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ICANN POLICY UPDATE | Volume 12, Issue 8 – September 2012

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http://www.icann.org/en/resources/policy/update

CONTENTS:

Across ICANN

  1. Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

ccNSO

  1. ICANN Draft Agenda for ccNSO Posted
  2. ccNSO Councilor Nominations Due 1 October 2012
  3. Mary Wong Joins ccNSO Council
  4. Survey Examines Classification of Country, Territory Names
  5. Comment Now on Future Policy for Selecting Country-Code Top-Level Domains in Scripts Other Than Latin
  6. ICANN Must Describe Internet Ecosystem When Defining Role in Stability, Security and Resiliency, said ccNSO

GNSO

  1. Working Group Defines Terms, Metrics for Assessing Competition, Consumer Trust, and Choice in Expanded TLD Space
  2. "Thick" Whois Policy Development Begins

ASO

  1. Issues Active in the ASO

At-Large

  1. ALAC Policy Advice Update
  2. At-Large Community Expands to 145 At-Large Structures with the Certification of Internet Society Malaysia

SSAC

  1. Issues Active in the SSAC

GAC

  1. Where to Find GAC Information

Read in Your Preferred Language

ICANN Policy Update is available in all six official languages of the United Nations. Policy Update is posted on ICANN's web site and available via online subscription. To receive the Update in your Inbox each month, visit the ICANN subscriptions page, enter your e-mail address, and select "Policy Update" to subscribe. This service is free.

ICANN Policy Update statement of purpose

Send questions, comments and suggestions to: policy-staff@icann.org.

Policy Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees

Address Supporting Organization ASO
Country Code Names Supporting Organization ccNSO
Generic Names Supporting Organization GNSO
At-Large Advisory Committee ALAC
Governmental Advisory Committee GAC
Root Server System Advisory Committee RSSAC
Security and Stability Advisory Committee SSAC

Across ICANN

1. Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

Numerous public comment periods are currently open on issues of interest to the ICANN community. Act now to share your views on such topics as:

For the full list of issues open for public comment, plus recently closed and archived public comment forums, visit the Public Comment web page.

ccNSO

2. ICANN Draft Agenda for ccNSO Posted

ccNSO Logo

At a Glance

The ccNSO Program Working Group published the first draft agenda for the ccNSO meeting at ICANN 45 in Toronto, covering activities for Tuesday, 16 October, and Wednesday, 17 October 2012.

Recent Developments

The draft agenda provides an overview of what to expect during the ccNSO meetings at ICANN 45 in Toronto this October. Though technically a "Members Meeting," the ccNSO meetings are actually open for anyone interested to attend. Among the activities are a meeting with the ICANN Board, a panel discussion on Registry Principles and a session on internationalized domain names.

Next Steps

The draft agenda will be continuously updated with speakers, exact titles, summaries and documents. Check back often!

Background

The ccNSO Program WG aims to publish the ccNSO membership meeting agendas as soon as possible, so that the community knows what to expect from the upcoming ICANN meeting.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat

3. ccNSO Councilor Nominations Due 1 October 2012

At a Glance

The ccNSO seeks email nominations for five new Council members to begin three-year terms in March 2013, and one new member to fill the seat of a European Councilor, whose term expires in 2015. All ccNSO members are invited to nominate and/or second a person that they think would be a suitable representative for their region on the ccNSO Council.

Recent Developments

The ccNSO has opened its regular nomination period to fill five Council seats, one in each of the following Geographic Regions: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Caribbean, and North America. An extraordinary call for nominations has also been launched to fill the seat of one European Councilor, whose term expires in 2015.

The terms of Paulos Nyirenda (African Region), Keith Davidson (Asia-Pacific Region), Lesley Cowley (European Region), Rolando Toledo (Latin American and Caribbean Region) and Fernando Espana (North American Region) expire in March 2013.

At the same time, one of the Councilors for the European Region, Juhani Juselius, declared that he is resigning from his position on the Council prior to the regular expiration of his term (March 2015). An extraordinary election process,to fill his position was launched at the same time as the regular nominations.

Next Steps

Any member of the ccNSO may nominate an individual to serve as a ccNSO Council member representing that ccNSO member's Geographic Region. Nominations must be seconded by another ccNSO member from the same Geographic Region, and will be accepted via email from 10 September to 1 October 2012. The Nominations Manager will call an election if more than one nomination is received per region.

