at Council's May 2022 meeting.
- 9 Mar: Based on GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update - Question set #2, Council discussed options for the way forward to deal with a number of areas possibly considered as incomplete in terms policy-development: including on Applicant Support, SPIRT, challenges and appeals. But Council has yet to determine the mechanism to adopt.
Closed Generics
2024
*22 Jan: ICANN Board communicates decision on Closed Generic to ALAC and GNSO Council, "the Board has considered the GAC Advice and has determined that closed generic gTLD applications will not be permitted until such time as there is an approved methodology and criteria to evaluate whether or not a proposed closed domain is in the public interest.”
2023
- 16 Nov: ALAC submits Advice on Closed Generics to the ICANN Board.
- After attempts by the GNSO, GAC and ALAC Chairs to prepare a joint letter to the Board regarding the output of the Dialogue on Closed Generics and next steps did not succeed:
- 24 Aug: Council update on status of Closed Generics
- 15 Jul: Comments on Draft framework for Closed Generics due
- End May: Draft framework for Closed Generics expected to be delivered to the ALAC, GAC, GNSO and other SOACs for community input.
- 11 Mar: (CG) GNSO-GAC-ALAC Dialogue face-to-face meeting
- 31 Jan: (CG): GNSO-GAC-ALAC Dialogue face-to-face meeting.
2022
- 2 Sep: (CG): Council leadership initiates selection by SGs for their representatives for the dialogue.
- 9 Aug: (CG): ALAC receives invitation to formally join GNSO and GAC as parties to the Dialogue on Closed Generics.
- 21 Jul: (CG): Still awaiting convening of the Dialogue, which is inter alia subject to the identification/nomination of representatives from the GNSO and GAC.
- 29 Jun: (CG): Council has sent a letter to the Board and the GAC relaying its recommendations on the GAC-GNSO Dialogue; cc-ed to ALAC Chair, appending the Jun 2022 report of the Council Small Team on Closed Generics.
- 15 Jun: (CG): Council has agreed to relay its recommendations to the Board and GAC as the next step leading to the start of the GAC-GNSO Dialogue, with ALAC participation.
- 19 May (CG): Council Chair Philippe Fouquart received a reply from Maarten Botterman to Council's 27 Apr letter; inter alia encourages GAC and Council to confer on the question of ALAC's participation in the consultative process.
- 5 May (CG): Council's reconstituted Small Team now comprises Paul McGrady (NCA-Non CPH), Kurt Pritz (RySG), Manju Chen (NCSG), Jeff Neuman (GNSO Liaison to GAC), Justine Chew (ALAC Liaison to GNSO), Greg Dibiase (RrSG), Desiree Miloshevic (NCA-CPH), and Marie Pattulo (CSG); also Council leadership comprising Philippe Fouquart, Sebastien Ducos, and Tomslin Samme-Nlar.
- 27 Apr (CG): Council replied to the ICANN Board, accepting the invitation for a facilitated dialogue with the GAC on Closed Generics.
- In its reply, Council noted there being no SubPro recommendation to change current policy on Closed Generics, the approach for the immediate next round of New gTLD applications would be out of harmony with GAC Advice on Closed Generics (namely that closed generics ought to serve a public interest goal).
- Council stated that Council will pursue next steps for the dialogue (a) on the basis of the Board having asked that its facilitated dialogue be limited to making Closed Generics available with restrictions, including for eg. that they serve a public interest goal; (b) subject to mutual agreement with the GAC on conditions for that dialogue.
- Council also noted to the Board, NCSG's opposition to the limited dialogue party approach.
- (NB. The earlier convened Council small team will now be reconstituted with a larger/more representative membership of Councillors to develop conditions for the dialogue)
- 22 Apr (GC): GAC responded to the Board's 6 Mar and 10 Mar letters, raising points on the ICANN Org's Framing Paper.
- 6 Apr (CG): Council CGs Framing Paper Small Team convened with narrow remit of "proposing to Council next steps in responding to the Board proposal (i.e., whether or not the Council is open to working with the GAC on developing a framework for closed generics)" – Council to decide.
- 30 Mar (CG): Board replied to GAC's 10 Mar letter, acknowledging GAC’s willingness to have ALAC participate in the consultation process; encourages GAC and GNSO Council to consider this matter as part of the discussions regarding the proposed dialogue.
- 15 Mar (CG): Council to convene small team to review the ICANN Org's framework paper regarding the Board-facilitated dialogue between GNSO-GAC, and to suggest next steps.
- 10 Mar (CG): Further to the 7 Mar correspondence, the Board forwarded ICANN Org's Framing Paper for the dialogue on Closed Generics.
- 10 Mar (CG): GAC replied to the Board's 6 Mar letter, agreeing to participate in dialogue and welcomed participation from the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) in this consultation process.
- 6 Mar (CG): ICANN Board wrote to the GAC and Council requesting for facilitated dialogue on way forward with Closed Generics (CG).
Potential Council next steps regarding DNS abuse – TO MONITOR THIS FOR RE-ACTIVATION.
2023
- 29 Jun: Council replies to RrSG, RySG, Contractual Compliance and DNSAI on Bulk registrations.
- 15 May: Council's small team shared its initial feedback regarding the input received on the issue of bulk registrations.
* 25 Apr: ICANN announced its funding of a new project called Inferential Analysis of Maliciously Registered Domains (INFERMAL) to explore drivers of malicious domain name registrations.
- 20 Apr: Council has determined that this small team should continue its work reviewing the replies received from RySG, RrSG, ICANN Contractual Compliance and DNS Abuse Institute to the two 6 Jan letters. This Council small team now has a refreshed membership of Thomas Rickert, Mark Datysgeld, Wisdom Donkor, Theo Geurts, Sebastien Ducos, Greg DiBiase, Tomslin Samme-Nlar, Paul McGrady, Nacho Amadoz and Justine Chew.
* 19 Apr: Justine's 4th presentation on a summary of the replies below
- 13 Mar: RrSG reply re: Bulk Registrations
- 7 Mar: CPH (RySG & RrSG) reply re: Targeted contractual amendments
- 3 Mar: RySG reply re: Bulk Registrations
- 27 Feb: DNSAI reply re: Bulk Registrations
- 23 Feb: ICANN Contractual Compliance reply re: Bulk Registrations
- 6 Jan: GNSO Council letters (borne out of the work of the GNSO Council Small Team on DNS Abuse) have been distributed and posted:
2022
- 15 Dec: Leadership of Council's small team on DNS abuse has prepared the draft letter to the Contracted Parties for Council's approval, per the small team's Recommendation #4
- 17 Nov: Council has accepted the small team's report, containing 4 recommendations, delivered on 10 October. For more specific details on the recommendations and action, refer to the 17 Nov Special Summary Report.
- 20 Oct: Council acknowledged the Small Team's report and recommendations; acquiesced to the Small Team regrouping to work on Recommendation #4 (drafting of letter to Contracted Parties).
- 10 Oct: Small Team's final report and recommendations were submitted to GNSO Council for consideration.
- 21 Sep: Small Team's draft report and recommendations were presented and discussed at ALAC-GNSO meeting at ICANN75.
*17 Aug: Justine's 3rd Presentation to CPWG on Small Team deliberations on comments received from SGs/Cs/DNSAI; + discussion on draft report
- 4 Aug: Small Team completes deliberation on comments received from outreach exercise and moves onto producing their report
*20 Jul: Justine's 2nd Presentation to CPWG on Small Team deliberations on comments received from ALAC, GAC, SSAC
- 16 Jun: Small Team conducts meeting at ICANN 74
- 2 Jun: Small Team begins review of responses from Contractual Compliance.
*25 May: Justine's 1st Presentation to CPWG on responses from Contractual Compliance
- 19 May: Small Team completes review of comments received from outreach to ALAC, GAC, SSAC and DNSAI, as well as SGs (RySG) and Cs (BC).
- 20 Apr: ALAC input to 7 Mar letter considered by Small Team and well received, in general.
- 6 Apr: Input received from BC. Small Team met, to proceed with info gathering from Contractual Compliance in respect of action to do with DNS Abuse vis a vis Contracted Parties. Still awaiting input from other SG/Cs.
- 4 Apr: Small Team received responses from ALAC, GAC, SSAC and DNSAI to 7 Mar letters. Small Team to meet 6 Apr.
- 18 Mar: Reply date for 7 Mar letter to ALAC extended to 4 Apr.
- 7 Mar: Council issued letters to ALAC, GAC, SSAC and the DNS Abuse Institute (DNSAI) to seek input on what DNS abuse issues are best mitigated via policy development specifically, if any, as a mechanism to help determine the Council’s next steps on DNS abuse; to reply by 21 Mar. Input to be sought from each SG also. More respondents may be approached at a later date.
- 9 Feb: Small Team initial meeting. Updates to be provided at Council Meeting #2 of 2022.
- 4 Feb: Council small team (comprising Thomas Rickert, Mark Datysgeld, Wisdom Donkor, Maxim Alzoba, Sebastien Ducos, Greg DiBiase, and Justine Chew, also Philippe Fouquart, Tomslin Samme-Nlar, and Paul McGrady) set to begin work on 9 Feb.
2021
- 28 Oct: A Council small team (comprising Thomas Rickert, Mark Datysgeld, Wisdom Donkor, Kristian Ormen, Maxim Alzoba, Sebastien Ducos) to draft potential GNSO Council next steps regarding DNS abuse.
Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Phase (SubPro ODP) and Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA); See: https://www.icann.org/subpro-odp for more official info.
2023 - Post ODA
*16 Mar: ICANN Board resolves during its Board Meeting at ICANN76 to adopt the SubPro Outputs in Section A of its "Scorecard on Subsequent Procedures PDP" (Scorecard); marking 38 Outputs in Section B of the Scorecard as "pending" and noting ongoing community discussions relating to Topic 17: Applicant Support, Topic 23: Closed Generics, and Topic 25: Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), as well as additional dependencies concerning specific Review Team Recommendations, the Name Collision Analysis Project Study 2 Report (NCAP2), and other items noted in Section C of the Scorecard.
*12 Mar: Subsequent Procedures: Issues and Next Steps at ICANN76
*1 Mar: SubPro ODP Status Update at ICANN76 Prep Week
2023 - ODA
- 28 Feb: ICANN Board Chair replies to GNSO Chair's letter of 20 Jan on GNSO Council review and input for the SubPro ODA
- 28 Feb: ICANN Board and GNSO Joint Meeting on SubPro discussion.
- 16 Feb: GNSO Council to prepare for a joint meeting with the Board.
- 20 Jan: GNSO Chair letter on the SubPro ODA input sent to ICANN Board Chair
- 19 Jan: Council Small Team on SubPro ODA prepares input concentrating on identifying areas of ICANN org analysis that may not be true to the intent of the SubPro Final Report, as well as developing impressions of Option 2 contained in the ODA. Given the tight timelines, there will not be adequate time for the small team to provide draft input to Council by it January meeting. Accordingly, the expectation is that the input, delivered on [date], shall be sent to the Board, but include the caveat that it was not formally adopted by Council.
2022
- 15 Dec: Council constitutes a Small Team comprising Anne Aikman-Scalese (NCA), Jeff Neuman (GNSO Liaison to SubPro ODP), Thomas Rickert (ISCP), Sebastien Ducos (RySG), Susan Payne (IPC) and Justine Chew (ALAC Liaison to GNSO) to establish if there were questions or clarifications needed to be relayed to the ICANN Org SubPro Team; and likely comments to be relayed to the ICANN Board.
*14 Dec: ICANN org (SubPro ODP Team) to host a community webinar on the SubPro ODA on Wed 14 Dec 2022 at 13:00–15:00 and 20:00–22:00 UTC
*12 Dec: SubPro ODP Team delivers SubPro ODA to ICANN Board
- 8 Dec: SubPro ODP Team blogs on Work Track 9: Overarching Considerations
- 7 Dec: SubPro ODP Team to conduct a SubPro ODA GNSO Council Specific Webinar (prior to release of the ODA)
- 7 Dec: SubPro ODP Team blogs on Work Track 8: Finance
- 2 Dec: SubPro ODP Team blogs on Work Track 7: Resource Staffing, Logistics
- 12 Nov: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update - Relay of Question set #6
*8 Nov: SubPro ODP Team releases Assumptions Subsequent Procedures ODP v.6
- 2 Nov: SubPro ODP Team blogs on Work Track 6: Communications and Outreach
*14 Oct: SubPro ODP Team releases SubPro ODP Community Status Update #4 (last of four planned updates). The output of this ODP (i.e. the ODA - Operational Design Assessment) is now expected to be completed on 9 Nov and delivered to the ICANN Board on 12 Dec.
- 6 Sep: SubPro ODP Team blogs on Work Track 5: Vendor Procurement
*15 Aug: SubPro ODP Team releases SubPro ODP Community Status Update #3 (the 3rd of four planned updates) which refers to Assumptions Subsequent Procedures ODP v.5. The last update is scheduled for 15 Oct.
- 25 Aug: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison submits Question set #5 REPLY
- 2 Aug: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update - Reminder on Question set #5
- 29 Jul: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison submits Question set #4 REPLY
- 20 Jul: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update - Question set #4 finalization and Relay of Question set #5
- Question set #5 sought clarity on the Predictability Framework
- 12 Jul: SubPro ODP Team blogs on Work Track 4: Systems & Tools
- 8 Jul: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison submits Question set #3 REPLY
- 30 Jun - 15 Jul: Council Small Team comprising Jeff Neuman (GNSO Liaison to SubPro ODP), Paul McGrady (NCA-Non CPH), Justine Chew (ALAC Liaison to GNSO), Desiree Miloshevic (NCA-CPH), and Flip Petillion (IPC) worked on replies to Question set #4.
- 30 Jun: Question set #3 REPLY finalized
- 26 May: SubPro ODP Team blogs on Work Track 3: Operational Readiness
- 26 May: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison submits Question set #2 REPLY
*25 May: SubPro ODP Team releases Assumptions Subsequent Procedures ODP v.4
- 19 May: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update - Relay of Question set #4 and SubPro Topic Assumptions
- Question set #4 sought clarity on 10 topics
*16 May: SubPro ODP Team releases SubPro ODP Community Status Update #2, the 2nd of four planned updates. The next update is scheduled for 15 Aug.
- 12 Apr: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update - Relay of Question set #3
- Question set #3 sought clarity on String Similarity
*29 Apr: SubPro ODP Team releases Assumptions Subsequent Procedures ODP v.3
*28 Mar: SubPro ODP Team releases SubPro ODP Community Status Update #1, the 1st of four planned updates. The next update is scheduled for 16 May.
*23 Mar: SubPro ODP Team releases Initial & Overarching Assumptions Subsequent Procedures ODP v.2
*28 Feb: SubPro ODP Team releases Initial Assumption Subsequent Procedures ODP v.1
- 14 Feb: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update - Relay of Question set #2
- Question set #2 sought clarity on the Dedicated IRT for Application Support Program
- 25 Jan: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update #5 - Third call with ICANN's SubPro ODP Team
- 21 Jan: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison submits Question set #1 REPLY
- 18 Jan: SubPro ODP Team blogs on SubPro ODP Work Tracks
- 9 Jan: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update #4 - Second call with ICANN's SubPro ODP Team
- 3 Jan: Actual SubPro ODP Launch date
2021
- 20 Dec: ICANN org announces that ICANN GDS has informed ICANN Board that it is beginning this ODP in January 2022.
- 16 Dec: Council mainly considered the process for SubPro ODP interactions between the GNSO ODP Liaison and the ICANN Org's SubPro ODP Team - Councillors are meant to take suggested responses of the GSNO ODP Liaison to SubPro ODP Team's preliminary questions (Question Set #1) back to their respective SG/C for feedback to enable finalization and timeous relay of agreed responses to the SubPro ODP Team. ICANN Org has a public archive of engagement on the topic.
- 1 Dec: SubPro ODP Team blogs on answers to questions regarding the SubPro ODP
- 1 Dec: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update #3 - First call with GDS (ICANN's SubPro ODP Team)
- 22 Nov: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update #2. ICANN Org is still in internal project organization mode although GDD has posed a first set of questions to the GNSO ODP Liaison, Jeff Neuman. Formal kick-off of the ODP only expected at end of Nov 2021, thereafter proceeds for an approximate 10 months.
- 18 Nov: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update - Relay of Question set #1
- Question set #1 sought clarity on (i) Applications Assessed in Rounds, (ii) RVCs & PICs, specifically on DNS Abuse Mitigation (iii) Applicant Reviews, and (iv) Auctions.
- 16 Nov: GNSO SubPro ODP Liaison update #1
Specific Curative Rights Protection for IGOs EPDP
2023
* 30 Apr: The ICANN Board resolves to adopt the four recommendations that the GNSO Council approved from the IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms PDP and the five recommendations that the GNSO Council approved from the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protections for IGOs; and directed ICANN org to proceed with the implementation of these recommendations as soon as feasible.
- 11 Jan: ICANN Board & GNSO Council joint meeting took place.
2022
* 28 Nov 2022 - 16 Jan 2023: The ICANN Board seeks community input on the GNSO Council’s June 2022, supermajority adoption of the EPDP Team’s Final Report on Specific Curative Rights Protections for International Governmental Organizations (IGOs). The inputs received will help inform the ICANN Board’s deliberations as they consider the GNSO’s adopted recommendations.
- 15 June: Council resolved unanimously to approve all 5 recommendations in the Final Report.
- 19 May: Council was meant to consider and vote on a motion to approve the recommendations in the Final Report but eventually resolved to defer the vote to Council's June 2022 meeting to allow the RrSG time for further consideration prior to the vote.
- 14 Apr: Council was informed that this EPDP Team reached full consensus on its five recommendations and delivered its Final Report on 4 April 2022. Council also received an overview of the five recommendations of the EPDP. Council will be voting on those five recommendations in May 2022.
2021
- 16 Dec: Council approved a Project Change Request (PCR) to extend this EPDP WG's project timeline to 4 Apr 2022 to deliver its final report, while noting RrSG concerns around the EPDP moving out of the scope of its charter
- 18 Nov: EPDP WG currently reviewing comments received on its 6 recommendations, for purposes of producing its Final Report. Project plan is expected to be extended from end 2021 to some time in Q1 of 2022
- 24 Oct: Public Comment on the EPDP WG's Initial Report closed
DIRECTORY OF REPORTS
2024 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov
2023 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | Extra_May | May | Extra_Jun | Pre-ICANN77_Bilateral | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Bilateral@ICANN78 | Oct | Nov | Dec
2022 Jan | Feb | Mar | Bilateral@ICANN73 | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Bilateral@ICANN75 | Oct | Nov | Dec
January 2024 - October 2024 Reports
24-10 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #10 (OCT 2024) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #10 of 2024 held on 17 October 2024
GNSO Council Meeting #10 of 2024 held on 17 Oct 2024
Full Agenda | Documents | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
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 GSNO Council Meeting on 8 August 2024 were posted on .....
- Minutes of the GNSO Council Meeting on 19 September 2024 were posted on ....
GNSO Council Meeting #10 of 2024 held on 17 Oct 2024 at 13:00 UTC:
Non-Council members are welcome to attend the meeting or call as listen-only observers.
Records of 17 Oct 2024 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 17 Oct 2024 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 Oct 2024 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Oct 2024 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
24-09 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #9 (SEP 2024) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #9 of 2024 held on 19 September 2024
GNSO Council Meeting #9 of 2024 held on 19 Sep 2024
Full Agenda | Documents | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
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 18 July 2024 were posted on 02 August 2024.
Minutes of the GSNO Council Meeting on 8 August 2024 were posted on .....
GNSO Council Meeting #9 of 2024 held on 19 Sep 2024 at 13:00 UTC:
Non-Council members are welcome to attend the meeting or call as listen-only observers.
Records of 19 Sep 2024 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 19 Sep 2024 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 2024 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Sep 2024 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
24-08 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #8 (AUG 2024) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #8 of 2024 held on 8 August 2024
GNSO Council Meeting #8 of 2024 held on 8 Aug 2024
Full Agenda | Documents | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- GNSO Review of the GAC ICANN80 Communiqué
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - GNSO Liaison to the GAC Replacement
- Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - Adoption of the SPIRT Charter
- Item 6: COUNCIL
VOTEDISCUSSION - Accuracy Scoping Team (vote deferred) - Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy of Registration Data
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Small Team Plus on Singulars/Plurals
- Item 9: COUNCIL UPDATE - Transfer Policy Review PDP - Initial Report Format
- Item 10: COUNCIL UPDATE - Intellectual Property Constituency Request for Reconsideration
- Item 11: Any Other Business
11.1 - Independent Review Process - Implementation Oversight Team
- Deadline for public comments: 16 September
11.2 - ICANN's Draft Five Year Strategic Plan
- Deadline for public comments: 17 September
- 11.3 - Continuous Improvement Program - Community Coordination Group (CIP-CCG) Phase 3 Update
- 11.4 - Publication of Preliminary Issues Report on Latin Script Diacritics
- Deadline for public comments: 10 September
11.5 - ICANN Board Seeks Input on Applicant Support Program Use of Auction Proceeds - blog post
11.6 - Board Letter re: Urgent Request
- 11.7 - IDNs-EPDP Phase 2 recommendations related to harmonized IDN tables
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - GNSO Liaison to the GAC Replacement
- The GNSO Liaison to the 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.
- 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 term of the liaison role is two years, and the term limit is two consecutive two-year terms. 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.
- Following a review of candidates by the Standing Selection Committee (SSC), Council will vote to confirm the SSC's recommendation of Sebastien Ducos as the new GNSO Liaison to the GAC. (voting threshold of simple majority)
- Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - Adoption of the SPIRT Charter
- Council enlisted a Drafting Team to develop a draft charter for the SPIRT, which is a standing implementation review team recommended in the New gLTD Subsequent Procedures Final Report.
- When issues arise after ICANN Board adoption of the Applicant Guidebook and during the course of the New gTLD Program that need to be addressed, the Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”) will utilize the Predictability Framework, which is an output of the implementation effort developed by ICANN org, in coordination with the Subsequent Procedures (“SubPro”) Implementation Review Team (“IRT”); the Predictability Framework and the SPIRT Charter should be mutually coherent. And Council is responsible for the oversight of the SPIRT.
- In developing the draft charter, the Drafting Team considered elements such as scope, formation, the operating principles and decision-making of the SPIRT, et.al. The New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Final Report included an annex that provides detailed guidance on how the SPIRT should operate, which served as a basis for the drafting of the charter.
- Following the 12 June 2024 update to Council 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, the Drafting Team is now submitting a final version of the SPIRT Charter which Council will vote on. (voting threshold of simple majority).
- Item 6: COUNCIL
VOTEDISCUSSION - Accuracy Scoping Team- The Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team was initiated by the GNSO Council in July 2021 per the formation instructions.
- The Scoping Team completed Assignment #1 (enforcement and reporting) and Assignment #2 (measurement of accuracy) and submitted its write up to Council on 5 September 2022. In its write up, the Scoping Team suggested 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).
- On 19 October 2023, ICANN org provided an update on Registration Data Accuracy efforts, and Council discussed the update during its 16 November 2023 meeting. During that meeting, some Councilors noted 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 reconvene the Accuracy Scoping Team. Council voted to extend the deferral of the Accuracy Scoping Team’s recommendations by another six months during its meeting on 15 February 2024.
- Following discussion during the meetings in June and July, Council discussed the limitations noted by ICANN org and determined there would be limited value in proceeding with the Scoping Team’s two recommendations (#1 and #2). Council also discussed the limited value in restarting the Scoping Team at this time due to limitations in access to data for the purpose of assessing accuracy. Given the importance of this issue within the ICANN community, the Council will continue to discuss how to best proceed on this topic (see item 7)
Council will vote to reject the Scoping Team’s recommendations #1 (voluntary registrar survey) and #2 (registrar audit). (voting threshold of simple majority)At the request of the IPC Councilors to defer a vote on this issue, Council will now discuss next steps instead.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy of Registration Data
Following the ICANN80 GNSO Council Wrap-Up session, the GNSO Chair asked Councilors to consider the following questions:
- Evaluation of Proposed Alternatives: In its write-up, ICANN noted limitations in processing data for the purpose of assessing accuracy and proposed two alternatives (analyzing historical audit data and engagement with Contracted Parties on ccTLD practices – see detail below). Is pursuing these alternatives worthwhile? If not, are there other alternatives for obtaining data Council should consider?
- Consideration of Scoping Team Restart: Given the limitations with respect to access to data, would there be value in restarting the Scoping Team at this time?
- Advancing the Topic: If restarting the Scoping Team at this time is not deemed advisable, what other ideas do you have to advance this topic given its importance to the ICANN community?
- During the Council’s July meeting, Council agreed that restarting the Scoping Team at this time is not recommended. Councilors requested additional time to discuss additional alternatives with how to proceed on the topic of accuracy and will be asked to present proposals.
- Council will discuss the feedback received from Councilors’ groups.
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update from Small Team Plus on Singulars/Plurals
- In March 2023, the ICANN Board approved the majority of the recommendations contained in the Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP, but also placed some recommendations into a pending status. Council convened a small team that worked collaboratively with the ICANN Board to resolve all pending recommendations. While the majority of the pending recommendations were able to be adopted by the ICANN Board, recommendations across six Topics were non adopted by the ICANN Board.
Council tasked the Small Team Plus with developing Supplemental Recommendations on five of the six Topics, i.e., Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments, Applicant Support, Terms and Conditions, String Similarity Evaluations, and Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanisms. Based on the expected implementation as it relates to the Continued Operations Instrument (COI), the Small Team Plus determined it was unnecessary to develop a Supplemental Recommendation for Topic 22: Registrant Protections. The Small Team Plus developed Supplemental Recommendations for all five topics and shared them with Council.
Because of information received just prior to Council consideration in April 2024, Council elected to defer consideration of the Supplemental Recommendation related to String Similarity Evaluations, or more specifically, singular/plurals. The new information received was a strawperson developed by ICANN org, which provided a potential path forward for singular/plurals. The Council asked to consider whether it felt that the strawperson was promising enough to task the Small Team Plus considering whether strawperson, or and amended version, could be agreed upon.
- Council will receive another update from the Small Team Plus on Singulars/Plurals.
- An electronic vote to adopt the Small Team Plus' Supplemental Recommendations 24.3 and 24.5 is foreshadowed for after this meeting.
- Item 9: COUNCIL UPDATE - Transfer Policy Review PDP - Initial Report Format
At its meeting on 18 February 2021, the GNSO Council unanimously adopted a motion to initiate a Policy Development Process (PDP) to review the Transfer Policy and determine if changes to the policy are needed to improve the ease, security, and efficacy of inter-registrar and inter-registrant transfers.
- The Transfer Policy Review PDP WG has published its consolidated Initial Report, and is now seeking public comments. Because the Initial Report covers many topics and includes many policy recommendations, the Working Group has updated the format of its Initial Report in an effort to make it more digestible to readers (including, eventually, the GNSO Council and ICANN Board).
- Council will receive an overview of the format update.
- Item 10: COUNCIL UPDATE - Intellectual Property Constituency Request for Reconsideration
On 22 November 2023, the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) filed a Request for Reconsideration 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.
During its meeting at ICANN80, a few GNSO Councilors volunteered to draft a letter to the Board regarding the Request for Reconsideration.
Council will hear an update on the draft letter and discuss potential next steps for the Council, if any.
GNSO Council Meeting #8 of 2024 held on 8 Aug 2024 at 21:00 UTC: https://tinyurl.com/3wxk2kd2
14:00 Los Angeles; 17:00 Washington DC; 22:00 London; 23:00 Paris; 00:00 Moscow (Friday); 07:00 Melbourne (Friday)
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: https://icann.zoom.us/j/92283565389?pwd=QnlHK1JSbzdiSFFZSjRjamxMTkNGdz09
Non-Council members are welcome to attend the meeting or call as listen-only observers.
Records of 8 Aug 2024 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 8 Aug 2024 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 Aug 2024 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Aug 2024 Meeting Records.
1. GNSO Liaison to the GAC
- A role piloted in FY2015-2016 now becomes permanent and integral in GNSO-GAC communication. Sebastien Ducos is appointed as the new GNSO Liaison for a 2-year term starting at end ICANN81 to end ICANN87, replacing Jeff Neuman who terms out. Sophie Hey is named as the alternate in the event the need for an alternate arises.
2. Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (SPIRT, pronounced as spirit) Charter
- Council resolved to adopt the charter of 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.
3. Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) and Accuracy Scoping Team
- I am taking these two topics together as they are closely related issues, and ones which Council have been grappling with for some time now.
- In short, the desire to somehow establish the accuracy of domain name registration data has not been able to be acted on as under GDPR, ICANN has no legal basis to process registration data for the purpose of assessing accuracy. With no data being legally available to ICANN, the Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team that had been initiated by Council in July 2021 has been unable to move forward since completing its Assignment #1 (on enforcement and reporting) and Assignment #2 (on measurement of accuracy) and having submitted its write up to Council on 5 September 2022.
- During its most recent meetings in June, July, and now, August, Council revisited and discussed the limitations noted by ICANN org resulting in limited value to proceeding with the RDA Scoping Team’s two recommendations (#1 and #2). Council also discussed the limited value in restarting the RDA Scoping Team due to limitations in access to data for the purpose of assessing accuracy.
- However, given the importance of this issue within the ICANN community, Council decided to establish a new small team to see if there might be other ways to move forward - including reframing the issue(s) to perhaps focus on how registrants could be contacted for relevant reasons (such as DN abuse) in order to establish accuracy of their registration data rather than attempting to get access to existing mass registration data for the direct purpose of assessing accuracy.
4. SubPro Small Team Plus: Policy development on Singulars/Plurals of the Same Word in the Same Language as TLDs
- This an ongoing discussion at the GNSO Subsequent Procedures Small Team Plus, which I have been reporting on and discussing extensively at CPWG (see CPWG 15 May 2024, 22 May 2024, 10 Jul 2024 and 17 Jul 2024)
- Background:
- In March 2023, the ICANN Board approved the majority of the recommendations contained in the Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP, but also placed some recommendations into a pending status. Council convened a small team that worked collaboratively with the ICANN Board to resolve all pending recommendations. While the majority of the pending recommendations were able to be adopted by the ICANN Board, recommendations across six Topics were non adopted by the ICANN Board.
Council tasked the Small Team Plus with developing Supplemental Recommendations on five of the six Topics, i.e., Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments, Applicant Support, Terms and Conditions, String Similarity Evaluations, and Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanisms. Based on the expected implementation as it relates to the Continued Operations Instrument (COI), the Small Team Plus determined it was unnecessary to develop a Supplemental Recommendation for Topic 22: Registrant Protections. The Small Team Plus developed Supplemental Recommendations for all five topics and shared them with the Council.
Because of information received just prior to Council consideration in April 2024, Council elected to defer consideration of the Supplemental Recommendation related to String Similarity Evaluations, or more specifically, singular/plurals. The new information received was a strawperson developed by ICANN org, which provided a potential path forward for singular/plurals. The Council asked to consider whether it felt that the strawperson was promising enough to task the Small Team Plus considering whether strawperson, or and amended version, could be agreed upon.
- NCA Councilor Paul McGrady, Small Team Plus lead, reported that there is some agreement on the ICANN org strawperson around the public crowdsourcing in reporting incidences singular/plurals of the same word in the same language being applied for (regardless of if there is an existing TLD which is impacted) but that the small team plus has not yet been able to agree on an exceptions process.
- By "exceptions process", we mean could an applicant whose applied-for string that has been caught in such a singular/plural report be able to explain how its string would not lead to consumer/end user confusion - as against an existing TLD or another applied-for singular/plural string - if it were allowed to delegated, and if so, how (ie what criteria could be used, new process, vs existing process).
- Noting that such an exceptions process must not rely on 'intent of use' (an approach which the Board has rejected) but could rely on other grounds, such as registrant restrictions, so long as if any Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs) were involved then these RVCs must be enforceable under the ICANN Bylaws and as a practicable matter.
- And it being unclear as to how much time the small team plus would be given to resolve its differences. in order not to impact the launch of the Next Round of New gTLDs.
- Council concluded that the small team plus should continue its work and report back at Council's August 2024 meeting.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew to continue to update ALAC/CPWG on the progress of the Singular/Plurals issue.
24-07 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #7 (JUL 2024) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #7 of 2024 held on 18 July 2024
GNSO Council Meeting #7 of 2024 held on 18 Jul 2024
Full Agenda | Documents | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- GNSO PR Officer - Roles & Responsibilities
- Confirmation of GNSO nominees to the Pilot Holistic Review
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - EPDP on Temporary Specification Phase 1 Urgent Requests
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy Check-in
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO Review of GAC Communiqué
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update from Small Team Plus on Singulars/Plurals
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Supplemental Recommendations - Non-Adopted Recommendations
- Item 9: COUNCIL UPDATE - Intellectual Property Constituency Request for Reconsideration
- Item 10: Any Other Business
10.1 - Aspirational Statement
10.2 - SPS Actions Follow-up
- Recommendations Report
- Public Comment Review
- Board Readiness - Slide presentation from Kurt Pritz
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 4: 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. 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 February 2019, and Council voted to approve the Final Report on 4 March 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 policy recommendations.
- ICANN org convened an Implementation Review Team, which began meeting 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 [sic] 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 Implementation Review Team, the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) wrote to the Board about the topic of urgent requests on 23 August 2023. The Registrar Stakeholder Group wrote to the Board on 8 September 2023 in response to the GAC’s letter.
- Following the receipt of these letters and further communication amongst Board members, the Board sent a letter to the GNSO Council on 3 June 2024, expressing its concerns with the text of Recommendation 18 related to urgent requests.
- Council will discuss the concerns raised in the Board’s letter and discuss next steps in light of the concerns.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy Check-in
- The Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team was initiated by 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 before making a recommendation to 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 Council on 5 September 2022. In its write up, the Scoping Team suggested 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).
- On 19 October 2023, ICANN org provided an update on Registration Data Accuracy efforts, and Council discussed the update during its 16 November 2023 meeting. During that meeting, some Councilors noted 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 reconvene the Accuracy Scoping Team. Council voted to extend the deferral of the Accuracy Scoping Team’s recommendations by another six months during its meeting on 15 February 2024. During this meeting, Council agreed to check in on the progress of these items during its June 2024 meeting.
Following the ICANN80 GNSO Council Wrap-Up, the GNSO Chair asked Councilors to consider the following questions:
- Evaluation of Proposed Alternatives: In its write-up, ICANN noted limitations in processing data for the purpose of assessing accuracy and proposed two alternatives (analyzing historical audit data and engagement with Contracted Parties on ccTLD practices – see detail below). Is pursuing these alternatives worthwhile? If not, are there other alternatives for obtaining data Council should consider?
- Consideration of Scoping Team Restart: Given the limitations with respect to access to data, would there be value in restarting the Scoping Team at this time?
- Advancing the Topic: If restarting the Scoping Team at this time is not deemed advisable, what other ideas do you have to advance this topic given its importance to the ICANN community?
- Council will discuss the above questions and determine next steps.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update from Small Team Plus on Singulars/Plurals
- In March 2023, the ICANN Board approved the majority of the recommendations contained in the Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP, but also placed some recommendations into a pending status. Council convened a small team that worked collaboratively with the ICANN Board to resolve all pending recommendations. While the majority of the pending recommendations were able to be adopted by the ICANN Board, recommendations across six Topics were non adopted by the ICANN Board.
Council tasked the Small Team Plus with developing Supplemental Recommendations on five of the six Topics, i.e., Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments, Applicant Support, Terms and Conditions, String Similarity Evaluations, and Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanisms. Based on the expected implementation as it relates to the Continued Operations Instrument (COI), the Small Team Plus determined it was unnecessary to develop a Supplemental Recommendation for Topic 22: Registrant Protections. The Small Team Plus developed Supplemental Recommendations for all five topics and shared them with Council.
Because of information received just prior to Council consideration in April 2024, Council elected to defer consideration of the Supplemental Recommendation related to String Similarity Evaluations, or more specifically, singular/plurals. The new information received was a strawperson developed by ICANN org, which provided a potential path forward for singular/plurals. The Council asked to consider whether it felt that the strawperson was promising enough to task the Small Team Plus considering whether strawperson, or and amended version, could be agreed upon.
- Council will receive an update from the Small Team Plus on Singulars/Plurals
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Supplemental Recommendations - Non-Adopted Recommendations
- As mentioned above, the ICANN Board had not adopted recommendations across six topics from the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP (i.e., Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments, Applicant Support, Terms and Conditions, String Similarity Evaluations, and Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanisms. Based on the expected implementation as it relates to the Continued Operations Instrument (COI)).
- At Council's direction, the Small Team Plus developed Supplemental Recommendations for five topics and shared them with Council and on 18 April 2024, Council voted to approve these Supplemental Recommendations for the non-adopted SubPro recommendations. The Small Team Plus determined it was unnecessary to develop a Supplemental Recommendation for Topic 22: Registrant Protections.
- On 8 June 2024, the ICANN Board adopted the following scorecard, wherein it approved the Supplemental Recommendations related to Topic 17: Applicant Support and Topic 32: Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanism. The Board did not adopt the Supplemental Recommendation 9.2 related to Topic 9: Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments and Supplemental Recommendations 18.1 and 18.3 related to Topic 18: Terms & Conditions.
- Council will discuss whether any further actions should be pursued for any of the non-adopted Supplemental Recommendations.
- Item 9: COUNCIL UPDATE - Intellectual Property Constituency Request for Reconsideration
On 22 November 2023, the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) filed a Request for Reconsideration 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.
During its meeting at ICANN80, a few GNSO Councilors volunteered to draft a letter to the Board regarding the Request for Reconsideration.
Council will hear an update on the draft letter and discuss potential next steps for the Council, if any.
GNSO Council Meeting #7 of 2024 held on 18 Jul 2024 at 13:00 UTC: https://tinyurl.com/mud7kn9k
06:00 Los Angeles; 09:00 Washington DC; 14:00 London; 15:00 Paris; 16:00 Moscow; 23:00 Melbourne
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: https://icann.zoom.us/j/92283565389?pwd=QnlHK1JSbzdiSFFZSjRjamxMTkNGdz09
Non-Council members are welcome to attend the meeting or call as listen-only observers.
Records of 18 Jul 2024 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 18 Jul 2024 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 Jul 2024 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Jul 2024 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- GNSO PR Officer - Roles & Responsibilities has been adopted by Council and will be added to GNSO Procedures page. BC's Lawrence Olawale-Roberts volunteered and was appointed to this role.
- Confirmation of GNSO nominees to the Pilot Holistic Review (PHR) Team.
- Council confirms its Standing Selection Committee’s selection of 7 GNSO nominees out of 19 candidates for the PHR Team in order of rank:
- Anil Jain (AP)
- Sophie Hey (EU)
- Tony Holmes (EU)
- Akinmoyeje Benjamin (AF)
- Julf (Johan) Helsingius (EU)
- Caleb Ogundele (NA), and
- Marie Pattullo (EU); and
- With Hector Ariel Manoff to be considered an alternate nominee if any of the 7 nominees cannot serve in that role.
