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ICANN POLICY UPDATE | Volume 14, Issue 11 – November 2014

PDF Version [748 KB]

https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/update-2014-02-20-en


Public Comment Improvements Launching Early 2015
David Olive, Vice President, Policy Development Support

Since my blog post last June regarding potential public comment process improvements, the Policy Development Support team has worked closely with the Online Community Services team to evolve and enhance the existing infrastructure of the public comment pages on the ICANN website.

These improvements are intended to implement two recommendations from the second Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT2). We are now preparing to launch these new features in early 2015.

There are two main changes: First, the reply cycle will be suspended, and in its place a minimum 40-day comment period will be established as a default timeframe for all public comment proceedings. From time-to-time circumstances may require some proceedings to take less than 40 days, and in that case, shorter comment periods will require explicit approval.

The staff summary report process is also being modified. Once a public comment period ends, staff will be expected to produce a summary report of comments submitted within two weeks of the closing date of the proceeding.

Second, we have developed a new inquiry feature to enable community feedback on staff summary reports. When an inquiry is submitted within 30 days from a staff summary report publication, staff will then be required to respond and, if necessary, produce a revised report.

You will also see some improvements to the landing page of every public comment proceeding. A timeline will now clearly count down the days in the comment period as well as the publication expectations for the staff summary report.

To assist with the launch of these new features, we will be hosting webinars and providing other information sharing opportunities next month (December 2014) to discuss the specifics of these improvements. I hope many of you will be able to participate.

We hope these improvements will enable continued robust discussion of various issues by the community and facilitate bottom-up participation in ICANN's core policy development work. Going forward, we will evaluate that expectation and report on progress at six-month intervals.

As always, my team and I are available to answer your questions about these new features and look forward to your feedback as we work to continuously improve ICANN's processes for community input and feedback.

 

CONTENTS:

Across ICANN

  1. Proposed Charter for Enhancing ICANN Accountability Cross Community Working Group (CCWG) Submitted for Consideration
  2. Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

ASO

  1. Regional Internet Registry Number Resource Policy Discussions

ccNSO

  1. ICANN 51 Los Angeles Meeting Summary Page
  2. Evaluation Results from ccNSO ICANN 51 Meetings
  3. Working Group For Secure Email Communication for ccTLDs Incidence Response (SECIR) Advances its Work

GNSO

  1. GNSO Activities During ICANN 51
  2. Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) Part D Final Report Adopted by GNSO Council

At-Large

  1. At-Large Achievements at ICANN 51
  2. ALAC Policy Development Activities from Mid-October to Early-November
  3. October Monthly RALO Round Up

GAC

  1. GAC Los Angeles Communiqué Issued
  2. GAC Engaging with the Community
  3. New GAC Leadership Team

RSSAC

  1. RSSAC Participates in ICANN 51

SSAC

  1. SSAC Publishes Report on the IANA Functions Contract

Read in Your Preferred Language

ICANN's Policy Update is available in all six official languages of the United Nations. Policy Update is posted on ICANN's website and is 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: policyinfo@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. Proposed Charter for Enhancing ICANN Accountability Cross Community Working Group (CCWG) Submitted for Consideration

At a Glance

On 3 November 2014, the Drafting Team that was formed by the ICANN community to develop a charter for the Enhancing ICANN Accountability Cross Community Working Group (CCWG) distributed a charter for adoption by chartering organizations. The charter includes, among other things, a problem statement, goals & objectives, scope, and proposed areas for work. The CCWG is expected to organize its activities in two Work Streams, consistent with the Revised Enhancing ICANN Accountability Process:

  • Work Stream 1: focused on mechanisms enhancing ICANN accountability that must be in place or committed to within the time frame of the IANA Stewardship Transition; and

  • Work Stream 2: focused on addressing accountability topics for which a timeline for developing solutions and full implementation may extend beyond the IANA Stewardship Transition.

Next Steps

Each ICANN Supporting Organization (SO) and Advisory Committee (AC) is expected to consider the proposed charter during its upcoming November meeting(s). Following the adoption of the charter, chartering organizations are expected to identify their representative members to serve on the CCWG (each chartering organization will appoint a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 5 members to the CCWG). In addition, a call for volunteers to join the CCWG will be launched, so that anyone interested in this effort may join and participate. The CCWG is expected to commence its deliberations in late November or early December.