Background

The ccNSO Council administers and coordinates the affairs of the ccNSO (including coordinating meetings, such as the annual meeting) and manages the development of policy recommendations related to ccTLDs.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat

4. Mary Wong Joins ccNSO Council

At a Glance

The ccNSO Council welcomes Mary Wong as the new representative on the ccNSO Council as appointed by ICANN's Nominating Committee.

Recent Developments

ICANN's Nominating Committee has appointed Mary Wong as new ccNSO Councilor. She is a Professor of Law at University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly Franklin Pierce Law Center), and the Chair of the Intellectual Property Graduate Programs.

Next Steps

Wong will take her seat on the ccNSO Council after ICANN's 45th meeting in Toronto this October. She replaces Becky Burr, deputy general counsel and chief privacy officer at NeuStar, Inc., who served two terms (the maximum) as a ccNSO Councilor appointed by NomCom.

Background

The NomCom is charged with recruiting and selecting a portion of ICANN's leadership. It is mandated to ensure that, overall, ICANN's leadership is diverse in geography, culture, skills, experience, and perspective.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat

5. Survey Examines Classification of Country, Territory Names

At a Glance

The United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has launched a multilingual survey of its members to examine the typology of country and territory names developed by the ccNSO Study Group.

Recent Developments

UNESCO launched a survey to 39 of its members. The survey seeks to verify whether or not the typology of country and territory names developed by the ccNSO Study Group on the use of country and territory names as TLD's is meaningful and if so, to provide real-life data for the Study Group.

Next Steps

The Study Group will analyze the first results from the UNESCO Survey at its face-to-face meeting in Toronto during ICANN's 45th Public Meeting in October 2012.

Background

The Study Group's goal is to provide the ccNSO Council, ccTLD community and other interested stakeholders, such as the GAC and GNSO Council, with an overview of the scope and issues associated with the use of country and territory names as TLD strings. Additionally, it will examine the scope and impact of alternative action paths on IDN ccTLD and new gTLD processes.

More Information

Staff Contact

Bart Boswinkel, ccNSO Senior Policy Advisor

6. Comment Now on Future Policy for Selecting Country-Code Top-Level Domains in Scripts Other Than Latin

At a Glance

ICANN has opened a public comment period on draft recommendations for future policy on how countries using language scripts other than Latin reflect their country's name in local language scripts.

Recent Developments

The Internationalized Domain Name Country-Code Policy Development Process Working Group 1 published its draft recommendations for an overall policy about how ccTLDs in local language scripts are selected.

The draft recommendations are based on the rules of the Fast Track Process and take into account three years of experience and two reviews. The recommendations include requiring that any IDN ccTLD be a meaningful representation of the name of a territory, and also be in the designated language of that territory. The IDN ccTLD should also be non-contentious within that territory, and meet all applicable technical criteria.

Next Steps

The Working Group will closely review all submitted comments to determine, at its reasonable discretion, whether to modify its recommendations. The WG expects to publish its Final Report by the end of 2012.

Background

Until the introduction of IDN ccTLDs under the Fast Track Process, ccTLD strings were limited to the two letter codes obtained from the ISO 3166-1 list designating the Territory. As this mechanism could not be used for the selection of IDN ccTLD strings, an alternative method, commonly referred to as the Fast Track Process, was developed.

The IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process enabled countries and territories that use languages based on scripts other than Latin to offer users domain names in non-Latin characters. To do this, ICANN created the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process to allow for countries that use non-Latin based languages to also request top-level domains that reflect their country's name in local scripts. The Fast Track Process eventually will be replaced by the overall policy process being developed now.

More Information

Staff Contact

Bart Boswinkel, ccNSO Senior Policy Advisor

7. ICANN Must Describe Internet Ecosystem When Defining Role in Stability, Security and Resiliency, said ccNSO

At a Glance

The ccNSO Council submitted comments on the statement drafted by ICANN staff intended to be a clear description of ICANN's technical mission, and a high level view of what ICANN does and does not do in relation to the Security, Stability and Resiliency of the Internet's Unique Identifier Systems.

