The following message went out for the call for IRT in February 2019 to supplement the existing IRT for the Red Cross Names update effort.
Call for Volunteers: IGO and INGO Identifiers Protection Policy Implementation
On 27 January 2019, the Board adopted policy recommendations on Protections for Certain Red Cross and Red Crescent Names in All Generic Top-Level Domains and directed their implementation. This new consensus policy will supplement the previously-adopted Protection of IGO and INGO Identifiers in All gTLDs Policy by which the specific terms Red Cross, Red Crescent, Red Lion & Sun and Red Crystal were withheld from registration.
The Implementation Review Team (IRT) supporting the implementation of the Protection of IGO and INGO Identifiers in All gTLDs Policy will add these new recommendations to its scope.
The key responsibilities of the IRT are as follows:
Work with ICANN org to ensure that the implementation fulfills the original intentions of the approved policy recommendations
Review the proposed implementation plan as drafted by ICANN org for the recommendations as approved by the Board
Assist in case of questions or need for clarification related to the adopted recommendations
Advise on technical and operational details related to the implementation of recommendations by contracted parties
For this IRT, volunteers involved in the Red Cross organization, members from the Reconvened Working Group, and Registry professionals capable of implementing the reservation of labels (that will range in the thousands) in the domain registration process are particularly sought. Familiarity with the policy recommendations as well as the deliberations that informed those recommendations is a minimum requirement for IRT members.
All volunteers responding to this call are expected to understand the role and remit of the IRT for the implementation project. The implementation of these recommendations is estimated to take approximately one year. The IRT is anticipated to meet monthly starting in late March 2019 for one hour. These meeting will be held remotely but there may be opportunities to meet in person during ICANN meetings. Between the meetings, the IRT will be working using collaborative tools. The expected time commitment for supporting the implementation is about one to two hours per week.
How to apply
To participate, please send an email to dennis.chang@icann.org before Monday, 18 March 2019, 11:59 UTC.
Please see IGO and INGO Policy IRT wiki page for the list of current IRT members.
Background
In November 2012, the GNSO Council launched the PDP on the Protection of IGO-INGO Identifiers in All gTLDs. The aim was to consider what the appropriate form and scope of protection for IGO and INGO identifiers would be at both the top level and second level of the Domain Name System (DNS), for the Red Cross, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and other IGOs and INGOs. All these organizations perform important public interest or humanitarian work. Cybersquatting and related abuse of domain names identical or confusingly similar to their names and acronyms could significantly impact their missions and resources.
In April 2014, the Board adopted part of the PDP outcomes, which included consensus recommendations that a limited list of Red Cross, IOC, IGO, and INGO identifiers be reserved. For the Red Cross, these are “Red Cross,” “Red Crescent,” “Red Crystal,” and “Red Lion and Sun” at the top level and second level. For IGOs, only their full organizational names are reserved at the second level.
The appropriate protections for many of the other identifiers associated with the Red Cross and IGOs – i.e., Red Cross National Society names, the names and acronyms of the International Red Cross Movement, and IGO acronyms – had not been finalized.
The Board facilitated a set of dialogues with the GAC and the GNSO to reconcile the inconsistencies between GAC advice and the GNSO PDP recommendations for the Red Cross names while the discussion continues over the acronyms.
In May 2017, the GNSO Council initiated the policy amendment process only for specific names associated with the Red Cross names and reconvened the PDP WG.
The recommendations that emerged from the Reconvened PDP WG are as follows:
a finite list of the full names of the 191 Red Cross National Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to be placed into Specification 5 of the Base gTLD Registry Agreement [for reservation.]
an exception procedure is to be put in place for cases where the relevant RCRC Organization wishes to apply for its protected string(s) at the second level.
future error corrections, additions to and deletions [for the list] of reserved names [shall be done] in accordance with the criteria listed in Recommendations #4-6 below.
changes to the finite list [to be done] in accordance with the variant criteria as defined by this WG.
any and all future changes to the finite list be made only upon notification to ICANN Organization and the confirmation, by designated representatives of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), to the effect that: (a) the proposed changes have been communicated to the GAC as well as the GNSO Council; (b) any new National Societies’ names to be added to the list have been recognized in accordance with all the applicable rules and procedures of the Movement; and (c) any proposed deletions from the list would be based on the cessation of operations of that National Society or its removal from the Movement in accordance with all applicable rules and procedures of the Red Cross Movement.
a proposed correction of any errors (e.g. in translation or spelling) in the finite list of reserved names be made only through the submission of a formal request to ICANN Organization by official and designated representatives of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent and/or Registry Operators describing in detail the nature of the error and the specific correction to be made in the form of a direct replacement to the erroneous entry. The ICANN Organization shall have the right to refer the request to the GAC or otherwise conduct an investigation into the accuracy of the correction sought.