- Council confirms its Standing Selection Committee’s selection of 7 GNSO nominees out of 19 candidates for the PHR Team in order of rank:
2. EPDP on Temporary Specification Phase 1 Urgent Requests
- The present concern is limited to the issue of urgent requests, stemming from Recommendation 18 of the Expedited Policy Development Process on Temporary Specifications' Phase 1 Final Report which has been adopted by the ICANN Board on 15 May 2019, and which had gone onwards for implementation by ICANN org through an Implementation Review Team (IRT).
- Rec 18 reads, "A separate timeline of [less than X business days] will considered [sic] 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 Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) wrote to the Board about the topic of urgent requests on 23 August 2023. The Registrar Stakeholder Group wrote to the Board on 8 September 2023 in response to the GAC’s letter. Following the receipt of these letters and further communication amongst Board members, the Board sent a letter to the GNSO Council on 3 June 2024, expressing its concerns with the text of Rec 18 related to urgent requests, citing the following concerns and issues, and concluding that Rec 18 was not fit for purpose and must be revisited.
- To the extent that law enforcement needs registration data to respond to situations that pose an imminent threat to life, serious bodily harm, infrastructure, or child exploitation, the proposed timeline - whether one, two, or three business days - does not appear to be fit for purpose. To respond to truly imminent threats, a much shorter response timeline, i.e., minutes or hours rather than days, would seem to be more appropriate.
- At the same time, applicable law, regulation, and reasonable registrar policies will often require registrars to authenticate self-identified emergency responders and confirm the purpose(s) for which registrant data is sought prior to disclosing personal data. Even where not required by law or regulation, authentication will often be appropriate under globally accepted principles of fair information processing to protect the rights and freedoms of data subjects.
- Absent some authoritative, legally sufficient cross-border system for validating law enforcement/emergency responders, registrars will require time - almost certainly measured in business days rather than hours or minutes - to authenticate the source of urgent requests.
- To the best of the Board's knowledge, such an authoritative, legally sufficient cross-border system for authenticating emergency responders/law enforcement globally is not available to ICANN.
- In addition to the fact that the creation, operation, and maintenance of a legally sufficient authentication system would consume significant human and financial resources, such a mechanism cannot be created, operated, and/or maintained without the material, ongoing assistance of law enforcement, first responders, and governments.
- Absent Bylaws provision and existing procedures account for "un-adopting" Board-adopted policy recommendations to address a situation where the Board concludes that a policy recommendation that it has previously approved should be revisited prior to implementation, the Board now refers the issue back to Council.
- Council considered several options in determining whether there is Council agreement to the Board's concerns and if so, what should Council do:
- Allow GAC and its Public Safety Working Group (PSGW) to provide a potential solution for an appropriate authentication measure;
- Just consider that Rec 18 has been implemented and move on since the IRT has considered a timeline but was unable to reach consensus on it;
- Support a new policy effort, such as a PDP or EPDP;
- Somehow reconsider this Rec 18, noting there is not an established mechanism to "un-adopted" a recommendation that has been adopted by the Board.
- Council leadership received a lot of input from Councilors and will consider next steps noting that more effort is required and that it should likely be the Board requesting for this.
3. Registration Data Accuracy
- This is another long standing issue which has resulted in the Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team that initiated by Council in July 2021, being suspended for a number of rolling six-month periods now.
- Background:
- Per its formation instructions, the RDA 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 before making a recommendation to 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 had completed Assignment #1 (enforcement and reporting) and Assignment #2 (measurement of accuracy) and submitted its write up to Council on 5 September 2022. In its write up, the Scoping Team suggested 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).
- On 19 October 2023, ICANN org provided an update on Registration Data Accuracy efforts, and Council discussed the update during its 16 November 2023 meeting. During that meeting, some Councilors noted 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 reconvene the Accuracy Scoping Team. Council voted to extend the deferral of the Accuracy Scoping Team’s recommendations by another six months during its meeting on 15 February 2024. During this meeting, Council agreed to check in on the progress of these items during its June 2024 meeting.
- In basic terms, the delay stems from a lack of available data (legally permissible data due to GDPR legal basis principle and contractual limitations) by which to assess accuracy and determine the issues that may be suited for policy development.
- Council leadership sought input on a couple of alternatives:
- As proposed by ICANN org staff, to look at historical audit data concerning the verification and validation processes currently in the RAA;
- To engage with Contracted Parties on ccTLD practices to see if their verification practices may inform the work of the RDA Scoping Team;
- Given there is an outstanding question on the definition of "accuracy" within the Scoping Team, would there be value in restarting the RDA Scoping Team at this time?
- RrSG Councilor Prudence Malinki spoke to RrSG approach to registration data accuracy, highlighting there is no conclusive evidence that there is wide inaccuracies in registration data or that it would lead to a difference in combating DNS abuse, and the RrSG practice in regards to accuracy of data registration also involves issue of what ID document should be relied upon to verify registrant data, training of registrar staff on verification processes/documents, definition of "accuracy" of registration data, all of which contribute to the complexity of this topic as well as an inability to understand what concrete steps would be needed by the RDA Scoping Team if it were to be restarted now.
- IPC Councilor Damon Ashcraft and RrSG Council Kurt Pritz also commented that more work, hopefully from all groups in GNSO, needs to be done prior to considering restarting the RDA Scoping Team.
- Council concluded that this topic should stay on Council's agenda and be revisited in its next meeting to check on progress.
4. SubPro Small Team Plus: Policy development on Singulars/Plurals of the Same Word in the Same Language as TLDs
- This an ongoing discussion at the GNSO Subsequent Procedures Small Team Plus, which I have been reporting on and discussing extensively at CPWG (see CPWG 15 May 2024, 22 May 2024, 10 Jul 2024 and 17 Jul 2024)
- Background:
- In March 2023, the ICANN Board approved the majority of the recommendations contained in the Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP, but also placed some recommendations into a pending status. Council convened a small team that worked collaboratively with the ICANN Board to resolve all pending recommendations. While the majority of the pending recommendations were able to be adopted by the ICANN Board, recommendations across six Topics were non adopted by the ICANN Board.
Council tasked the Small Team Plus with developing Supplemental Recommendations on five of the six Topics, i.e., Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments, Applicant Support, Terms and Conditions, String Similarity Evaluations, and Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanisms. Based on the expected implementation as it relates to the Continued Operations Instrument (COI), the Small Team Plus determined it was unnecessary to develop a Supplemental Recommendation for Topic 22: Registrant Protections. The Small Team Plus developed Supplemental Recommendations for all five topics and shared them with the Council.
Because of information received just prior to Council consideration in April 2024, Council elected to defer consideration of the Supplemental Recommendation related to String Similarity Evaluations, or more specifically, singular/plurals. The new information received was a strawperson developed by ICANN org, which provided a potential path forward for singular/plurals. The Council asked to consider whether it felt that the strawperson was promising enough to task the Small Team Plus considering whether strawperson, or and amended version, could be agreed upon.
- NCA Councilor Paul McGrady, Small Team Plus lead, reported that there is some agreement on the ICANN org strawperson around the public crowdsourcing in reporting incidences singular/plurals of the same word in the same language being applied for (regardless of if there is an existing TLD which is impacted) but that the small team plus has not yet been able to agree on an exceptions process.
- By "exceptions process", we mean could an applicant whose applied-for string that has been caught in such a singular/plural report be able to explain how its string would not lead to consumer/end user confusion - as against an existing TLD or another applied-for singular/plural string - if it were allowed to delegated, and if so, how (ie what criteria could be used, new process, vs existing process).
- Noting that such an exceptions process must not rely on 'intent of use' (an approach which the Board has rejected) but could rely on other grounds, such as registrant restrictions, so long as if any Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs) were involved then these RVCs must be enforceable under the ICANN Bylaws and as a practicable matter.
- And it being unclear as to how much time the small team plus would be given to resolve its differences. in order not to impact the launch of the Next Round of New gTLDs.
- Council concluded that the small team plus should continue its work and report back at Council's August 2024 meeting.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew to continue to update ALAC/CPWG on the progress of the Singular/Plurals issue.
5. SubPro Small Team Supplemental Recommendations - Non-Adopted Recommendations
- Background:
- As mentioned above, the ICANN Board had not adopted recommendations across six topics from the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP (i.e., Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments, Applicant Support, Terms and Conditions, String Similarity Evaluations, and Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanisms. Based on the expected implementation as it relates to the Continued Operations Instrument (COI)).
- At Council's direction, the Small Team Plus developed Supplemental Recommendations for five topics and shared them with Council and on 18 April 2024, Council voted to approve these Supplemental Recommendations for the non-adopted SubPro recommendations. The Small Team Plus determined it was unnecessary to develop a Supplemental Recommendation for Topic 22: Registrant Protections.
- On 8 June 2024, the ICANN Board adopted the following scorecard, wherein it approved the Supplemental Recommendations related to Topic 17: Applicant Support and Topic 32: Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanism. The Board did not adopt the Supplemental Recommendations related to Topic 9: Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments and Topic 18: Terms & Conditions.
- Council has concluded that no further action is needed on the Board's decision on Supplemental Recommendations 9.2, 18.1 and 18.3 since the Board is clearly unmoved by Council's attempt to clarify those recommendations.
6. Intellectual Property Constituency Request for Reconsideration
- This item was deferred to Council's next meeting as some follow-up work is pending with Council leadership.
7. Recommendations Report & Public Comment Review
- These are 2 items arising from the last GNSO Council Strategic Planning Session (SPS) of Jan 2024.
- Regarding the Recommendations Report:
- Per the ICANN Bylaws, Annex A, the Recommendations Report is a required step of the PDP. GNSO staff also shared that per Section 13 of the GNSO Operating Procedures, the format is essentially a shared responsibility between the GNSO Council and the ICANN Board and that if changes are needed, the two parties should work together collaboratively.
- One of the concerns raised in recent discussions is speculation that the Board may consider the Recommendations Report as a substitute for the Final Report. After looking into this issue with ICANN staff, Council leadership has not identified an instance in which this has occurred.
- Another concern raised is that the Recommendations Report, which is sent at least one month after recommendations from an PDP/EPDP are approved by the Council, creates unnecessary delays. Council leadership understands that the Recommendations Report is managed concurrently with the Bylaws-mandated public comment period; since the duration of the public comment period is longer than the Recommendations Report process, it’s not clear that the Recommendations Report alone is creating delays.
- Given Council leadership input to the concerns above, Councilors have been asked if any serious concerns remain by 15 August, failing which, the intention is to consider these SPS action items as completed.
- Regarding the Public Comment Review:
- GNSO staff did not identify significant process gaps or the need for additional mechanisms. From the Council leadership perspective, the existing PDP public comment review process appears robust and fit for purpose.
8. Board Readiness to GNSO Policy Recommendations
- This is another item arising from the last GNSO Council SPS.
- Background:
- What does it mean for policy recommendations to be Board ready?
- The recommendation is likely to achieve board adoption, i.e. the recommendation has been approved by a GNSO Supermajority Vote and will most likely be considered by the Board to be in the best interests of ICANN Community and ICANN org.
- GNSO staff collated points discussed by Council in June 2024.
- RrSG Councilor Kurt Pritz presented some ideas on how to proceed, and factors to be considered.
- What does it mean for policy recommendations to be Board ready?
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew has joined the Council Small Team on Board Readiness; to consider what and when to update ALAC/CPWG on the progress of this small team.
24-06 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #6 (AT ICANN 80, JUN 2024) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #6 of 2024 held on 12 June 2024
GNSO Council Meeting #6 of 2024 held on 12 Jun 2024
Full Agenda | Documents | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- GNSO Council Aspirational Statement (WITHDRAWN)
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Request for Policy Status Report - Expiration Policies
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy Check-in
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”) Draft Charter
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - ICANN org Implementation Update - Second-Level International Governmental Organizations (IGO) Protections
- Item 8: COUNCIL UPDATE - Update on the Internet Governance Forum Support Association (“IGFSA”)
- Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION: Updated Work from Council Strategic Planning Session (“SPS”)
- Item 10: Any Other Business
- 10.1 - ccNSO Liaison update (tentative)
- Joint Meeting: ccNSO & GNSO Councils on 11 July 2024
- 10.2 - PPSAI Call for Volunteers
- 10.3 - Open Mic
- 10.1 - ccNSO Liaison update (tentative)
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large (updated on 14 May)
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Request for Policy Status Report - Expiration Policies
- Council previously considered when to request a Policy Status Report (“PSR”) for the purpose of conducting a review of the two Expiration Policies, the Expired Domain Name Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”). In November 2020, given concerns about its capacity and no known issues with the policies, the Council agreed to delay the request for the Policy Status Report (PSR) for a period of 24 months. After 24 months had passed, the Council reconsidered whether it was an appropriate time to request a PSR.
- Before voting whether to further defer the request, Council agreed that it would be helpful to consult with both registrars and ICANN org to assist in determining whether there are any known issues or concerns with either of the two Expiration Policies which could warrant requesting a PSR.
- During its 16 May 2024 meeting, Council discussed the option of adding the PSR request to ICANN org’s queue of work instead of deferring the request for two years, noting the PSR analysis should be completed but not as an urgent priority.
- Council will vote to request ICANN org to deliver a PSR in one (1) year or to confirm that work on the PSR has begun and deliver an updated estimate on when the PSR should be delivered, in one (1) year. (voting threshold: simple majority)
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy Check-in
- The Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team was initiated by 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 before making a recommendation to 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 Council on 5 September 2022. In its write up, the Scoping Team suggested 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).
- On 19 October 2023, ICANN org provided an update on Registration Data Accuracy efforts, and Council discussed the update during its 16 November 2023 meeting. During that meeting, some Councilors noted 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 reconvene the Accuracy Scoping Team. Council voted to extend the deferral of the Accuracy Scoping Team’s recommendations by another six months during its meeting on 15 February 2024. During this meeting, Council agreed to check in on the progress of these items during its June 2024 meeting.
- Council will discuss the status of accuracy discussions and consider ICANN org’s proposed next steps for addressing the charter topics and informing further community discussions, factoring in the legal as well as resource limitations that exist. Specifically, ICANN org suggested (1) providing historical data via ICANN’s existing audit program and (2) engaging with contracted parties on current European ccTLD identity verification practices.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”) Draft Charter
- Council enlisted a Drafting Team to develop a draft charter for the SPIRT, which is a standing implementation review team recommended in the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Final Report.
When relevant issues arise during the course of the New gTLD Program that may need to be addressed, the Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”) will utilize the Predictability Framework. The GNSO Council shall be responsible for oversight of the SPIRT.
- In developing the draft charter, the Drafting Team considered elements such as the composition of the SPIRT, how issues are raised to the SPIRT procedurally, the operating principles and decision-making of the SPIRT, et.al. The New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Final Report included an annex that provides detailed guidance on how the SPIRT should operate.
- Council will receive a presentation on the draft charter from its liaison to the Charter Drafting Team.
- Item 8: COUNCIL UPDATE - Update on the Internet Governance Forum Support Association (“IGFSA”)
- The Internet Governance Forum Support Association is an independent membership association established in September 2014 to support the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and to provide financial and other support for National and Regional IGFs (NRIs) around the world.
- The IGFSA will provide an overview of its mission and recent work to Council.
GNSO Council Meeting #6 of 2024 held on 12 Jun 2024 at 11:45 UTC: https://tinyurl.com/yeykc7fm
04:45 Los Angeles; 07:45 Washington DC; 12:45 London; 13:45 Paris; 14:45 Moscow; 21:45 Melbourne
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: refer to ICANN80 Schedule - Zoom link to be shared 24 hours in advance
Non-Council members are welcome to attend the meeting or call as listen-only observers.
Records of 12 Jun 2024 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 12 Jun 2024 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 Jun 2024 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Jun 2024 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- The agenda item (along with a vote) on the GNSO Council Aspirational Statement was withdrawn.
2. Registration Data Accuracy
- The Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team was initiated by 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 before making a recommendation to 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 Council on 5 September 2022. In its write up, the Scoping Team suggested 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).
- On 19 October 2023, ICANN org provided an update on Registration Data Accuracy efforts, and Council discussed the update during its 16 November 2023 meeting. During that meeting, some Councilors noted 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 reconvene the Accuracy Scoping Team. Council voted to extend the deferral of the Accuracy Scoping Team’s recommendations by another six months during its meeting on 15 February 2024. During this meeting, Council agreed to check in on the progress of these items during its June 2024 meeting.
- Council considered the status of accuracy discussions and the need to better inform the ICANN community, especially the GAC, on the factors around the legal as well as resource limitations that are holding Council from future action.
- Councill will revisit action needed in the short term.
3. Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”) Draft Charter
- The formation of the Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (SPIRT, pronounced as 'SPIRIT') is the result of Recommendation 2.1 of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Final Report, a recommendation that the Board has since adopted.
- The role of the SPIRT is to serve as the body responsible for reviewing potential issues which may arise during the course of the New gTLD Program (Next Round and beyond) application and evaluation processes AFTER the next Applicant Guidebook (AGB) has been approved by the Board, by conducting analysis utilizing the Predictability Framework, and to recommend the process/mechanism that should be followed to address those issues. The Predictability Framework is found in Annex E of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Final Report and it provides detailed guidance on how the SPIRT should operate.
- Council received a presentation on the draft charter from its liaison to the Charter Drafting Team which touched on several key aspects being discussed by the Drafting Team working group: composition of the SPIRT, how issues are raised to the SPIRT procedurally, the operating principles and decision-making of the SPIRT, etc, while considering the Predictability Framework.
- Work continues at the Drafting Team working group level.
4. Deferral of Policy Status Report Request - Expiration Policies
- Council had previously considered when to request a Policy Status Report (“PSR”) for the purpose of conducting a review of the two Expiration Policies, the Expired Domain Name Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”). In November 2020, given concerns about its capacity and no known issues with the policies, the Council agreed to delay the request for the Policy Status Report (PSR) for a period of 24 months. After 24 months had passed, Council reconsidered whether it was an appropriate time to request a PSR.
- In July 2022, Council agreed that it would be helpful to consult with both registrars and ICANN org to help determine if there are any known issues or concerns with either of the two Expiration Policies which could warrant requesting a PSR.
In making its decision whether to request to a PSR at this time, Council consulted:
- Registrars, who were asked to flag substantial issues with the policies that would warrant a near-term request for PSR and did not note any issues
- ICANN Compliance, who provided a write-up, noting confusion with key terms in the policy and persistent registrant confusion with the auto-renew grace period and aftermarket activities, et al.
- ICANN org Registrant Program, which provided a catalog of the available educational resources on domain name expiration and renewal (Brian Gutterman’s update at Council)
- Council then determined that the EDDP and ERRP seem to have been implemented as intended and imminent policy work is not needed at this time, and so, considered to pursue a PSR on the Expiration Policies in two years' time, or earlier, if a need is determined and it is requested.
- Primarily at the request of IPC, this decision for a deferral of the PSR was deferred yet again, to Council's Jun 2024 meeting. IPC's belief that the request for a PSR should proceed now since it would take some time for it to be actioned by ICANN org staff, and IPC had wanted a bit more time to shore up its representation on this issue.
- After much deliberation, Council has now resolved to request ICANN org to deliver a PSR in one (1) year or to confirm that work on the PSR has begun and deliver an updated estimate on when the PSR should be delivered, in one (1) year.
5. Internet Governance Forum Support Association (“IGFSA”)
- Council received a presentation on the mission and work of the Internet Governance Forum Support Association which is an independent membership association established in September 2014 to support the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and to provide financial and other support for National and Regional IGFs (NRIs) around the world.
- This is an outreach by the IGFSA, asking for Councilors to help create awareness of IGFSA to garner support for its activities and to grow IGFSA's organisational and individual membership.
- Note: The At-Large will receive a similar outreach presentation at the ICANN80 At-Large Leadership Wrap Up Session.
24-05 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #5 (MAY 2024) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #5 of 2024 held on 16 May 2024
GNSO Council Meeting #5 of 2024 held on 16 May 2024 (updated on 15 May)
Full Agenda | Documents | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- GNSO Liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee
- Council Response to Board Letter on CCWG Auction Proceeds Recommendation 7
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Request for Preliminary Issue Report for Diacritics in Latin Script
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Deferral of Policy Status Report Request - Expiration Policies
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (“CCOICI”) Pilot Survey Results
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Intellectual Property Constituency Request for Reconsideration
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Review of Action Decision Radar
- Item 9: GNSO Council Aspirational Statement
Item 10: Any Other Business
10.1 - Update on ICANN80 planning and GNSO Draft schedule
10.2 - ccNSO & GAC Liaison updates (every three months)
10.3 - SPS Action Item Updates: Recommendation Reports and GNSO Liaisons to WGs
10.4 - Call for Volunteers - Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Implementation Review Team (PPSAI)
- 10.5 - Transfer Policy Review Working Group participation (see letter)
- 10.6 - Pre-ICANN80 GNSO Policy Webinar on Tuesday, 21 May at 21:00 UTC - Note: GNSO Councilor Attendance is mandatory
- 10.7 - Informal meeting with ICANN Board on Monday, 20 May at 13:00 UTC
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large (updated on 15 May)
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Request for Preliminary Issue Report for Diacritics in Latin Script
- Council was made aware of a potential issue whereby future applied-for strings in the Latin script containing diacritics may be confusingly similar to ASCII strings, are non-variants, and the same entity wishes to operate both strings.
- 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, are sometimes seen as equivalents. In some instances however, the base ASCII string is seen as a workaround and not necessarily “correct”. The base ASCII string and the Latin diacritic string may be determined to be confusingly similar (i.e., in which case, the strings would be placed in a contention set or if an existing gTLD is involved, the applied-for label would not pass the String Similarity Review).
During the GNSO Council Meeting at ICANN78 in Hamburg on 25 October 2023, Council received a detailed briefing on this issue and agreed to request a study from ICANN org to help inform Council on the issue of diacritics in Latin Script. Prior to the request being made to ICANN org, the org volunteered to investigate what mechanism or mechanisms might be appropriate to address this issue.
Following the discussion during its April 2024 meeting, Council discussed requesting a Preliminary Issue Report on diacritics in the Latin Script. On [date], the request for an Issue Report was circulated to the Council mailing list.
- Council will vote to request ICANN org to deliver a Preliminary Issue Report on diacritics in the Latin Script.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Deferral of Policy Status Report Request - Expiration Policies
- Council previously considered when to request a Policy Status Report (“PSR”) for the purpose of conducting a review of the two Expiration Policies, the Expired Domain Name Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”). In November 2020, given concerns about its capacity and no known issues with the policies, the Council agreed to delay the request for the Policy Status Report (PSR) for a period of 24 months. After 24 months had passed, the Council reconsidered whether it was an appropriate time to request a PSR.
- In July 2022, Council agreed that it would be helpful to consult with both registrars and ICANN org to help determine if there are any known issues or concerns with either of the two Expiration Policies which could warrant requesting a PSR.
In making its decision whether to request to a PSR at this time, Council consulted:
- Registrars, who were asked to flag substantial issues with the policies that would warrant a near-term request for PSR and did not note any issues
- ICANN Compliance, who provided a write-up, noting confusion with key terms in the policy and persistent registrant confusion with the auto-renew grace period and aftermarket activities, et al.
- ICANN org Registrant Program, which provided a catalog of the available educational resources on domain name expiration and renewal (Brian Gutterman’s update at Council)
- Council then determined that the EDDP and ERRP seem to have been implemented as intended and imminent policy work is not needed at this time. Accordingly, the GNSO Council will reconsider a PSR on the Expiration Policies in two years time, or earlier, if a need is determined and it is requested.
- Council will discuss whether to consider a PSR on the Expiration Policies in two years.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Intellectual Property Constituency Request for Reconsideration
- On 22 November 2023, the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) filed a Request for Reconsideration 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 Request for Consideration and discuss potential next steps for the Council, if any.
- On 22 November 2023, the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) filed a Request for Reconsideration of the ICANN Board Resolutions 2023.10.26.11 and 2023.10.26.122, regarding (i) the actions and inactions that led to:
- Item 10: Any Other Business
- 10.4 - Call for Volunteers - Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Implementation Review Team (PPSAI)
- 10.7 - Informal meeting with ICANN Board on Monday, 20 May at 13:00 UTC
GNSO Council Meeting #5 of 2024 held on 16 May 2024 at 05:00 UTC: https://tinyurl.com/4dthynkr
22:00 Los Angeles (Wednesday); 01:00 Washington DC; 22:00 London; 06:00 Paris; 08:00 Moscow; 15:00 Melbourne
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: Zoom link
Non-Council members are welcome to attend the meeting or call as listen-only observers.
Records of 16 May 2024 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 May 2024 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 May 2024 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council May 2024 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- Council resolved to adopt the revised Description of the role of GNSO Liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee.
- Council resolved to approved the ICANN Board’s Proposed Amendment to remove the phrase “from the Independent Project Applications Panel” from the Cross-Community Working Group on Auction Proceeds Recommendation 7.
2. Diacritics in Latin Script
- The issue of diacritics in Latin script is not a new one. It first originated, resulting from the 2012 Round, when the registry operator for .Quebec opted to apply for the non-diacritic .quebec label in favour of the label with diacritic “.québec”, but they did not pursue any "formal" remedy to the challenge of also obtaining the “.québec” TLD until more recently, when 4 public comments were submitted in response to the GNSO Call for Public Comments to the Phase 1 Initial Report of the IDNs EPDP in Apr 2023.
- In Jul 2023, GNSO Leadership received a communication from the IDNs-EPDP Chair regarding 4 public comments related to creating an exceptional process by which the existing registry operator for .quebec could apply “.québec” in a future gTLD round ("the .québec issue") being out of scope of the IDNs-EPDP and its Charter, and referred the comments to the GNSO Council for consideration and action as determined appropriate.
- On 17 Aug 2023, GNSO Leadership circulated the 22 Jun 2023 letter from ALAC Chair to the GNSO Chair regarding the Latin script LGR and .québec issue.
- On 24 Aug 2023, Council discussed this issue and, the then GNSO Chair essentially concluded that the issue of .quebec (TLD) not being a variant of “.québec” did not require an immediate resolution and one that did not squarely sit in the remit of the IDNs-EPDP.
- On 23 Sep 2023, the then Council Chair again 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.
On 25 Oct 2023, Council received a detailed briefing on this issue and agreed to request a study from ICANN org to help inform the GNSO Council on the issue of diacritics in Latin Script. Prior to the request being made to ICANN org, the org volunteered to investigate what mechanism or mechanisms might be appropriate to address this issue. Since then, Council had for several months deferred discussing a way forward to address the issue as GNSO support staff had indicated that a proposal for a solution was being worked on which might alleviate the need for a study request which Council had been mooting earlier.
- The issue finally returned to Council's agenda in Apr 2024, where after much discussion, Council concluded that GNSO support staff's suggested way forward was neither feasible nor desirable (see my Apr 2024 report), and as a result, Council reinforced its agreement to request an Issue Report on diacritics in Latin script. Since this could only be actioned through a Council resolution, it was agreed that Council would vote on such a motion in its May 2024 meeting.
- Hence at this meeting, Council resolved to adopt the request for an an Issues Report, and directs staff to create the Report.
3. IPC's Request for Reconsideration (RfR) on the Board's Proposed Bylaws Updates to Limit Access to Accountability Mechanisms
- This is regarding the Board Accountability Mechanisms Committee's (BAMC) dismissal of IPC's RfR on the basis that IPC was not a party harmed by the Board's Proposed Bylaws Updates to Limit Access to Accountability Mechanisms.
- NOTE: While the GNSO Council did not support the Board's proposal but the ALAC did, the issue being contended here, is the principle that an ICANN community group can be found to have no standing (i.e. has been unable to show harm suffered) for something that has yet to be implemented.
- Council discussed possible next steps to counter the BAMC dismissal, noting that the gravity and implications of grounds for this dismissal, including the possibility of involving other members of the ICANN Community in next steps.
4. Deferral of Policy Status Report Request - Expiration Policies
- Council previously considered when to request a Policy Status Report (“PSR”) for the purpose of conducting a review of the two Expiration Policies, the Expired Domain Name Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”). In November 2020, given concerns about its capacity and no known issues with the policies, the Council agreed to delay the request for the Policy Status Report (PSR) for a period of 24 months. After 24 months had passed, the Council reconsidered whether it was an appropriate time to request a PSR.
- In July 2022, Council agreed that it would be helpful to consult with both registrars and ICANN org to help determine if there are any known issues or concerns with either of the two Expiration Policies which could warrant requesting a PSR.
In making its decision whether to request to a PSR at this time, Council consulted:
- Registrars, who were asked to flag substantial issues with the policies that would warrant a near-term request for PSR and did not note any issues
- ICANN Compliance, who provided a write-up, noting confusion with key terms in the policy and persistent registrant confusion with the auto-renew grace period and aftermarket activities, et al.
- ICANN org Registrant Program, which provided a catalog of the available educational resources on domain name expiration and renewal (Brian Gutterman’s update at Council)
- Council then determined that the EDDP and ERRP seem to have been implemented as intended and imminent policy work is not needed at this time, and so, considered to pursue a PSR on the Expiration Policies in two years' time, or earlier, if a need is determined and it is requested.
- Primarily at an IPC Councilor's request, this decision for a deferral of the PSR was deferred yet again, to Council's Jun 2024 meeting. IPC's belief that the request for a PSR should proceed now since it would take some time for it to be actioned by ICANN org staff, and IPC wanted a bit more time to shore up its representation on this issue. There was no objection to deferring the vote to Council's next meeting.
24-04 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #4 (APR 2024) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #4 of 2024 held on 18 Apr 2024
GNSO Council Meeting #4 of 2024 held on 18 Apr 2024
Full Agenda | Documents | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- GNSO Council Review of the GAC Communiqué
- GNSO Council Small Team Guidance Document
- Confirmation of Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (SPIRT) Charter Drafting Team Leadership (Chair - Nitan Walia; Vice-chair - Alan Greenberg; GNSO Council liaison - Anne Aikman-Scalese)
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Deferral of Policy Status Report Request - Expiration Policies
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Diacritics in Latin Script and Singular/Plurals
- Item 6: COUNCIL VOTE - SubPro Supplemental Recommendations
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - New gTLD Auction Proceeds Cross Community Working Group - Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP) - Proposed Update to Recommendation 7
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Review of Action Decision Radar
- Item 9: Update on Status of Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Implementation
- Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
10.1 - IPC’s RFR decision and Council’s subsequent letter
10.2 - Update on ICANN80 planning and GNSO Draft schedule
10.3 - Replacement of Council representative to the Continuous Improvement Program Community Coordination Group (CIP-CCG)
10.4 - Upcoming Sessions/Updates on the Registration Data Request System (RDRS)
- Prep Week Session on RDRS: Wed, 29 May 2024 at 16:30 UTC
- RDRS Standing Committee Meeting at ICANN80: Mon, 10 Jun 2024 at 10:45-12:25 (UTC +2)
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Deferral of Policy Status Report Request - Expiration Policies (DEFERRED TO MAY 2024)
- In November 2020, given concerns about its capacity and no known issues with the policies, Council had agreed to delay the request for the Policy Status Report (PSR) for the Expiration Policies, the Expired Domain Name Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”) for a period of 24 months. After 24 months had passed, Council reconsidered whether it was an appropriate time to request a PSR.
- In July 2022, Council agreed that it would be helpful to consult with both registrars and ICANN org to help determine if there are any known issues or concerns with either of the two Expiration Policies which could warrant requesting a PSR.
- Council subsequently consulted:
- Registrars, who were asked to flag substantial issues with the policies that would warrant a near team request for policy status report and did not note any issues
- ICANN Compliance, who provided a write-up, noting confusion with key terms in the policy and persistent registrant confusion with the auto-renew grace period and aftermarket activities, et.al.
- ICANN org Registrant Program, which provided a catalog of the available educational resources on domain name expiration and renewal (Brian Gutterman’s update at Council)
- In reviewing the materials, Council determined that the EDDP and ERRP seem to have been implemented as intended and imminent policy work is not needed at this time.
- Accordingly, Council will vote to reconsider a PSR on the Expiration Policies in five years time, or earlier, if requested. (Simple majority to pass)
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Diacritics in Latin Script and Singular/Plurals
Several parties had raised an issue to Council’s 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, are sometimes seen as equivalents. In some instances however, the base ASCII string is seen as a workaround and not necessarily “correct”. The base ASCII string and the Latin diacritic string may be determined to be confusingly similar (i.e., in which case, the strings would be placed in a contention set or if an existing gTLD is involved, the applied-for label would not pass the String Similarity Review).
During the GNSO Council Meeting at ICANN78 in Hamburg on 25 October 2023, Council received a detailed briefing on this issue and agreed to request a study from ICANN org to help inform the GNSO Council on the issue of diacritics in Latin Script. Prior to the request being made to ICANN org, the org volunteered to investigate what mechanism or mechanisms might be appropriate to address this issue.
- Separately, related to singular/plural strings, the Council was informed that the Board Caucus on SubPro has asked staff to explore possible alternative solutions that achieve the goal of the proposed Topic 24 Supplemental Recommendations. On 16 April 2024, the Council received an email that provided a high-level overview of the proposed approach that seeks to generally achieve the same outcomes that the Topic 24 Supplemental Recommendations are aiming for.
- Council will receive an update from ICANN org on the status of the research and analysis, as well as discuss the high-level overview of the singular/plural compromise.
- Item 6: COUNCIL VOTE - SubPro Supplemental Recommendations
- Having dealt with the pending Subsequent Procedures recommendation, Council tasked the SubPro Small Team Plus with an updated assignment form. The Small Team Plus has committed to a work plan to address the recommendations not adopted by the Board.
- Following that plan, the Small Team agreed to Supplemental Recommendations on five of the six Topics, i.e. (i) Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments, (ii) Applicant Support, (iii) Terms and Conditions, (iv) String Similarity Evaluations, and (v) Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanisms. Based on the expected implementation as it relates to the Continued Operations Instrument (COI), the Small Team Plus determined it was unnecessary to develop a Supplemental Recommendation for the 6th Topic 22: Registrant Protections.
- On 1 April, an “Explainer” document was shared with the Council that consolidates all of the Supplemental Recommendations and provides a brief explanation for each of them.
- Council will vote on the SubPro Supplemental Recommendations developed by the Small Team Plus.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - New gTLD Auction Proceeds Cross Community Working Group - Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP) - Proposed Update to Recommendation 7
- The CCWG-AP’s Recommendation 7 sets out limitations on the use of ICANN accountability mechanisms (namely, the Independent Review Process, IRP, and Reconsideration process) to challenge decisions made on individual applications within the Grant Program. The CCWG-AP offered this recommendation to minimize use of the proceeds for purposes other than grants, such as administrative costs or legal fees. The Board has noted it continues to support the CCWG-AP’s goal in making this recommendation.
- Recommendation 7 currently provides, “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.” (emphasis added)
- In its 2 March 2024 letter, the Board notes it “has been considering whether there are further ways to meet the community’s broader intention with Recommendation 7. If the phrase ‘from the Independent Project Applications Panel’ is removed from Recommendation 7, many of the Board’s concerns that supported the October 2023 action would be addressed. The Board also notes that removal of that phrase would support what it has always understood to be the intention of the CCWG-AP in making Recommendation 7 - to preserve the auction proceeds for funding projects, not challenges. Therefore, the Board asks for the Chartering Organizations’ support in considering an update to the recommendation. Specifically, the Board asks for each Chartering Organization to the CCWG-AP to approve an update to Recommendation 7 that would remove the phrase ‘from the Independent Project Applications Evaluation Panel’ from the text of the recommendation. If the Chartering Organizations approve this update, the Board believes that there is a path to full implementation of the CCWG-AP’s Recommendation 7, including the ability to apply the restriction to third parties.”
- The Board is asking for feedback by 17 May 2024. Council will consider this requested amendment to Recommendation 7 separately from the public comment on the Proposed Bylaws Updates to Limit Access to Accountability Mechanisms
- Item 9: Update on Status of Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Implementation
The Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Issues PDP achieved full consensus on its recommendations and delivered its Final Report on 8 December 2015, with subsequent Council adoption of the Final Report on 21 January 2016. On 9 August 2016, the ICANN Board adopted all recommendations of the PPSAI PDP, directing ICANN org to begin implementation. After some initial preparatory work, the Implementation Review Team (IRT) first met on 18 October 2016.
- Subsequently, as a result of potential conflicts and/or overlap of work between the PPSAI IRT and GDPR-related work, especially the EPDP on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data, ICANN org, in its letter to the GNSO Council, proposed to delay the implementation of PPSAI until the EPDP completes.
- In its 4 March 2019 letter to GNSO Council leadership, ICANN org posed the following question to the GNSO Council, “whether ICANN org should continue to delay public comment and implementation of PPSAI or take additional steps pending completion of the EPDP in consultation with the PPSAI Implementation Review Team (IRT).” GNSO Council Leadership responded, “given the divergent views among Councilors and considering the respective roles of ICANN Org in leading implementation work of consensus policy recommendations and the PPSAI IRT in overseeing the implementation work, the GNSO Council considers it appropriate to defer the decision on this issue to ICANN org and the PPSAI IRT, taking into account the various views of the SOs and ACs.”
- On 2 March 2021, ICANN org delivered the Wave 1.5 Report to the GNSO Council, which included a detailed analysis of the extent to which the EPDP Phase 1 recommendations may require modification to the PPSAI and Translation & Transliteration policies, which are in the policy implementation phase. Following review of the Wave 1.5 Report, the Council observed the following in its 1 July 2021 letter:
- The decision to pause the implementation of the PPSAI and Translation & Transliteration policy recommendations was a decision that was made by ICANN org, not the GNSO Council. As such, the Council is of the view that a decision to restart the implementation activities is not within the remit of the GNSO Council but for ICANN org to make. The Council would also like to point to its letter of February 2019 in which it also concluded that “considering the respective roles of ICANN Org in leading implementation work of consensus policy recommendations and the PPSAI IRT in overseeing the implementation work, the GNSO Council considers it appropriate to defer the decision on this issue to ICANN org and the PPSAI IRT, taking into account the various views of the SOs and ACs”.
- Should any policy issues arise during the implementation of these policy recommendations, there are processes and procedures that allow the Council to further consider these, but the Council is of the view that the respective Implementation Review Teams (IRTs) will be best placed to identify such possible issues.
- The Council would also like to point to the letter that was sent to the Council in September 2019 in which it was noted that “following the completion of relevant EPDP work, ICANN org will reassess the existing draft PP materials in consultation with the PPSAI IRT and determine how to proceed with implementation of the Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Program”. From a Council’s perspective this still seems a relevant and timely next step.
- Council will receive an update on the recent meeting of the PPSAI IRT.
- Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
10.1 - IPC’s RFR decision and Council’s subsequent letter
10.4 - Upcoming Sessions/Updates on the Registration Data Request System (RDRS)
- Prep Week Session on RDRS: Wed, 29 May 2024 at 16:30 UTC
- RDRS Standing Committee Meeting at ICANN80: Mon, 10 Jun 2024 at 10:45-12:25 (UTC +2)
GNSO Council Meeting #4 of 2024 held on 18 Apr 2024 at 21:00 UTC: https://tinyurl.com/2xcnuymd
14:00 Los Angeles; 17:00 Washington DC; 22:00 London; 23:00 Paris; 00:00 Moscow (Friday); 07:00 Melbourne (Friday)
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: Zoom link
Non-Council members are welcome to attend the meeting or call as listen-only observers.