Recent Developments

The ccNSO Council submitted its comments on the Draft Statement on ICANN's Role and Remit in Security, Stability and Resiliency of the Internet's Unique Identifier Systems as recommended in Recommendations # 1 and # 3 from the Security, Stability, and Resiliency of the DNS Review Team.

The ccNSO Council believes that to fully appreciate and understand the scope of the Draft Statement, ICANN should start with a description of all relevant entities and their roles and responsibilities and reflect ICANN's relationship with these entities in the different areas listed. Defining and documenting ICANN's remit and roles and responsibilities in SSR are determined by these entities, and so the statement must be structured in a manner consistent with ICANN's relationship with them.

Background

The Council statement was developed in accordance with the current guidelines for a ccNSO statement after the Public comment period was extended.

More Information

Staff Contact

Bart Boswinkel, ccNSO Senior Policy Advisor

GNSO

8. Working Group Defines Terms, Metrics for Assessing Competition, Consumer Trust, and Choice in Expanded TLD Space

At a Glance

The Consumer Metrics Working Group submitted its final letter of advice in August to the GNSO Council with suggested definitions for consumer trust, consumer choice, and competition and to propose metrics that might be useful to gauge the effectiveness and success of the New gTLD Program. The letter of advice is the result of nearly a year of deliberation, public sessions, a review of public comments and updates at ICANN meetings in Senegal, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic.

Recent Developments

The terms "Consumer," "Consumer Trust," "Consumer Choice," and "Competition" were defined and agreed upon by the Working Group. Additionally, metrics and three-year targets were created by the WG for each definition. Three classes of metrics can be summarized as follows:

  • Consumer Trust Metrics - which encompass (1) consumer confidence in the registrations and resolution of the TLD/DNS and (2) the degree of confidence consumers have that TLD Operators are fulfilling their stated promises and complying with applicable national laws.
  • Consumer Choice Metrics - which are meant to measure the range of options available to consumers by clear and transparent ways so that users can make meaningful distinctions when choosing TLDs.  Potential indicators for defensive registrations are also defined.
  • Competition Metrics – these metrics are designed to measure the actual market rivalry of TLDs, TLD Operators, Service Providers, and Registrars.

The final version of the Consumer Metrics Advice Letter was submitted to the GNSO Council on 17 August 2012 and was introduced at the 13 September 2012 GNSO Council teleconference. To date, ALAC has endorsed the advice, and the GAC and ccNSO are still considering their positions.

Background

The Consumer Metrics Working Group was formed in September 2011 and is comprised of GNSO and ALAC community members. The WG was tasked to provide the ICANN Board and the community with suggested definitions for consumer trust, consumer choice, and competition and to propose metrics that might be useful to gauge the effectiveness and success of the New gTLD Program.

ICANN's Affirmation of Commitments calls for a review to be conducted one year following the first new gTLD delegations. In advance of the review, the ICANN Board asked in December 2010 for advice from the SOs and ACs on establishing these definitions and metrics. It is anticipated that this effort will play a critical role in informing the ICANN community about the extent to which gTLD expansion has promoted competition, consumer trust and consumer choice within the Internet marketplace.

Next Steps

The GNSO Council will consider the Advice Letter and respond to a motion about delivery of the letter to the ICANN Board at the ICANN Public Meeting in Toronto next month.

More Information

Staff Contact

Julie Hedlund, Director, SSAC and Policy Support

9. "Thick" Whois Policy Development Begins

At a Glance

Three months earlier than expected, the GNSO Council began the Policy Development Process to study the issues surrounding a "thick" Whois requirement for all incumbent gTLDs. Volunteers formed a Drafting Team and are working on a charter.

Recent Developments

As recommended by the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy Part B Working Group, the GNSO Council asked ICANN staff to prepare an Issue Report on the requirement of "thick" Whois for all incumbent gTLDs. The Council requested that the Issue Report and possible subsequent Policy Development Process consider a possible requirement of "thick" Whois for all incumbent gTLDs in the context of IRTP and also consider any positive and/or negative effects likely to occur outside of IRTP that should be taken into account when deciding whether to require "thick" Whois for all incumbent gTLDs. Following the closing of the public comment forum, ICANN staff submitted the Final Issue Report [PDF, 661 KB] to the GNSO Council for consideration.

