Please note that all documents referenced in the agenda have been gathered on a Wiki page for convenience and easier access: https://community.icann.org/x/2QGjDQ
This agenda was established according to the GNSO Operating Procedures v3.5, updated on 24 October 2019.
For convenience:
- An excerpt of the ICANN Bylaws defining the voting thresholds is provided in Appendix 1 at the end of this agenda.
- An excerpt from the Council Operating Procedures defining the absentee voting procedures is provided in Appendix 2 at the end of this agenda.
GNSO Council meeting on Wednesday, 15 March at 18:15 UTC: https://tinyurl.com/y4naum35.
(Wednesday) 11:15 Los Angeles; 14:15 Washington DC; 18:15 London; 19:15 Paris; 21:15 Moscow; (Thursday) 05:15 Melbourne
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: [Published 24 hours prior to meeting]
Councilors should notify the GNSO Secretariat in advance if they will not be able to attend and/or need a dial out call.
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Item 1: Administrative Matters (10 minutes)
1.1 - Roll Call
1.2 - Updates to Statements of Interest
1.3 - Review / Amend Agenda
1.4 - Note the status of minutes for the previous Council meetings per the GNSO Operating Procedures:
Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on 19 January 2023 were posted on 02 February 2023.
Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on 16 February 2023 were posted on 02 March 2023.
Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List (5 minutes)
2.1 - Review focus areas and provide updates on specific key themes / topics, to include review of Projects List and Action Item List.
Item 3: Consent Agenda (0 minute)
No item.
Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Adoption of the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) Working Group Self-Assessment (WGSA) Recommendations Report (10 Minutes)
The GNSO Council initiated the GNSO Framework for Continuous Improvement Pilot Project on 16 June 2021, and, as part of this Framework, the Council established the Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI). As part of the pilot, the CCOICI was tasked to consider if/how the GNSO WG Self-Assessment could be improved and possibly enhanced with a periodic assessment and an exit interview, with the goal of giving interested parties an opportunity to help identify potential issues and potential future improvements the GNSO Council could consider.
The CCOICI started the Working Group Self-Assessment assignment in October 2021 and concluded its work on this assignment 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 initiated on 09 September 2022 and closed on 14 November 2022. The CCOICI integrated public comments received as appropriate and submitted its Recommendations Report to the Council on 5 January 2023.
Here, the Council will vote to adopt the Working Group Self-Assessment (WGSA) Recommendations Report.
4.1 – Presentation of motion - (Manju Chen, Chair, Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI))
4.2 – Council discussion
4.3 – Council vote (voting threshold: simple majority)
Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps for Consideration of Expired Domain Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”) (15 minutes)
The GNSO 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. As 24 months have now passed, the Council is reconsidering whether now is an appropriate time to request a Policy Status Report.
To that end, in July 2022, the 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. ICANN org shared a report from Contractual Compliance colleagues on 1 November 2022, and GNSO Councilors from the Registrar Stakeholder Group shared feedback from registrars on previous Council calls.
During its meeting on 17 November 2022, representatives from ICANN org’s Contractual Compliance Team provided a briefing of the report, and the Council briefly considered potential next steps. Following the meeting, Nacho Amadoz, 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.
Here, the Council will receive an update on the small team’s recommendation.
5.1 – Introduction of topic (Greg DiBiase, GNSO Council Vice-Chair)
5.2 – Council discussion
5.3 - Next steps
Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Review GNSO-owned projects that may impact SubPro timeline (10 minutes)
During the Council’s Strategic Planning Session (SPS), a recurring theme emerged. The Council emphasized it 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, the Council agreed that it would like to receive frequent updates on the work that is connected to the next round of new gTLDs. Those projects include:
- IDNs EPDP Phase 1 (top-level charter questions)
- GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support
- Closed Generics Facilitated Discussion
- Yet to be formed Small Team to review SubPro recommendations likely pending Board action.
Here, the Council will receive a brief update on the above-referenced projects.
6.1 – Introduction of topic (Steve Chan)
6.2 – Council discussion
6.3 – Next steps
Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Continuation of Informal GNSO Council SubPro Discussion (30 minutes)
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.
While ICANN org published the SubPro Operational Design Assessment (ODA) on 12 December, the Council received a briefing during a webinar on 7 December. The 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 the Council had a follow-up informal discussion on 7 March 2023.
Here, the Council will discuss the joint meeting with the Board and the informal discussion, and consider appropriate next steps.
7.1 – Introduction of topic (Sebastien Ducos)
7.2 – Council discussion
7.3 – Next steps
Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Whois Disclosure System Next Steps (20 minutes)
ICANN org published the Whois Disclosure System design paper in September 2022 and presented it to the GNSO 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. The GNSO 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 the GNSO 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, the Council will consider if/how the instructions to the Small Team should be updated to reflect the 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.
8.1 Introduction of topic (Greg DiBiase)
8.2 Council Discussion
8.3 Next Steps
Item 9: ANY OTHER BUSINESS (15 minutes)
9.1 GNSO Chair Election Timeline Announcement
9.2 Policy Status Report on Policy and Implementation Working Group Final Recommendations Report
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Appendix 1: GNSO Council Voting Thresholds (ICANN Bylaws, Article 11, Section 11.3(i))
See https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-en/#article11.
Appendix 2: GNSO Council Absentee Voting Procedures (GNSO Operating Procedures, Section 4.4)
See https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/file/field-file-attach/op-procedures-30jan18-en.pdf
References for Coordinated Universal Time of 18:15 UTC
Local time between March and October in the NORTHERN hemisphere
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California, USA (PDT) UTC-7 (Wednesday) 11:15
San José, Costa Rica (CDT) UTC-6 (Wednesday) 12:15
New York/Washington DC, USA (EDT) UTC-4 (Wednesday) 14:15
Buenos Aires, Argentina (ART) UTC-3 (Wednesday) 15:15
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (BRT) UTC-3 (Wednesday) 15:15
London, United Kingdom (GMT) UTC+0 (Wednesday) 18:15
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (WAT) UTC+1 (Wednesday) 19:15
Paris, France (CET) UTC+1 (Wednesday) 19:15
Moscow, Russia (MSK) UTC+3 (Wednesday) 21:15
Singapore (SGT) UTC+8 (Thursday) 02:15
Melbourne, Australia (AEDT) UTC+11 (Thursday) 05:15
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DST starts on Sunday 26 March 2023, 2:00 or 3:00 local time (with exceptions) for EU countries and on Sunday 12 March 2023 for the U.S.
DST ends on Sunday 29 October 2023 for EU countries, and on Sunday 05 November 2023 for the US.
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For other places see http://www.timeanddate.com and https://tinyurl.com/2mx8bt8t.