Records of 18 Apr 2024 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 18 Apr 2024 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 Apr 2024 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Apr 2024 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- Council resolved to adopt its Review of the GAC ICANN79 Communiqué
- Council resolved to adopt the updated Small Team Guidance Document
- Council confirmed the Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (SPIRT) Charter Drafting Team Leadership (Chair - Nitan Walia; Vice-chair - Alan Greenberg; GNSO Council liaison - Anne Aikman-Scalese)
2. Diacritics in Latin Script
- Council had deferred for several months (since ICANN78 in Hamburg) on discussing a way forward to address the challenge affecting future applied-for strings in the Latin script containing diacritics that may be confusingly similar to ASCII strings and which are non-variants as GNSO support staff had indicated that a proposal for a solution was being worked on which might alleviate the need for a study request which Council had been mooting earlier.
- GNSO support staff suggested that a solution could be incorporated through Council's deliberation of the Subsequent Procedures Supplemental Recommendations on Topic 24 String Similarity, and accordingly suggested that Council withhold those supplemental recommendations 24A, 24B and 24C for further work, instead of considering their approval and onward submission to the ICANN Board.
- Council was also given a short briefing by Sarmad Hussain on the process and work of the (now disbanded) Latin Generation Panel (Latin GP) which resulted in the Latin Label General Rules (Latin LGR) that deemed strings in the Latin script containing diacritics and their ASCII "equivalents" as non-variants.
- As an eg, due to the application of the Latin LGR in the Root Zone Label Generation Rule (RZ-LGR) as the authoritative source for determining the variants of a string, .québec (with diacritic) is not a variant of the already delegated .quebec (without diacritic), resulting in the likelihood that the existing registry operator of .quebec (or any other party) would not succeed in obtaining .québec due to the 2 strings being found confusingly similar.
- The current New gTLD 'rules' dictate that an application for any string that are found to be confusingly similar to an existing gTLD would be disallowed, while an application for an applied-for string that is found to be confusingly similar with another one or more applied-for strings would result in the strings being placed in a contention set.
- After much discussion, Council concluded that GNSO support staff's suggested way forward is neither feasible nor desirable, because:
- The Topic 24 String Similarity recommendations only deal with singular/plurals and ought not be willfully expanded to resolve the diacritics challenge, i.e. Council should not shoehorn its Topic 24 Supplemental Recommendations to accommodate the diacritics challenge;
- Resolving the diacritic challenge should undergo a proper policy development process per the GNSO's operating procedures; and
- Resolving the diacritic challenge should not present as a condition to the implementation of the Next Round.
- As a result, Council reverted to requesting GNSO support staff to circulate work done on a study request that could be utilised as a foundation to an Issues Report for initiating an EPDP should Council decide so at a later date.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew to update ALAC/CPWG after the GNSO Council's May 2024 meeting on any direction taken with regards to resolving the Diacritics issue.
3. Singular/Plural gTLDs & String Similarity
- ICANN Org's Lars Hoffman (who is the lead for the Subsequent Procedures Implementation Review Team (SubPro IRT)) informed Council that ICANN org had been requested by the ICANN Board to propose an effective way to implement what Supplemental Recommendations 24A, 24B, 24C are attempting to achieve with regards to singular/plurals while addressing the Board's subsisting concerns with the supplemental recommendation language, bearing in mind that the Board SubPro Caucus co-chairs had earlier indicated that the ICANN Board may still decline to adopt Supplemental Recommendations 24A, 24B, 24C because of already shared concerns.
- ICANN Org's proposition is to essentially remove the singular/plurals assessment out of String Similarity Review altogether and rely on an 'objection-like' approach without it becoming a formal objection process, which would still place burdens on the community to take action to prevent the singular/plurals from being approved if there was a concern.
- Council was amenable to consider Lars' proposition in-principle, subject to details being fleshed out further.
- On these bases, Council opted to withhold Supplemental Recommendations 24A, 24B, 24C from the slate of Supplemental Recommendations which its SubPro Small Team Plus had produced and which had gone through community consultations, most recently at ICANN79.
- However, Council had yet to decide as to who would consider/discuss Lars' proposition in detail - whether it may be the SubPro Small Team (or Small Team Plus) or Council itself. There were differing views expressed by Councilors on this. Council will review this question in May 2024.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew to update ALAC/CPWG when GNSO Council has decided on whether and how the Supplemental Recommendations 24A, 24B and 24C on String Similarity might be reworked further based on the intervention of the Board and ICANN org.
4. Subsequent Procedures Supplemental Recommendations
- Having dealt with the pending Subsequent Procedures recommendation, Council tasked the SubPro Small Team Plus with an updated assignment form. The Small Team Plus has committed to a work plan to address the recommendations not adopted by the Board.
- Following that plan, the Small Team agreed to Supplemental Recommendations on five of the six Topics, i.e. (i) Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments, (ii) Applicant Support, (iii) Terms and Conditions, (iv) String Similarity Evaluations, and (v) Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanisms. Based on the expected implementation as it relates to the Continued Operations Instrument (COI), the Small Team Plus determined it was unnecessary to develop a Supplemental Recommendation for the 6th Topic 22: Registrant Protections.
- On 1 April, an “Explainer” document was shared with Council that consolidates all of the Supplemental Recommendations and provides a brief explanation for each of them.
- Following Council's deliberation on the issues of Diacritics in Latin Script (item 2 above) and Singular/Plural gTLDs & String Similarity (item 3 above) which resulted in the withholding of Supplemental Recommendations 24A, 24B, 24C, Council proceeded to unanimously vote to approve the SubPro Supplemental Recommendations for (i) Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments, (ii) Applicant Support, (iii) Terms and Conditions, and (iv) Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanisms. These will now be submitted to the ICANN Board for consideration/approval.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew to update ALAC/CPWG on GNSO Council's adoption of the SubPro Supplemental Recommendations for 4 topics.
5. Cross-Community Working Group on Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP) Recommendation 7
- In its 2 March 2024 letter, the Board notes it “has been considering whether there are further ways to meet the community’s broader intention with Recommendation 7. If the phrase ‘from the Independent Project Applications Panel’ is removed from Recommendation 7, many of the Board’s concerns that supported the October 2023 action would be addressed. The Board also notes that removal of that phrase would support what it has always understood to be the intention of the CCWG-AP in making Recommendation 7 - to preserve the auction proceeds for funding projects, not challenges. Therefore, the Board asks for the Chartering Organizations’ support in considering an update to the recommendation. Specifically, the Board asks for each Chartering Organization to the CCWG-AP to approve an update to Recommendation 7 that would remove the phrase ‘from the Independent Project Applications Evaluation Panel’ from the text of the recommendation. If the Chartering Organizations approve this update, the Board believes that there is a path to full implementation of the CCWG-AP’s Recommendation 7, including the ability to apply the restriction to third parties.”
- Council agreed to reply to the 2 Mar letter expressing support for the Board's suggestion to remove the phrase ‘from the Independent Project Applications Evaluation Panel’ from the text of the recommendation.
6. Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Implementation (PPSAI)
- The issue with PPSAI is it is in 'rather unique' situation in that there is a gap between when the policies were adopted but implementation was subsequently delayed, and when work is now planed to resume again, those policies may no longer be fit for purpose due to new legislation coming into effect and other factors.
- Council was informed that ICANN Org has been working on an implementation plan and planning to reengage with its Implementation Review Team (PPSAI IRT) at ICANN80. A fresh call for volunteers will be issued prior to ICANN80 to constitute a refreshed PPSAI IRT with an open + rep model.
- There are currently 4 "threshold questions" for the refreshed IRT's consideration:-
- Are there any policy questions or items the IRT already wants to bring to Council for guidance?
- Can an implementation model without a formal accreditation program remain consistent with policy recommendations?
- Are there specific areas to revisit under new law/policy (Org to share assessment, IRT to review)?
- Can these frameworks be aligned with existing work on RDRS, Registration Data Policy, etc and remain consistent with policy recommendations?
- It was noted that this PPSAI IRT could be seen not as a conventional IRT but rather as a scoping team for issue identification based on the first question.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew to update ALAC/CPWG when the call for volunteers to refresh the PPSAI IRT is made.
7. IPC's Request for Reconsideration (RfR) on the Board's Proposed Bylaws Updates to Limit Access to Accountability Mechanisms
- IPC received a response from the Board Accountability Mechanisms Committee (BAMC) rejecting IPC's RfR on the basis that IPC was not a party harmed by the Board's Proposed Bylaws Updates to Limit Access to Accountability Mechanisms
- NOTE: While the GNSO Council did not support the Board's proposal and the ALAC did, the issue being contended here, as explained to Council by an IPC Councilor, is the principle that an ICANN community group can be found to have no standing (i.e. has been unable to show harm suffered) for something that has yet to be implemented.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew to liaise with IPC on next steps to the BAMC's rejection of IPC's RfR on the Board's Proposed Bylaws updates to limit access to Accountability Mechanisms, if so instructed by ALAC-LT/ALAC.
24-03 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #3 (AT ICANN 78, MAR 2024) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #3 of 2024 held on 6 Mar 2024 during ICANN 79, and including a Council Wrap-up Session on 7 Mar 2024
GNSO Council Meeting #3 of 2024 held on 6 Mar 2024
Full Agenda | Documents | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Motion to Adopt the Communications Small Team Final Report
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Reaction to Program Management Tools Discussion
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Council Engagement with PDP Working Group Chairs
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on Contracted Party House Abuse Subgroup Meetings with the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Response to Update from ICANN org Implementation Update and interaction with ICANN Board
- Item 8: Selection and Timeline of Next GNSO Liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.1 - GNSO Chair Election Timeline Announcement
- 9.2 - Updated Small Team Guidelines
- 9.3 - Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”) Charter Drafting Team Update
- 9.4 - Open Mic
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Reaction to Program Management Tools Discussion
- During Council’s recent Strategic Planning Session (SPS), Council Leadership and GNSO Support Staff provided an overview of the available program management tools to educate new councilors on what tools are available and how to best utilize them. Council agreed to do a comprehensive and detailed review of the program management tools on a tri-annual basis. The Council agreed the tri-annual cadence aligned with the current ICANN conference schedule, and the first of these reviews was conducted during the Council’s Working Session at ICANN79.
- Having performed a comprehensive review of the program management suite of tools during its working session, Council will now discuss lessons learned and potential suggestions for the next review at the ICANN80 working session.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Council Engagement with PDP Working Group Chairs
- During the Council’s 2023 Strategic Planning Session, the Council agreed that updates from PDP Working Group Chairs and Council liaisons should be more purpose-driven.
- In discussing this, GNSO Support Staff provided background information on the GNSO Policy Webinar. Specifically, the webinars began in 2018 and were designed to provide the Council with an opportunity to directly engage with PDP chairs regarding the progress of their working groups. This engagement previously took place at ICANN meetings during GNSO working sessions; however, when the ICANN meeting schedule was shortened, these interactions were moved to a webinar format in an effort to allow the engagement to continue.
- After receiving this background information, some Councilors noted that if the purpose is for the Council to hear frank updates from Working Group Chairs, the webinar should be for Councilors rather than a larger community update. Additionally, Councilors reviewed the list of questions provided to Working Group Chairs in an effort to better understand Working Group progress and potential challenges (if any).
- Councilors attended the webinar, in its updated form, prior to ICANN79, and Council will discuss if the updates to the webinar format helped make the interactions more purpose driven or if further updates may be needed.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on Contracted Party House Abuse Subgroup Meetings with the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group
- In February 2022, Council formed a small team of interested Council members to consider what policy efforts, if any, Council should consider undertaking to support the efforts already underway in the different parts of the community to tackle DNS abuse.
- The DNS Abuse Small Team preliminarily concluded that there is not enough information available to warrant further policy work at this time. Following the update from the DNS Abuse Small Team, Council representatives from the Registrar Stakeholder Group commented on the productive dialogue between Contracted Parties and the ICANN Community with respect to DNS Abuse and committed to continuing the dialogue with interested groups.
- To that end, on 23 January 2024, the Registrar Stakeholder Group and the Registries Stakeholder Group DNS Abuse Subgroups met with the Non-Commercial Stakeholder group as the first in a planned series of outreach sessions to the ICANN Community regarding pain points with respect to DNS Abuse. The discussion touched on potential recommendations for solutions and potential future work.
- Council will receive an update on this meeting and subsequent discussions with other groups.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Response to Update from ICANN org Implementation Update and interaction with ICANN Board
During Council’s Working Session, ICANN org provided an overview of the implementation status of the projects that are currently in implementation. These include:
Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Implementation (PPSAI)
Preventative and Curative Rights Protections for Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs)/International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs)
New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP
- In addition, during Prep Week, the ICANN Board held a community engagement session where a question was posed that is relevant to the GNSO Council: how do we handle situations where it becomes clear that community-developed gTLD policies adopted by the Board are superseded by subsequent events or are otherwise not able to, or can no longer, resolve the problems they were designed to address
- Council will have an opportunity to discuss the update from ICANN org and ICANN Board engagement session to determine next steps, if any.
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.1 - GNSO Chair Election Timeline Announcement
- 9.2 - Updated Small Team Guidelines
- 9.3 - Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”) Charter Drafting Team Update
GNSO Council Meeting #3 of 2024 held on 6 Mar 2024 at 17:15 UTC http://tinyurl.com/yc8h56uu
09:15 Los Angeles; 12:15 Washington DC; 17:15 London; 18:15 Paris; 20:15 Moscow; 04:15 Melbourne (Thursday)
Please check the ICANN79 Schedule for both in-person and remote participation details.
Non-Council members are welcome to attend the meeting or call as listen-only observers.
Records of 6 Mar 2024 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 6 Mar 2024 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 Mar 2024 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Mar 2024 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- Council resolved to adopt the Communications Small Team Final Report.
2. DNS Abuse
- GNSO - GAC Bilateral agenda, where GNSO was asked on the status of the GNSO Council Small Team on DNS Abuse. We were able to clarify that the Small Team is not wound up but merely kept in abeyance until such time that Council had access to useful data which could inform a decision on whether gaps exists and how might those gaps be addressed.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew to liaise with CPH on a DNS Abuse mitigation outreach opportunity with At-Large.
3. Next Round of New gTLD
- Council was informed that the Council Small Team Plus on Pending Subsequent Pending (SubPro) Recommendations (Small Team Plus) had conducted its Community Consultation during ICANN79 as planned, to socialize the Small Team Plus's work on the supplemental recommendations to address the rationale provided by the ICANN Board in declining to approve/adopt 10 (original) SubPro PDP recommendations covering 6 topics.
- No comment or objection was received by the Small Team Plus during that ICANN79 session, so, the Small Team Plus is now able to refer the supplemental recommendations to the Council for approval in Council's April 2024 meeting.
4. Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Implementation (PPSAI)
- Council acknowledged that the Implementation Review Team tasked with implementation of PPSAI recommendations that were adopted by the ICANN Board back in 2016, has been reactivated.
- Question was asked if any or all of those recommendations are still fit for purpose given the introduction of GDPR and other newer developments since 2016, and whether this IRT might be compelled to try and implement outdated recommendations.
- The conclusion reached was that the IRT should be given the opportunity to review those recommendations and state if any one which are no longer fit for purpose, so that the right party (eg GNSO Council to take remedial steps to perhaps re-conduct a policy development process to update those recommendations).
- This is an example of the need for Topic 2 in the recent Board Consultation during ICANN79 Prep Week with the Community.
5. General Operations of GNSO/GNSO Council
Council discussed and/or noted following:
- Council Engagement with PDP Working Group Chairs - to retain a prep week session for this and keep improving the format to meet purpose
- GNSO Program Management Tools - to review 2 times per year
- GNSO Chair Election Timeline Announcement
- Updated Small Team Guidelines
- GNSO Council Aspirational Statement
24-02 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #2 (FEB 2024) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #2 of 2024 held on 15 Feb 2024
GNSO Council Meeting #2 of 2024 held on 15 Feb 2024
Full Agenda | Documents | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Confirm Leadership of Standing Selection Committee (“SSC”)
- Confirm GNSO-Nominated ICANN Fellowship Program Mentor
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Registration Data Accuracy
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on SubPro Small Team Progress
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps for Consideration of Expired Domain Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”)
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - ICANN79 Preparation
- Item 8: COUNCIL UPDATE: Draft NCAP Study 2 Report
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.1 - ccNSO & GAC Liaison updates (every three months)
- 9.2 - Board letter on Closed Generics
- 9.3 - Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”) Charter Drafting Team Update
- 9.4 - Status Update on Council Requests
- 9.5 - Update from Contracted Party House Abuse Subgroup’s Meeting with the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group
- 9.6 - GNSO Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) survey
- 9.7 - Update on Diacritic Study Request
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Confirm Leadership of Standing Selection Committee (“SSC”)
- Confirm GNSO-Nominated ICANN Fellowship Program Mentor
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Registration Data Accuracy
- Following Council's discussion last month and seeing as (i) completion of the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) is pending. (ii) implementation of the NIS2 directive, and (iii) publication of the Inferential Analysis of Maliciously Registered Domains (INFERMAL) Study is still pending (targeted for Sep 2024), Council will vote on deferring the consideration of the accuracy scoping work for an additional six months or potentially sooner if there is a passage of a significant event, e.g., completion of the Data Processing Agreement, implementation of the NIS2 directive, or publication of the INFERMAL study .
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on SubPro Small Team Progress
- In March 2023, the ICANN Board approved the majority of the recommendations contained in the Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent PDP, but also placed some recommendations into a pending status. The Council convened a small team that worked collaboratively with the ICANN Board to resolve all pending recommendations. While the majority of the pending recommendations were able to be adopted by the ICANN Board, recommendations across six Topics were not adopted by the ICANN Board.
- With the primary task of addressing the pending recommendations now complete, the Council has tasked the Small Team Plus with an updated assignment form. The Small Team Plus has committed to a work plan to address the recommendations not adopted by the Board. Following that plan, the Small Team has completed initiation 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 come to preliminary Supplemental Recommendation language (i.e., stable text) for most of the six Topics.
- Council will receive an update on the progress of the Small Team Plus.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps for Consideration of Expired Domain Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”)
- Council previously considered when to request a Policy Status Report (“PSR”) for the purpose of conducting a review of the two Expiration Policies, the EDDP and the ERRP. In November 2020, given concerns about its capacity and no known issues with the policies, the Council agreed to delay the request for the Policy Status Report (PSR) for a period of 24 months. After 24 months had passed, the Council reconsidered whether it was an appropriate time to request a Policy Status Report.
- In considering a Nov 2022 ICANN org report, Council agreed that both the EDDP and ERRP may benefit from further work, though the timing for the work requires further consideration. In particular, as the Compliance report noted, the language of the policy is ambiguous in parts and has caused confusion for registrants. As the ERRP was implemented in part to ensure that “expiration-related provisions in typical registration agreements are clear and conspicuous enough” and to ensure that “adequate notice exists to alert registrants of upcoming expirations,” the continuing registrant confusion warrants further consideration. Additionally, some of the existing language has become obsolete due to intervening data protection law requirements and will require updates.
- To that end, Council requested further information from ICANN org on what expiration-related educational materials are currently published and whether additional information can be provided (whether as registrant educational material referenced in Section 4.3 or elsewhere on ICANN’s website). The Council noted receipt of this information would be helpful to the Council in determining if updates to these materials or additional material in other forms could be helpful to combat the ongoing registrant confusion.
Council will receive an update from ICANN org on the published materials.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - ICANN79 Preparation
- Pre-ICANN79 GNSO Policy Webinar:
- Monday, 26 February 2024 at 21:00 UTC
- Pre-ICANN79 GNSO Policy Webinar:
Note: Mandatory for GNSO Council members
-
- During ICANN79, the GNSO Council has the following meetings and events scheduled (times listed in AST):
Saturday, 2 March
-
-
- 09:00-10:00 - IDNs EPDP Team Working Session
- 13:15-14:30 - Transfer Policy Review PDP Working Group Session 1 of 2
- 15:00-16:00 - Transfer Policy Review PDP Working Group Session 2 of 2
- Time TBD: GNSO Council dinner
-
Sunday, 3 March
-
-
- 09:00-10:00 - GNSO Working Session 1 of 2
- 10:30-12:00 - GNSO Working Session 2 of 2
- 13:15-14:30 - GNSO Working Session 3 of 3
-
Monday, 04 March
-
-
- 15:00-16:00 Joint ICANN Board and GNSO Council
-
Tuesday, 05 March
-
-
- 17:30-18:30 - GNSO Council Informal meeting [closed]
-
Wednesday, 6 March
-
-
- 09:00-10:00 - Joint GNSO Council & GAC
- 10:30-12:00 - SubPro Supplemental Recommendations Community Consultation
- 13:15-15:15- GNSO Council Meeting
-
Thursday, 7 March
-
-
- 09:00-10:00 - GNSO Council SubPro Small Team Plus Meeting
- 15:00-16:00 - GNSO Council Wrap-Up
- During its Strategic Planning Session, Council agreed to conduct a triannual detailed review of the Program Management Tool. The action item coming from the SPS provided, “During a session at ICANN79, Council to prepare for a careful review of work captured in the Program Management Tool (PMT) that will conclude or initiate prior to the next AGM, or continue beyond the next AGM. Paul McGrady to coordinate with staff to plan for this inaugural effort.”
- Council will receive an overview of the current block schedule and plan for its in-person meetings.
-
- Item 8: COUNCIL UPDATE: Draft NCAP Study 2 Report
- The Name Collision Analysis Project Discussion Group (NCAP) is currently seeking input on its draft Study 2 report and responses to a series of questions from the ICANN Board regarding name collisions as outlined in resolution 2017.11.02.30 and reaffirmed in resolution 2021.03.25.13.
- Council will receive an overview of the draft Study 2 report and have the opportunity to ask questions.
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.3 - Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”) Charter Drafting Team Update
- 9.7 - Update on Diacritic Study Request
GNSO Council Meeting #2 of 2024 held on 15 Feb 2024 at 21:00 UTC: http://tinyurl.com/42vy5duf
13:00 Los Angeles; 16:00 Washington DC; 21:00 London; 22:00 Paris; 00:00 Moscow (Friday); 08:00 Melbourne (Friday)
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: https://icann.zoom.us/j/92283565389?pwd=QnlHK1JSbzdiSFFZSjRjamxMTkNGdz09
Non-Council members are welcome to attend the meeting or call as listen-only observers.
Records of 15 Feb 2024 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 15 Feb 2024 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 Feb 2024 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Feb 2024 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- Council confirms Karen Day as Chair and Segunfunmi Olajide as Vice-Chair of the GNSO Standing Selection Committee (SSC) for 2024.
- Council confirms Mark Datysgeld as the GNSO-Nominated Mentor for the 2024 ICANN Fellowship Program.
2. Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team Recommendations #1 and #2
- Council resolved to extend the deferral of consideration of recommendations #1 and #2 of the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team write up for an additional six months, and commits to considering the Scoping Team recommendations at an earlier date if DPA negotiations have been completed before six months have passed or another significant event, such as the implementation of the NIS2 directive or the publication Inferential Analysis of Maliciously Registered Domains (INFERMAL) Study, occurs before six months have passed.
3. Board Non-Adopted Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) Recommendations & GNSO SubPro Small Team Plus
- In March 2023, the ICANN Board approved the majority of the recommendations contained in the Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent PDP, but also placed some recommendations into a pending status. The Council convened a small team that worked collaboratively with the ICANN Board to resolve all pending recommendations. While the majority of the pending recommendations were able to be adopted by the ICANN Board, recommendations across six Topics were not adopted by the ICANN Board.
- With the primary task of addressing the pending recommendations now complete, the Council has tasked the Small Team Plus with an updated assignment form. The Small Team Plus has committed to a work plan to address the recommendations not adopted by the Board. Following that plan, the Small Team has completed initiation 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 come to preliminary Supplemental Recommendation language (i.e., stable text) for most of the six Topics.
- The Small Team Plus (which includes the Board SubPro Caucus co-chairs and community subject matter experts/alternates) have now completed its immediate task of drafting supplemental recommendation language to address all the 10 recommendations not adopted by the Board. For details about the Small Team Plus and the draft supplemental recommendation language, please refer to this slide presentation.
- Next steps are for the Small Team Plus to present the draft supplemental recommendation language to the community for input vide;
- (1) a session during ICANN79 Prep Week on 22 Feb;
- (2) a community consultation session during ICANN79 on 6 Mar; and
- (3) a follow up Small Team Plus meeting during ICANN79 on 7 Mar to consider community input received (if any).
4. Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) Study 2 Report
- The NCAP Discussion Group (NCAP DG) is currently seeking input on its draft Study 2 report and responses to a series of questions from the ICANN Board regarding name collisions as outlined in resolution 2017.11.02.30 and reaffirmed in resolution 2021.03.25.13.
- Council received an overview of the draft Study 2 report, which is structured to guide the reader through the methodology and significant findings of three pivotal research studies, as well as the analysis of the NCAP Discussion Group's extensive work activities. This material is what informs the eleven strategic recommendations provided at the end of the report.
- One of the key recommendations is the establishment of a new workflow, the Name Collision Risk Assessment Workflow, designed to enhance the assessment process of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). This recommendation underscores the NCAP Discussion Group’s belief that name collisions should be approached not merely as a technical challenge but as a critical risk management issue.
5. Diacritics Study Request
- As a reminder, this request for a Diacritic Study is concerned with how to deal with existing ASCII TLDs which have a version with diacritics which are NOT considered as variants of each other accordingly to established Label Generation Rules (for eg. quebec and québec).
- Council received an update from GNSO staff that a potential solution that may remove the need for a study request altogether is being developed and is likely to be ready for Council's consideration soon after ICANN79.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew To alert ALAC/CPWG when the GNSO staff's potential solution, which proposes to displace the need for Diacritic Study Request, is ready for Council's consideration.
24-01 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #1 (JAN 2024) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #1 of 2024 held on 18 Jan 2024
GNSO Council Meeting #1 of 2024 held on 18 Jan 2024
Full Agenda | Documents | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Recommendations Report for GNSO Guidance Process (“GGP”) for Applicant Support
- Recommendations Report for EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names Phase 1 Final Report
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Update on Non-Adopted Recommendations
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Communications Small Team Follow-up Conversation
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Council Engagement with PDP Working Group Chairs
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Registration Data Accuracy
- Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
8.1 Update on ICANN79 planning and GNSO Draft schedule
8.2 Update from SO/AC Roundtable
8.3 Update on Diacritic Study Request
8.4 Update on PPSAI Implementation (GDS will provide update)
8.5 Expected Standards of Behavior
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Recommendations Report for GNSO Guidance Process (“GGP”) for Applicant Support
- Recommendations Report for EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names Phase 1 Final Report
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Update on Non-Adopted Recommendations
- Since ICANN76 this Council small team has worked collaboratively with the ICANN Board to resolve 38 pending recommendations from the Subsequent Procedures PDP WG. While the majority of these pending recommendations were able to be adopted by the ICANN Board, 10 recommendations across six Topics were not adopted by the ICANN Board.
- Having addressed most of the pending recommendations, Council then tasked an expanded small team, called the Small Team Plus, with an updated assignment form. The Small Team Plus has committed to 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 and has continued to make further progress.
- Council will receive an update on the Small Team Plus's work.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Registration Data Accuracy
- The Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team was initiated by 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 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 Council on 5 September 2022. In its write up, the Scoping Team suggested 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).
- ICANN org provided an update to Council during the 20 April meeting. During its meeting on 20 June 2023, 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, and Council discussed the update during its 16 November 2023 meeting. During that meeting, some Councilors noted 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 reconvene the Accuracy Scoping Team. Now that six months have passed since Council’s deferral of the accuracy scoping work, Council will need to consider next steps.
- Council will consider whether a further deferral is appropriate or if other next steps are timely e.g., the consideration of the Scoping Team’s recommendations 1 and 2.
- Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 8.3 Update on Diacritic Study Request
GNSO Council Meeting #1 of 2024 held on 18 Jan 2024 at 05:00 UTC: http://tinyurl.com/y3a7xhu3
21:00 Los Angeles (Wednesday); 00:00 Washington DC; 05:00 London; 06:00 Paris; 08:00 Moscow; 16:00 Melbourne
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: https://icann.zoom.us/j/92283565389?pwd=QnlHK1JSbzdiSFFZSjRjamxMTkNGdz09
Non-Council members are welcome to attend the meeting or call as listen-only observers.
Records of 18 Jan 2024 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 18 Jan 2024 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 Jan 2024 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Jan 2024 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- Council resolved to approve both the Recommendations Report for the GGP on Applicant Support and the Recommendations Report for the EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) for transmission to the ICANN Board. Correspondence to the Board completed on 18 Jan.
2. SubPro Small Team Update on Non-Adopted Recommendations
- Supplemental Recommendations on (a) confusingly similar singular-plural strings (Recs 23.3 and 23.5) are being refined/finalized; and (b) Waiver of RA Spec 11 3(a) & 3(b) for single registrant TLDs (Rec 9.2) is stable.
- Work of the Small Team Plus continues on (c) covenant not to sue (Recs 18.1 and 18.3) tied with (d) challenge/appeal mechanisms (Recs 32.1, 32.2 and 32.10)
- Work of the Small Team Plus expected to conclude - in terms of Supplemental Recommendations - before ICANN79, in time for the planned community consultation session at ICANN79. Thereafter, depending on any substantial community input received, Council plans to vote on the entire package of Supplementation Recommendations covering 10 non-adopted recommendations (i.e. 17.2, 22.7, 23.3, 23.5, 9.2, 18.1, 18.3, 32.1, 32.2, 32.10) at its April meeting. (For info on the 10 non-adopted recommendations, see: slide no. 3 of my SubPro Update #5 to CPWG on 8 Nov 2023)
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew To update ALAC/CPWG on the package of Supplemental Recommendations to be discussed at ICANN79 (on the Wed).
- Justine Chew To alert ALAC/CPWG on any GNSO session planned for ICANN79 Prep Week to discuss the GNSO SubPro PDP Supplemental Recommendations
3. Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) & RDA Scoping Team
- By way of recap, the RDA Scoping Team was initiated by Council in July 2021 per the formation instructions, and 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 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 Council on 5 September 2022. In its write up, the Scoping Team had suggested 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).
- However, a number of factors which remain pending to-date have led Council to defer further work in this area.
- At Council's Jun 2023 meeting, Council voted to defer for 6 months, consideration of a registrar survey (recommendation #1) and a possible registrar audit (recommendation #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).
- At Council's Nov 2023 meeting, Council revisited this area of work and noted that, barring (i) completion of the Data Processing Agreement (DPA), (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 reconvene the Accuracy Scoping Team.
- Given that (i) the DPA is not yet ready (confirmed by ICANN org staff) (ii) the NIS2 directive has not yet been implemented, and (iii) publication of the Inferential Analysis of Maliciously Registered Domains (INFERMAL) Study is still pending (targeted for Sep 2024), Council declined to take further action at this point.
4. Diacritic Study Request
- GNSO Council Leadership is still reviewing a draft request prepared by Councilor Mark Datysgeld on the Diacritic Study and will report back to Council in due course.
- As a reminder, this request for a Diacritic Study is concerned with how to deal with existing ASCII TLDs which have a version with diacritics which are NOT considered as variants of each other accordingly to established Label Generation Rules (for eg. quebec and québec).
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew To alert ALAC/CPWG when the draft Diacritic Study Request is ready for Council's comment.
5. Privacy-Proxy Services Accreditation Issues (PPSAI) Implementation
- There are Board-approved PPSAI recommendations which have yet to be implemented as focus has been prioritized towards the implementation of the EPDP on Temp Spec Phase 1 recommendations instead thus far. However ICANN Org's GDS (Global Domains & Strategy) is now developing a work plan to actively work on implementing these PPSAI recommendations with input from the previous GNSO PDP on PPSAI members (by email).
- Next update will be available at ICANN79; but the work plan will only be ready at the end of Q1, 2024.
January 2023 - December 2023 Reports
23-16 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #12 (DEC 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #12 of 2023 held on 21 Dec 2023
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
- 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 on 11 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.
23-15 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #11 (NOV 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #11 of 2023 held on 16 Nov 2023
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
- 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.
23-14 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #10 (AT ICANN 78, OCT 2023) (go up to Directory)
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:
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
- Item 1: Seating of the 2023-2024 Council
INCOMING COUNCILORS: - 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
- 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:
- 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?
- 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 motion only 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:
- 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:
-
-
- 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.
- 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
25 Oct 2023, Session 1 |
25 Oct 2023, Session 2 |
26 Oct 2023 (Council Wrap-up) |
---|---|---|
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, Justine Chew to liaise with CPH on such DNS Abuse mitigation 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)
- a) General Statement of Interest which contains general information about a participant (parent).
- 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.
23-13 ALAC-GNSO COUNCIL BILATERAL MEETING (AT ICANN 78, OCT 2023) (go up to Directory)
ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Meeting on 21 Oct 2023
ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Meeting held on 21 Oct 2023
Agenda:
- Welcome and Introduction - Justine Chew, ALAC Liaison to the GNSO, Jonathan Zuck, ALAC Chair and Sebastien Ducos, GNSO Chair (10 mins)
- GNSO Council Guidance Statement on ".québec", 14 Sep 2023 [gnso.icann.org] (20 mins)
- 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"?
- How does the GNSO Council plan to address the issue(s)?
Speakers: Sebastien Ducos (GNSO), Olivier Crepin-Leblond (ALAC)
Followed by discussion / Q&A
- New gTLD Program Next Round (formerly Subsequent Procedures) (20 mins)
- 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?
- 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
- Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) (20 mins)
- 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
- 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?
- 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
-
- Justine Chew To look into periodic intersessional updates from GNSO and discussions with At-Large on the above topics.
23-12 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #9 (SEP 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #9 of 2023 held on 21 Sep 2023
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
- 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:
- 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 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)
- a) General Statement of Interest which contains general information about a participant (parent).
- 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.
23-11 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #8 (AUG 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #8 of 2023 held on 24 Aug 2023
GNSO Council Meeting #8 of 2023 held on 24 Aug 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
- Approval of the 2023 Customer Standing Committee (CSC) Slate
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - SubPro Small Team Clarifying Statement
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Recommendations Report on Review of the Statement of Interest (SOI) Requirements
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Chartering the Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”)
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Pending Recommendations - Expected Non-Adoption
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Closed Generics
- Item 9: AOB
- 9.1 Update from NIS2 Outreach Team
- 9.2 ICANN78 Planning
- 9.3 Discussion Paper on .Quebec
- 9.4 Grant Program Implementation update to Chartering Organizations
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Approval of the 2023 Customer Standing Committee (CSC) Slate - In accordance with Section 17.2 (d) of the ICANN Bylaw and per the CSC Charter, the full membership of the CSC must be approved by the GNSO Council. The Council approves the full slate of members and liaisons, noting that the SSAC has declined to appoint a liaison.
- The ALAC's Liaison for term 2023-2025 is Holly Raiche, with the alternate being Ejikeme Egbuogu
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - SubPro Small Team Clarifying Statement
- 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.
- 24 Aug update: I have just been informed that the Board has requested more time because "[t]he Board would like to propose a small tweak to the language [in the clarifying statements for Recommendations 9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13, 30.1, 31.16 and 31.17 (all regarding the enforceability of PICs and RVCs) to ensure that it is crystal clear". Hence the recommendations where there is an expectation that the GNSO Council can resolve the ICANN Board concerns via a Clarifying Statement are now:
- Topic 3: Applications Assessed in Rounds - Recommendations 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7
- The SubPro Final Report recommendation envisions that “the next application procedure should be processed in the form of a round” and “Application procedures must take place at predictable, regularly occurring intervals without indeterminable periods of review”. However, the GNSO Council confirms its willingness to engage with the ICANN Board to explore a shared vision for the long-term evolution of the program, which could be materially different than what is envisioned for the next round of the New gTLD Program in the Topic 3 recommendations.
- Topic 6: Registry Service Provider Pre-Evaluation - Recommendation 6.8
- The GNSO Council confirms its understanding of the Implementation Review Team (IRT) Principles & Guidelines that state that, “the IRT is convened to assist staff in developing the implementation details for the policy to ensure that the implementation conforms to the intent of the policy recommendations.” The Council therefore recognizes that ICANN org will be responsible for establishing the fees charged for the RSP pre-evaluation program, in consultation with the IRT, as is consistent with the roles and responsibilities captured in the IRT Principles & Guidelines. The language used in Recommendation 6.8 is not intended to alter the respective roles and responsibilities of staff and the IRT.
- Topic 9: Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments - Recommendation
s 9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13, 9.15Recommendations 9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13 - The GNSO Council confirms that in respect to any new Public Interest Commitments (PICs) and Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs), PICs/RVCs entered into must be contractually enforceable, and in respect of RVCs, enforceability is determined by both ICANN org and the applicant. And further, the Council observes that among the purposes of PICs / RVCs is to address public comments, in addressing strings deemed highly sensitive or related to regulated industries, objections, whether formal or informal, GAC Early Warnings, GAC Consensus Advice, and/or other comments from the GAC.- Recommendation 9.15: The GNSO Council confirms that this recommendation does not require any implementation nor creates any dependencies for the Next Round of the New gTLD Program.
- Topic 26: Security and Stability - Recommendation 26.9
- The GNSO Council confirms that the “any level” language referenced in the recommendation should be interpreted to only be in respect of domain names that are allocated by the registry operator.
- Topic 29: Name Collision - Recommendation 29.1
- The GNSO Council believes that Recommendation 29.1 can be adopted by the Board on the understanding that it does not need to be acted on until such time any next steps for mitigating name collision risks are better understood out of the Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) Study 2.
Topic 30: GAC Consensus Advice and GAC Early Warning - Recommendation 30.7Please see the Council’s clarifying statement for Recommendations 9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13.
Topic 31: Objections - Recommendations 31.16, 31.17Please see the Council’s clarifying statement for Recommendations 9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13.
- Topic 34: Community Applications - Recommendation 34.12
- The GNSO Council confirms its recommendation that terms included in the contract between ICANN org and the CPE Provider regarding the CPE process must be subject to public comment. This recommendation however is not intended to require ICANN org to disclose any confidential terms of the agreement between ICANN org and the CPE Provider.
- Topic 35: Auctions - Recommendations 35.3, 35.5
- The GNSO Council confirms that the references to private auctions in Recommendations 35.3 and 35.5 merely acknowledge the existence of private auctions in 2012 and should NOT be seen as an endorsement or prohibition of their continued practice in future rounds of the New gTLD Program. The Council notes that there were extensive discussions on the use of private auctions in the SubPro working group. To the extent that draft recommendations were developed as to private auctions, these did not receive consensus support in the working group but did receive strong support with significant opposition.