At its meeting in Costa Rica last March, the GNSO Council initiated a Policy Development Process on "thick" Whois. However, considering the current workload of the GNSO community, the GNSO Council on 12 April resolved to delay the formation of a drafting team to develop a charter until December 2012. The Council reconsidered that decision at its meeting in Prague, and decided to move forward as the .com renewal negotiations had completed without including "thick" Whois.

Background

For gTLD registries, ICANN specifies Whois service requirements through the registry agreements and the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA).

Registries typically satisfy their Whois obligations using one of two common models of service often characterized as "thin" and "thick" Whois registries. This distinction is based on how two distinct sets of data are managed. One set of data is associated with the domain name, and a second set of data is associated with the registrant of the domain name.

A "thin" registry only stores and manages the information associated with the domain name. This data set includes information sufficient to identify the sponsoring registrar, status of the registration, creation and expiration dates for each registration, name server data, the last time the record was updated in its Whois data store, and the URL for the registrar's Whois service. With "thin" registries, registrars manage the second set of data associated with the registrant of the domain and provide it via their own Whois services, as required by Section 3.3 of the RAA for those domains they sponsor. .COM and .NET are examples of "thin" registries. "Thick" registries maintain and provide both sets of data (domain name and registrant) via Whois.

More Information

'Thick' Whois:

General Information:

Staff Contact

Marika Konings, Senior Policy Director

ASO Logo

ASO

10. Issues Active in the ASO

At-Large

11. ALAC Policy Advice Update

At a Glance

Since early August 2012, the ALAC adopted four statements in response to open Public Comments and submitted one Correspondence. The topics of the ALAC Statements were on the Request for Community Input on the SAC054 Domain Name Registration Model, the Consumer Metrics Final Advice, Comments on the Draft Statements of ICANN's Role and Remit in Security, Stability and Resiliency of the Internet's Unique Identifier System, and on the Whois Advisory Committee/Supporting Organization Request. The Correspondence was an ALAC Analysis of the AoC Whois Report Recommendation. The ALAC is currently preparing several other statements.

Recent Developments

The ALAC statements submitted in August and up to 10 September 2012 are:

More Information

All ALAC statements may be viewed on the At-Large Correspondence page.

Staff Contact

Heidi Ullrich, Director for At-Large

12. At-Large Community Expands to 145 At-Large Structures with the Certification of Internet Society Malaysia

At a Glance

The ALAC recently certified one new organization as At-Large Structure (ALS): Internet Society Malaysia Chapter (ISOC – Malaysia).  This new ALS expands the regional diversity of the At-Large community, which represents thousands of individual Internet end-users. With the addition of this organization, the number of accredited ALSes now totals 145.

Recent Developments

The ALAC has certified Internet Society Malaysia Chapter as an ALS. The certification process included due diligence carried out by ICANN staff and regional advice provided by the Asian, Australasian and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO).

Additional information on the new At-Large Structure:

The Internet Society Malaysian Chapter (ISOC – Malaysia) is located in Puchong, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. The organization's members are drawn from various sectors including government, academic and private. Areas of interest include Internet governance, IPv6, and DNSSEC. ISOC-Malaysia also plays a role in the promotion and development of special interest subjects either directly or in collaboration with public and private agencies such as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission – MCMC, as well as the Malaysian Technical Standards Forum MTSFB. This organization will reside within APRALO.

Background

One of the strengths of the At-Large community is that it incorporates the views of a set of globally diverse, Internet end-user organizations, or ALSes, organized within five RALOs. The views of these grassroots organizations are collected through an internal, bottom-up, consensus-driven policy development process and find representation in the official documents of the ALAC.

More Information

Staff Contact

Silvia Vivanco, Manager, At-Large Regional Affairs

SSAC

13. Issues Active in the SSAC

GAC

14. Where to Find GAC Information

At a Glance

ICANN receives input from governments through the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). The GAC's key role is to provide advice to ICANN on issues of public policy, and especially where there may be an interaction between ICANN's activities or policies and national laws or international agreements. The GAC usually meets three times a year in conjunction with ICANN meetings, where it discusses issues with the ICANN Board and other ICANN Supporting Organizations, Advisory Committees and other groups. The GAC may also discuss issues between times with the Board either through face-to-face meetings or by teleconference.

More Information

Staff Contact

Jeannie Ellers, ICANN staff

update-sep12-en.pdf  [400 KB]

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Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."