- Topic 3: Applications Assessed in Rounds - Recommendations 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7
- Council will vote on the clarifying statement to be submitted to the ICANN Board.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - 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:
- 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 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 will receive an overview of the CCOICI Recommendations Report on the SOI Requirements.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Chartering the Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”)
- In its Final Report, the Subsequent Procedures Working Group recommended “the formation of a Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (‘SPIRT’) (Pronounced ‘spirit’) to serve as the body responsible for reviewing potential issues related to the Program, to conduct analysis utilizing the framework, and to recommend the process/mechanism that should be followed to address the issue (i.e., utilize the Predictability Framework). The GNSO Council shall be responsible for oversight of the SPIRT and may review all recommendations of the SPIRT in accordance with the procedures outlined in the GNSO Operating Procedures and Annexes thereto.”
- Council will hear on the issue of SPIRT chartering.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Pending Recommendations - Expected Non-Adoption
- Further to Item 4: SubPro Small Team Clarifying Statement which addressed 22 of 38 SubPro recommendations marked as "pending", the Council SubPro Small Team has also looked at proposing paths for the remaining 16 recommendations the Board is not expected to adopt.
- Council will hear an update on the proposed path. In addition, the small team is requesting Council for further instructions now that it has reached the solution building stage; as well as input on whether or not it is time to invite the GAC to participate more formally in the small team's work and how that would work practically.
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Closed Generics
In March 2022, the ICANN Board requested that the GAC and GNSO Council consider engaging in a facilitated dialogue to develop a framework for further GNSO policy work on the issue of Closed Generics. The GAC and GNSO Council agreed to the Board’s suggestion and each appointed six participants for the dialogue. One participant and one alternate from the ALAC were also appointed. Should the GAC-GNSO facilitated dialogue result in an agreed framework, the agreements will be further developed through the appropriate GNSO policy process.
Following an initial, informal meeting at ICANN75 in Kuala Lumpur, the dialogue participants have since been meeting regularly via Zoom and held a substantive two-day face-to-face meeting in Washington, D.C. in late January 2023. The dialogue is hoping to deliver a draft framework around the end of April 2023 to the ALAC, GAC, GNSO and other SOACs for community input. At this stage, groups are expected to have approximately four weeks to review the document.
During its meeting at ICANN76, the ICANN Board passed a resolution adopting a substantial portion of the outputs from the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP, setting in motion the start of the implementation process for the next round of new gTLDs. As part of the resolution, the Board established deadlines for key deliverables that will impact the development of the implementation plan.
- The GNSO Chair, GAC Chair, and ALAC Chair plan to send a separate communication to the ICANN Board that reflects the decision they took and, as stated in the letter, expressing the collective view that:
- (1) closed generic gTLDs should not be viewed as a dependency for the next round;
- (2) until there is community-developed policy, the Board should maintain the position from the 2012 round (i.e., any applications seeking to impose exclusive registry access for "generic strings" to a single person or entity and/or that person's or entity's Affiliates (as defined in Section 2.9(c) of the Registry Agreement) should not proceed; and
- (3) should the community decide in the future to resume the policy discussions, this should be based on the good work that has been done to date in the facilitated dialogue.
- Council will discuss the current state of work and the proposed communication to the Board.
- Item 9: AOB
- 9.1 Update from NIS2 Outreach Team
- 9.2 ICANN78 Planning
- 9.3 Discussion Paper on .Quebec
- 9.4 Grant Program Implementation update to Chartering Organizations
Records of 24 Aug 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 24 Aug 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 Aug 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Aug 2023 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda Item - 2023 Customer Standing Committee (CSC)
- Council approved the slate of 2023 CSC Members and Liaison, which include the liaison and alternate appointed by ALAC, Holly Raiche and Ejikeme Egbuogu, respectively, for the 2023 - 2025 term.
2. Next Round of New gTLD Program / Subsequent Procedures 38 Pending Recommendations & "Other Dependencies"
- To recap, the ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution had requested the GNSO Council to submit 3 of 4 deliverables.
- For convenience, the 3 of 4 deliverables are replicated as follows:
- a. A plan and timeline as agreed upon by the ICANN Board and the GNSO Council for consideration and resolution of all Outputs contained in Section B of the Scorecard (the 38 Pending Recommendations);
b. A working methodology and Implementation Review Team (IRT) work plan and timeline as agreed upon by ICANN org and the GNSO Council;c.- c. A GNSO Council project plan and timeline for policy work, or an alternate path, on how to handle closed generics for the next round of new gTLDs; and
- d. A project plan from the GNSO Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Working Group (WG) identifying all charter questions that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, along with considerations to ensure a consistent solution on IDN Variant TLDs with the ccPDP4 on IDN ccTLDs (in accordance with prior Board Resolution 2019.03.14.09), and a timeline by when the IDNs EPDP WG will deliver relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council.
- Immediately after ICANN77, Council submitted to the Board on 15 Jun 2023 the SubPro ICANN77 Deliverables: Workplan and Timeline which addresses the 3 requested deliverables.
- As of now, the situation with a. and c. are as follows. The status with d. is as reported in my Jul 2023 report.
a. The 38 Pending Recommendations
- Since after ICANN77, the GNSO Council Small Team on SubPro has continued to work with the Board SubPro Caucus co-leads, Avri Doria and Becky Burr, in developing the Council's 2 next sub-deliverables in respect of the 38 Pending Recommendations. This involves bifurcating the 38 recommendations into 2 broad groups:
-
- Group (1) covers Recommendations on the following SubPro Topics which were assessed and are understood to merely require clarifying statements by Council for the Board's consideration in context of the Board's concerns, in order to facilitate adoption by the Board.
- Due to a late request by the ICANN Board for more time as "[t]he Board would like to propose a small tweak to the language [in the clarifying statements for Recommendations 9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13, 30.1, 31.16 and 31.17 (all regarding the enforceability of PICs and RVCs) to ensure that it is crystal clear", the recommendations where there is an expectation that the GNSO Council can resolve the ICANN Board concerns via a Clarifying Statement was amended to cover:
- Topic 3: Applications Assessed in Rounds - Recommendations 3.1,3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7
- Topic 6: Registry Service Provider Pre-Evaluation - Recommendation 6.8
- Topic 9: Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments - Recommendations
9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13,9.15 - Topic 26: Security and Stability - Recommendation 26.9
- Topic 29: Name Collision - Recommendation 29.1
Topic 30: GAC Consensus Advice and GAC Early Warning - Recommendation 30.7Topic 31: Objections - Recommendations 31.16, 31.17- Topic 34: Community Applications - Recommendation 34.12
- Topic 35: Auctions - Recommendations 35.3, 35.5
- The resulting Clarifying Statement as at 23 Aug which was adopted by Council for Group (1) recommendations is found at this link.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
-
- To continue participating in Small Team to ensure clarifying statement captures existing ALAC positions, as relevant/needed.
-
-
- Group (2) covers the remaining pending recommendations for which the Council Small Team will continue to work on in light of the clear signal by the Board SubPro Caucus co-leads that the Board will very likely decline to adopt as they currently read. The Small Team's scope of work here includes considering whether such recommendations should be revised, and if so, how - either through the 'GNSO Operating Procedures section 16' path (which would involve reconvening the SubPro PDP WG), or through a 'Supplemental Recommendation' path for which Council will need to determine the mechanism to produce such supplemental recommendation.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
-
- To continue participating in Small Team to ensure clarifying statement captures existing ALAC positions, as relevant/needed, or to advocate for the inclusion of input outside of GNSO where Council opts for the 'Supplemental Recommendation' path.
-
c. Closed Generics Framework
-
- Council received a substantive update on the status of the Closed Generics Framework produced by the GAC-GNSO-ALAC Dialogue small team, post a review of community comments received in response to the request for comments on the Draft Closed Generics Framework which closed on 15 Jul 2023.
- The Chairs of the GAC, GNSO and ALAC convened to discuss what should happen with this Closed Generics Framework, namely whether there was sufficient community consensus for it to move to a GNSO policy development process. They concluded there was not and that there was not sufficient demand to take it further through a policy process. As a result, the GNSO Chair, GAC Chair, and ALAC Chair plan to send a separate communication to the ICANN Board that reflects the decision they took and, as stated in the letter, expressing the collective view that:
(1) closed generic gTLDs should not be viewed as a dependency for the next round;
(2) until there is community-developed policy, the Board should maintain the position from the 2012 round (i.e., any applications seeking to impose exclusive registry access for "generic strings" to a single person or entity and/or that person's or entity's Affiliates (as defined in Section 2.9(c) of the Registry Agreement) should not proceed; and
(3) should the community decide in the future to resume the policy discussions, this should be based on the good work that has been done to date in the facilitated dialogue.
3. Next Round of New gTLDs - Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (SPIRT) (pronounced as "spirit")
- In its Final Report, the Subsequent Procedures Working Group recommended “the formation of a Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (‘SPIRT’) (Pronounced ‘spirit’) to serve as the body responsible for reviewing potential issues related to the Program, to conduct analysis utilizing the framework, and to recommend the process/mechanism that should be followed to address the issue (i.e., utilize the Predictability Framework). The GNSO Council shall be responsible for oversight of the SPIRT and may review all recommendations of the SPIRT in accordance with the procedures outlined in the GNSO Operating Procedures and Annexes thereto.”
- Council discussed the task of chartering (not constituting) the SPIRT and concluded that it would be useful to set up a chartering team to include participation from the At-Large/ALAC, GAC and other parts of the community.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew To alert the ALAC/CPWG on timing of the call to form the SPIRT chartering team, in due course.
4. Discussion Paper on .Quebec
- The GNSO Chair led the commentary on this issue which essentially concluded that the issue of .quebec (TLD) not being a variant of “.québec” did not require an immediate resolution and one that did not squarely sit in the remit of the Expedited Policy Development Process on Internationalized Domain Names (EPDP on IDNs).
5. GNSO Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Recommendations Report on Review of the Statement of Interest (SOI) Requirements
- 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 in relation to exemption is to remain as is.
- 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)
- a) General Statement of Interest which contains general information about a participant (parent).
23-10 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #7 (JUL 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #7 of 2023 held on 20 Jul 2023
GNSO Council Meeting #7 of 2023 held on 20 Jul 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
- Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team Recommendations #1 and #2 – extending deferral of consideration by six months
- GNSO Review of GAC Communiqué
- GNSO Non-Registry Liaison to the Customer Standing Committee (CSC) - Milton Mueller; [GNSO Non-Registry Liaison Alternate to the CSC - [candidate under review]]
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Operational Design Phase and Operational Design Assessment Liaison & Small Team Survey Feedback
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Update on Pending Recommendations - Clarifying Statement
- Item 7: Follow up on IGO Curative Rights IRT and Other Work Necessary to Achieve Release of the IGO Acronyms Under Interim Reservation
- Item 8: IDNs EPDP Timeline
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.1 ccNSO Liaison update
- 9.2 Closed Generics Update
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team Recommendations #1 and #2 – extending deferral of consideration by six months
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy
- During Council’s extraordinary meeting on 5 June 2023, Thomas Rickert introduced an area for potential discussion at a future GNSO Council meeting.
- 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 to consider informal options of responding to the recital text to highlight the standards that are currently applicable.
- Council will discuss if further work is needed on this topic, and if the GNSO is the appropriate venue for further work at this time.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Operational Design Phase and Operational Design Assessment Liaison & Small Team Survey Feedback
- Council will receive an overview of the feedback provided in the surveys issued to two GNSO Liaisons to the ODP (Janis Karklins and Jeff Neuman) and the members of both ODA review teams, and consider potential next steps such as sharing this feedback to ICANN org to help inform the upcoming community consultation.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro Small Team Update on Pending Recommendations - Clarifying Statement
- 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. The Council discussed the main output of that triage effort, the proposed paths forward for each pending recommendation, during an Extraordinary Meeting on 4 May, in order to support the Council’s dialogue with the ICANN Board on 22 May.
- During the ICANN77 Day 0 Session, Council heard from the 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”). Immediately after ICANN77, Council submitted its ICANN77 Deliverable Work plan & Timeline SubPro Related Activities as requested by the ICANN Board in its 16 Mar resolution.
- Council will receive an update from the Small Team on the proposed clarifying statement to the Board as well as the work that is ongoing in relation to the recommendations for which the Board has indicated likely non-adoption.
- Item 7: Follow up on IGO Curative Rights IRT and Other Work Necessary to Achieve Release of the IGO Acronyms Under Interim Reservation
- On 14 April 2013, the Board passed a resolution placing certain IGO acronyms under temporary reservation. In recent correspondence, the Board confirmed that its intention in passing this resolution was to “withhold these IGO acronyms from registration at the second level on an interim basis, pending resolution by the community of the inconsistencies between GAC advice and GNSO policy recommendations from the GNSO’s 2012-2013 Policy Development Process (PDP) on IGO-INGO Protections in All gTLDs.”
- Since the April 2013 Board resolution, the GNSO has completed two PDPs specific to curative rights protections for IGOs: (1) the PDP on IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms that was completed in 2019 and (2) the Expedited PDP (EPDP) on Specific Curative Rights Protections for IGOs that was completed in 2022.
- On 30 April 2023, the Board voted to adopt all four recommendations that the GNSO Council approved from the 2019 PDP and all five Full Consensus recommendations from the 2022 EPDP. The Board also directed ICANN org to proceed with implementation “as soon as feasible; and to develop and submit to the Board an implementation plan … to inform the Board as to how the implementation of these recommendations fit into ICANN org’s operational planning and prioritization of its ongoing work to implement other community-developed recommendations that the Board has adopted.”
- Council will discuss whether it wishes to take any steps to request that ICANN org implementation of these Consensus Policy recommendations remains a high priority, understanding the need to resource this work appropriately in the context of other ongoing implementation work.
- Item 8: IDNs EPDP Timeline
- In accordance with ICANN Board request (16 Mar resolution), the EPDP Team delivered an updated project plan by the last day of ICANN77. It identifies that almost all of its charter questions will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, and determines that its timeline for the EPDP Team’s delivery of relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council remains unchanged, which is November 2025.
Nevertheless, the EPDP Team made a commitment to reconsider its delivery date shortly after ICANN77 by taking into consideration:
- Closure of the Phase 1 Initial Report Public Comment period and gaining a better understanding of the breadth and quantity of comments received;
- A better sense of progress made on Phase 2 charter questions in advance of the schedule; and
- More certainty of approval for the EPDP Team’s request for its dedicated face-to-face workshop, etc.
- Council will hear an update on the EPDP Team’s revised schedule.
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.2 Closed Generics Update
Records of 20 Jul 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 20 Jul 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 Jul 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Jul 2023 Meeting Records.
1. Next Round of New gTLDs / Subsequent Procedures 38 Pending Recommendations & "Other Dependencies"
- To recap, the ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution had requested the GNSO Council to submit 3 of 4 deliverables.
- For convenience, the 3 of 4 deliverables are replicated as follows:
- a. A plan and timeline as agreed upon by the ICANN Board and the GNSO Council for consideration and resolution of all Outputs contained in Section B of the Scorecard (the 38 Pending Recommendations);
b. A working methodology and Implementation Review Team (IRT) work plan and timeline as agreed upon by ICANN org and the GNSO Council;c.- c. A GNSO Council project plan and timeline for policy work, or an alternate path, on how to handle closed generics for the next round of new gTLDs; and
- d. A project plan from the GNSO Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Working Group (WG) identifying all charter questions that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, along with considerations to ensure a consistent solution on IDN Variant TLDs with the ccPDP4 on IDN ccTLDs (in accordance with prior Board Resolution 2019.03.14.09), and a timeline by when the IDNs EPDP WG will deliver relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council.
- Immediately after ICANN77, Council submitted to the Board on 15 Jun 2023 the SubPro ICANN77 Deliverables: Workplan and Timeline which addresses the 3 requested deliverables.
a. The 38 Pending Recommendations
- Since after ICANN77, the GNSO Council Small Team on SubPro has continued to work with the Board SubPro Caucus co-leads, Avri Doria and Becky Burr, in developing the Council's 2 next sub-deliverables in respect of the 38 Pending Recommendations. This involves bifurcating the 38 recommendations into 2 broad groups:
-
- Group (1) covers Recommendations on the following SubPro Topics which were assessed and are understood to merely require clarifying statements by Council for the Board's consideration in context of the Board's concerns, in order to facilitate adoption by the Board. *
- Topic 3: Applications Assessed in Rounds - Recommendations 3.1,3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7
- Topic 6: Registry Service Provider Pre-Evaluation - Recommendation 6.8
- Topic 9: Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments - Recommendations 9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13, 9.15
- Topic 26: Security and Stability - Recommendation 26.9
- Topic 29: Name Collision - Recommendation 29.1
- Topic 30: GAC Consensus Advice and GAC Early Warning - Recommendation 30.7
- Topic 31: Objections - Recommendations 31.16, 31.17
- Topic 34: Community Applications - Recommendation 34.12
- Topic 35: Auctions - Recommendations 35.3, 35.5
- The complete Clarifying Statement produced for Group (1) recommendations can be viewed via this link.
- Group (1) covers Recommendations on the following SubPro Topics which were assessed and are understood to merely require clarifying statements by Council for the Board's consideration in context of the Board's concerns, in order to facilitate adoption by the Board. *
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
-
- To participate in Small Team to ensure clarifying statement captures existing ALAC positions, as relevant/needed.
-
-
- Group (2) covers the remaining pending recommendations for which the Council Small Team will continue to work on in light of the clear signal by the Board SubPro Caucus co-leads that the Board will very likely decline to adopt as they currently read. The Small Team's scope of work here includes considering whether such recommendations should be revised, and if so, how - either through the 'GNSO Operating Procedures section 16' path (which would involve reconvening the SubPro PDP WG), or through a 'Supplemental Recommendation' path for which Council will need to determine the mechanism to produce such supplemental recommendation.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
-
- To continue to participate in Small Team to ensure clarifying statement captures existing ALAC positions, as relevant/needed, or to advocate for the inclusion of input outside of GNSO where Council opts for the 'Supplemental Recommendation' path.
-
-
- *To note that I have previously reported, that the list of recommendations in group (1) versus group (2) continues to evolve over time; compare with as at ICANN77
c. Draft Closed Generics Framework
-
- Council received a cursory update on where the Draft Closed Generics Framework stands and informed that the GAC-GNSO-ALAC Dialogue small team will reconvene to review the community comments received in response to the request for comments on the Draft Closed Generics Framework which closed on 15 Jul 2023.
d. Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP)
-
- As reported in Jun 2023, the IDNs EPDP WG was already taking steps to improve its timeline to expedite completion of its work well ahead of its original Nov 2025 target.
- The WG Chair presented a revised project plan which shaves 13 months off the earlier timeline. The key milestones for this EPDP are now as follows:
- Phase 1 Final Report remains expected to be delivered to Council in Nov 2023
- Council then considers this Phase 1 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
- Phase 2 Initial Report is expected to be published for public comment in Apr 2024 (vs May 2025 earlier)
- Phase 2 Final Report is expected to be delivered to Council in Oct 2024 (vs Nov 2025 earlier)
- Council then considers this Phase 2 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
- Assumptions for this revised project plan must hold for the EPDP to meet the new milestone dates:
- Progress to be achieved via multiple sessions during ICANN78 (similar to ICANN77)
- A planned F2F workshop scheduled for early Dec 2023
- No change to the EPDP Charter / scope of quarter questions
- Update: Following this 20 Jul meeting, Council submitted an updated ICANN77 Deliverable Workplan & Timeline SubPro Related Activities to provide further clarity to its 15 Jun submission.
2. Data Accuracy in the context of NIS2 & Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team
Accuracy
- Council continued to discuss what should or could be done in light of the European Union's Second Network and Information Systems Directive (“NIS2”) entered into force on 16 January 2023, particularly regarding Article 28, subsection 3 referencing the need for Member States to require that "(accuracy) 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 no clear agreement on matters of protocol - ie. whether it would be more appropriate for ICANN org or ICANN Board to address the EU or for GNSO Council to address the GAC, and the EC representative specifically, to inform of the work already or being undertaken by ICANN in this area. This was to be referred to Council's communication small team for consideration.
Data Accuracy Scoping Team
- Council continues to await an update on the status of negotiations Data Processing Agreement (DPA) negotiations between ICANN org and Contracted Parties and resolved to extend deferral of consideration of recommendations #1 and #2 of the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team write up for another six months or at an earlier date if the DPA negotiations have been completed before six months have passed and/or there is feedback from ICANN org if/how it anticipates the requesting and processing of registration data will be undertaken in the context of measuring accuracy.
3. Operational Design Phase (ODP) and Operational Design Assessment (ODA)
- Council was given a presentation on the results of a survey conducted with the 2 GNSO liaisons to 2 completed ODP (SSAD and SubPro) as well as members of the 2 small teams (SSAD and SubPro) and was informed that ICANN org will be conducting an upcoming community consultation to obtain feedback on the ODP process.
- To note that ICANN org intends to incorporate (possibly formalize) the ODP process into the CPIF - Consensus Policy Implementation Framework.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew To alert the ALAC/At-Large on details of ICANN org's upcoming community consultation on ODPs when they become available.
23-09 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #6 (AT ICANN 77, JUN 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #6 of 2023 held on 14 Jun 2023 during ICANN 77
GNSO Council Meeting #6 of 2023 held on 14 Jun 2023 during ICANN 77
Full Agenda | Documents | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Motion to Commemorate Pam Little
Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Non-Objection of SubPro Timelines
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS ABUSE
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Consideration of Accuracy Scoping Team recommendations in light of 6 month timeline originally established (factoring in April meeting discussion and input received from ICANN org)
- Item 7: GNSO TOWN HALL
- Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 8.1 ccNSO & GAC Liaisons updates
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Non-Objection of SubPro Timelines
- At ICANN76, the Board resolved to adopt the majority of the recommendations from the Final Report of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP. The Board also resolved that the Outputs in Section B of the Scorecard be designated as pending.
Further, the Board resolved that several deliverables be completed by the last day of the ICANN77 Public Meeting (15 June 2023):
- A plan and timeline as agreed upon by the ICANN Board and the GNSO Council for consideration and resolution of all Outputs contained in Section B of the Scorecard;
- A working methodology and IRT work plan and timeline as agreed upon by ICANN org and the GNSO Council;
- A GNSO Council project plan and timeline for policy work, or an alternate path, on how to handle closed generics for the next round of new gTLDs; and
- A project plan from the GNSO Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Working Group (WG) identifying all charter questions that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, along with considerations to ensure a consistent solution on IDN Variant TLDs with the ccPDP4 on IDN ccTLDs (in accordance with prior Board Resolution 2019.03.14.09), and a timeline by when the IDNs EPDP WG will deliver relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council.
- For item 2, the GNSO Council agreed upon a methodology (Open + Representative) at ICANN76 which effectively completed that item from a Council perspective. However, for items 1, 3, and 4, Council has diligently worked on the each of the items, in conjunction with the respective teams as necessary (e.g., the IDNs EPDP leadership team).
- During the Council’s Extraordinary Meeting on 5 June, Council had an initial discussion on all of the work plans and timelines. The work plans and timelines will have been further discussed during Council’s pre-ICANN77 sessions on 11 June, which will likely have been supplemented by Board input on how to resolve the pending recommendations.
- Council will acknowledge the three work plans and timelines (i.e., for the pending recommendations, IDNs EPDP Phase 2, and closed generics EPDP) and agree to their submission to the ICANN Board.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS ABUSE
- In February 2022, the GNSO Council formed a small team of interested Council members to consider what policy efforts, if any, the GNSO Council should consider undertaking to support the efforts already underway in the different parts of the community to tackle DNS abuse.
- On 7 October 2022, the DNS Abuse Small Team transmitted its Report to the GNSO Council. Recommendation #2 from the Report recommended the GNSO Council to request, et.al., the Registrar Stakeholder Group “to further the role that bulk registrations play in DNS Abuse as well as measures that Registrars may have already put in place to address this vector. Based on the feedback received, the GNSO Council will consider whether further action on bulk registrations is deemed necessary.”
The DNS Abuse Small Team received input from the following groups:
- Upon reviewing the feedback, the DNS Abuse Small Team preliminarily concluded that there is not enough information available for bulk registrations to be the subject of further policy work at this time.
- Council will receive an update from the DNS Abuse small team.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Consideration of Accuracy Scoping Team recommendations in light of 6 month timeline originally established (factoring in April meeting discussion and input received from ICANN org)
- The Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team was initiated by Council in July 2021 per the formation instructions. The Scoping Team was tasked with considering a number of accuracy-related factors including the current enforcement, reporting, measurement, and overall effectiveness of accuracy-related efforts.
- 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 suggested 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).
- In November 2021, Council adopted recommendation #3 of the Scoping Team’s write up, which recommended;
- (i) pausing the work in relation to proposals that require access to registration data,
- (ii) encouraging ICANN org to proceed with their outreach to the EDPB as well as the Data Protection Impact Assessment in connection with the scenario(s) in which the request and processing of registration data takes place as a matter of urgency, and
- (iii) requesting that ICANN org and Contracted Parties finalize the negotiations on the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) as soon as practicable as the absence of a completed DPA may act as a roadblock for policy work before Council.
- In response to the Council’s requests, ICANN org provided the following written update to the GNSO Council on 14 March 2023.
- ICANN org provided a verbal update to Council during the 20 April meeting. Six months has now passed from the Council’s initial deferral of the Scoping Team’s recommendations 1 and 2.
- Council will consider whether a further six month deferral is appropriate or if other next steps are timely e.g., the consideration of the Scoping Team’s recommendations 1 and 2.
- Item 7: GNSO TOWN HALL
- To encourage GNSO community engagement with Council, Council is inviting the community to engage directly with it during the ICANN77 meeting. The objective is to have an open and frank discussion with the GNSO Community during which any topics or questions can be raised.
- One particular topic that Council would like to draw your attention to is the recent trend of attrition in GNSO Working Group participation - a topic discussed during the recent GNSO Policy Webinar. Council is interested to hear from the community on how it can best address this trend.
- Additional topic prompts will be included closer to the session.
Records of 14 Jun 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 14 Jun 2023 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Jun 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Jun 2023 Meeting Records.
1. Next Round of New gTLDs / Subsequent Procedures 38 Pending Recommendations & Other Dependencies
- To recap, GNSO Council considered a draft combined project plan, which attempts to address the 3 of the 4 deliverables requested of Council by the ICANN Board. For convenience, the 3 of 4 deliverables are replicated as follows, as drawn from the ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution:
-
- A plan and timeline as agreed upon by the ICANN Board and the GNSO Council for consideration and resolution of all Outputs contained in Section B of the Scorecard (the 38 Pending Recommendations);
A working methodology and Implementation Review Team (IRT) work plan and timeline as agreed upon by ICANN org and the GNSO Council;- A GNSO Council project plan and timeline for policy work, or an alternate path, on how to handle closed generics for the next round of new gTLDs; and
- A project plan from the GNSO Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Working Group (WG) identifying all charter questions that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, along with considerations to ensure a consistent solution on IDN Variant TLDs with the ccPDP4 on IDN ccTLDs (in accordance with prior Board Resolution 2019.03.14.09), and a timeline by when the IDNs EPDP WG will deliver relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council.
- Ongoing conversations with the Board SubPro Caucus co-leads, Avri Doria and Becky Burr, have led to an update of the approach for the 38 Pending Recommendations. Based on this development, Council did not object to 3 deliverables as contained in the SubPro ICANN77 Deliverables: Workplan and Timeline that has since been submitted to the Board on 15 Jun 2023:
a. The 38 Pending Recommendations have been re-organised into 3 categories of "a", "b" and "c":
Category | Description | SubPro Topic | Relevant Recs | Summary of Board Concern | What is Expected to Happen Next? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
"a" | Issue can be addressed during implementation |
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16.1 | Application window period too prescriptive |
|
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18.4 | Ability for applicant to withdraw w/o clarity on “substantive” or “material” changes made to AGB/Program could lead to gaming |
|||
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19.3 | Prescriptive batch size leads to inflexibity | |||
"b" | Issue can be addressed via a GNSO Council Clarifying Statement |
|
3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7 |
Inflexibility of being held to rounds |
|
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6.8 | Roles of IRT & ICANN org seem to be reversed | |||
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9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13, 9.15 |
Uncertainty/risks in ICANN’s ability to enforce PICs/RVCs per mission/Bylaw sec 1.1 limitation. Bylaw change must succeed. |
|||
|
26.9 | Ability to prohibit emojis at the 3rd Level | |||
|
29.1 | Not concern, merely awaiting NCAP Study 2 Report | |||
|
30.7 | Use of RVCs to address GAC EW / Advice (or even other comments) may fall outside ICANN mission (tied to Recs 9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13, 9.15) | |||
|
31.16, 31.17 | Use of PICs/RVCs to address objections (or even other comments) may fall outside ICANN mission (tied to Recs 9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13, 9.15) | |||
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34.12 | Possibly required to publish CPE provider confidential info for public comment | |||
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35.3, 35.5 | Mention of "private auctions" should not endorse/prohibit private auctions | |||
"c" |
Board has signaled non-adoption |
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9.2 | Waiver of Spec 11 3(a) & 3(b) for single registrant TLDs could lead to unforeseen harm on different business models |
Option: Council invoking Section 16, Annex 2 of the GNSO Operating Procedures prior to final Board action c1: GNSO Council modifies recommendation(s)
Option: Board takes final action to not adopt c2: GNSO Council considers development of Supplemental Recommendation
|
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17.2 | Open-ended nature of potential payees and payments |
|||
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18.1 | Does not want to unduly restrict ICANN’s discretion to reject an application in circumstances that fall outside the specific grounds set out in the recommendation. | |||
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18.3 | Covenant not to sue subject to challenge/ appeal mechanism leading to undue legal exposure (tied to Recs 32.1, 32.2, 32.10) | |||
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22.7 | Exemption of COI means no EBERO funds – better to be case-by-case than blanket exemption (similar to Rec 9.2) | |||
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24.3, 24.5 | Enforcing “intended use” of singular-plural through PICs may fall outside ICANN mission |
|||
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32.1, 32.2, 32.10 | Co-existence with Bylaw-driven Accountability Mechanisms, duplication, add unnecessary cost and delay |
c. Project plan and timeline for Closed Generics policy recommendations
-
- Currently, following the comment period for the draft Framework for Closed Generics gTLDs (ending 15 July), the draft Framework is expected to then be finalized pursuant to a plan to initiate an EPDP to confirm policy recommendations for Closed Generics
- The planned EPDP is expected to take the normal course of an EPDP, running for not more than 96 weeks in total from 14 June.
- Team deliberations and publication of an Initial Report is projected to take 36 weeks.
d. Project plan from the GNSO Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Working Group (WG)
-
- Phase 1 Final Report is expected to be delivered to Council in Nov 2023
- Council then considers this Phase 1 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
- Phase 2 Initial Report is expected to be published for public comment in May 2025
- Phase 2 Final Report is expected to be delivered to Council in Nov 2025
- Council then considers this Phase 2 Final Report and decides on the adoption of report and recommendations
- The IDNs EPDP WG is already taking steps to improve its timeline to expedite completion of its work well ahead of the Nov 2025 target
2. DNS Abuse (from the perspective of the GNSO Council / Small Team on DNS Abuse)
Two aspects were discussed (as per the ALAC-GNSO Bilateral of 6 Jun 2023)
- 1. Contractual Amendment Negotiations
- CPH and ICANN have reached an agreement on the Registrar Accreditation Agreement and the Registry Agreement in strengthening the DNS Abuse provisions.
- The DNS Abuse Small Team had been tasked with finding out which areas of DNS Abuse were suitable for policy development, through which Contractual Compliance provided information no how they view the contracts and clauses that are ambiguous.
- The amendments developed are out for public comment until 13 Jul.
- Council to keep Small Team in abeyance until public comment outputs are determined to have addressed gaps highlighted by Contractual Compliance, and as such would not require any further work to be done from a policy development point of view.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To encourage ALAC/At-Large to examine those proposed amendments and the Contractual Compliance Advisory
- 2. Bulk Registrations
- Small Team does not have evidence to start policy work on bulk registrations. Discussion was useful nevertheless. ICANN has now commissioned the Inferential Analysis of Maliciously Registered Domains (INFERMAL) study which touches on bulk registrations. DNS Abuse Institute is said to be looking into this area as well.
- Small Team consensus was to wait for results to restart next steps.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Justine Chew To monitor and follow up on any outstanding intersessional conversation on bulk registrations
3. Registration Data Accuracy
- Council had agreed to put the Accuracy Scoping Team on pause for 6 months, pending a number of inputs required before reopening the issue. These include the data protection agreements (DPAs) that had been due since the EPDP Phase 1 recommendations were adopted by the ICANN Board, otherwise there can be no progress on GDPR compliance.
- The registries had a number of queries on the DPAs and have received responses from ICANN org (no details spoken); so the DPAs are expected to be made available in due course.
- Council is to consider extending the pausing of the Accuracy Scoping Team further in its July meeting.
4. GNSO Town Hall
Several issues of concern / remarks were raised;
- Volunteer attrition and how to encourage participation of newcomers
- Transparency of GNSO Council Small Team work / calls
- Discouraging use of Chatham House Rule in future
- Support for PDPs to ask for F2F workshops to expedite work
5. Motion to commemorate Pam Little, esteemed colleague, mentor, and previous GNSO Council leader who passed away earlier in 2023. This portion of the meeting begins at one hour and thirty minutes into the recording.
23-08 ALAC-GNSO COUNCIL PRE-ICANN 77 BILATERAL MEETING (JUN 2023) (go up to Directory)
ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Meeting on 6 Jun 2023
ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Meeting held on 6 Jun 2023
1. Opening and Welcome (3 mins)
- Eduardo Diaz, Moderator
- Jonathan Zuck, ALAC Chair
- Sebastien Ducos, GNSO Chair
2. Next Round of New gTLDs / Subsequent Procedures 38 Pending Recommendations & Other Dependencies (45 mins)
GNSO Speakers: Paul McGrady (GNSO Council Small Team lead)
ALAC Speaker: Justine Chew (ALAC Liaison to the GNSO)
(2a) The GNSO plan requested by the Board in respect of the 38 pending recommendations;
(2b) ALAC's response to draft Closed Generics Framework and ensuing policy process.
3. DNS Abuse (with reference to GNSO Council Small Team on DNS Abuse) (20 mins)
ALAC Speaker: Jonathan Zuck (ALAC Chair)
GNSO Speaker: Greg DiBiase (GNSO Council Vice-Chair)
(3a) ICANN-CPH Contractual Amendment Negotiations Public Comment Proceedings, 29 May - 13 Jul
(3b) ALAC's response to the GNSO DNS Abuse Small Team's draft findings on bulk registrations.
4. Next Steps (5 mins)
- Sebastien Ducos, GNSO Chair
- Jonathan Zuck, ALAC Chair
5. Adjourn
Records of ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Meeting held on 6 Jun 2023
- Audio Recording
- Zoom Recording (includes chat and visual and rough transcript. To access the rough transcript, select the Audio Transcript tab)
- Transcript
Special Summary Report of 6 Jun 2023 ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few key outcomes on the 2 topics that were discussed at this bilateral call.
1. Next Round of New gTLDs / Subsequent Procedures 38 Pending Recommendations & Other Dependencies
(2a) The GNSO plan requested by the Board in respect of the 38 pending recommendations;
- As the GNSO Council Small Team lead on the Subsequent Procedures 38 Pending Recommendations, Paul McGrady provided a high level update on where Council stood on these pending recommendations post its Extraordinary meeting yesterday on 5 Jun 2023 ( see report ). He noted that the dialogue between the small team/Council and the Board SubPro caucus / full Board was ongoing as both sides work towards either resolution with the Board, or in some cases, non-adoption, of the pending recommendations by the Board. At present, Council is still considering the positions suggested by its small team on how to approach each of the grouped recommendations. More details of the groupings and corresponding approaches can be found at the small team's wiki (see link the small team's work sheet )
- I responded to Paul's queries about where the ALAC/At-Large stood on these pending recommendations, based on the consultation that was conducted with CPWG on 31 Mar 2023, wherein the ALAC's priority - even from past statements to the SubPro PDP WG and advice to the ICANN Board - concentrated on a handful of topics among the 38 pending recommendations. Those priorities revolve around the enforceability of PICs/RVCs (including the Board-mooted limited Bylaw amendment to fully guard against potential legal challenges against ICANN on questions of mission creep), completion of the Applicant Support implementation guidance work, and possibly the issue brought up by the Board on a possible case-by-case waiver of DNS Abuse obligations on single-registrant TLD registry operators per the RA Spec 11 3(a) and 11 3(b).
- I made it a point to note that the following in-principle remarks:
- The ALAC remains respectful of the multi-stakeholder model of policy development, wherein we would respect recommendations derived out of clear community consensus unless new information arises (which were not considered during the PDP) such as the concerns raised by the Board on Rec. 9.2 (i.e. which calls for a blanket waiver on DNS Abuse obligations on single-registrant TLD registry operators per the RA Spec 11 3(a) and 11 3(b) as mentioned above.
- For topics or issues where no recommendation exists (or where recommendations were not approved by Council, and therefore does not go to the Board of adoption), then the ALAC will continue to socialize its positions on the same. As an example, the issue of Auctions, which bears a composite of 2 parts: (1) the permissability of vs ban on private auctions, and (2) the Vickrey Auction model as a better alternative to the existing ICANN Auctions of Last Resort.
- The ALAC and the At-Large are prepared to consider the above-mentioned limited Bylaw amendment approach if that is what the Board deems as the best way to guard against potential legal challenges if ICANN were to enforce contractual PICs/RVCs which a registry or a third party mounts a case for the PIC/RVC being unenforceable for falling outside of ICANN's mission.
- While there wasn't significant divergence on how ALAC's position sat with GNSO's on these pending recommendation, I did touched on one area where both AC and SO might want to collaborate, during implementation perhaps, which is work on ensureing that the mechanism by which PICs/RVCs as submitted/considered and eventually framed and transformed into contractual obligations will enable the formulation of objective commitments with clear criteria for evaluation/enforcement purposes.
(2b) ALAC's response to draft Closed Generics Framework and ensuing policy process
- John McElwaine, GNSO Council Vice-Chair and the GNSO Council Liaison to the Closed Generics Dialogue, spoke on the latest development to the work of the small group for the Dialogue and indicated that a version of the draft Closed Generics Framework would be released very soon (targeting after the small group call on Wed, 6 June). He also reminded us that whatever the framework read, it would still need to undergo some policy development process to actually generate policy recommendations. An EPDP is being mooted by Council as the policy vehicle for this purpose, although it has yet to be decided by Council. John however confirmed - in response to my request - that the policy vehicle ought to be of a cross-community nature, involving the ALAC and the GAC and others.
2. DNS Abuse (with reference to GNSO Council Small Team on DNS Abuse)
(3a) ICANN-CPH Contractual Amendment Negotiations Public Comment Proceedings, 29 May - 13 Jul
- Jonathan Zuck, ALAC Chair, expressed satisfaction that the question of clarity needed for DNS Abuse obligations on the part of Contracted Parties is finally being attempted to be addressed through the ICANN-CPH contractual amendment negotiations as this has been long requested by the community.
- Greg DiBiase, GNSO Council Vice-Chair, echoed Jonathan's sentiment and reiterated that this was something that the Contracted Parties also felt was a necessary step, especially to help provide some clear minimum standards which ICANN Contractual Compliance can effectively enforce.
- We need to examine the proposed amendments and the ICANN Advisory which are are the subject of the public comment proceedings and provide inputs there.
(3b) ALAC's response to the GNSO DNS Abuse Small Team's draft findings on bulk registrations.
- Jonathan queried the GNSO DNS Abuse Small Team's draft findings on bulk registrations and asked after the rationale for the same. If it's a question of definition of bulk registrations being the stumbling block, GNSO or the community could designate one or even adopt one that has been used in past research (eg. in ). It seems that putting in abeyance the issue of investigating the relationship between bulk registrations and DNS Abuse is not desirable in the context of the continual fight to mitigate DNS Abuse.
- Both Greg and Sebastien Ducos, GNSO Chair assured us that the proposed investigation into bulk registrations has not been rejected, but merely that GNSO didn't have sufficient information at this point to pursue any attempt at policy development on it, and because of this, it cannot be prioritized along with other streams of work already being undertaken by GNSO Council (eg. Closed Generics, the pending SubPro recommendations etc etc).
- Both Greg and Sebastien would be happy to carry on this conversation with ALAC Leadership to gain an understanding and ideas on how GNSO might progress such an investigation.
23-07 GNSO COUNCIL EXTRAORDINARY MEETING (5 JUN 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Extraordinary Meeting on 5 Jun 2023
GNSO Council Extraordinary Meeting held on 5 Jun 2023
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List and Action Item List.
- Item 3: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro - Progress Update on Recommendations Marked as Pending
- Item 4: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro - Progress Update on Recommendations Marked as Pending
- During its informal session at ICANN76 and the subsequent Council meeting, the 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 an initial run through of the issues chart, with an update from Board members on why the Board placed specific recommendations into a pending status.
- Council then 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 is 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. The small team has continued to consider what the “landing spots” are for each recommendation, though the Council and small team are still awaiting input from the Board on where they believe the “landing spots” are; ideally, there will be mutual agreement in as many places as possible, which among other things, helps facilitate the development of a more accurate work plan and timeline (i.e., the key deliverable for ICANN77 in respect of the pending recommendations).
- Item 4: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 4.1 Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”)
- 4.2 Data accuracy in the context of NIS2
Records of 5 Jun 2023 Extraordinary Meeting
- Presentation
- 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 5 Jun 2023 Extraordinary Meeting to ALT-PLUS
1. Subsequent Procedures: Outstanding Work, in particular the 38 Pending Recommendations
- Since ICANN76 where the ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution was adopted, Council's SubPro Small Team has completed a triage of the issues with Board member input on why the Board placed specific recommendations into a pending status. The most recent Council discussions on moving the Small Team's work forward are captured during Council's Extraordinary Meeting on 4 May ( see report ), the Council’s dialogue with the ICANN Board on 22 May, and Council's Meeting on 25 May ( see report ), which were summarily reported on during the At-Large CPWG call of 31 Mar 2023.
- Afterwards, some further tidying up led to 5 landing spots which more or less mirrors the 4 earlier groups of recommendations. These 5 landing spots are:
- Provision of clarifying statement
- Board non-adoption (meaning that the Board declines to approve recommendation in its current form and would trigger a process to generate a GNSO supplemental recommendation aimed at addressing the Board's concern while attempting the preserve the core intention of the original recommendation)
- Confirmation that issues can be address as part of implementation
- Exploring need for a limited Bylaw amendment
- Modification of recommendations (GNSO Section 16 PDP, which would involve consultation with a reconstituted SubPro PDP WG)
- Council was briefed on an indicative path for each of these 5 landing spots ( best to see presentation for details )
- Council also asked to consider a draft combined project plan, which attempts to address the 4 deliverables requested of Council by the ICANN Board. For convenience, the 4 deliverables are replicated as follows, as drawn from the ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution:
-
- A plan and timeline as agreed upon by the ICANN Board and the GNSO Council for consideration and resolution of all Outputs contained in Section B of the Scorecard;
- A working methodology and Implementation Review Team (IRT) work plan and timeline as agreed upon by ICANN org and the GNSO Council;
- A GNSO Council project plan and timeline for policy work, or an alternate path, on how to handle closed generics for the next round of new gTLDs; and
- A project plan from the GNSO Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Working Group (WG) identifying all charter questions that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, along with considerations to ensure a consistent solution on IDN Variant TLDs with the ccPDP4 on IDN ccTLDs (in accordance with prior Board Resolution 2019.03.14.09), and a timeline by when the IDNs EPDP WG will deliver relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and keep sharing updates regarding progress of the Council Small Team work on the 38 Pending Outputs
- To maintain ALAC positions on the 38 Pending Outputs for purposes of the pre-ICANN77 ALAC-GNSO Bilateral.
2. Closed Generics Draft Framework for onward policy process
- There remains no firm indications at this point on when the draft framework will actually be released. It was mentioned that a close-to-complete version could be released after the Closed Generics Dialogue call on Wed, 7 June, prior to ICANN77 GNSO Day Zero.
- Staff generated a very conservative project plan of 96 weeks assuming an EPDP is used as the policy development mechanism to produce consensus policy out the framework. Several councilors against pushed back against either the 96-week time frame as being too long or the use of an EPDP as the optimal mechanism.
- Discussions will continue at the Day Zero session on 11 June.
3. Data accuracy in the context of NIS2
- NIS2 has a provision on registration data accuracy: Article 28 subsection 3, "Member States shall require the TLD registries and the entities providing domain registration services - those being registrars, resellers, and privacy proxy services - to have policies and procedures including verification procedures in place to ensure that the database as referred to in paragraph 1 include accurate and complete information. Member States shall require such policies and procedures to be publicly available." Then there's a corresponding recital, i.e. recital no. 111, "Those policies and procedures should take into account to the extent possible, the standards developed by the multi-stakeholder or governance structures at the international level." (in other words, ICANN). There is something on accuracy in the RAA version 2013, but it is possible that that isn't good enough for the European lawmakers.
- The question then arose as to whether GNSO could take some onward action, given that European national lawmakers are already in the process of drafting laws to transpose this to international laws, and this applying equally to gTLDs / GNSO and ccTLDs / ccNSO, to: (a) avoid fragmentation in the DN marketplace; (b) address potential divergence in national laws, and (c) avoid friction or major differences in user experience between generic side and the country-code side when registering for DNs.
- Council is to take this discussion further in its June 2023 meeting.
23-06 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #5 (MAY 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #5 of 2023 held on 25 May 2023
GNSO Council Meeting #5 of 2023 held on 25 May 2023
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects List & Action Item List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda: None
- Item 4: Board request for Council input on Nominating Committee (NomCom) rebalancing
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro - Progress Update on Recommendations Marked as Pending
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) EPDP Timeline
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Work to Prepare Draft Timeline for Closed Generics Policy Process
- Item 8: EPDP Phase 2 Small Team Progress Update
- Item 9: State of Progress from DNS Abuse Small Team
Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 4: Board request for Council input on Nominating Committee (NomCom) rebalancing
- On 26 April 2023, the ICANN Board requested the input of the GNSO Council on the issue of NomCom rebalancing.
- The NomCom is a committee tasked with selecting key ICANN leadership positions, including some members of the ICANN Board of Directors and the Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) Board, as well as other positions within the ICANN community. The NomCom functions independently from the Board, the Supporting Organizations (SOs) and Advisory Committees (ACs). NomCom delegates act on behalf of the interests of the global Internet community and within the scope of the ICANN mission and responsibilities assigned to the NomCom under the ICANN Bylaws – they do not act in furtherance of the group that appointed them to the NomCom.
The ICANN community has been discussing the issue of rebalancing the NomCom for over 10 years, and the ICANN Board resolved to engage with the ICANN community to better understand community views on the rebalancing.
Specifically, the Board is seeking input on the following questions:
- What does it mean to have a balanced NomCom at a point in time? For example, what criteria would you apply to measure or assess whether the NomCom is balanced? And further, how can one test whether or not the NomCom is balanced?
- Do you support the view that the current composition of the NomCom needs to be rebalanced? Please explain why or why not.
- How frequently does the balance need to be measured or assessed?
- How do you suggest that the NomCom’s composition be rebalanced?
- Who should conduct this work, and how should it be conducted?
- How would your community group prioritize consideration of this issue within your planning efforts?
- Council will discuss this issue and determine next steps.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro - Progress Update on Recommendations Marked as Pending
- Since ICANN76 where the ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution was adopted, Council's SubPro Small Team has now completed a triage of the issues 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 ( see report ). During that meeting, Council agreed to further task the small team with taking interim steps (e.g., provision is clarifying information, developing speaking points) in order to support the Council’s dialogue with the ICANN Board on 22 May.
- Council will debrief after the dialogue with the ICANN Board and discuss next steps to ensure that the Council is able to deliver its plan and timeline to resolve the pending recommendations.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) EPDP Timeline
- On 20 May 2021, the GNSO Council approved the initiation request for the EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) and adopted its charter.
- On 24 April 2023, the EPDP Team published its Phase 1 Initial Report for Public Comment.
- On 16 March 2023, the ICANN Board requested the EPDP Team to deliver an updated project plan by the last day of ICANN77 that identifies all charter questions that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, as well as a timeline for the EPDP Team’s delivery of relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council. While the Public Comment proceeding is ongoing, the EPDP Team started discussion of its Phase 2 work, which focuses on issues pertaining to second-level IDN variant management, as well as the review of its project plan in accordance with the Board request.
- Council will receive an update on the EPDP Team’s analysis of its Phase 2 charter questions in relation to the impact on the next Applicant Guidebook, as well as a draft project plan and timeline for the EPDP Team’s delivery of relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Work to Prepare Draft Timeline for Closed Generics Policy Process
- In March 2023, the ICANN Board requested that the GAC and GNSO Council consider engaging in a facilitated dialogue to develop a framework for further GNSO policy work on the issue of Closed Generics. The GAC and Council agreed to the Board’s suggestion and each appointed six participants for the dialogue. One participant and one alternate from the ALAC were also appointed. Should the GAC-GNSO facilitated dialogue result in an agreed framework, the agreements will be further developed through the appropriate GNSO policy process.
- This Dialogue has been progressing and is hoping to deliver a draft framework around the end of May 2023 to the ALAC, GAC, GNSO and other SOACs for community input. Groups are expected to have approximately four weeks to review that document.
- Item 8: EPDP Phase 2 Small Team Progress Update
- In February 2023, the ICANN Board directed ICANN org to develop and launch the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) (formerly WHOIS Disclosure System), as requested by Council. The Board requested the RDRS be launched within 11 months, and, prior to the launch, the Board recommended Org continue its engagement with Council on the implementation. The ICANN Board also requested Council to establish success criteria for the RDRS. In response, Council updated the assignment of the EPDP Phase 2 small team to reflect these new work items.
The small team is expected to engage with ICANN org throughout the development and operation of the System, and in particular consider:
- The other topics identified in the addendum that the small team did not consider gating factors but for which it would be interested to have further discussions with ICANN org during the implementation phase to consider if/how some of these aspects could be considered to be added in the current implementation of [the RDRS] or a future version;
- Success criteria for this System, which should include analysis of relevant usage data;
- How to best promote and secure comprehensive use of the system, both by potential requestors as well as ICANN accredited registrars.
- The small team is also expected to provide 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. The small team is expected to provide regular updates to Council on the state of its progress.
- Item 9: State of Progress from DNS Abuse Small Team
- In February 2022, Council formed a small team of interested Council members to consider what policy efforts, if any, the GNSO Council should consider undertaking to support the efforts already underway in the different parts of the community to tackle DNS abuse.
- On 7 October 2022, the DNS Abuse Small Team transmitted its Report to Council. Recommendation #2 from the Report recommended Council to request, et.al., the Registrar Stakeholder Group “to further the role that bulk registrations play in DNS Abuse as well as measures that Registrars may have already put in place to address this vector. Based on the feedback received, Council will consider whether further action on bulk registrations is deemed necessary.”
The DNS Abuse Small Team received input from the following groups:
- The small team shared its initial feedback regarding the input received on 15 May.
- Council will hear an update on the Small Team’s preliminary conclusions regarding the feedback it received on bulk registrations.
Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
10.1 ICANN77 Day 0 SubPro Session Planning
10.2 Accuracy
10.3 WS2 Framework of Interpretation for Human Rights Proposed updates to GNSO Council templates
10.4 Next Round Policy Implementation - Council liaison to the IRT
10.5 Launch of new Periodic Working Group Survey for IDN EPDP
10.6 Non-Registry Liaison to the CSC and Alternate
Records of 25 May 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 25 May 2023 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council May 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council May 2023 Meeting Records.
1. Next Round of New gTLDs - Subsequent Procedures
- Since ICANN76 where the ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution was adopted, Council's SubPro Small Team has now completed a triage of the issues 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 ( see report ). During that meeting, Council agreed to further task the small team with taking interim steps (e.g., provision is clarifying information, developing speaking points) in order to support the Council’s dialogue with the ICANN Board on 22 May.
- The important thing to note here is that this Council dialogue with the ICANN Board SubPro caucus and/or ICANN Board is ongoing as the goal is to try and resolve as many of those 38 pending recommendations as possible without resulting in the ICANN Board rejecting them. This inevitably necessitates rather regular updates because information may change quickly.
Action by ALAC Liaison
To monitor and keep sharing updates regarding progress of the Council Small Team work on the 38 Pending Outputs
-
- To assist in formulating ALAC positions on the 38 Pending Outputs in time for the pre-ICANN77 ALAC-GNSO Bilateral.
2. Closed Generics
- The GNSO-GAC-ALAC Closed Generics Dialogue is expected to deliver a draft framework, if agreed, around or just after 31 May 2023. It should be noted that this draft framework is meant to draw some boundaries on how to introduce closed generics in the next round and it will have to go through a GNSO policy development process to produce actual consensus policy, which is expected to take 18 months.
- GNSO Council leadership has proposed that EPDP be the policy development mechanism to take the framework forward, and although not confirmed, will likely be cross-community in nature. The proposition of an EPDP drew some apprehension from several councilors.
- So far, the Dialogue has adopted Chatham House Rule so we will not know the actual contents of the framework until it is released circa end May.
- However, I understand that the framework will likely include some reference to application questions, evaluation, post delegation - registry agreement aspects, and can be easily morph into a charter for the policy development process.
3. DNS Abuse
- Council ran out of time at its call, so the adoption of the Council's Small Team on DNS Abuse's next output i.e. feedback on bulk registrations will be done on Council's mail list by around 5 Jun.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To assist in establishing ALAC's positions the Council Small Team's output (if any) in time for the pre-ICANN77 ALAC-GNSO Bilateral.
4. EPDP Phase 2 - Registration Data Request Service (RDRS)
- The EPDP Phase 2 Small Team has formulated success criteria for RDRS but these are not set in stone. They need to remain flexible as and when the RDRS is implemented and tested so they can be adjusted to meet market needs.
- The small team has pushed back against the Board's suggestion to have a policy process to compel mandatory adoption of usage of the RDRS by registrars.
5. Registration Data Accuracy
- Seeing no progress on this, Council will defer consideration of this till the June meeting. This is also in light of some work being attempted at the European Union level with a survey and a report but the meeting for that had just been cancelled.
- Some councilors expressed concern with indefinite delay / inaction on this area of work.
6. Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) EPDP
- This EPDP has submitted a project plan (see presentation) which identifies all its charter questions that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook (AGB), along with considerations to ensure a consistent solution on IDN Variant TLDs with the ccPDP4 on IDN ccTLDs, and a timeline by when the IDNs EPDP will deliver relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council (this was 1 of 4 requests made by the Board, as a result of the adopted ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution,
- In short, the EPDP has analysed their Phase 2 charter questions and found no significant efficiency if it were to further break down Phase 2 work in order to deliver some recommendations which would impact the AGB and Registry Agreement update. Adding any additional public comment process would prolong the project timeline unnecessarily. As such, the expected timeline is, conservatively:
- Phase 1 Final Report: 10 Nov 2023
- Phase 2 Initial Report: 18 Apr 2025
- Phase 2 Final Report: 24 Oct 2025
- In the meantime, the EPDP will continue to find ways to achieve greater efficiencies through more preparatory work, considering foundational issues, and securing more sessions at ICANN F2F meetings and a dedicated F2F meeting in Nov-Dec 2023, while bearing in mind the need to minimize churn/burnout/drop in participation. As it is, this EPDP is already meeting 2 hours per week and already seeking ICANN org GDS input on draft recommendations and implementation guidance as deliberations go on instead of waiting until the ICANN Board approves them.
7. Nominating Committee rebalancing
- Council will set up a small team to consider Council's response to the issue of NomCom rebalancing.
23-05 GNSO COUNCIL EXTRAORDINARY MEETING (4 MAY 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Extraordinary Meeting on 4 May 2023
GNSO Council Extraordinary Meeting held on 4 May 2023
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Proposal of SubPro Small Team Triage Exercise
- Item 3: AOB
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 15 March 2023 were posted on 30 March 2023
- Item 2: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Proposal of SubPro Small Team Triage Exercise
During its informal session at ICANN76 and the subsequent Council meeting, the 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 an initial run through of the issues chart, with an update from Board members on why the Board placed specific recommendations into a pending status. Now that its review is complete, the Small Team discussed proposals on how to respond to these items.
Council will receive a comprehensive update from the Small Team regarding its proposed responses to the pending Board items, and discuss next steps.
Records of 4 May 2023 Extraordinary Meeting
- Presentation
- 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 4 May 2023 Extraordinary Meeting to ALT-PLUS
The GNSO Council May 2023 Extraordinary Meeting had been convened for a single purpose, which is to receive a comprehensive update from the GNSO SubPro Small Team regarding its proposed responses to the pending 38 Board items, and to discuss next steps.
Outcome: Council adopted the small teams proposed responses which can be summarized as follows:
- After having discussed with Avri Doria and Becky Burr at a string of small team calls, the small team came up with 7 categories of suggested responses to the Board's concerns.
- Of the 7 categories, responses to the 38 pending recommendations were found to be fall within 4 - which essentially avoids taking any immediate route that:
- (1) would involve a need to modify or amend any approved recommendations (because Section 16 of the GNSO PDP Manual requires that SubPro PDP WG (or, possibly some form of the same) be reconstituted (category "c"); or
- (2) having Council generate any "Supplemental Recommendation" in the event the Board "determines that such policy is not in the best interests of the ICANN community or ICANN" (category "d"); or
- (3) call for a GNSO Guidance Process (GGP), GNSO Input Process (GIP), or GNSO Policy Development Process (PDP) (category "f").
- Instead, the 4 buckets selected and their corresponding SubPro Topics & recommendations are:
Category | Response | SubPro Topic | Lists of Relevant Recommendations | What is Expected to Happen Next? |
---|---|---|---|---|
"a" | Provision of clarifying information to the Board |
|
3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7 |
|
|
9.2 | |||
|
18.3 | |||
|
19.3 | |||
|
22.7 | |||
|
26.9 | |||
|
29.1 |
|||
|
32.1, 32.2, 32.10 | |||
|
34.12 |
|||
|
35.3, 35.5 |
|||
"b" | Determination that the issue can be resolved during implementation |
|
6.8 |
|
|
16.1 | |||
|
17.2 | |||
|
18.4 | |||
"e" | Explore starting a Bylaw process (to expressly deal with enforceability of RVCs/PICs) |
|
9.1, 9.4, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13, 9.15 |
|
|
24.3, 24.5 | |||
|
30.7 | |||
|
31.16, 31.17 |
|||
"g" | Other - Dialogue between the Council and Board |
|
18.1 |
|
|
30.4, 30.5, 30.6 |
To understand the specific nature of the concerns and responses please read: proposed responses
This means that the GNSO SubPro Small Team still has work to complete for the purpose of the Council meeting with ICANN Board on 22 May at 1300-1500 UTC.
23-04 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #4 (APR 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #4 of 2023 held on 20 Apr 2023
GNSO Council Meeting #4 of 2023 held on 20 Apr 2023
Full Agenda | Motions | Documents
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action Item List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy - Results of Scoping Team’s Self-Assessment Survey + Update from ICANN org
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update from Council SubPro Small Team
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update from EPDP Phase 2 Small Team
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps on Closed Generics
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps on DNS Abuse
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- GNSO Review of GAC Communiqué
- GNSO Council Agreement on next steps for Expired Domain Deletion Policy (EDDP)/Expired Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP)
- Deferral of Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) Phase 2 for 18 months (clock to begin in April 2023)
- GNSO Council Adoption of the Customer Standing Committee (CSC) Effectiveness Review Report
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy - Results of Scoping Team’s Self-Assessment Survey + Update from ICANN org
- 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 including the current enforcement, reporting, measurement, and overall effectiveness of accuracy-related efforts.
- 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 suggested 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).
- During its November meeting, Council adopted recommendation #3 of the Scoping Team’s write up, which recommended (i) pausing the work in relation to proposals that require access to registration data, (ii) encouraging ICANN org to proceed with their outreach to the EDPB as well as the Data Protection Impact Assessment in connection with the scenario(s) in which the request and processing of registration data takes place as a matter of urgency, and (iii) requesting that ICANN org and Contracted Parties finalize the negotiations on the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) as soon as practicable as the absence of a completed DPA may act as a roadblock for policy work before Council. In response to the Council’s requests, ICANN org provided the following update to the GNSO Council on 14 March 2023.
- Taking into account the delay with which the write up was delivered, as well as some of the challenges that were shared with the Scoping Team’s Chair during his briefing to the Council, Council leadership reached out informally to Scoping Team members to better understand the issues encountered to help inform the Council’s review of the formation and instructions.
- Council will receive an update from ICANN org on its recent letter and discuss the Survey Summary Results of the Scoping Team’s Self-Assessment Survey.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update from Council SubPro Small Team
- During its informal session at ICANN76 and the subsequent Council meeting, the 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 an initial run through of the issues chart, with an update from Board members on why the Board placed specific recommendations into a pending status. Following this review, the Small Team will begin discussions of how the Council should respond to these items.
- Council will receive an update on the Small Team's efforts.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update from EPDP Phase 2 Small Team
During ICANN76, the EPDP Phase 2 Small Team met with ICANN org to receive an update on the status of implementation of the Whois Disclosure System (WDS) and continue its consideration of some of the aspects identified as requiring further discussion in the addendum.
Following ICANN76, the Small Team has been meeting to discuss the additional suggestions made during the ICANN76 session and how to define the success criteria for the system.
Council will receive an update from the Small Team and will also discuss the outstanding action item from its last meeting, Council to consider response to the ICANN Board request to consider a PDP or other means to require, or strongly encourage, registrars to use the WDS (now known as RDRS - Registration Data Request Service), noting that the small team has already been assigned the task to how to best to promote and secure comprehensive use of the system, both by potential requestors as well as ICANN-accredited registrars.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps on Closed Generics
- Following an initial, informal meeting at ICANN75, the dialogue participants have since been meeting regularly via Zoom and held a substantive two-day face-to-face meeting in Washington, D.C. in late January 2023.
- The dialogue is hoping to deliver a draft framework around the end of April 2023 to the ALAC, GAC, GNSO and other SOACs for community input. At this stage, groups are expected to have approximately four weeks to review the document.
- At ICANN76, the ICANN Board passed a resolution adopting a substantial portion of the outputs from the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP, setting in motion the start of the implementation process for the next round of new gTLDs. As part of the resolution, the Board established deadlines for key deliverables that will impact the development of the implementation plan. By 15 June 2023, the Board expects to receive “A GNSO Council project plan and timeline for policy work, or an alternate path, on how to handle closed generics for the next round of new gTLDs.”
- Council will discuss its anticipated approach to reviewing the draft framework as well as consider next steps in preparing for subsequent policy work.
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps on DNS Abuse
- Following Council's DNS Abuse Small Team's 7 Oct 2022 report to Council, where Recommendation #2 advised Council to request, et.al., the Registrar Stakeholder Group “to further the role that bulk registrations play in DNS Abuse as well as measures that Registrars may have already put in place to address this vector. Based on the feedback received, the GNSO Council will consider whether further action on bulk registrations is deemed necessary.”
The DNS Abuse Small Team has now received input from the following groups:
- Council will discuss next steps for the DNS Abuse small team, including potentially reconstituting the Small Team to review the input received.
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
9.1 ICANN77 Day 0 SubPro Session Planning
9.2 ICANN77 Planning
9.3 Appointment of Council Liaison to the SubPro Implementation Review Team
Records of 20 Apr 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 20 Apr 2023 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Apr 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Apr 2023 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda Items
- Council agreed to defer consideration of a Policy Status Report (PSR) for the Expedited Domain Deletion Policy (EDDP) and Expedited Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP) for 6 months from the date additional requested information from ICANN org is received.
- Council agreed to defer next steps on Phase Two of the RPMs PDP for an 18-month period beginning on 20 April 2023.
- Council approved the Final Report of the CSC Effectiveness Review Team.
2. Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) & Next Round of New gTLDs
Recap: ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution
- ICANN Board had resolved during its Board Meeting at ICANN76 to adopt the SubPro Outputs in Section A of its "Scorecard on Subsequent Procedures PDP" (Scorecard); marking 38 Outputs in Section B of the Scorecard as "pending" and noting ongoing community discussions relating to Topic 17: Applicant Support, Topic 23: Closed Generics, and Topic 25: Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), as well as additional dependencies concerning specific Review Team Recommendations, the Name Collision Analysis Project Study 2 Report (NCAP2), and other items noted in Section C of the Scorecard.
Section A Outputs: Next Steps
- The SubPro Implementation Review Team (SubPro IRT) will be constituted: call for volunteers has gone out, criteria apply.
- This IRT will take on the Open + Representative model and is expected to start work in the week of 14/15 May.
Section B Outputs: 38 "Pending" Outputs
- The Council's SubPro Pending Recommendations Small Team has been discussing with Avri Doria and Becky Burr (from the Board SubPro Caucus) to seek clarification on the Board's concerns on the 38 Pending SubPro Outputs, in order to conduct a triage of the outputs.
- The small team - comprising Anne Aikman-Scalese, Bruna Martins dos Santos, Jeff Neuman, Justine Chew, Nacho Amados, Paul McGrady, Sebastien Ducos, Stephanie Perrin, Susan Payne and Tomslin Samme-Nlar - is working towards discussing the outcomes of its triage exercise with the full Council at an GNSO Extraordinary Council meeting on 4 May. This is a step towards meeting Deliverable #1 in ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution for "A plan and timeline as agreed upon by the ICANN Board and the GNSO Council for consideration and resolution of all Outputs contained in Section B of the Scorecard".
- The 4 May extraordinary meeting is also expected to determine whether the current small team will continue beyond the triage exercise or will be reconstituted for next steps.
- There is a high expectation that (a small team or) the full Council will, prior to ICANN77, meet with either the full Board or the full Board SubPro Caucus to iron out/resolve many, if not all, hindrance to the Board approving these 38 pending outputs.
Action by ALAC Liaison
To monitor and keep sharing updates regarding progress of the Council Small Team work on the 38 Pending Outputs
-
- With the CPWG SubPro Prioritization Sub-Team; and
- To assist in formulating ALAC positions on the 38 Pending Outputs (if any) in time for the pre-ICANN77 ALAC-GNSO Bilateral.
3. Closed Generics : Next Steps
- Closed Generics is a Board SubPro PDP Scorecard Section C Dependency.
- Council received an update from John McElwaine, its Liaison to the GNSO-GAC-ALAC Dialogue on Closed Generics who indicated that a draft framework is anticipated to be ready around 28 April for community comment, and that the work of the group will continue into Q3 of 2023 beyond ICANN77, but still meet Deliverable #3 in ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution for "A GNSO Council project plan and timeline for policy work, or an alternate path, on how to handle closed generics for the next round of new gTLDs."
- Notwithstanding, John hinted that because the framework will require a policy process for it to become policy, the suitable path would be a tightly scoped EPDP.
- More and better details will be forthcoming through the draft framework expected next week. More and better details should also be sought from the ALAC representative and/or alternate to this Dialogue.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and share updates on the proposed framework for Closed Generics
- To coordinate with ALAC's rep & alternate and At-Large staff on consultation for the proposed framework for Closed Generics.
4. DNS Abuse: Next Steps
- Following Council's DNS Abuse Small Team's 7 Oct 2022 report to Council, where Recommendation #2 advised Council to request, et. al., the Registrar Stakeholder Group “to further the role that bulk registrations play in DNS Abuse as well as measures that Registrars may have already put in place to address this vector. Based on the feedback received, the GNSO Council will consider whether further action on bulk registrations is deemed necessary.”
- Council has determined that this small team should continue its work reviewing the replies received from gTLD Registries Stakeholder Group, Registrar Stakeholder Group, ICANN Contractual Compliance and DNS Abuse Institute to its 6 Jan letter.
- This Council small team now has a refreshed membership of Thomas Rickert (ISCP), Mark Datysgeld (BC), Wisdom Donkor (NCSG), Theo Geurts (RrSG), Sebastien Ducos (RySG), Greg DiBiase (RrSG), Tomslin Samme-Nlar (NCSG), Paul McGrady (NCA-NCPH), Nacho Amadoz (RySG) and Justine Chew (ALAC Liaison to the GNSO).
- NB. The deliberations of the issue of bulk registrations are running parallel to the ICANN org - Contracted Parties ongoing contractual amendment negotiations on RAA section 3.18 (and perhaps, less on RA Spec 11 3(a))
5. Registration Data Accuracy (RDA)
- Council considered the Survey Summary Results and Council Leadership alluded to inputs from these results being taken into consideration in relevant fora - in this case, the re-charter of the RDA Scoping Team, but also any relevant GNSO processes in future.
- Council also received an update from ICANN org on the 4 scenarios that have been identified to review the accuracy of registration data and the data protection questions that arise from these scenarios. I believe this input is for the RDA Scoping Team (or successor) to consider once it is reconstituted.
6. Registration Data Request Service (RDRS)
- ICANN org has informed that it is ready to start development of the RDRS. A demo could be expected in the ICANN77 June time frame.
- This is while the EPDP Phase 2 Small Team continues work (1) to establish success factors for the RDRS - eg. on how to ensure wide participation/usage of the RDRS especially by non-RrSG registrars (if it were kept as voluntary); and (2) what can be extracted from the data collected via the RDRS.
23-03 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #3 (AT ICANN 76, MAR 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #3 of 2023 held on 15 Mar 2023
GNSO Council Meeting #3 of 2023 held on 15 Mar 2023
Full Agenda | Motions | Documents
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda: None
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Adoption of the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Working Group Self-Assessment (WGSA) Recommendations Report
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps for Consideration of Expired Domain Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”)
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Review GNSO-owned projects that may impact SubPro timeline
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Continuation of Informal GNSO Council SubPro Discussion
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Whois Disclosure System Next Steps
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Adoption of the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Working Group Self-Assessment (WGSA) Recommendations Report
- Council had resolved on 16 June 2021 to initiate the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI) as a pilot, which included the review of the Working Group Self-Assessment as one of the two areas of focus.
- The CCOICI started the Working Group Self-Assessment assignment in October 2021, concluding in February 2022. However, the CCOICI deferred conducting the public comment until it could be combined with recommendations related to the GNSO Statement of Interest (SOI). The consolidated public comment proceeding on Proposed Updates to the GNSO Operating Procedures was conducted from 09 September - 14 November 2022.
- The CCOICI integrated public comments received as appropriate and submitted its Recommendations Report to the Council on 5 January 2023; Council will vote on this Recommendations Report which is limited to just the WGSA. (The portion on the GNSO SOI is still pending)
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps for Consideration of Expired Domain Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”)
- In July 2022, Council agreed that it would be helpful to check with the registrars and ICANN Compliance to help determine if there are any known issues or concerns with either of the two Expiration Policies which could warrant requesting a Policy Status Report (PSR).
- A report from Contractual Compliance was shared with Council on 1 November 2022 and feedback from the GNSO Councilors from RrSG has been shared on previous Council calls.
- During Council's Nov 2022 meeting, ICANN Org Contractual Compliance Team provided a briefing of the report, and Council briefly considered potential next steps.
- Following the meeting, Nacho Amodoz, Greg DiBiase, and Susan Payne volunteered to closely review the report from ICANN org and determine if any of the issues raised warrant a PSR request. Council will receive an update on this small team’s recommendation.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Review GNSO-owned projects that may impact SubPro timeline
During Council’s Strategic Planning Session (SPS), a recurring theme emerged. Taking into consideration the possible timelines surrounding the implementation of the SubPro recommendations, especially if Option 2 or similar were to be pursued, Council should take care to ensure that any SubPro related work within its control should be carefully managed for timely delivery. The Council does not want its work to serve as an impediment to the timely implementation and launch of the next round of new gTLDs.
In order to address this recurring theme,, Council agreed that it would like to receive frequent updates on the work that is connected to the next round of new gTLDs. Presumably, those projects include:
- IDNs EPDP Phase 1 (top-level charter questions)
- GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support
- Closed Generics Facilitated Discussion
- Small Team review of SubPro recommendations likely pending Board action
- Council will receive a brief update on the above-referenced projects.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Continuation of Informal GNSO Council SubPro Discussion
On 12 September 2021 the ICANN Board directed the ICANN President and CEO to organize the resources required to begin work on the Operational Design Phase (ODP) for the GNSO’s New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Final Report and the Affirmations, Recommendations, and Implementation Guidance contained in that report. On 20 December 2021, ICANN org announced that the SubPro ODP had formally launched, starting at the beginning of January 2022. The ODP Team has shared numerous updates to the community and sent several sets of assumptions/questions to the GNSO Council via the Council’s liaison to the ODP.
ICANN org published the SubPro Operational Design Assessment (ODA) on 12 December, and Council received a briefing on it during a webinar on 7 December.
Council formed a small team to review the ODA in detail and provided its input to the ICANN Board on 20 January, in advance of the Board's workshop in January 2023. As discussed in the Chair's blog, the ICANN Board spent a full day reviewing the SubPro Outputs and ODA.
On 28 February 2023, the Council and ICANN Board had a joint meeting on SubPro, and Council plans a follow-up informal discussion on 7 March 2023.
Council will discuss the joint meeting with the Board and the informal discussion, and consider appropriate next steps
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Whois Disclosure System Next Steps
ICANN org published the Whois Disclosure System design paper in September 2022, presenting it to Council and the EPDP Phase 2 Small Team during ICANN75.
The small team subsequently reviewed the design paper and continued its consultations with ICANN org, resulting in an addendum to its preliminary report. Council accepted the addendum and communicated to the ICANN Board its support for the request that the ICANN Board proceed with the implementation of the Whois Disclosure System, provided that the updates identified by the small team in the addendum are made.
On 27 February 2023, the Board directed ICANN org to develop and launch the Whois Disclosure System (System) as requested by Council within 11 months from 27 February 2023. The Board also directed ICANN org to operate the System for up to two years from the date of launch, and collect and report on usage data. Furthermore, the ICANN Board has urged “the GNSO Council to consider a Policy Development Process or other means to require registrars to use the System”.
During ICANN76, on 11 March 2023, the EPDP Phase 2 Small Team will meet with ICANN org to receive an update the status of implementation of the Whois Disclosure System and continue its consideration of some of the aspects identified as requiring further discussion in the addendum.
In addition to receiving an update from the Small Team on its meeting with ICANN org, Council will consider if/how the instructions to the Small Team should be updated to reflect Council’s expectations of the Small Team during the implementation phase as well as post-implementation, in addition to the ask from the Board to consider a Policy Development Process or other means to require registrars to use the System.
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.1 GNSO Chair Election Timeline Announcement
- 9.2 Policy Status Report on Policy and Implementation Working Group Final Recommendations Report
Records of 15 Mar 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 15 Mar 2023 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Mar 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Mar 2023 Meeting Records.
1. Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA), Implementation and other Next Steps, Dependencies
ICANN Board 16 March 2023 Resolution
- ICANN Board resolved during its Board Meeting at ICANN76 to adopt the SubPro Outputs in Section A of its "Scorecard on Subsequent Procedures PDP" (Scorecard); marking 38 Outputs in Section B of the Scorecard as "pending" and noting ongoing community discussions relating to Topic 17: Applicant Support, Topic 23: Closed Generics, and Topic 25: Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), as well as additional dependencies concerning specific Review Team Recommendations, the Name Collision Analysis Project Study 2 Report (NCAP2), and other items noted in Section C of the Scorecard.
- ICANN Board has communicated this development to GNSO Council via their 16 Mar letter. In particular, the Board said:-
- The Board has adopted all Outputs contained in Section A of the Scorecard and designated the Outputs in Section B as pending. The Board has also committed to resolve the dependencies noted in Section C of the Scorecard in a timely manner.
- The ICANN Board has directed ICANN org to submit a comprehensive implementation plan no later than 1 August 2023, containing a work plan, relevant information for the Infrastructure Development stream, timelines, and anticipated resource requirements to announce the opening of the next round of new gTLDs (Implementation Plan).
- The Board acknowledges that the delivery of the Implementation Plan requires the satisfactory completion of four deliverables by 15 June 2023, the last day of the ICANN77 Public Meeting. These deliverables are:
1. A plan and timeline as agreed upon by the ICANN Board and the GNSO Council for consideration and resolution of all Outputs contained in Section B of the Scorecard.
2. A working methodology and Implementation Review Team (IRT) work plan and timeline as agreed upon by ICANN org and the GNSO Council.
3. A GNSO Council project plan and timeline for policy work, or an alternate path, on how to handle closed generics for the next round of new gTLDs.
4. A project plan from the GNSO Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Working Group (WG) identifying all charter questions that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, along with considerations to ensure a consistent solution on IDN Variant TLDs with the ccPDP4 on IDN ccTLDs (in accordance with prior Board Resolution 2019.03.14.09), and a timeline by when the IDNs EPDP WG will deliver relevant recommendations to the GNSO Council.
-
- The Board is prepared to work closely with the GNSO Council on the first deliverable. The Board appreciates that the GNSO Council has already begun a conversation with ICANN org on a working methodology for the Subsequent Procedures Implementation Review Team (SubPro IRT).
Section A Outputs
- Section A Outputs will now proceed to implementation; ICANN org is liaising with Council on constituting the SubPro IRT for this purpose.
- While the SubPro IRT is to be driven by ICANN org, its constitution and membership is determined by Council.
- Council is in the process of determining the membership model for this SubPro IRT; Council is currently leaning towards an Open model per the PDP 3.0 framework.
- While an Open model IRT will makes participation open to anyone and without limit on the number of participants, it is likely that the corresponding call for volunteers would express a preference for active former members of the SubPro PDP WG on account of the need for familiarity/expertise on the Section A Outputs in order to be able to adequately guide their implementation by ICANN org. Newcomers will be at a severe disadvantage if they do not get up to speed with the SubPro PDP Final Report.
- Timeline for the call for volunteers for the SubPro IRT, workplan etc are all pending.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and share updates regarding the SubPro IRT constitution
Section B Outputs: 38 "Pending" Outputs
- Council has constituted a Council Small Team to conduct a triage for the 38 Pending SubPro Outputs. The Small Team comprises Anne Aikman-Scalese (NCA), Bruna Martins dos Santos (NCSG), Jeff Neuman (GNSO Liaison to SubPro ODP), Justine Chew (ALAC Liaison to GNSO), Nacho Amados (RySG), Paul McGrady (NCA-NCPH), Sebastien Ducos (RySG), Stephanie Perrin (NCSG), Susan Payne (IPC) and Tomslin Samme-Nlar (NCSG).
- The purpose of the triage exercise to examine the Board's concerns on the 38 Pending Outputs, how they can be grouped for varying onward action.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and share updates regarding progress of the Council Small Team work on the 38 Pending Outputs
Section C Outputs: Ongoing Community Work, Reviews & Dependencies
These are listed as follows:
Item | Subject to | Dependency for next AGB | |
---|---|---|---|
1. | Topic 17 Applicant Support |
GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support outcome | Yes |
2. | Topic 23 Closed Generics |
GAC-GNSO-ALAC Facilitated Dialogue on Closed Generics outcome | Yes |
3. | Board action | ||
4. | ALAC Advice on DNS Abuse | ICANN Community work on DNS abuse | Yes |
5. | SAC059 Response to ICANN Board regarding Interdisciplinary Studies | NCAP Study 2 outcome | Yes |
6. | SAC114 SSAC Comments on the SubPro Final Report | Board clarification with SSAC | Yes |
7. | NCAP Study 2 outcome | Yes | |
8. | ICANN Community work on DNS abuse | Yes | |
9. |
ICANN Community work on DNS abuse | Yes | |
10. | Expedited Policy Development Process on Internationalized Domain Names (EPDP on IDNs) | Identification of all charter questions that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook, along with considerations to ensure a consistent solution on IDN Variant TLDs with the ccPDP4 on IDN ccTLDs | Yes |
11. | DNS Abuse | Board determination on action needed | Yes |
12. | Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) Study 2 | NCAP Study 2 outcome | Yes |
2. Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) (formerly known as Whois Disclosure System (WDS))
- Following the ICANN Board's 27 Feb resolution directing ICANN org to proceed with development and launch of the WDS as soon as possible, a meeting of the GNSO EPDP Phase 2 (SSAD) took place at ICANN76 on 11 Mar, where the Whois Disclosure System (WDS) was proposed to be renamed to Registration Data Request Service (RDRS).
- Hereon, Council is to consider the use of a PDP or other means to require, or strongly encourage, registrars to use the RSRS, noting that the small team has already been assigned the task to how to best to promote and secure comprehensive use of the system, both by potential requestors as well as ICANN accredited registrars.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and share updates regarding Council's deliberations on the RDRS
3. Expired Domain Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”)
- Council was asked if it was timely to request a Policy Status Report (PSR) for the EDDP and the ERRP. There was tentative agreement within Council that whilst it was important, there were other ongoing and important topics, so the review of the policy was postponed. Following this, ICANN Compliance put together a report which showed registrants having issues with renewals, confusion with the terms of the policies.
- A small team of councilors (Nacho Amadoz, Greg DiBiase, and Susan Payne) reviewed the report as well as the recommendation to review the PSR. Incremental work could be done to improve on clarity of the policy language and in this respect, support staff is to reach out to ICANN org colleagues to request further information on the educational materials relating to the EDDP and ERRP.
- The PSR will be reviewed in 6 months.
4. Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI)
- By way of background, the work of the CCOICI (a GNSO pilot) covers several areas of focus, including Updates to GNSO Operating Procedures; which covers (a) Working Group Self-Assessment (WGSA) and (b) GNSO Statement of Interest (GNSO SOI), which were part of the public comment proceeding on Proposed Updates to the GNSO Operating Procedures which ran from Sep-Nov 2022.
- With respect to (a), Council has adopted WGSA Recommendation Report (which incorporates the ALAC's input in respect of the existing WGSA survey)
- With respect to (b), the CCOICI is still grappling with public comments received on the GNSO SOI update. The key issue with the GNSO SOI update revolves around transparency of ICANN PDPs, in particular the proposed allowance for a PDP WG member to claim confidentiality as the ground for not revealing the entity that stands to benefit from that member's participation (client-solicitor privilege was cited as an example for claiming such confidentiality). Council discussed this issue briefly and will revisit this issue at a future meeting when the CCOICI is ready to present its recommendation(s) on the GNSO SOI update.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and share updates regarding the GNSO SOI with ALAC
23-02 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #2 (FEB 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #2 of 2023 held on 16 Feb 2023
GNSO Council Meeting #2 of 2023 held on 16 Feb 2023
Full Agenda | Motions | Documents
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Adoption of the Amended Charter for the Transfer Policy Review PDP and Approval of the Policy Change Request
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the Board's Consideration of the Subsequent Procedures Recommendations and Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA)
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI)’s Working Group Self-Assessment Recommendations Report and Update from the Statement of Interest (SOI) Task Force
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - ICANN76 Meeting Planning
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - PDP Improvements item #8 (Review of the Policy & Implementation recommendations)
- Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) Review Next Steps
- Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.2 - Update on Closed Generics Facilitated Dialogue
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Nomination of a Mentor for the ICANN Fellowship Selection Committee - Taiwo Peter Akinremi
- Motion for the Adoption of the Revised Charter for the Budget and Operations Townhall
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Adoption of the Amended Charter for the Transfer Policy Review PDP and Approval of the Policy Change Request
- Council initiated the two-phased Transfer Policy Review PDP in February 2021. Since it began meeting in May 2021, the WG has made steady progress on its Phase 1 charter questions, including publishing its Phase 1A Initial Report for public comment. The WG conducted preliminary deliberations on Phase 1B topics during the Phase 1A Initial Report public comment period, then reviewed public comments on the Phase 1A Initial Report, and is now completing revisions to preliminary recommendations, taking into account public comment received.
- In the course of Phase 1 work conducted to date, the WG discovered that certain Phase 2 topics must be addressed before Phase 1 recommendations can be fully developed. As a result, the leadership team is preparing a Project Change Request (PCR) to update its work plan to consolidate all work into a single phase and change the order in which topics are considered. This will impact the timeline for key deliverables.
- Council to consider the amended Charter and approval of the PCR for the Transfer Policy Review PDP.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the Board's Consideration of the Subsequent Procedures Recommendations and Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA)
- Council will receive an update from Becky Burr/Matthew Shears on the SubPro related discussions during the Board workshop and what has transpired since the the Board's workshop in January 2023. As discussed in the Chair's blog, the ICANN Board spent a full day reviewing the SubPro Outputs and SubPro ODA.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI)’s Working Group Self-Assessment Recommendations Report and Update from the Statement of Interest (SOI) Task Force
- Council had resolved on 16 June 2021 to initiate the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI) as a pilot, which included the review of the Working Group Self-Assessment as one of the two areas of focus.
- The CCOICI started the Working Group Self-Assessment assignment in October 2021, concluding in February 2022. However, the CCOICI deferred conducting the public comment until it could be combined with recommendations related to the GNSO Statement of Interest (SOI). The consolidated public comment proceeding on Proposed Updates to the GNSO Operating Procedures was conducted from 09 September - 14 November 2022, after which the CCOICI integrated public comments as appropriate and submitted its Recommendations Report to the Council on 5 January 2023.
- Council will receive an update on both the CCOICI’s Working Group Self-Assessment Recommendations Report. In addition, an update will be provided on the work of the GNSO SOI Task Force (TF).
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - PDP Improvements item #8 (Review of the Policy & Implementation recommendations)
- GNSO Council established a PDP Improvements Tracker in order to provide an aggregated view of the various proposed improvements that have been identified from a number of different initiatives., which include:
- Council Strategic Planning Session (SPS) Action Item – how to improve support for and follow up on policy recommendations post-Council adoption
- Operational Design Phase
- Modifying Consensus Policies
- PDP 3.0 Parking Lot Items
- Review of Policy & Implementation Recommendations
- For item #8 (Review of the Policy & Implementation recommendations) and the agreed next step (“Staff support team to provide further detail on what a policy status report (PSR) would be expected to cover”), staff circulated a background note on a possible PSR on the Policy & Implementation Recommendations on 20 January 2023.
Council will discuss the background note and consider next steps.
- GNSO Council established a PDP Improvements Tracker in order to provide an aggregated view of the various proposed improvements that have been identified from a number of different initiatives., which include:
- Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) Review Next Steps
- After the approval of the Phase 1 Final Report of the GNSO Policy Development Process (PDP) on the Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) in All gTLDs in January 2021, the Council discussed the need to review the RPMs charter in advance of launching Phase 2 of the PDP.
- Council determined that a Policy Status Report (PSR) should be requested from ICANN org to better understand if new issues or information has emerged that would be relevant to a comprehensive review of the policy.
- ICANN org’s Global Domains and Strategy (GDS) team completed the draft PSR and published it for public comment on 3 March 2022; the revised PSR was shared with Council on 18 July 2022 and Council then received a briefing from GDS during the July meeting, at which Council delayed next steps based on a number of reasons, primarily though because of the amount of competing work. Council agreed during its November 2022 meeting that because of the launch of the Phase 1 RPMs Implementation Review Team (IRT), which would likely have overlapping community support with a Phase 2 PDP, that the delay for next steps should be tied to the completion or key milestones for the IRT.
- Council will receive an update from the Council’s liaison to the RPMs IRT to better understand precise timing for delaying Phase 2 next steps.
- Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.2 - Update on Closed Generics Facilitated Dialogue
Records of 16 Feb 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 Feb 2023 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Feb 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Feb 2023 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- Council confirmed Taiwo Peter Akinremi as a Fellowship Selection Committee member for six consecutive ICANN meetings, beginning with ICANN78.
- Council adopts the revised Charter for the Budget and Operations Townhall (formerly known as the GNSO Standing Committee on Budget and Operations (SCBO)).
2. Transfer Policy Review PDP
- Council approved the Transfer Policy Review PDP amended Charter and Project Change Request (PCR), which following recent developments, are designed to update the PDP WG's work plan to consolidate all work into a single phase and change the order in which topics are considered.
3. Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA)
- Council received an update on SubPro related discussions during the recent Jan 2023 Board workshop from the one of the GNSO appointees to the ICANN Board, Becky Burr (Matthew Shears was an apology). As discussed in the Chair's blog, the ICANN Board spent a full day reviewing the SubPro Outputs and SubPro ODA.
- Becky indicated:
- That the Board is expected to proceed with decision on many of the SubPro Outputs but mentioned that there were still a small number of questions/issues which the Board is looking to work through with Council and the GAC.
- That one of the key question that the Board wishes to discuss with Council is on the issue of rounds - linked to Option 2 in the SubPro ODA which suggested "4 annual rounds" - particularly on how quickly we might be able to get to "a first-come-first-served" basis instead of rounds.
- (Ed. I believe Becky meant "on a rolling basis" in context of SubPro Output 3.5.)
- SubPro Output 3.5 says, "Absent extraordinary circumstances application procedures must take place at predictable, regularly occurring intervals without indeterminable periods of review unless the GNSO Council recommends pausing the program and such recommendation is approved by the Board. Such extraordinary circumstances must be subject to the Predictability Framework under Topic 2 of this Report. Unless and until other procedures are recommended by the GNSO Council and approved by the ICANN Board, ICANN must only use “rounds” to administer the New gTLD Program."
- While the full list of issues is being finalized by the Board and will be shared with Council in the near future, and that a Board SubPro Caucus-Council meeting will be convened to discuss them, it includes auction proceeds and mostly, a handful of questions; also, the matter of GAC's role with regards to applications in the next round.
- With GAC, there is the matter of the GAC's expectation on how the Board would handle GAC Advice on applications, following guidance from the Independent Review Panels (IRPs) that came out of the last round; also a piece of advice which doesn't have a lot to do with SubPro but which the Board would have to defer action on until they have been worked through.
- However, there was nothing precluding an Implementation Review Team (SubPro IRT) from being created as soon as the Board has voted on the bulk of the SubPro Outputs
- Council will consider whether this Board SubPro Caucus-Council meeting should include not only SubPro PDP WG co-chairs but also active members of that PDP WG.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and share updates regarding this Board SubPro Caucus-Council meeting arrangements.
4. Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI)
- By way of background, the work of the CCOICI (a GNSO pilot) covers several areas of focus, including Updates to GNSO Operating Procedures; which covers (a) Working Group Self-Assessment (WGSA) and (b) GNSO Statement of Interest (GNSO SOI), which were part of the public comment proceeding on Proposed Updates to the GNSO Operating Procedures which ran from Sep-Nov 2022.
- Council received an update on both (a) and (b), and while the work on (a) WGSA has more or less concluded (where I can confirm that action has been taken to incorporate the ALAC's input in respect of the existing WGSA survey), the CCOICI is still grappling with public comments received on the GNSO SOI update.
- The key issue with the GNSO SOI update revolves around transparency of ICANN PDPs, in particular the proposed allowance for a PDP WG member to claim confidentiality as the ground for not revealing the entity that stands to benefit from that member's participation (client-solicitor privilege was cited as an example for claiming such confidentiality). Council discussed this issue briefly and will revisit this issue at a future meeting when the CCOICI is ready to present its recommendation(s) on the GNSO SOI update.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and share updates regarding the GNSO SOI with ALAC
5. Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)
- Council considered the need to review the GNSO Policy Development Process on the Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms in All gTLDs (RPMs PDP) charter in advance of launching Phase 2 of this RPMs PDP.
- Council had agreed during its Nov 2022 meeting that because of the launch of the Phase 1 RPMs Implementation Review Team (IRT), which would likely have overlapping community support with a Phase 2 PDP, that the delay for Phase 2 should be tied to the completion or key milestones for the IRT. Council concluded that completion of the Phase 1 RPMs IRT would be a sensible trigger for Phase 2 work.
23-01 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #1 (JAN 2023) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #1 of 2023 held on 19 Jan 2023
GNSO Council Meeting #1 of 2023 held on 19 Jan 2023
Full Agenda | Motions | Documents
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI)’s Working Group Self-Assessment Recommendations Report
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Review Action Items From Strategic Planning Session
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Acknowledgment of Council Input on the SubPro Operational Design Assessment (ODA) for the ICANN Board
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO Council Work Related to SubPro
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the Transfer Policy Review PDP
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI)’s Working Group Self-Assessment Recommendations Report
- Council had resolved on 16 June 2021 to initiate the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI) as a pilot, which included the review of the Working Group Self-Assessment as one of the two areas of focus.
- The CCOICI started the Working Group Self-Assessment assignment in October 2021, concluding in February 2022. However, the CCOICI deferred conducting the public comment until it could be combined with recommendations related to the GNSO Statement of Interest (SOI). The consolidated public comment proceeding on Proposed Updates to the GNSO Operating Procedures was conducted from 09 September - 14 November 2022, after which the CCOICI integrated public comments as appropriate and submitted its Recommendations Report to the Council on 5 January 2023.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Acknowledgment of Council Input on the SubPro Operational Design Assessment (ODA) for the ICANN Board
- ICANN org published the SubPro Operational Design Assessment (ODA) on 12 December and in advance of the publication of the ODA, Council received a briefing on 7 December. During Council’s December meeting, it agreed on the benefit of providing Council input on the ODA, if any, to the ICANN Board in support of the Board workshop taking place around 20 January.
- Council established a small team to review the ODA in detail, concentrating on identifying areas of ICANN org analysis that may not be true to the intent of the SubPro Final Report, as well as developing impressions of Option 2 contained in the ODA.
- Given the tight timelines, there will not be adequate time for the small team to provide draft input to Council by the document and motions deadline. Accordingly, the expectation is that the input, delivered on [date], shall be sent to the Board, but include the caveat that it was not formally adopted by Council.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO Council Work Related to SubPro
During Council’s Strategic Planning Session (SPS), a recurring theme emerged. Taking into consideration the possible timelines surrounding the implementation of the SubPro recommendations, especially if Option 2 or similar were to be pursued, Council should take care to ensure that any SubPro related work within its control should be carefully managed for timely delivery. The Council does not want its work to serve as an impediment to the timely implementation and launch of the next round of new gTLDs.
In order to address this recurring theme,, Council agreed that it would like to receive frequent updates on the work that is connected to the next round of new gTLDs. Presumably, those projects include:
- IDNs EPDP Phase 1 (top-level charter questions)
- GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support
- Closed Generics Facilitated Discussion
- SubPro ODA Small Team
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the Transfer Policy Review PDP
- Council initiated the two-phased Transfer Policy Review PDP in February 2021. Since it began meeting in May 2021, the WG has made steady progress on its Phase 1 charter questions, including publishing its Phase 1A Initial Report for public comment. The WG conducted preliminary deliberations on Phase 1B topics during the Phase 1A Initial Report public comment period, then reviewed public comments on the Phase 1A Initial Report, and is now completing revisions to preliminary recommendations, taking into account public comment received.
- In the course of Phase 1 work conducted to date, the WG discovered that certain Phase 2 topics must be addressed before Phase 1 recommendations can be fully developed. As a result, the leadership team is preparing a Project Change Request (PCR) to update its work plan to consolidate all work into a single phase and change the order in which topics are considered. This will impact the timeline for key deliverables. In order to ensure that Council fully understands the potential changes prior to being asked to accept the PCR, the changes and potential implications will be shared with Council.
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.1 - ICANN76 Planning
Records of 19 Jan 2023 Meeting
- Audio Recording
- Zoom Recording (includes chat and visual and rough transcript. See both tabs on recording page)
- Transcript
- Minutes
Special Summary Report of 19 Jan 2023 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Jan 2023 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Jan 2023 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- Council confirmed Osvado Novoa as GNSO Council Liaison to the Transfers Policy Review.
- Council approved the appointment of Arinola Akinyemi as a Mentor for the ICANN Fellowship Program.
2. Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA)
- Council's Small Team on SubPro ODA (in which I also participated) - which was tasked with reviewing the SubPro ODA in detail, concentrating on identifying areas of ICANN org analysis that may not be true to the intent of the SubPro Final Report, as well as developing impressions of Option 2 contained in that ODA - produced input which formed/resulted in the letter of 20 Jan from the GNSO Chair to the ICANN Board Chair.
- Essentially, Council is urging to the Board to approve the SubPro Outputs (i.e. the recommendations and implementation guidance that were approved by Council) and proceed swiftly with implementation. Despite some misgivings in the assumptions made by ICANN Org in producing the SubPro ODA, Council thinks that any outstanding implementation issues raised in the ODA by ICANN Org can be resolved during implementation in collaboration with the (to-be established) Subsequent Procedures Implementation Review Team (SubPro IRT).
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and share updates regarding the SubPro IRT with ALAC
3. GNSO Council Work related to Subsequent Procedures (SubPro)
- During Council's Strategic Planning Session (SPS) (in which I do not participate), it was concluded that Council should take care to ensure that any SubPro related work within its control should be carefully managed for timely delivery. The Council does not want its work to serve as an impediment to the timely implementation and launch of the next round of new gTLDs, In line with this, Council is to receive frequent updates on the work that is connected to the next round of new gTLDs, including:
- IDNs EPDP Phase 1 (top-level charter questions)
- GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support
- Closed Generics Facilitated Discussion
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and share updates regarding the above processes with ALAC
4. Transfer Policy Review Policy Development Process (PDP)
- Work by this 2-phased PDP has been progressing steadily, with its Phase 1A Initial Report having undergone public comment and impending completion of revisions to preliminary recommendations from that Initial Report.
- In the course of Phase 1 work conducted to date, the WG discovered that certain Phase 2 topics must be addressed before Phase 1 recommendations can be fully developed. As a result, Council has been alerted to an upcoming Project Change Request (PCR) to update its work plan to consolidate all work into a single phase and change the order in which topics are considered. This will impact the timeline for key deliverables.
5. Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI)
- By way of background, the work of the CCOICI (a GNSO pilot) covers several areas of focus, mainly on:
(1) Work Stream 2 (WS2) recommendations, which has been dealt with by Council at its Dec 2022 meeting. (I drew fleeting attention to it but subsequently concluded this to be of no specific interest to ALAC and therefore did not report on it in more detail.)
(2) Updates to GNSO Operating Procedures; which includes (2a) Working Group Self-Assessment (WGSA) and (2b) GNSO Statement of Interest (GNSO SOI)
- The agenda item on the WGSA was deferred to Council's Feb 2023 meeting, but in the interim, I can confirm that action has been taken to incorporate the ALAC's input in respect of the existing WGSA survey.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and share updates regarding the GNSO SOI with ALAC
6. ICANN76 Planning
- I was informed that the ALAC-GNSO bilateral meeting at ICANN76 has to be displaced from the meeting schedule but that Council remains prepared to meet with ALAC virtually vide a pre-meeting call.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To seek input from ALAC Leadership on topics for ALAC-GNSO pre-ICANN76 bilateral call
January 2022 - December 2022 Reports
22-14 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #12 (DEC 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #12 of 2022 held on 15 Dec 2022
GNSO Council Meeting #12 of 2022 held on 15 Dec 2022
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Adopting the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI)’s Work Stream 2 (WS2) Recommendations Report
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Expired Domain Deletion Policy and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy Next Steps
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Debrief From Council-Specific SubPro Operational Design Assessment (ODA) Webinar and Q&A
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Review Implementation Prioritization Supplemental Fund for Implementation of Community Recommendations (SFICR) Request - Council Role?
- Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Motion to approve GNSO Standing Selection Committee (SSC) Leadership for 2022-2023
- Motion to confirm CCOICI Chair and GNSO Council representative to the WS2 Community Coordination Group
- Acknowledgment of the GNSO Council liaison to the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) for Applicant Support
- Acknowledgment of the Work Plan for the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) for Applicant Support
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Adopting the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI)’s Work Stream 2 (WS2) Recommendations Report
- Motion to adopt the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) WS2 Recommendations Report
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Expired Domain Deletion Policy and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy Next Steps
- In July 2022, Council agreed that it would be helpful to check with the registrars and ICANN Compliance to help determine if there are any known issues or concerns with either of the two Expiration Policies which could warrant requesting a Policy Status Report (PSR).
- A report from Contractual Compliance was shared with Council on 1 November 2022 and feedback from the registrars has been shared in the past on previous Council calls.
- Council received a briefing on the report from ICANN Compliance and the Council briefly considered potential next steps. One suggestion may be to task a Councilor member to review the report from Contractual Compliance in detail and determine if any of the issues raised warrant further work at present. That analysis will help inform the Council overall and allow the Council to formally record its determination as appropriate.
- Council will consider appropriate next steps
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Debrief From Council-Specific SubPro Operational Design Assessment (ODA) Webinar and Q&A
- On 12 September 2021 the ICANN Board directed ICANN org to organize the resources required to begin work on the Operational Design Phase (ODP) for the GNSO’s New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Final Report and the Affirmations, Recommendations, and Implementation Guidance contained in that report.
- On 20 December 2021, ICANN org announced that the SubPro ODP had formally launched, starting at the beginning of January 2022. The ODP Team has shared numerous updates to the community and sent several sets of assumptions/questions to the GNSO Council via the Council’s liaison to the ODP.
ICANN org is expected to publish the SubPro Operational Design Assessment (ODA) on 12 December. In advance of publication of the ODA, Council will receive a briefing during a webinar on 7 December. While it is unlikely that there is adequate time for Councilors to have reviewed the ODA in detail, there may be initial impressions from council-specific webinar. ICANN org staff that supported the SubPro Operational Design Phase (ODP) will be available to answer questions and engage in dialogue.
Council will hold a debrief from the council-specific SubPro ODA webinar and engage with ICANN org staff that supported the ODP/ODA.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Review Implementation Prioritization Supplemental Fund for Implementation of Community Recommendations (SFICR) Request - Council Role?
- On 16 November 2022, the Board resolved to approve, “the use of US$5,800,000 from the SFICR to fund implementation of community prioritized reviews.” Of note, the Board’s resolution is in direct relation to Specific Reviews (ATRT3, CCT, SSR2, RDS-WHOIS2). Nevertheless, the topics referenced in the recommendations may be of interest to Council. As an example, line item 9 in the prioritized set of recommendations is related to DNS abuse, a subject which is of relevance to the Council. While Council’s remit is specific to the development of gTLD policy development, a question was raised as to whether Council has a role or input, or should appropriately have a role or input, towards the implementation of Specific Review recommendations.
- Council will consider if it has a role in the prioritization and implementation of Specific Review recommendations.
- Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 8.4 - Update on RPMs IRT timeline.
- 8.5 - DNS abuse draft letters.
Records of 15 Dec 2022 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 15 Dec 2022 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
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 2022 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Dec 2022 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- Council approved the GNSO Standing Selection Committee (SSC) leadership team for 2022-2023: Arinola Akinyemi (BC) to remain for a second term as Chair, and Alan Woods (RySG) to serve as Vice Chair.
- Council confirmed Manju Chen (NCSG) as Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Chair and GNSO Council representative to the WS2 Community Coordination Group.
- Council approved Paul McGrady for the position of Liaison from the GNSO Council to the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) for Applicant Support (i.e. Applicant Support Working Group).
- Council approved the Work Plan for the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) for Applicant Support.
2. Debrief from Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Assessment (SubPro ODA)
- Councilors were encouraged to read the SubPro ODA, and to review the recordings for the ODA GNSO Council Specific Webinar (or transcript), and the Community Webinar #1 and Community Webinar #2.
- (sic) Council will rely on the Council Small Team comprising Anne Aikman-Scalese (NCA), Jeff Neuman (GNSO Liaison to SubPro ODP), Thomas Rickert (ISCP), Sebastien Ducos (RySG), Susan Payne (IPC) and Justine Chew (ALAC Liaison to GNSO) to establish if there were questions or clarifications needed to be relayed to the ICANN Org SubPro Team; and likely comments to be relay to the ICANN Board.
3. DNS Abuse Small Team
- Following the approval of the Small Team's report by Council on 17 Nov 2022, the Small Team's Leadership comprising Mark Datysgeld (BC) and Paul McGrady (NCA-Non CPH) worked with GNSO support staff to draft letters to the Contracted Parties, pursuant to recommendations #2 (bulk registrations), #3 (reporting of DNS Abuse), and #4 (action & enforcement) of its report. (NB. #2 bulk registrations was based on ALAC's input)
- In particular, there are 2 letters - one regarding bulk registrations and the other regarding DNS Abuse Reporting / Action & Enforcement.
- Upon feedback from Kurt Pritz (RySG) that the term "bulk registrations" may require defining, I proposed that the first letter on bulk registrations be amended to include a request that the recipients include as context, a description of their respective bulk registration categorization and procedures.
- Otherwise, the draft letters appear to be in order. I also asked that Council be notified when these letters are sent out so that Council is kept aware of this exercise's progress.
4. Expired Domain Deletion Policy and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy
- Given earlier raised concerns about capacity, and the fact that no one/group has raised any serious concerns about the (1) Expiration Policies, the Expired Domain Deletion Policy (EDDP) and (2) Expired Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP), which are dual policies around the renewal of domain registrations. As such, there continues to be reservations on the need for a Policy Status Report (PSR) to be undertaken for a review of the EDDP and ERRP.
- It was suggested that the issue of confusion mentioned in the report from Contractual Compliance could be something that could be adequately resolved between ICANN Contractual Compliance and the RrSG.
- In the end, it was suggested and decided that a small team comprising Greg DiBiase (RrSG), Susan Payne (IPC) and Nacho Amadoz (RySG) will work with ICANN org's Caitlin Tubergen to analyse the Contractual Compliance report then report back to Council afterwards on next steps (if any).
5. Review Implementation Prioritization Supplemental Fund for Implementation of Community Recommendations (SFICR) Request - Council's role?
- Doubts were expressed that Council had a specific role in the SFICR Request. Forty-five Board-approved recommendations that have been prioritized for USD 5.8mil SFICR funding will be implemented by the groups at which each of those recommendations are targeted.
6. Rights Protection Mechanisms for All New gTLDs Implementation Review Team (RPMs IRT)
- Council did not discuss this at length; it was merely reported that this IRT has just commenced its work / meeting calls.
22-13 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #11 (NOV 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #11 of 2022 held on 17 Nov 2022
GNSO Council Meeting #11 of 2022 held on 17 Nov 2022
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Whois Disclosure System Next Steps
- Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team - Adoption of Recommendation #3
- Item 6: COUNCIL VOTE - DNS Abuse Small Team Report
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) Review Next Steps
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Expired Domain Deletion Policy and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy Next Steps
- Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI) - Work Stream 2 (WS2)
- Item 10: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SPS planning
- Item 11: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Acknowledgment of John McElwaine to serve as Council liaison to the Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) Implementation Review Team (IRT)
- Acknowledgment of the Expedited PDP on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Project Change Request (PCR)
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Whois Disclosure System (WDS) Next Steps
- The proposed design of the WDS was published prior to ICANN75 and ICANN org provided a presentation of the system design to the EPDP Phase 2 small team during ICANN75. Subsequently, the small team and Council held initial discussions amongst themselves, as well as with the Board.
- The small team has continued to meet to determine whether
- 1) does the WDS align with the expectations as set out in the small team’s preliminary report,
- 2) will implementation of the WDS deliver the information to help inform Council-Board consultations on the cost-benefit of the SSAD recommendations,
- 3) does the small team recommend to the GNSO Council that it requests the ICANN Board to proceed with the implementation of the WDS.
- Since Council's October meeting, the small team completed the addendum to the preliminary report, which was circulated on 7 November 2022 for the Council’s review.
- Council will vote on a motion to adopt the addendum to the report from the small team on the Whois Disclosure System. (voting threshold: simple majority)
- Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team - Adoption of Recommendation #3
- The RDA Scoping Team was initiated by Council in July 2021, and 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 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 has 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). Council will need to consider the proper timing for identifying a new Chair for this effort, given the resignation of the previous Chair.
- Council had at its October meeting discussed whether to approve recommendations #1 and #2 put forward by the Scoping Team (e.g., registrar survey and/or registrar audit) or instead, to defer 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).
- Council will vote on a motion on how to proceed with recommendations of the RDA Scoping Team. (voting threshold: simple majority)
- Item 6: COUNCIL VOTE - DNS Abuse Small Team Report
- At ICANN72, Council agreed to establish a small team to consider and recommend next steps for Council related to DNS abuse, if any. An assignment form was drafted and the team held its first meeting 9 February 2022.
- The team performed outreach to interested community groups to better understand what DNS abuse related issues need to be addressed specifically via gTLD policy development. The outreach targeted members and respective SG/Cs, also ALAC, GAC, SSAC, and the DNS Abuse Institute, from which input was received and considered.
- The team then arrived at a set of 4 recommendations by thinking of DNS abuse as taking place in phases (e.g., malicious domain registration/domain being compromised, DNS abuse being reported, action being taken by a well-positioned party). These phases helped the small team to better understand which elements are best addressed via policy development versus another mechanism. To that end, the small team has concluded that improvements in DNS abuse mitigation can be sought via three buckets: through education / communication / outreach, through contractual negotiations, and/or policy development
- The small team delivered its report to Council on 10 October 2022 and the report was discussed during the October Council meeting.
- Council will vote on a motion to accept recommendations #2 (bulk registrations), #3 (reporting of DNS Abuse), and #4 (action & enforcement) as contained in the report. Council will also vote to commit to considering the requested actions under recommendation #1 (malicious registrations), after assessing the impact from recommendations #2, #3, and #4. (voting threshold: simple majority)
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) Review Next Steps
- On 21 January 2021, Council approved the recommendations from the Phase 1 Final Report of the GNSO Policy Development Process (PDP) on the Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) in All gTLDs, covering RPMs applicable to gTLDs launched under the 2012 New gTLD Program. Council discussed the need to review the RPMs charter in advance of launching Phase 2 of the PDP, which is focused on the UDRP.
- Council discussed the best path forward and determined that a Policy Status Report (PSR) should be requested to understand if new issues or information have emerged that could be relevant to a comprehensive policy review. After discussions between Council and ICANN org's Global Domains & Strategy (GDS) team on the scope and purpose of the PSR, GDS completed the draft PSR and published it for public comment on 3 March 2022; the revised PSR was shared with Council on 18 July 2022 and Council then received a briefing from GDS during the July meeting.
Based on discussion during that meeting, there seemed to be support from a number of Councilors to delay next steps for various reasons, including the considerable amount of existing Council work competing for attention.
Council will consider appropriate next steps for the review of the UDRP, which could include delaying work currently and identifying a triggering mechanism to recommence the work in the future.
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Expired Domain Deletion Policy and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy Next Steps
- In October 2020, Council considered when to request a Policy Status Report (PSR) to conduct a review of the (1) Expiration Policies, the Expired Domain Deletion Policy (EDDP) and (2) Expired Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP). Given concerns about capacity, along with the general perception that no known issues have presented themselves, Council agreed in November 2020 to delay the request for the PSR that had been identified as requiring consideration; the deferral was for a period of 24 months, necessitating consideration in November 2022.
- In July 2022, the Council agreed that it would be helpful to check with the registrars and ICANN Compliance to help determine if there are any known issues or concerns with either of the two Expiration Policies which could warrant requesting a PSR. A report from Contractual Compliance was shared with Council on 1 November 2022 and feedback from the registrars has been shared in the past on previous Council calls.
- Council will receive a briefing on the report from ICANN Compliance and time permitting, consider potential next steps.
- Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI) - Work Stream 2 (WS2)
- Council received a brief update on WS2 from ICANN org during its September 2021 meeting and received a more detailed update in February 2022, to better understand the level of progress it has already made via already completed work (e.g., the development of guidelines and templates to support the GNSO as a Decisional Participant in the Empowered Community) and the limited set of remaining WS2 tasks.
- Council then considered the best path forward to complete the remaining work and agreed to extend the CCOICI pilot to include the WS2 work. The CCOICI has now completed this assignment and shared its WS2 Recommendations Report on 4 November 2022.
- Council will receive an update on the report, in advance of a potential vote on the report in December 2022.
- Item 10: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SPS planning
- Item 11: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Records of 17 Nov 2022 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 17 Nov 2022 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
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 2022 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Nov 2022 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- Council acknowledged John McElwaine as the GNSO Council Liaison to the RPMs IRT.
2. Expedited Policy Development Process on Internationalized Domain Names (part of Consent Agenda also)
- Council approved the EPDP's Project Change Request (PCR) wherein the EPDP sought:
- To facilitate the implementation planning of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures by bifurcating its work into two phases, with Phase 1 covering topics related to top-level IDN gTLD definition and variant management, and Phase 2 covering issues pertaining to second-level IDN variant management, and
- Due to the diversity and complexity of IDN issues, additional data collection needs, review of ICANN org input for draft recommendations, and public comment-related processes, a 31-month extension to the original project plan, with projection of the following key milestone dates:
- Publish Phase 1 Initial Report for Public Comment by April 2023
- Submit Phase 1 Final Report to the GNSO Council by November 2023
- Publish Phase 2 Initial Report for Public Comment by April 2025
- Submit Phase 2 Final Report to the GNSO Council by November 2025
- Action Item: Policy support staff to update the IDNs-EPDP Team’s project plan, timeline, and other materials according to the Project Change Request (PCR), and post them on the EPDP wiki project space.
3. Whois Disclosure System (WDS) Next Steps / EPDP Phase 2
- Council accepted the EPDP Phase 2 small team findings and recommendations as outlined in the small team's addendum.
- Council also confirmed that pending the implementation and subsequent running of the WDS for a period of up to two (2) years, the SSAD recommendations should remain paused for consideration by the ICANN Board.
- Council thanks the EPDP Phase 2 small team for its work and requests it to remain available to continue work on this topic as part of the next steps in this process which aims to inform the further consideration of the SSAD recommendations by the ICANN Board.
4. Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team
In relation to the Scoping Team's write up which recommended:
1) pausing the work in relation to proposals that require access to registration data,
2) encouraging ICANN org to proceed with their outreach to the EDPB as well as the Data Protection Impact Assessment in connection with the scenario(s) in which the request and processing of registration data takes place as a matter of urgency, and
3) requesting that ICANN org and Contracted Parties finalize the negotiations on the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) as soon as practicable as the absence of a completed DPA may act as a roadblock for policy work before Council
- Council adopted recommendation #3
- Council deferred consideration of recommendations #1 and #2 until such time the 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
- Once the DPA negotiations are completed and the feedback referred to at paragraph 2 is received from ICANN org, Council will review the formation and instructions to the Scoping Team to ensure these are still fit for purpose and request the Scoping Team to further consider potential proposals that require access to registration data as well as how these impact the existing recommendations #1 and #2 (e.g. should these still be considered by Council for adoption, or in the context of proposals that require access to registration data these may no longer be relevant or a priority?). If, after 6 months from this resolution, the DPA negotiations are not completed and/or the required feedback referred to at paragraph 2 has not been provided by ICANN org, Council will discuss and determine whether or not to continue deferring the consideration of recommendations #1 and #2.
- Action Items:
- Council leadership will reach out informally to Scoping Team members to better understand the issues encountered to help inform the Council’s review of the formation and instructions, taking into account the delay with which the write up was delivered, as well as some of the challenges that were shared with the Scoping Team’s Chair during his briefing to the Council,
- Council leadership to send a communication to ICANN org in relation to recommendation #3 (as well as Contracted Parties in relation to the DPA) as well as communicateCouncil’s decision to non-GNSO groups participating in this effort (ALAC, GAC and SSAC) as well as the Scoping Team.
- Action As part of its review of the formation and instructions to the Scoping Team, Council will consider next steps for finding new leadership for this effort.
- Council to revisit status in May or June 2023.
- Council thanks Michael Palage, outgoing Chair, and Olga Cavalli, outgoing Council liaison, for their efforts.
5. DNS Abuse Small Team Report
In relation to the small team's report, containing 4 recommendations, delivered to Council on 10 October, which in summary are:
1) Recommendation #1 re Malicious Registrations: After the community has been able to process the community outreach and other suggestions made in this report, if further tools are considered necessary, the small
team recommends that Council considers requesting the development of a Preliminary Issue Report on the topic of malicious registrations,
2) Recommendation #2 re Bulk Registrations: The small team recommends that Council requests RrSG and others (for example, ICANN org, the RySG and the DNSAI) to further explore the role that bulk registrations play in DNS Abuse as well as measures that Registrars may have already put in place to address this vector. Based on the feedback received, Council will consider whether further action on bulk registrations is deemed necessary,
3) Recommendation #3 re DNS Abuse Reporting: With an eye towards outreach, the small team recommends that Council encourages continued discussion between Contracted Parties and DNS Abuse reporters/potential reporters with the goal of further fine-tuning and promoting existing tools and initiatives, and/or those under development, to further work towards easier, better and actionable reporting of DNS Abuse. Take into consideration additional pipelines that might be helpful, and
4) Recommendation #4 re Action & Enforcement: The small team recommends that Council reaches out, via a letter, to the RrSG and RySG to share the findings of the small team and requests feedback on how these
potential gaps can be best addressed. This letter should request that Contracted Parties initiate work on the “Suggested Standards” document in consultation with ICANN Compliance. Based on the feedback received to this letter, Council will determine next steps, but at a minimum, Council would expect to be kept up to date on any further work that would be undertaken by Contracted Parties in consultation with ICANN Compliance.
- Council accepts the recommendations as outlined in the report and requests that the leadership of the small team works with Council leadership on developing the respective communications as foreseen under recommendations #2, #3 and #4.
- In relation to recommendation #1, Council commits to considering requesting the development of a Preliminary Issue Report on the topic of malicious registrations after the outreach and communication as foreseen under recommendations #2, #3 and #4 have taken place and Council has had an opportunity to consider the progress made from efforts related to that outreach. If Council determines that a Preliminary Issue Report is needed, it must be undertaken in a way that avoids overlap and/or duplication of efforts.
- Council thanks the small team for its efforts, as well as the community groups that contributed to it.
- Action Item: Leadership of the small team to work with Council leadership on developing the respective communications as foreseen under recommendations #2, #3 and #4 in the report
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and report to ALAC as needed.
6. Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) (Phase 2 of Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) in all New gTLDs)
- After Phase 1 of the RPMs PDP (i.e. review of the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS)) was completed in January 2021, Phase 2 (i.e. review of the UDRP) was deferred for a number of reasons, including need to redraft its charter, need to prioritise other work so as not to overwhelm the community with more work, Council once again revisited the options on what to do with this review of the UDRP which are:
1) Go forward with the review with a to-be-redrafted charter, or
2) Defer the work for a set period of time (eg 12 or 18 months) or until triggered (eg by completion of Phase 1 RPMs IRT's work which would then free up community and staff resources), or
3) Terminate the RPMs PDP (requiring a super-majority vote) (which effect is thought to be equivalent to a long deferral & re-chartering since all policies needs to be reviewed repeated and periodically).
- There was some support for option 2 in deferring 12-18 months and also the possibility of constituting an 'expert group' to alleviate pressure on the community, and to recharter the PDP to reflect reliance on such a smaller group. No formal decision taken.
- Action Item: Staff to request from ICANN GDS staff an estimate as to the duration of the RPMs Phase 1 implementation. Once that is received John McElwaine to send to the Council list the options – deferral for either for 18 months or until the IRT is complete.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and report to ALAC as needed.
7. Expired Domain Deletion Policy and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy
- At Council's request, Contractual Compliance presented on their report to Council of 1 November 2022. Noting that the general perception that no known issues have presented themselves, and that a request for a Policy Status Report (PSR) has already be deferred for 2 years (from November 2020 to November 2022).
- There were suggestions that (1) registrars could be tasked with better handling the ambiguity mentioned as between resellers-registrants on the role of registrars/resellers, and (2) to examine the need for clear policy to address the ambiguity in order to safeguard registrant interests. No formal decision taken.
- Based on (2), Action Item: Council leadership to form a small team to review information provided by ICANN Compliance in view of deciding next steps which could include 1) concluding that no acute issues are present and no Policy Status Report is needed, and that the two policies will be added to the “end” of the pipeline for consideration at a future date, or 2) concluding that there is reason enough to request a PSR to obtain further information on the basis of which the Council can decide whether additional work in the form of policy development or implementation guidance is necessary.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and report to ALAC as needed.
8. Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvements (CCOICI) - Work Stream 2 (WS2)
- Council is looking at adopting WS2 Recommendations Report received on 4 November 2022 in its December meeting.
22-12 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #10 (OCT 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #10 of 2022 held on 20 Oct 2022
GNSO Council Meeting #10 of 2022 held on 20 Oct 2022
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Whois Disclosure System Next Steps
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team - Assignments #1 (Enforcement and Reporting) and #2 (Measurement of Accuracy) Write Up
- Item 6. COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Discussion of GAC’s request for additional members in Applicant Support GGP Working Group
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS Abuse Small Team Report
- Item 8: COUNCIL UPDATE - Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)
- Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SPS planning
- Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
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 25 August 2022 were posted on 07 September 2022.
- Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on 21 September 2022 part 1 and part 2 were posted on 15 October 2022.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
Approval of the updated standard term for the GNSO liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC).
Reappointment of Jeffrey Neuman to serve as the GNSO liaison to the GAC for a two-year term ending AGM 2024.
Confirmation of Greg DiBiase, GNSO Council Vice-Chair as the GNSO representative to the Empowered Community Administration.
Confirmation of Mike Silber to serve as the Chair of the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) on Applicant Support.
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Whois Disclosure System Next Steps
- The proposed design of the Whois Disclosure System was published prior to ICANN75 and ICANN org provided a presentation of the system design to the EPDP Phase 2 small team during ICANN75. Subsequently, the small team and Council held initial discussions amongst themselves, as well as with the Board during their joint session on Tuesday. The Council discussed during its meeting on Wednesday and the small team met informally on Thursday of ICANN75.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team - Assignments #1 (Enforcement and Reporting) and #2 (Measurement of Accuracy) Write Up
- The RDA Scoping Team submitted a Project Change Request (PCR) to Council on 10 May 2022. The Scoping Team has since 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 will be confirming 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.
- Council will discuss how to proceed.
- Item 6. COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Discussion of GAC’s request for additional members in Applicant Support GGP Working Group
On 25 August 2022, the GNSO Council voted to initiate a GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) on Applicant Support. Shortly thereafter, GNSO support staff sent messages to the SO/AC/SG/Cs, inviting them to identify Members for the Working Group, following the Working Group composition described in the initiation request.
In the GAC’s ICANN75 Kuala Lumpur Communique, the GAC communicated that its desire for the Council to, “allow broader participation from interested GAC participants, as well as other members of the community, beyond the single member per Advisory Committee presently envisioned by the call for volunteers communicated to the GAC.” The GAC also sent correspondence to the GNSO Council, requesting that membership be expanded from a single member to two (2) members and two (2) alternates from the GAC.
Council has noted that it has intentionally kept the membership narrow in order to better ensure an efficient and effective outcome. In that regard, the Council has noted that beyond the Working Group membership, external subject matter expertise can be pursued.
Council will discuss the GAC’s request and seek to agree on the appropriate outcome.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS Abuse Small Team Report
- At ICANN72, the GNSO Council agreed to establish a small team to consider and recommend next steps for the Council related to DNS abuse, if any. An assignment form was drafted and the team held its first meeting 9 February 2022. The team performed outreach to interested community groups (ALAC, GAC, SSAC, the DNS Abuse Institute, SG/Cs) to better understand what DNS abuse related issues need to be addressed specifically via gTLD policy development.
The small team carefully considered all input received and has reached agreement on a set of 4 recommendations, by thinking of DNS abuse as taking place in phases (e.g., malicious domain registration/domain being compromised, DNS abuse being reported, action being taken by a well-positioned party). These phases helped the small team to better understand which elements are best addressed via policy development versus another mechanism. To that end, the small team has concluded that improvements in DNS abuse mitigation can be sought via three buckets: through education / communication / outreach, through contractual negotiations, and/or policy development.
The small team delivered its report to Council on 10 October 2022. Council will receive a briefing on the report and consider next steps.
- Item 8: COUNCIL UPDATE - Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)
- The EPDP Team has been meeting weekly and making progress against its charter, but the complexity of the subject matter and the charter questions, as well as the implications on the New gTLD Program processes and other ICANN policies and procedures (and thus, the need to adequately understand all of these elements) has challenged agreed upon timelines in the work plan. The EPDP Team is anticipating submitting a Project Change Request (PCR) in November, but the Chair and the EPDP believes that it is important for the Council to understand the need for a project plan update, what is changing, and the implications of those changes, prior to being asked to make a decision on the PCR.
- Council will be provided with an update on the EPDP on IDNs and an overview of the expected PCR.
Records of 20 Oct 2022 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 20 Oct 2022 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
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 2022 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Oct 2022 Meeting Records.
1. Consent Agenda
- Approval of the updated standard term for the GNSO liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC).
Reappointment of Jeffrey Neuman to serve as the GNSO liaison to the GAC for a two-year term ending AGM 2024.
Confirmation of Greg DiBiase, GNSO Council Vice-Chair as the GNSO representative to the Empowered Community Administration.
Confirmation of Mike Silber to serve as the Chair of the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) on Applicant Support.
2. Whois Disclosure System (WDS) Next Steps
- Council received an update on the EPDP Phase 2 small team's progress post its preliminary report, that it is considering 3 remaining questions:-
- Does the Whois Disclosure System align with the expectations as set out in the small team’s preliminary report,
- Will implementation of the Whois Disclosure System deliver the information to help inform Council-Board consultations on the cost-benefit of the SSAD recommendations,
- Does the small team recommend to the GNSO Council that it requests the ICANN Board to proceed with the implementation of the Whois Disclosure System.
- Council can expect recommendation(s) from the small team for Council's Nov 2022 meeting.
- In the mean time, Council will decide subsequently how it wishes to convey its decision on the WDS to the Board.
3. Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team
- Council is supportive to pause next steps on the Registration Data Accuracy pending more information from the European Data Protection Board, and when DPA is executed between ICANN and contracted parties, then reassess the assignment and see if anything needs to be modified, and then go forward for a new chair. Council retains concerns that we should not lose sight of the need to complete the relevant work.
- Council also thought it prudent to proceed with identifying a new Chair for the Scoping Team in the mean time.
4. Applicant Support GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) Working Group
- Council weighed the GAC's request to allow broader participation from interested GAC participants beyond the single member per Advisory Committee per Council's resolution to initiate the GPP, and appeared to be in favour of GAC - and every other group - having an alternate also, if they so choose, provided that the alternate would not be counted in any consensus call.
- GNSO Council leadership team will inform the GAC leadership team of the Council’s decision with respect to the GAC’s request for additional members, specifically, to revise the membership to allow each group to designate an alternate member; as well as to notify the SGs, SOs, and ACs of the change in membership structure.
5. Expedited Policy Development Process on Internationalized Domain Names
- Council received notice of a Project Change Request (PCR) to amend the EPDP's Project Plan. Essentially, a number of underlying factors have made it necessary for the project plan to be amended significantly but the leadership of the EPDP have made concerted effort to re-organise the EPDP's work in a conservative manner.
- The impact suggested in the pending PCR is to split the EPDP's work into 2 phases, which would result in 2 initial reports and 2 final reports (one each for TL and SL charter questions), and a significant extension of the timeline for concluding the EPDP's work.
- Council is to confirm whether the suggested path is acceptable when the PCR is submitted for Council's Nov 2022 meeting.
6. DNS Abuse Small Team
- The Small Team on DNS Abuse's report and 4 recommendations remains as discussed at ICANN75.
- Some Councilors sought clarity on next steps for recommendations #1, #2, #3 to which the answer was specific approaches had yet to be ascertained at this point and that more data was needed for that. The Small Team was essentially seeking support for the Small Team to regroup to draft the letter to Contracted Parties (CP) for such a purpose, and asking CPs how best to address the gaps identified in the RA (namely, in Spec 11 3(b) and RAA (namely, in s. 3.18.1) which is the subject of recommendation #4.
- Council is expecting a motion to consider how to proceed on the report and recommendations.
22-11 ALAC-GNSO COUNCIL BILATERAL MEETING AT ICANN 75 (SEP 2022) (go up to Directory)
ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Session during ICANN75 on 21 Sep 2022
ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Session during ICANN75 on 21 Sep 2022
The ALAC and the GNSO Council will meet during ICANN 75 to discuss two issues of mutual interest.
Draft Agenda:
1. Introduction and Housekeeping - Staff
2. Welcome - Maureen Hilyard, ALAC Chair and Sebastien Ducos, Incoming GNSO Chair) (remote)
3. Introduction to Topics - Justine Chew (ALAC Liaison to the GNSO)
a. DNS Abuse
- Update by GNSO Council Small Team on DNS Abuse Co-Chairs Mark Datysgeld & Paul McGrady
- Open discussion
b. Operational Design Phase (ODP)
- Observations and open discussion on the ODP concept based on experiences with the SSAD ODP and SubPro ODP (composition, effectiveness, challenges, improvements etc)
4. Closing remarks - Justine Chew
For notes, click on SUMMARY tab above
Records of Bilateral Session at ICANN75 on 21 Sep 2022
ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Session during ICANN75 on 21 Sep 2022
Re: DNS Abuse Mitigation
- GNSO Council Small Team on DNS Abuse acknowledged and thanked ALAC for input/response to the Small Team's limited outreach exercise; in particular the ALAC's comment regarding consideration of DNS abuse preventive measures, specifically on the possible use of predictive analysis for purpose of identifying and halting abusive DN registrations and promotion of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) as good general practice for Contracted Parties, especially in relation to bulk registrations.
- At this point the Small Team's draft report and recommendations are still subject to GNSO Council's consideration/decision (at its Oct 2022 meeting), in brief, the Council Small Team have structured inputs received through the outreach exercise to identify potential mitigation steps across 5 phases of the DNS abuse life cycles, being:
- Phase 0 - measures to help CPs identify DNS abuse earlier or even prevent a malicious registration
- Phase 1 - ensuring harmed parties know how AND to whom a complaint should be reported
- Phase 2 - report should be well-formed and actionable
- Phase 3 - well-positioned party (CPs, but could also be web-host, website owner/operator, etc) takes action
- Phase 4 - enforcement by ICANN compliance, where best positioned party is a CP
- As for the draft recommendations, these are: (with important context contained in the draft report):
- DNS Abuse targeted by Small Team is as what has been generally adopted by CPs in order to progress work on combating abuse and not to be bogged down by re-defining DNS Abuse.
- 3 buckets of 'Policy', 'Outreach', 'Contractual Negotiation' are not mutually exclusive and nothing prevents the pursuit of an issue via more than one path, but still all potential in nature.
- Recommendation #1 - Malicious Registrations (Phase: 0,3,4; Bucket: potentially, tightly focused policy development)
After the community has been able to process the community outreach and other suggestions made in this report, if further tools are considered necessary, the small team recommends that the Council considers requesting the development of a Preliminary Issue Report on the topic of malicious registrations. The objective is to prepare the ground for tightly scoped policy development that would consider malicious registrations used for the distribution of malware, phishing or the operation of Botnet command and control systems. The goal of the tightly scoped policy would be to explore whether it is possible to identify indicators of malicious registrations that would trigger actions from Contracted Parties either at the time of registration or shortly after. Any policy development is expected to anticipate that the theme of malicious registrations may not be as clear cut in practice. As such, care must be taken that any proposed measures are balanced and proportional. - Recommendation #2 - Bulk Registrations (based on ALAC's submission) (Phase: 0; Bucket: community outreach)
The small team recommends that the GNSO Council requests the Registrar Stakeholder Group and others (for example, ICANN org and the DNSAI) to further explore the role that bulk registrations play in DNS Abuse as well as measures that Registrars may have already put in place to address this vector. Based on the feedback received, the GNSO Council will consider whether further action on bulk registrations is deemed necessary. - Recommendation #3 - DNS Abuse Reporting (Phase: 1,2; Bucket: community outreach)
With an eye towards outreach, the small team recommends that the Council encourages continued discussion between Contracted Parties and DNS Abuse reporters/potential reporters with the goal of further fine-tuning and promoting existing tools and initiatives, and/or those under development, to further work towards easier, better and actionable reporting of DNS Abuse. Take into consideration additional pipelines that might be helpful. - Recommendation #4 - Action & Enforcement (Phase: 3,4; Bucket: community outreach, contract negotiation)
The small team recommends that the Council reaches out to the RrSG and RySG to share the findings of the small team and requests feedback on how these potential gaps can be best addressed. In addition, this letter should request that Contracted Parties initiate work on the “Suggested Standards” document , in consultation with ICANN Compliance. Based on the feedback received to this letter, the Council will determine next steps, but at a minimum, the Council would expect to be kept up to date on any further work that would be undertaken by Contracted Parties in consultation with ICANN Compliance.
- ALAC/At-Large comments: Must acknowledge that DNS Abuse landscape could and probably would evolve over time, so must ensure definition of "DNS Abuse" can still evolve.
Re: Operational Design Phase (ODP) Concept
- Preliminary GNSO Council discussion appears to reveal an early general opinion that while the ODP has been useful in practice - specifically the SubPro ODP but less so with the SSAD ODP - but that much of the work undertaken during the ODP should be done much earlier, either during the policy development process (PDP), or very shortly after the PDP. This could potentially be achieved by having ICANN org's Global & Domain Strategy send a liaison to each PDPs or WGs to provide input, on a rolling basis, on feasibility, costs etc.
- It is opined that the SSAD ODP presented more weaknesses and offered less consultation, than the SubPro ODP.
22-10 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #9 (AT ICANN 75, SEP 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #9 of 2022 held on 21 Sep 2022
GNSO Council Meeting #9 of 2022 held on 21 Sep 2022
Full Agenda | Motions - None
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda - None
- Item 4: COUNCIL UPDATE - Update From Public Technical Identifiers
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team - Assignments #1 (Enforcement and Reporting) and #2 (Measurement of Accuracy) Write Up & Process for Finding a New Chair
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Proposed updates to the GNSO Operating Procedures - Working Group Self-Assessment & GNSO Statement of Interest Procedures
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - PDP Improvements Tracker - Review of Format
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Whois Disclosure System
- Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update from the UASG
- Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team - Assignments #1 (Enforcement and Reporting) and #2 (Measurement of Accuracy) Write Up & Process for Finding a New Chair
- The Scoping Team, initiated in July 2021, 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 expected to help inform its deliberations and the development of recommendations to 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 has since completed Assignment #1 (enforcement and reporting) and Assignment #2 (measurement of accuracy) and submitted its write up to the Council on 5 September 2022 where the group is suggesting moving forward with 2 proposals that would not require access to registration data, namely a registrar survey and a possible registrar audit that may help further inform the team’s work on Assignment #3 (effectiveness) and Assignment #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.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - PDP Improvements Tracker - Review of Format
- During the ICANN73 wrap up, the Council discussed a number of parallel conversations that have emerged since implementing PDP 3.0, identifying other aspects of the PDP where improvements could be considered. In addition, there are a number of projects on the Council’s Action Decision Radar (ADR) related to PDP improvements which will need to be addressed at some point in the future.
- Following a staff discussion paper, a draft of the PDP Improvements Tracker was reviewed during a series of Council meetings.
- Thereafter, a survey is being done to obtain initial input from Council members as well as SG/C leadership that will help inform the substantive review of the proposed improvements and next steps.
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Whois Disclosure System
- The proposed design of the Whois Disclosure System will have been published prior to ICANN75 and will be presented on Saturday of ICANN75, and the small team and Council will have had an initial discussion during the session immediately following the ICANN Org presentation in order to review the proposed design and consider next steps.
- Council will seek to distill and discuss the conversations with ICANN org, the small team, GAC, and the Board and determine next steps.
- Item 10: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
10.1 – Confirmation of approach for term limits for the GNSO liaison to the GAC
10.2 – Update - Potential changes to the Standing Committee for ICANN Budget & Operations (SCBO)
- 10.3 – Farewell to outgoing Councilors (Flip Petillion, Juan Manuel Rojas, Maxim Alzoba, Olga Cavalli, Philippe Fouquart)
Under Council Wrap-up on 22 Sep 2022
- 3/Item 8. Whois Disclosure System - Discuss potential next steps, which will be dependent on small team discussion
7/Item 6: GNSO Council Standing Committee on ICANN Budget & Operating Plan (SCBO) - potential evolution
- 8/Item 7: PDP Improvements - Confirm next steps, to review all recommendations in detail during a dedicated call/ webinar
Records of 21 September 2022 Meeting at ICANN75
21 September 2022 (Part 1) | 21 September 2022 (Part 2) |
---|---|
22-09 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #8 (AUG 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #8 of 2022 held on 25 Aug 2022
GNSO Council Meeting #8 of 2022 held on 25 Aug 2022
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Initiation of the GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Council Commitments Document
- Item 6. COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Preparation for Joint Meetings at ICANN75
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - PDP Improvements Tracker - Review of Format
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Revised Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) Policy Status Report (PSR)
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Approval of the 2022 Customer Standing Committee (CSC) Slate, the full membership of which must be approved by the GNSO Council, in accordance with Section 17.2 (d) of the ICANN Bylaw and per the CSC Charter. The ALAC Liaison nominated for the term 2021-2023 is Holly Raiche.
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Initiation of the GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support
- In the course of Council's consideration of the ICANN Org SubPro ODP Team's work in February 2022 - and although specifically about the topic of Applicant Support at that point - broader procedural concerns arose about whether the level of substantive work receommended by SubPro to be conducted by an IRT, would be beyond the commonly understood scope of the IRT.
- Council agreed to explore finding avenues to complete that level of substantive work in advance of the expected IRT that would be convened upon ICANN Board adoption of the SubPro Outputs. The potential model to address this work is the GNSO Guidance Process. ICANN org staff worked with Jeff Neuman and Council leadership to prepare a draft GGP Initiation request, which was shared on Council list on 4 May 2022.
- The potential GGP was discussed further during the Council’s June meeting, with general agreement it should be limited to the singular topic of Applicant Support. There was however discussion that additional topics should be able to be added to the existing GGP, at the discretion of the Council.
- The updated GGP, with Applicant Support as the only topic, was shared with the Council on 13 July 2022.
- The vote was deferred and after additional discussion, the Council agreed that more time was needed to refine the Initiation Request, especially the membership structure; the overall sentiment seemed to be that membership structure needed to be reduced both in terms of complexity and number of members. A new version that seeks to address these concerns was circulated on 12 August 2022. In brief, this new version proposes:
- A (smaller) Working Group employing a “Representative + Observers” model, to conduct and conclude its work, and oversight activities, in an efficient/effective manner while allowing for inclusive community participation. GNSO Council retains oversight, as with any GNSO WG.
- Each AC/SG, ASO and ccNSO may appoint 1 Member to the WG, who are expected to represent the view of their appointing organization and may be called on to provide the official position of their appointing organization and will be responsible for participating in GGP consensus calls. Appointing organizations may replace their Member at their discretion.
- Members must either possess a level of expertise in previous deliberations and/or knowledge that may have been lacking during those initial deliberations.
- The WG has the flexibility/discretion to rely on Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in specific fields to aid in deliberations for certain tasks, but these SMEs will not be considered as Members of the WG.
- The GNSO Liaison to the ODP may serve as an non-voting member of the WG to advise on issues discussed within the SubPro PDP.
- Council will discuss and vote on this new proposed version of the GGP on Applicant Support, which to be carried requires a Voting threshold of an affirmative vote of more than one-third (1/3) of each House or more than two-thirds (2/3) of one House)
-
-
- The resolved portion of the motion to be voted on reads,
-
1. The GNSO Council approves the GNSO Guidance Process Initiation Request and initiates the GGP.
2. The GNSO Council directs staff to:
a. communicate the results of this motion to the GNSO SG/Cs as well as ICANN SO/ACs and invite them to identify Members for the Steering Group following the Steering Group composition described in the initiation request;
b. communicate the results of this motion to the ICANN Org GDS Team and invite them to identify at least one (1) staff liaison for the Steering Group; and
c. launch a call for expressions of interest seeking interested candidates to Chair the Steering Group.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor initiation of the request for the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP), and to ensure role for ALAC/At-Large in resulting process.
See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
- Item 6. COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Preparation for Joint Meetings at ICANN75
- The GNSO Council is scheduled to meet with the ICANN Board, the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), and the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) during the course of ICANN75. Council is to review the topics proposed by each of these groups, as follows:
- Board: “What collaborative actions should the Community, Board and Org be undertaking to further progress achieving our strategic priorities?”
- ALAC: (1) The GNSO Council Small Team on DNS Abuse's work; and (2) The terms of reference for the proposed pilot Holistic Review, being a recommendation of the ATRT3.
- GAC: (1) SSAD Light; (2) Subsequent Rounds of New gTLDs; (3) DNS Abuse; (4) Accuracy.
- The GNSO Council is scheduled to meet with the ICANN Board, the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), and the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) during the course of ICANN75. Council is to review the topics proposed by each of these groups, as follows:
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To confirm/amend proposed topics for joint meeting with ALAC.
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Revised Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) Policy Status Report (PSR)
- Council had, in January 2021, approved the recommendations in the Phase 1 Final Report of the GNSO PDP on RPMs (which was limited to the review of the URS which is applicable only to new gTLDs).o
- Subsequently and more recently, Council has discussed the need to review the RPMs charter in advance of launching Phase 2 of the PDP, which is focused on the UDRP. This led Council to request a Policy Status Report (PSR) to help inform next steps.
- ICANN org’s Global Domains & Strategy (GDS) team has since completed the draft PSR and published it for public comment on 3 March 2022. The revised PSR (redline) was shared with the Council on 18 July.
- Council will be briefed by GDS on updates made based on public comments received.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor and report to ALAC as needed.
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.1 – Update on action items related to the Policy Status Report (PSR) for the Expired Domain Deletion Policy and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy
- 9.3 – Closed Generics facilitated dialogue - Proposed approach for identifying the GNSO members
Records of 25 Aug 2022 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 25 Aug 2022 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Aug 2022 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Aug 2022 Meeting Records.
1. GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) on Applicant Support
- GNSO Council resolved unanimously to initiate the GGP using a "Representative + Observers" WG model. Each SG/C/AC will be invited to nominate their respective single representative. The GGP will start its work on the Applicant Support Program first, with the possibility of adding down the line, such topics which were identified in the SubPro Outputs as requiring further work.
- The "Representative + Observers" WG model was selected because it allows participation from beyond GNSO's SG/C to include ACs (in particular, ALAC and GAC who have significant interest in the topic). The limitation of one representative per group is to keep the WG not only representative but sufficiently small to perform efficiently.
- An invitation will be issued to all SG/C/ACs soon to nominate their respective representatives who should meet given criteria. A call for EOI to chair the WG will also be made separately.
2. Preparation for ALAC-GNSO Joint Meeting at ICANN75
- Two topics had been earlier proposed: (1) The works of the Council's Small Team on DNS Abuse; and (2) Pilot Holistic Review Terms of Reference.
- I was subsequently requested to withdraw Topic (2) which I did and proposed that it be replaced with a brief open discussion on observations to the SubPro ODP/ODA.
- GNSO Councilors seem to prefer that the new Topic 2 be generalized on the ODP concept as opposed to specifically on the SubPro ODP/ODA.
3. Closed Generics Dialogue between GAC-GNSO-ALAC
- We were informed that this Dialogue will likely not commence during ICANN 75.
22-08 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #7 (JUL 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #7 of 2022 held on 21 Jul 2022
GNSO Council Meeting #7 of 2022 held on 21 Jul 2022
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Initiation of the GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Policy Status Report for the Expired Domain Deletion Policy and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy - Next Steps
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - PDP Improvements Tracker - Review of Format
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Council Commitments Document
- Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Confirmation of the Recommendations Report to the ICANN Board regarding adoption of recommendations 1-5 contained in the Final Report from the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protections for IGOs.
- The resolved portion of the motion to be voted on reads, "The GNSO Council approves the Recommendations Report and instructs the GNSO Secretariat to transmit the report to the ICANN Board and communicate the outcomes from the GNSO Council’s decisions as appropriate."
- Confirmation of the Recommendations Report to the ICANN Board regarding adoption of recommendations 1-5 contained in the Final Report from the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protections for IGOs.
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Initiation of the GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support
- In the course of Council's consideration of the ICANN Org SubPro ODP Team's work in February 2022 - and although specifically about the topic of Applicant Support at that point - broader procedural concerns arose about whether the level of substantive work receommended by SubPro to be conducted by an IRT, would be beyond the commonly understood scope of the IRT.
- Council agreed to explore finding avenues to complete that level of substantive work in advance of the expected IRT that would be convened upon ICANN Board adoption of the SubPro Outputs. The potential model to address this work is the GNSO Guidance Process. ICANN org staff worked with Jeff Neuman and Council leadership to prepare a draft GGP Initiation request, which was shared on Council list on 4 May 2022.
- The potential GGP was discussed further during the Council’s June meeting, with general agreement it should be limited to the singular topic of Applicant Support. There was however discussion that additional topics should be able to be added to the existing GGP, at the discretion of the Council.
- The updated GGP, with Applicant Support as the only topic, was shared with the Council on 13 July 2022.
- Council to discuss and vote on the initiation of the GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support, which to be carried requires a Voting threshold of an affirmative vote of more than one-third (1/3) of each House or more than two-thirds (2/3) of one House)
-
-
- The resolved portion of the motion to be voted on reads,
-
1. The GNSO Council approves the GNSO Guidance Process Initiation Request and initiates the GGP.
2. The GNSO Council directs staff to:
a. communicate the results of this motion to the GNSO SG/Cs as well as ICANN SO/ACs and invite them to identify Members for the Steering Group following the Steering Group composition described in the initiation request;
b. communicate the results of this motion to the ICANN Org GDS Team and invite them to identify at least one (1) staff liaison for the Steering Group; and
c. launch a call for expressions of interest seeking interested candidates to Chair the Steering Group.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To monitor initiation of the request for the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP), and to ensure role for ALAC/At-Large in resulting process.
See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Policy Status Report for the Expired Domain Deletion Policy and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy - Next Steps
- During the Council’s meeting in November 2020, it voted to approve a deferral for the request of a Policy Status Report (PSR) for the Expired Domain Deletion Policy (EDDP) and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP). The EDDP defines a uniform delete practice that registrars must follow at the time of domain name expiry, as well as specific requirements for registrar handling of expired names that are subject to a UDRP dispute. The ERRP sets minimum renewal notification requirements for registrars before and after domain names expire, as well as certain requirements for renewal and restoration of expired domain names. In taking this action, the Council was careful to note that it recognized the importance of the PSR for these two expiration related Consensus Policies, but did not see the PSR as urgent at that time. After approximately 1.5 years, the potential PSR has again risen to the 0-1 month range of the Action Decision Radar.
- Council must consider again whether a PSR is necessary and if it is timely to request a PSR from ICANN org’s Global Domains and Strategy (GDS) function. Council could consider interim steps prior to determining whether a full PSR is needed, such as reviewing ICANN Compliance data and/or requesting an update on expiration related complaints from ICANN Compliance, to help determine if there are known issues with either of the two policies.
- Council to discuss appropriate next steps for the potential PSR for the EDDP and ERRP.
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To review for direct relevant to end-user (registrants), and to inform if need arises for a role for ALAC/At-Large in any resulting process.
- To review for direct relevant to end-user (registrants), and to inform if need arises for a role for ALAC/At-Large in any resulting process.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - PDP Improvements Tracker - Review of Format
- During the ICANN73 wrap up, the Council discussed a number of parallel conversations that have emerged since implementing PDP 3.0, identifying other aspects of the PDP where improvements could be considered. Council discussed the discussion paper and agreed that to better understand the concept, it would be helpful to have an example of what the tracker may look like. A draft of the PDP Improvements Tracker was prepared and discussed during the Council’s June meeting. While substantive review of the items in the tracker will take place in the near future, this agenda item is to help ensure that the format of the tracker meets the needs of the Council; a series of six questions are included in the PDP Improvements Tracker for consideration by the Council, to help make that determination.
- Council will continue its review of the proposed format of the GNSO PDP Improvements tracker
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To review for direct relevant to At-Large, and to inform if need arises for a role for ALAC/At-Large in any resulting process. Answer: No.
- Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 8.1 – Last call for input on the Council’s response to SubPro Question Set #4
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- Participated in the Council Small Team on SubPro Questions Set #4
See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
-
- 8.2 – ICANN75 Planning
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To establish if there is a need for an ALAC-GNSO Bilateral Meeting at ICANN75
Records of 21 Jul 2022 Meeting
- Audio Recording
- Zoom Recording (includes chat and visual and rough transcript. To access the rough transcript, select the Audio Transcript tab)
- Zoom Chat
- Transcript
- Minutes
Special Summary Report of 21 Jul 2022 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Jul 2022 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Jul 2022 Meeting Records.
1. GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) on Applicant Support
- Council discussed the draft GGP Initiation Request to establish a GGP to start with Applicant Support using a Steering Committee (of a representative+observer model) with ultimate oversight by Council, given that it received a proposed amendment to the said GPP from Kurt Pritz (RySG), primarily regarding the composition of the Steering Committee.
- Discussion revealed some support for a smaller Steering Committee (or Small Team) which does not require strict representation from GNSO SGs/Cs but may also invite participation from beyond GNSO (ALAC and GAC who have significant interest in the topic) and still call upon any required expertise referred to in the SubPro Outputs.
- Council deferred voting on the submitted motion to its Aug meeting to allow opportunity to rework the GPP Initiation Request to take into account points from the discussion.
2. Policy Status Report for the Expired Domain Deletion Policy and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy
- Council agree to pursue a light approach to a request for the Policy Status Report (PSR) for the Expired Domain Deletion Policy (EDDP) and the Expired Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP), by first requesting for ICANN Compliance data and/or requesting an update on expiration related complaints from ICANN Compliance, and feedback from the RrSG on the EDDP and ERRP, to help determine if there are known issues with either of the two policies.
- These 2 policies affect registrants, so, further understanding is needed on whether At-Large's involvement is needed and if so, in what form.
3. SubPro ODP
- Council received the ICANN org SubPro ODP Team's question set #5
22-07 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #6 (AT ICANN 74, JUN 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #6 of 2022 held on 15 and 16 Jun 2022 during ICANN 74
GNSO Council Meeting #6 of 2022 held on 15 and 16 Jun 2022 during ICANN 74
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda - None
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Final Report and Recommendations From the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protections for IGOs
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Impact of SSAD Light on Other Work
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro GGP
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro ODP Update
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Closed Generics Small Team
- Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO PDP Improvements - Tracking and Coordination Discussion Paper
- Item 10: Any other business
Under Council Wrap-up
- Item 1: Council commitments document
- Item 2/9: Next steps on GNSO PDP Improvements Tracker
- Item 3: Thomas Rickart’s AOB Item - implementation preview during the PDP WG work (prior to the consensus call)
- Item 4: GAC Communique - GNSO response
- Item 5: Impressions from the hybrid ICANN74 meeting
- Item 6: AOB
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Final Report and Recommendations From the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protections for IGOs
- Council to vote on a motion to approve the recommendations in the Final Report
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Impact of SSAD Light on Other Work
- Council will discuss next steps for the SSAD Light Design Concept post receiving additional information from ICANN Org that indicates that the impact to the SubPro ODP, ZDS 3.0 and the EBERO Program and DEA improvements projects/initiatives would not be equal. Specifically, CZDS 3.0 and the EBERO Program and DEA improvements would be paused while the SubPro ODP would be delayed but not paused. Further information is expected to better understand the impact, including whether the delays would mean missing key milestones.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro GGP
- Council will consider the potential GGP Initiation Request and discuss next steps
Action by ALAC Liaison
-
- To review in due course an initiation of the request for the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP), and to ensure role for ALAC/At-Large in resulting process.
See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro ODP Update
- Council will receive an update from the liaison and discuss Question Set #4
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Closed Generics Small Team
- By way of background,
- On 6 March 2022, the ICANN Board sent a letter to both the GNSO and the GAC, inviting them to “explore a mutually agreeable way forward, for which the Board could facilitate a dialogue to formulate a workable framework to identify and handle closed generic applications for the immediate next round of new gTLDs.” Shortly thereafter, and as requested by the Board, ICANN org prepared a draft Framing Paper to support the potential collaboration between the GNSO and the GAC.
- The Council established a small team to consider both the letter and framework, to determine next steps. To support this work, Council leadership and staff developed an assignment form, which helps make clear the narrow ask of the small team (i.e., whether the GNSO Council is open to working with the GAC to seek to develop a framework on closed generics).
- On 27 April 2022, the Council responded to the Board affirmatively, that it is willing to pursue next steps. Subsequently, the Council tasked the small team with preparing for the next step, of mutually agreeing with the GAC on the parameters, processes, and procedures for the facilitated dialogue.
- On 19 May 2022, Council received a reply from the Board, inter alia encouraging GAC and Council to confer on the question of ALAC's participation in the consultative process.
- The small team has provided its recommendations to the Council on 11 June 2022.
- Council will discuss the recommendations of the small team
- By way of background,
Action by ALAC Liaison
- To monitor developments and to ensure role for ALAC/At-Large in resulting process.
See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
- Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO PDP Improvements - Tracking and Coordination Discussion Paper
- Council had discussed the discussion paper and agreed that to better understand the concept, it would be helpful to have an example of what the tracker may look like. Council will receive a preview of the potential GNSO PDP Improvements tracker.
Records of 15 and 16 June 2022 Meetings at ICANN72
15 June 2022 | 16 June 2022 (Council Wrap-up) |
---|---|
|
Special Summary Report of 15 Jun 2022 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Jun 2022 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Jun 2022 Meeting Records.
1. EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protection for IGOs Final Report
- Council resolved unanimously to approve all 5 recommendations in the Final Report.
2. SubPro ODP
- Council to set up a drafting team to assist the GNSO Council’s liaison to the ODP with preparing answers to the ICANN org SubPro ODP Team's question set #4 and SubPro Topic Assumptions. Paul McGrady and Justine Chew have volunteered for the drafting team.
3. GNSO Guidance Process for Subsequent Procedures (SubPro GGP)
- Council will proceed with a motion in its Jul meeting to establish a GGP to work just on Applicant Support through a Steering Committee (of a representative+observer model) with ultimate oversight by Council. The scope for this GGP on Applicant Support will reflect what is currently set out in the draft SubPro GGP Initiation Request.
4. GNSO-GAC Dialogue on Closed Generics
- Council has agreed to relay its recommendations to the Board and GAC as the next step leading to the start of the GAC-GNSO Dialogue, with ALAC participation as a third party, through 1 ALAC-selected member (+ 1 alternate).
22-06 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #5 OF 2022 (MAY 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #5 of 2022 held on 19 May 2022
GNSO Council Meeting #5 of 2022 held on 19 May 2022
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda - None
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Adoption of the Revised Charter for the Standing Selection Committee
- Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - Final Report and Recommendations From the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protections for IGOs
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO PDP Improvements - Tracking and Coordination Discussion Paper
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Impact of SSAD Light on Other Work
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro ODP Update
- Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro GGP
- Item 10: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team Update
- Item 11: Any other business
- 11.2 SOAC Chairs Roundtable Update
- 11.3 ICANN74 Planning
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - Final Report and Recommendations From the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protections for IGOs
- Council will consider and vote on the motion (put by GNSO Council liaison to the EPDP, John McElwaine) to adopt the EPDP Team’s Final Report of 4 April 2022.
- Council voting threshold: Supermajority (per GNSO Operating Procedures)
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO PDP Improvements - Tracking and Coordination Discussion Paper
- Council will discuss a staff support team-developed discussion paper aimed at improving PDP tracking and coordination, which;
- provides an overview of the different initiatives and projects,
- suggests a possible approach for managing these different initiatives by focusing on 1) which elements could be implemented with relatively minimal effort, 2) which elements could be implemented with some effort, 3) which elements need careful planning and consideration before these can be implemented.
- Council will discuss a staff support team-developed discussion paper aimed at improving PDP tracking and coordination, which;
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Impact of SSAD Light on Other Work
- Council had met with the ICANN Board on 8 March during ICANN73, just prior to the March Council meeting and discussed the ODA and the efforts of the Council small team set up to review the ODA in detail.
- The small team delivered its preliminary report to Council on 4 April 2022.
As part of the small team’s consultations with ICANN org, the org provided an SSAD Light Design Concept overview, guided by the proof of concept contained in the preliminary report. The paper anticipates a six week effort to produce the SSAD Light Design Concept paper. Notably, the resources needed to produce that document are responsible for other areas of work and developing the document will delay the timelines for each of the following projects/initiatives by 1.5 months:
- SubPro ODP
- CZDS 3.0
- EBERO Program and DEA improvements
- While ICANN org resources are directed by the ICANN Board, Council may want to provide input to the Board if there are concerns about the impact to these projects.
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro ODP Update
- Council will receive an update from the liaison and discuss next steps.
- Question set #4 and SubPro Topic Assumptions was shared with Council by its liaison to the ODP just prior to this meeting.
- Question set #3 had been informed to Council on 11 April 2022.
- Item 9: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - SubPro GGP
- The ICANN org SubPro ODP team had shared question set #2 with Council’s liaison to the ODP on 11 February 2022, While question set #2 was specifically about the topic of Applicant Support, it introduced broader procedural concerns, about whether the level of substantive work recommended by SubPro to be conducted by an IRT, would be beyond the commonly understood scope of the IRT.
- Council agreed that it should explore finding avenues to complete that level of substantive work in advance of the expected IRT that would be convened upon ICANN Board adoption of the SubPro Outputs. The potential model to address this work is the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP).
- Council will discuss the draft GGP Initiation Request and discuss next steps.
Action by ALAC Liaison
- To review in due course an initiation of the request for the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP), and to ensure role for ALAC/At-Large in resulting process.
See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
- Item 10: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team Update
- Council will receive an update on the progress of the Scoping Team.
- Scoping Team Chair - Michael Palage has submitted a Project Change Request (PCR) for Council's consideration; the PCR seeks to extend the timeline of the Scoping Team's work in order to deliver the write up for assignments #1 and #2 at the latest shortly after ICANN74. The write up for assignments #1 and #2 may include recommendations for further work to be undertaken to gather data to help inform the group’s deliberations on assignments #3 and #4. This work is expected to focus on data gathering that does not involve access to registration data as further clarity on that aspect is being pursued separately. If the Council supports these recommendations, this work could continue.
- Item 11: Any other business
- 11.2 SOAC Chairs Roundtable Update
- 11.3 ICANN74 Planning
Records of 19 May 2022 Meeting
- Audio Recording
- Zoom Recording (includes chat and visual and rough transcript. To access the rough transcript, select the Audio Transcript tab)
- Zoom Chat
- Transcript
- Minutes
Special Summary Report of 19 May 2022 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council May 2022 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council May 2022 Meeting Records.
1. EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protection for IGOs Final Report
- Council was meant to consider and vote on a motion to approve the recommendations in the Final Report but eventually resolved to defer the vote to Council's June 2022 meeting to allow the RrSG time for further consideration prior to the vote.
NB. Yrjo Lansipuro and I had presented on the substance of the Final Report to CPWG on 23 Mar, and Yrjo has provided updates re its consensus designation thereafter.
2. Impact of SSAD Light on other work
- Council noted that ICANN org resources were likely being directed by the ICANN Board towards designing SSAD Light, and considered concerns on the impact of this on other ongoing work, including the Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Phase.
- Council discussed the concerns but did not arrive at a clear conclusion; Council opined that the Board would not do anything until ICANN 74 at the earliest.
3. SubPro ODP
- The ICANN org SubPro ODP team had shared question set #4 and SubPro Topic Assumptions with Council’s liaison to the ODP who notified Council of the same on 19 May 2022 just before Councils' meet. So, Council is to consider this further through its usual process.
4. GNSO Guidance Process for Subsequent Procedures (SubPro GGP)
- GNSO support staff had prepared a draft SubPro GPP Initiation Request for Council's consideration. If approved, it would be the first GPP ever. Key points to note for the proposed GGP:
- A GGP does not require a separate charter. Things like scope, working mechanism, and method of operation should all be contained in the initiation request.
- The draft contains a concept of Group 1 versus Group 2 topics. Group 1 is where the SubPro Final Report specifically called out substantive work that it envisioned would be completed during the Implementation Review Team phase. Group 2 will be topics that are identified by the ODP Team, where they are able to determine that additional guidance is needed to support the presumed eventual implementation. The specifics for Group 2 are currently to be determined, as we await input from the ODP Team.
- Relevant Outputs from the SubPro Final Report are reproduced, with Tasks identified or TBD. These tasks are envisioned as the specific scope of work for the GGP. Per the previous bullet, the tasks for Group 2 are still TBD.
- The suggested working model for this group is proposed as a representative steering group, which can do the work itself, but it can also delegate the work to sub-teams where it is evident that the work is best performed by those with specific expertise in a certain field.
- Council did not come to a decision on the draft initiation request.
5. Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team
- Michael Palage, Chair of this Scoping Team reported that it was informed that the Board had requested ICANN org to submit a list of questions to the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) to gain some insight on 4 different scenarios and for org to do a data privacy impact assessment in connection with one of those scenarios. This was to to better prepare ICANN for onward engagement with the EDPB. All stakeholders in the Scoping Team were to consult their groups on the scenario(s).
- Michael had also submitted a Project Change Request (PCR) for Council's consideration; the PCR sought to:
- extend the timeline of the Scoping Team's work in order to deliver the write up for assignments #1 and #2 at the latest shortly after ICANN74. The write up for assignments #1 and #2 may include recommendations for further work to be undertaken to gather data to help inform the group’s deliberations on assignments #3 and #4. This work is expected to focus on data gathering that does not involve access to registration data as further clarity on that aspect is being pursued separately.
- No objection was raised to the PCR.
6. ICANN74 planning
- There will not be an ALAC-GNSO Council bilateral session at ICANN74; due to brevity in length of ICANN74 and associated challenges of insufficient resources (suitable time, room and staff support). Instead, a meeting to progress any intersessional work between the 2 groups may be called if needed.
22-05 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #4 OF 2022 (APR 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #4 of 2022 held on 14 Apr 2022
GNSO Council Meeting #4 of 2022 held on 14 Apr 2022
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda - None
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Small Team Reviewing the System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) Operational Design Assessment Preliminary Draft Report
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Overview of the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protection for IGOs Final Report
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS Abuse Small Team Update
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Closed Generics Small Team Update
- Item 8: Any other business
- 8.1: ICANN74 update and planning
- 8.2: Council expertise survey reminder
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Small Team Reviewing the System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) Operational Design Assessment Preliminary Draft Report
- The small team delivered its preliminary report to Council on 4 April 2022.
- Council will discuss the small team’s preliminary report and discuss next steps, including providing an update to the ICANN Board on the status of work and expected timing
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Overview of the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protection for IGOs Final Report
- This EPDP Team reached full consensus on its five recommendations and delivered its Final Report on 4 April 2022
Council will receive an overview of the five recommendations contained in the EPDP Team’s Final Report. Presentation
While the Council will not be voting on the Final Report during this meeting, a draft motion was also shared on 4 April 2022, which continues a recent practice of the Council reviewing and discussing PDP/EPDP final reports in detail prior to voting on them, generally at the subsequent meeting.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS Abuse Small Team Update
Council sent outreach letters to the ALAC, GAC, SSAC, and the DNS Abuse Institute, with input due on 4 April 2022 (after an extension was granted).
The small team has worked to more precisely understand its work, developing and discussing a draft work plan. The work is broken into several phases, starting with the aforementioned outreach to the community, understanding the current landscape of DNS abuse, considering which elements of DNS abuse appear inadequately mitigated AND are in scope for GNSO policy making (if any), then making recommendations on next steps to the Council.
The small team will provide an update on its efforts and explain expected next steps.
Action by ALAC Liaison
- To ensure ALAC input is understood by DNS Abuse Small Team.
See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Closed Generics Small Team Update
- On 6 March 2022, the ICANN Board sent a letter to both the GNSO and the GAC, inviting them to “explore a mutually agreeable way forward, for which the Board could facilitate a dialogue to formulate a workable framework to identify and handle closed generic applications for the immediate next round of new gTLDs.” ICANN org's draft Framing Paper to support the potential collaboration between the GNSO and the GAC followed so after.
- Council established a small team to consider both the letter and framework, to determine next steps, relying on an assignment form to help make clear the narrow ask of the small team (i.e., whether the GNSO Council is open to working with the GAC to seek to develop a framework on closed generics). All of the more substantive steps, both to determine the parameters and modalities for a potential GNSO/GAC joint group, as well as seeking to establish a framework for closed generics, are out of scope for this small team.
- Council will received an update on the small team's work.
Action by ALAC Liaison
- To monitor developments and to ensure role for ALAC/At-Large in resulting process.
See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
Records of 14 Apr 2022 Meeting
- Audio Recording
- Zoom Recording (includes chat and visual and rough transcript. To access the rough transcript, select the Audio Transcript tab)
- Zoom Chat
- Transcript
- Minutes
Special Summary Report of 14 Apr 2022 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. For some of the issues, you can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Apr 2022 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Apr 2022 Meeting Records.
1. SSAD ODA
- Council SSAD ODA small team lead Sebastien Ducos spoke to the small team's preliminary report and essentially asked Council for support to provide ICANN Board with an update (in response to concerns as to the SSAD's financial sustainability) and to pursue further work on the recommended "proof of concept" referred to in the said report.
NB. Alan Greenberg has presented on the preliminary report to CPWG on 6 Apr.
2. EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protection for IGOs Final Report
- Council received a presentation of the 5 recommendations from this EPDP's Chair, Chris Disspain, which he noted as having had full consensus within the EPDP (ALAC included). As per normal practice, Council will only vote on a motion to the recommendations at Council's May 2022 meeting (i.e. the meeting following which a motion on a final report is submitted).
NB. Yrjo Lansipuro and I had presented on the substance of the Final Report to CPWG on 23 Mar, and Yrjo has provided updates re its consensus designation thereafter.
3. DNS Abuse
- Council DNS Abuse small team co-lead Mark Datysgeld spoke to the team's draft work plan comprising several phases, starting with outreach to the community, to understand the current landscape of DNS abuse, considering which elements of DNS abuse appear inadequately mitigated AND are in scope for GNSO policy making (if any), and ultimately to make recommendations on next steps to the Council.
- Small team has received initial inputs from ALAC, GAC, SSAC and DNSAI; followed by BC, and is currently awaiting submissions from other SG/Cs.
NB. In other words, there is nowhere near any concrete output yet.
4. Closed Generics
- To be clear, the GNSO Council Small Team on Closed Generics wasn't charged with substantive content-specific tasks, but instead it had only been charged with recommending whether GNSO should accept the Board's invitation to dialogue with the GAC. Also, there were remarks on the unrepresentative nature of the small team even though it was open to any councilor to volunteer for.
- The small team has had one meeting so far, which was spent attempting to resolve NCSG's objection to the Board-proposed GNSO-GAC Dialogue mechanism based on several grounds, inter alia -
- unconventional and not provided for within GNSO processes or the ICANN Bylaws,
- sets precedent for opening settled PDP for re-litigation,
- gives GAC undue influence over Closed Generics (or any matter under the remit of GNSO per the Bylaws).
- Council discussed NCSG's objection and informally resolved to ask the small team to continue its work, on the assumption that Council will accept the Board's invitation to dialogue with GAC and specifically, in particular on how Council should approach the dialogue.
NB. Do note that (a) GAC has accepted the Board's invitation to dialogue with GNSO and Manal's letter to Maarten of 10 Mar 2022 clearly welcomed ALAC's participation in a consultation process on Closed Generics; (b) Philippe had also suggested that the small team may wish to consider the feasibility of ALAC's participation in the dialogue.
5. ICANN74 planning
- I raised the question whether there might be an ALAC-GNSO Council bilateral at ICANN74; due to brevity in length of ICANN74 and associated challenges of insufficient resources (suitable time, room and staff support) it is now thought that a meeting between the Leaderships of ALAC and GNSO Council would be a better approach to continue any intersessional work between the 2 groups.
22-04 ALAC-GNSO COUNCIL BILATERAL MEETING AT ICANN 73 (MAR 2022) (go up to Directory)
ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Session during ICANN73 on 9 Mar 2022
ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Session during ICANN73 on 9 Mar 2022
The ALAC and the GNSO resumes the practice of having a bilateral session during ICANN meetings and which now involves the full GNSO Council. At ICANN73, the conversation will commence on four pre-identified topics and which are expected to progress into intersessional exchanges and/or bilateral session at future ICANN meetings.
Agenda:
- Introduction and housekeeping - Staff (2 min)
- Welcome - Maureen Hilyard, Philippe Fouquart (1 min)
- Overview of session - Justine Chew (2 min)
- Conversation Topics
- System for Standardized Access/Disclosure Operational Design Assessment (SSAD ODA) (5 min intervention by Sebastien Ducos)
- Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Phase (SubPro ODP) (10 min intervention by Jeff Neuman)
- DNS Abuse Mitigation (5 min intervention by Mark Datysgeld & Paul McGrady)
- Priorities for 2022
- GNSO priorities - Philippe Fouquart, Sebastien Ducos & Tomslin Samme-Nlar (10 min intervention)
- ALAC/At-Large approach to member/volunteer engagement and expectations - Cheryl Langdon-Orr, Alan Greenberg & Roberto Gaetano (10 min intervention)
- Discussion (15 min)
- Closing remarks - Justine Chew
For notes on highlighted items click on SUMMARY tab above
Records of Bilateral Session at ICANN73 on 9 Mar 2022
ALAC-GNSO Council Bilateral Session during ICANN73 on 9 Mar 2022
- Topic 1 (4a): System for Standardized Access/Disclosure Operational Design Assessment (SSAD ODA)
- ALAC: How does Council intend to proceed with its recommendations on the SSAD given the concerns raised by the ICANN Board, which also reflect concerns contained in the ALAC's Statement of 24 Aug 2020?
- GNSO Council SSAD ODA Small Team:
- Noted that community has raised that the SSAD ODA does not provide all the answers in considering SSAD recommendations for implementation.
- SSAD is a big project, there are questions on the financial sustainability, usage, etc. Possibility of a pilot in order to test a few hypotheses.
- Still early days for GNSO and small team to review. Small team will go back to the GNSO Council and then to the Board.
- ALAC: How does Council intend to proceed with its recommendations on the SSAD given the concerns raised by the ICANN Board, which also reflect concerns contained in the ALAC's Statement of 24 Aug 2020?
- Topic 2 (4b): Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Phase (SubPro ODP)
- ALAC: Could Council provide an update on the SubPro ODP process, including questions being discussed with the ICANN Org SubPro ODP Team? What is Council doing within the ODP process to address known issues for the next round?
- GNSO Council Liaison to SubPro ODP:
- ICANN Org is responsible for implementation of SubPro Outputs (i.e. affirmations, recommendations, implementation guidance). ICANN Org SubPro ODP team is led by the Global Domains and Strategy department.
- Noted that two sets of questions have been received from SubPro ODP team
- GNSO submitted answers to the first set and are working through the second set. GNSO Council discussed set #2 questions over two meetings: recognition that there is much work to be done still regardless of whether the work is classified as policy or implementation. GNSO Council is exploring if some of the work can be done now.
- Topic 3 (4c): DNS Abuse Mitigation
- ALAC: Has Council arrived at any next steps regarding DNS Abuse? How would Council take on board inputs/efforts from other parts of the ICANN Community on such next steps? Would Council be able to share an indication of its plan and timeline for such next steps?
- GNSO Council DNS Abuse Small Team:
- GNSO council has sent outreach forms to the community (including ALAC). with responses expected by end of March.
- No agreement reached yet on definition(s) of DNS Abuse; looking for community input to arrive at aspects that can be addressed by policy/policy development so that a more complete policy action can be scoped towards something attainable.
- Will regroup at the end of March, they will have a meeting.
- ALAC: Has Council arrived at any next steps regarding DNS Abuse? How would Council take on board inputs/efforts from other parts of the ICANN Community on such next steps? Would Council be able to share an indication of its plan and timeline for such next steps?
- Topic 4 (4d): Priorities for 2022
- i. GNSO: SSAD, SubPro, DNS Abuse, IDNs, IGO, and Scoping Team on Data Accuracy
- ii. ALAC: Member Engagement - implementation of recommendations from (a) the ALS Mobilization Working Party Final Report, and (b) the Unaffiliated Individual Members Mobilization Working Party Final Report
22-03 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #3 OF 2022 (AT ICANN 73, MAR 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #3 of 2022 held on 9 Mar 2022 during ICANN73
GNSO Council Meeting #3 of 2022 held on 9 Mar 2022 during ICANN73, over 2 parts, and including a Council Wrap-up Session on 10 Mar 2022
Full Agenda | Motions | Council Wrap-up Agenda
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Nominating Committee Outreach Subcommittee Outreach
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Small Team Reviewing the System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) Operational Design Assessment / Debrief From Meeting With the ICANN Board
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the SubPro ODP / Debrief From Meeting With the ICANN Board
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS Abuse Small Team
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Dialogue With ICANN’s Global Domains and Strategy (GDS) Department
- Item 9: Any other business
- Question - "How does ICANN ensure the openness (including accessibility) of the Internet in conflict situations and how does ICANN manage the impact on the security and stability of the Internet?"
Council Wrap-up
- Item 1: Welcome
- Item 2 / 8: PDP 3.1/PDP 4.0: improving engagement with the Board; improving engagement with GDS; modifying Consensus Policies - pulling the threads together
- Item 3: Additional SubPro Work
- Item 4 / 9: Continuation - Question - "How does ICANN ensure the openness (including accessibility) of the Internet in conflict situations and how does ICANN manage the impact on the security and stability of the Internet?"
- Item 5: UDRP Policy Status Report – is Council public comment needed?
- Item 6: AOB
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Reappointment of Becky Burr to seat 13 on the ICANN Board. The CPH has reappointed Becky Burr for Seat 13 on the ICANN Board of Directors. This agenda item is intended to acknowledge the selection and confirm that the notification process as outlined in Section 7.25 of the ICANN Bylaws will be completed subsequently.
- Motion to extend the GNSO Framework for Continuous Improvement Pilot Project by adding implementation of specific WS2 items.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Small Team Reviewing the System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) Operational Design Assessment / Debrief From Meeting With the ICANN Board
- Council will receive an update on the status of the small team set up to review the ODA in detail, focusing on:
- Whether the ODA has correctly interpreted the intent of the SSAD recommendations in the proposed implementation;
- Whether the ODA has overlooked any key aspects of the SSAD recommendations that should be factored in by the ICANN Board when it considers the recommendations;
- Its view on the concerns identified by the ICANN Board and potential options that could be considered, either in the form of changes to the proposed implementation or the policy recommendations themselves, to address these concerns(note, these are expected to be high level suggestions at this stage);
- Any other aspects that help inform the Council’s deliberations and consultation with the ICANN Board.
- Council will also hold a debrief from the 08 March meeting with the ICANN Board.
- Council will receive an update on the status of the small team set up to review the ODA in detail, focusing on:
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the SubPro ODP / Debrief From Meeting With the ICANN Board
- Council will receive an update from the liaison, as well as hold a debrief from the meeting with the ICANN Board
- Potential GNSO-GAC dialogue on way forward for Closed Generics suggested to be kept separate to Additional SubPro Work.
- Council will receive an update from the liaison, as well as hold a debrief from the meeting with the ICANN Board
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - DNS Abuse Small Team
- Council will receive an update from the small team on its efforts
- Outreach has been made first to ALAC, GAC, SSAC and DNS Abuse Institute to obtain input on what DNS abuse issues are best mitigated via policy development specifically, if any, as a mechanism to help determine the Council’s next steps on DNS abuse.
- Council will receive an update from the small team on its efforts
Action by ALAC Liaison
- To ensure ALAC is notified of outreach by Council / DNS Abuse Small Team.
See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Dialogue With ICANN’s Global Domains and Strategy (GDS) Department
- Council will receive a high-level update on GNSO-related work being performed by GDS, as well as look ahead to work on the horizon, including the impact on resources. The dialogue is also expected to include discussion on how the shared portfolio of work can be executed more effectively and efficiently.
Under Council Wrap-up
- Item 2 / 8: PDP 3.1/PDP 4.0: improving engagement with the Board; improving engagement with GDS; modifying Consensus Policies - pulling the threads together
Action by ALAC Liaison
- To review in due course draft discussion paper prepared by staff to highlight specific areas, and assess for impact to ALAC/At-Large (if any)
See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
- Item 3: Additional SubPro Work
Action by ALAC Liaison
- To review in due course an initiation of the request for the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP), and to ensure role for ALAC/At-Large in resulting process.
See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
Records of 9 and 10 Mar 2022 Meetings at ICANN73
9 Mar 2022 | 10 Mar 2022 Council Wrap-up |
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22-02 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #2 OF 2022 (FEB 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #2 of 2022 held on 17 Feb 2022
GNSO Council Meeting #2 of 2022 held on 17 Feb 2022
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Pilot
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on GNSO Council Implementation of Workstream 2 (WS2)
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - ICANN73 Planning
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps for Strategic Planning Session Action Items
- Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Pilot
- Council will receive an update on the CCOICI and consider any potential next steps Slide deck
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on GNSO Council Implementation of Workstream 2 (WS2)
- Council will receive and discuss an update on the GNSO Council’s Implementation of WS2 by ICANN org staff Slide deck
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - ICANN73 Planning
- With ICANN73 approaching, the GNSO Council will discuss its upcoming meetings, which includes a public Council meeting, a wrap-up meeting, and several bilateral meetings. The Council will first receive a brief update from GNSO Support staff, then proceed to prepare for its discussions with the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), the ICANN Board, and the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC).
- GAC - Anticipated topics are likely to include the Operational Design Phase (ODP) for the System for Systemized Access/Disclosure (SSAD, DNS abuse, and the ODP for New gTLD Subsequent Procedures (SubPro).
- ICANN Board - The GNSO Council will have suggested topic(s) by 17 February, The Board has suggested the following topics:
- What are your key priorities for ICANN work in 2022, how do these priorities help achieve ICANN’s common objectives as expressed in the FY 2021-2025 Strategic Plan, and how do you see Community, Board and org moving forward together on a way to achieve these?
- If any, what suggestions would you have to enhance ICANN’s effectiveness and efficiency with regards to the process of implementation after adoption of a PDP or Review recommendations?
- ALAC - Anticipated topics are the ODP on the SSAD, ODP on SubPro, DNS abuse, and modifying consensus policy. Full list of topics submitted by ALAC
- GAC - Anticipated topics are likely to include the Operational Design Phase (ODP) for the System for Systemized Access/Disclosure (SSAD, DNS abuse, and the ODP for New gTLD Subsequent Procedures (SubPro).
- With ICANN73 approaching, the GNSO Council will discuss its upcoming meetings, which includes a public Council meeting, a wrap-up meeting, and several bilateral meetings. The Council will first receive a brief update from GNSO Support staff, then proceed to prepare for its discussions with the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), the ICANN Board, and the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC).
- Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 8.1 – EPDP Phase 2 small team update
- 8.2 – DNS abuse small team update
- 8.3 – SubPro ODP Update - 14 Feb update. (SubPro ODP Timeline)
- 8.4 - GNSO Chair 2022 Election Timeline
- 8.5 - GNSO council Representative WS2 Community Coordination Group - Olga Cavalli
Records of 17 Feb 2022 Meeting
- Audio Recording
- Zoom Recording (includes chat and visual and rough transcript. To access the rough transcript, select the Audio Transcript tab)
- Zoom Chat
- Transcript
- Resolutions
- Minutes
Special Summary Report of 17 Feb 2022 Meeting to ALT-PLUS
For brevity, I will just highlight a few things here. You can glean a wider perspective from GNSO Council Feb 2022 Matters of Interest and/or from GNSO Council Feb 2022 Meeting Records
ALAC-GNSO Counciil Bilateral at ICANN73
- The final list and text that were submitted for consideration by Council are found here, namely:
- (1) SSAD ODA;
- (2) SubPro ODP;
- (3) DNS Abuse Mitigation; and
- (4) GNSO Priorities - Work Stream 2, impact of GDS Paper on Modifying gTLD Consensus Policies
- While Council Members did not specifically react to our submission, Council Chair noted that there is significant overlap between the issues raised by the ALAC and the GAC - i.e. SSAD ODA, DNS Abuse next steps, and SubPro ODP, and invited councilors to provide comments post meeting for the separate Prep calls with the ALAC, GAC (and the Board), respectively.
(1) SSAD ODA
- GNSO Council small team has had 2 calls, with limited progress to report (Council small team lead is Sebastien Ducos)
- So far have focused on the remit of the small team - answering Board's letter to Council vs. in-depth analysis of the SSAD ODA vs. possible outcomes
- Small team resolved to come up with a list of clarifying questions for ICANN org by next week
(2) SubPro ODP
- Latest update by GNSO Liaison Jeff Neuman is available: 14 Feb update. (SubPro ODP Timeline)
- To note especially is ICANN SubPro ODP Team's questions regarding SubPro recommendations on a dedicated IRT for Applicant Support
- Context: Apart from the more general IRT for SubPro following (any) Board approval of the SubPro Outputs (which in turn is now only expected after the SubPro ODP is concluded), SubPro PDP WG had recommended for a dedicated IRT for Applicant Support with requisite skill sets relating to program grant-type work
- While ICANN SubPro ODP Team doesn't have an issue with such a dedicated IRT, it appears that such a dedicated IRT is being tasked with non-regular implementation work which likely involves or encroaches into policy-making, so, in effect empowering this dedicated IRT with policy-development functions normally held exclusively by GNSO
- Jeff suggests that if Council believes there is policy development is involved then it may be useful for Council to initiate work by community in this area specifically without waiting for Board's decision on the SubPro Output as a whole and overcoming the delay of starting work which needs to happen anyway
- It is for Council to determine whether it makes sense to convene a special community group to include GAC and ALAC (but not a PDP) to do the required work
- There will be a SubPro ODP Team update during ICANN73 to present updated assumptions based on work done so far
(3) DNS Abuse Next Steps
- GNSO Council small team had initial call last week (Council small team co-leads are Mark Datysgeld and Paul McGrady)
- Small team resolved to recommend outreach by Council to groups most interested in topic i.e. ALAC, GAC, SSAC, DNS Abuse Institute to ask for help in defining what they think are the problems that need to be solved, in particular to identify issues which could be solved by policy development, and to bring those back to Council
So, ALAC can expect to receive a request/letter from Council on this in due course and we might want to set up our own ALAC/CPWG small team to develop a response
(4) GNSO Priorities
- Just to note that councilors have been asked to consider a staff-generated approach for GNSO Council Implementation of Workstream 2 (WS2)
22-01 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #1 OF 2022 (JAN 2022) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #1 of 2022 held on 20 Jan 2022
GNSO Council Meeting #1 of 2022 held on 20 Jan 2022
Full Agenda | Motions
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda - None
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Recurring Update on the SubPro ODP
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) Operational Design Phase, Next Steps and Preparation for Consultation with the ICANN Board
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps for Strategic Planning Session Action Items
- Item 7: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
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 18 November 2021 were posted on 03 December 2021.
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Recurring Update on the SubPro ODP
Council will receive and discuss an update on SubPro ODP, having had notice of:
- a 12 September 2021 ICANN Board direction that ICANN CEO organize resources to begin the SubPro ODP off the GNSO’s New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Final Report and the Affirmations, Recommendations, and Implementation Guidance contained in that report;
- a 20 December 2021 announcement by ICANN Org;
- ICANN org having provided a set of preliminary questions for consideration by the liaison and Council;
- a 18 November 2021 request by the GNSO Chair on input to the liaison's proposed responses to said questions, with an extended deadline of 13 January 2022
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) Operational Design Phase, Next Steps and Preparation for Consultation with the ICANN Board
- Council to reflect on previous meetings on the SSAD ODP and any potential next steps, taking into account the following:
- GNSO Council Recommendation Report to the ICANN Board off the EPDP on TempSpec EPDP Phase 2 Final Report,
- a 20 December 2021 discussion with the SSAD ODP Project Team focusing on the SSAD Cost Model information (the recorded part of call),
- a 4 January 2022 summary paper,
- (Ed) a 12 January 2022 follow up discussion call;
- a 18 January 2022 general webinar on the SSAD ODP; and
- Presentation slide deck
- Council is to meet with the ICANN Board on 27 January as the next step in its consultation related to concerns around financial sustainability of the SSAD.
- Council to reflect on previous meetings on the SSAD ODP and any potential next steps, taking into account the following:
- Item 7: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 7.1 - Update on ICANN73 planning: ICANN73 GNSO Draft schedule
- 7.5 - Update from Small team on Modifying Consensus Policies (18 Jan 2022 draft draft letter)
Action by ALAC Liaison
- 7.1 - To liaise with ALAC Leadership and Council Leadership on format and topics for a joint GNSO Council meeting with ALAC at ICANN73 (and future meetings)
7.5 - See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
Records of 20 Jan 2022 Meeting
- Audio Recording
- Zoom Recording (includes chat and visual and rough transcript. To access the rough transcript, select the Audio Transcript tab)
- Zoom Chat
- Transcript
- Resolutions - N/A
- Minutes
October 2021 - December 2021 Reports
21-03 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #12 OF 2021 (DEC 2021) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #12 of 2021 held on 16 Dec 2021
GNSO Council Meeting #12 of 2021 held on 16 Dec 2021
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) Operational Design Phase and Next Steps
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the SubPro ODP
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO Council ODP Input Review Process
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - ICANN73 Planning and Evolving Council Planning for ICANN Meetings
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on Council Consideration of the ICANN Board’s Letter Regarding the IDN Implementation Guidelines v4.0
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- 3.1 - Motion to confirm Transfer Policy Review PDP (TPR_P1) Project Change Request
- 3.4 - Confirmation of the Recommendations Report to the ICANN Board regarding adoption of recommendations 1-4 contained in the Final Report from the EPDP Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data – Phase 2A
Removed from Consent Agenda and added to Main Agenda instead
- 3.2 - Motion to confirm Specific Curative Rights Protections for Intergovernmental Organizations EPDP (EPDP_SCRP_IGO) Project Change Request
- Item 4: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) Operational Design Phase and Next Steps
- Council will discuss the proposed approach and schedule and seek to ensure that the upcoming conversations around the SSAD ODP are constructive and effective.
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on the SubPro ODP
- Council will receive and discuss an update on SubPro ODP
Action by ALAC Liaison
- To monitor for developments. See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO Council ODP Input Review Process
No further action needed
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - ICANN73 Planning and Evolving Council Planning for ICANN Meetings
Action by ALAC Liaison
- To draw ALAC's attention to Council's interest in (re-)initiating a joint GNSO Council meeting with ALAC at ICANN73 and likely, future ICANN meetings.
- To liaise with ALAC Leadership and Council Leadership on format and topics for such joint meeting(s).
- Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update on Council Consideration of the ICANN Board’s Letter Regarding the IDN Implementation Guidelines v4.0
- Council agreed that the RySG would consider and recommend the best manner to proceed and respond to the letter from the ICANN Board.
- Council will receive an update from RySG Councilors. Presentation.
Action by ALAC Liaison
- To review Council's response to the ICANN Board when draft becomes available, for implications to IDNs.
- Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 9.3 - Update on the Consideration of the ICANN Board’s Letter on EPDP Phase 1, Rec. 12
- Council small team was established to consider the ICANN Board’s letter regarding EPDP Phase, Rec. 12 and have prepared clarifications/questions to be submitted to Becky Burr ahead of a clarification call.
- 9.3 - Update on the Consideration of the ICANN Board’s Letter on EPDP Phase 1, Rec. 12
No further action needed
Records of 16 Dec 2021 Meeting
- Audio Recording
- Zoom Recording (includes chat and visual and rough transcript. To access the rough transcript, select the Audio Transcript tab)
- Zoom Chat
- Transcript
- Resolutions
- Minutes
21-02 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #11 OF 2021 (NOV 2021) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #11 of 2021 held on 18 Nov 2021
GNSO Council Meeting #11 of 2021 held on 18 Nov 2021
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Revised GNSO Councilor Job Description for the Nominating Committee (Motion Withdrawn)
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update From the Universal Acceptance Steering Group
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO Council Strategic Planning Session
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Thought Exercise Paper Modifying Consensus Policy
- Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
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 23 September 2021 were posted on 09 October 2021.
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- 3.3 Motion to adopt the GNSO Review of the GAC ICANN72 Virtual Annual General Meeting Communiqué for submission to the ICANN Board
- Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Update From the Universal Acceptance Steering Group
- Dr. Ajay Data, Chair of the UASG, will provide an update on the progress of the UASG and explore the role the GNSO might play in enhancing universal acceptance.
No further action needed – GNSO Council was asked to consider Dr Data's request for a liaison to the Universal Acceptance Steering Group.
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GNSO Council Strategic Planning Session
- Council to discuss highlights from its (recently) concluded Strategic Planning Sessions (SPS).
No further action needed
- Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Thought Exercise Paper Modifying Consensus Policy
- On 25 October 2021, Philippe Fouquart shared a thought paper drafted by the ICANN org, which has been developed “considering what procedures are in place for modifying consensus policies, and where there may be gaps, ambiguities, or opportunities for additional collaboration.” The Council has since convened a small team, which will also seek volunteers from all SG/Cs, as the topic is of importance beyond just the Council. As this team is being convened, it is perhaps nevertheless helpful to seek impressions from Councilors that could feed into the small team’s deliberations.
- Council to receive ICANN Org presentation on the paper and to discuss the same.
Action by ALAC Liaison
- See TAB under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
- Item 8: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- 8.1 Update on the approach for the response to the ICANN Board’s letter regarding the IDN Implementation Guidelines v4.0.
- 8.2 Acknowledgement of the Registration Data Accuracy - Scoping Team (RDA_ST) Project Plan
- 8.3 Report on the SubPro ODP - circulated on 16 November 2021
- 8.4 Report on the SSAD ODP - circulated on 17 November 2021
Action by ALAC Liaison
- Item 8.1 - Monitor for developments. Is issue carried forward to Council's Dec 2021 Meeting? Yes.
- Items 8.3 and 8.4 - TABS created under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
Records of 18 Nov 2021 Meeting
21-01 GNSO COUNCIL MEETING #10 OF 2021 (AT ICANN 72, OCT 2021) (go up to Directory)
GNSO Council Meeting #10 of 2021 held on 27 Oct 2021 during ICANN 72
GNSO Council Meeting #10 of 2021 held on 27 Oct 2021 during ICANN 72, over 2 parts, and including a Council Wrap-up Session on 27 Oct 2021:
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - EPDP Phase 2A Final Report
- Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - Revised GNSO Councilor Job Description for the Nominating Committee
- Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - GDS Update on the Framework for the Policy Status Report Framework on the UDRP
- Item 7: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- Items 7.1 to 7.4 moved to Council Wrap-up
- 7.5 Farewell and thanks to outgoing Councilors: Carlton Samuels, Osvaldo Novoa, Pam Little, Tatiana Tropina, Tom Dale as well as to outgoing ALAC Liaison to the GNSO: Cheryl Langdon-Orr.
- Item 1. Seating of the 2021 / 2022 Council
- Item 2. Election of the Chair
- Item 3. Election of GNSO Council Vice Chair 2021-2022
- Item 4. Any Other Business
Council Wrap-up
- 1/7.1 Seek vice-chair for Standing Committee on ICANN Budget & Operating Plan, to prepare for a chair succession plan for the FY24 cycle.
- 2/7.2 Acknowledgment of the Project Plan for the EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names.
- 3/7.3 Potential next steps for the Board response to the Council's letter regarding its "Request for Continued Deferral of IDN Implementation Guidelines v4.0".
- 4/7.4 Suggestion to assign a Council liaison to Accuracy Scoping Team.
- 5/ Response to the GAC Communique
- 6/ Discussion paper on Modifying gTLD Consensus Policies
- 7/ Board letter regarding EPDP Phase 1 Recommendation 12
- 8/ Potential Council next steps regarding DNS abuse
For notes on highlighted items click on MATTERS OF INTEREST tab above
Matters of interest to ALAC/At-Large
Under Part 1 Agenda
- Item 1: Administrative Matters
- Item 3: Consent Agenda
- Jeff Neuman was appointed as (GNSO Council liaison to the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Phase and re-appointed as GNSO liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee
- Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - EPDP Phase 2A Final Report
- Council approved the EPDP Phase 2A Final Report and recommends to the ICANN Board of Directors the adoption of the EPDP Phase 2A recommendations #1 – 4 by way of resolution passed by a unanimity of the CPH Councillors and a 61.54% majority of NCPH Councillors, meeting the GNSO Supermajority requirement**
- There were five objections to the motion:
- Carlton Samuels, Non Contracted Party House (NCPH) NomCom Appointee (NCA): statement
- John McElwaine and Susan Payne (temporary alternate for Flip Petillion), IPC: statement
- Marie Pattullo and Mark Datysgeld, Business Constituency (BC): statement - GNSO Staff Support Team to develop GNSO Council Recommendations Report to the ICANN Board for Council review
** A "GNSO Supermajority" shall mean: (A) two-thirds (2/3) of the Council members of each House, or (B) three-fourths (3/4) of the Council members of one House and a majority of the Council members of the other House.
Action by ALAC Liaison
- On 28 Oct 2021: Notify ALAC Chair Maureen Hilyard, CPWG Co-Chairs Olivier Crepin-Leblond and Jonathan Zuck, and ALAC Representatives to the EPDP on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data Alan Greenberg and Hadia Elminiawi on result of Council vote on EPDP Phase 2A Final Report
- Monitor onward CPWG deliberations (from 3 Nov to 31 Dec) for reactions -- no further action pending. TAB created under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
Under Part 2 Agenda
- Items 2 and 3: Leadership of GNSO Council 2021-2022
- Chair: Philippe Fouquart, Non Contracted Party House
- Vice Chair, Non-Contracted Party House: Tomslin Samme-Nlar
- Vice Chair, Contracted Party House: Sebastien Ducos
Under Council Wrap-up
- 2/7.2 Acknowledgment of the Project Plan for the EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names.
- (Would have been just an acknowledgment)
- 3/7.3 Potential next steps for the Board response to the Council's letter regarding its "Request for Continued Deferral of IDN Implementation Guidelines v4.0".
- CPH Councilors to provide suggestions on the next steps regarding the Board Letter on IDN Implementation Guidelines 4.0. Ongoing.
- 4/7.4 Suggestion to assign a Council liaison to Accuracy Scoping Team.
- GNSO Council has appointed Olga Cavalli as Liaison to the Registration Data Accuracy Scoping Team
- 6/ Discussion paper on Modifying gTLD Consensus Policies
- Council leadership to notify ICANN org that a small team has formed to develop a response but that additional time may be needed.
- 8/ Potential Council next steps regarding DNS abuse
- Council Small Team (Thomas Rickert, Mark Datysgeld, Wisdom Donkor, Kristian Ormen, Maxim Alzoba, Sebastien Ducos) to draft potential GNSO Council next steps regarding DNS abuse.
Action by ALAC Liaison
- Item 3/7.3 - Monitor for developments. Issue carried forward to Council's Nov 2021 Meeting.
- Items 6 and 8 - Monitor for developments. TABS created under 'POST GNSO COUNCIL MEETING DEVELOPMENTS' section for easier tracking.
Records of 27 Oct 2021 Meeting at ICANN72
27 Oct 2021 Part 1 | 27 Oct 2021 Part 2 (Council Wrap-up) |
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