All members of the group formerly known as the "Cross Community Group" will be added to the CCWG as participants, unless some are appointed by chartering organizations to serve as members or decide not to join this effort.

Background

Considering the short timeframe ahead and the relation of part of the Accountability work to the IANA Stewardship Transition process, the Drafting Team worked on an expedited basis to develop the charter. The publication date was identified to align with the November meetings of ICANN's SOs and ACs, to allow for the question of CCWG charter adoption to be discussed. For details of each of the Drafting Team's meetings, including interim draft versions of the charter, please see here.

The Drafting Team was formed following the ICANN51 meeting and includes members appointed by the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), Address Supporting Organization (ASO), Country Code Supporting Organization (ccNSO), Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)1. In addition, one representative from outside the ICANN SO/AC structure joined the Drafting Team to ensure that the charter defined an inclusive process for the broader community. For a full list of Drafting Team members, please see here.

Additional Information

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has requested that ICANN "convene a multistakeholder process to develop a plan to transition the U.S. government stewardship role" with regard to the IANA Functions and related root zone management. In making its announcement, the NTIA specified that the transition proposal must have broad community support and meet the following principles:

  • Support and enhance the multistakeholder model.

  • Maintain the security, stability, and resiliency of the Internet DNS.

  • Meet the needs and expectation of the global customers and partners of the IANA services.

  • Maintain the openness of the Internet.

NTIA also specified that it would not accept a proposal that replaces the NTIA role with a government-led or an intergovernmental organization solution.

During discussions around the transition process, the community raised the broader topic of the impact of the change on ICANN's accountability. The Enhancing ICANN Accountability process was finalized and posted on 10 October 2014, and can be found here. The scope of the Enhancing ICANN Accountability process is defined as ensuring that ICANN remains accountable in the absence of its historical contractual relationship with the U.S. Government and the perceived backstop with regard to ICANN's organization-wide accountability provided by that role, such as the renewal process of the IANA functions contract. It calls for an examination, from an organizational perspective, of how ICANN's broader accountability mechanisms should be strengthened to address the absence of its historical contractual relationship with the U.S. Government, including looking at strengthening existing accountability mechanisms (e.g., the ICANN Bylaws and the Affirmation of Commitments).

More information

Staff Contact

Accountability staff members


2. Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

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

Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) Part D Policy Development Process (PDP) Recommendations for ICANN Board Consideration. This is the fourth and final PDP of this series of revisions to the IRTP that has to do with how registrants can transfer domain names between registrars. Reply period open to 1 December.

.NGO/.ONG Registry Agreement Amendment – Mandatory Technical Bundling of Second-Level Domains. Comment on proposed amendments between ICANN and Public Interest Registry (PIR) to implement the mandatory technical bundling registry service, taking into account and addressing the outstanding technical and implementation questions identified as part of the Registry Services Evaluation Process. Comment period ends 26 November; reply period ends 6 December.

Board Working Group Report on Nominating Committee (BWG-NomCom). The recommendations would result in an increase in the number of appointees from ccNSO and ASO and a reduction in the GNSO appointees. Comment period ends 30 November; reply period ends 9 January.

.MADRID – Introduction of Two Approved Launch Programs. The Comunidad de Madrid's applications for two Approved Launch Programs pursuant to Section 4.5.2 of the Trademark Clearinghouse Rights Protection Mechanism Requirements for its .MADRID TLD are posted for comment. Comment period closes 2 December; reply period closes 24 December.

ICANN Draft Five-Year Operating Plan. Provide input on ICANN's proposed five-year planning calendar; strategic goals with corresponding key performance indicators, dependencies, five-year phasing and list of portfolios; and five year financial model. Comment period closes 12 December; reply period closes 5 January.

New gTLD Auction Rules for Indirect Contention. Provide input on the detailed rules (i.e. methodology and processes) for Auctions involving Contention Sets containing Indirect Contention relationships. Comment period closes 14 December; reply period closes 13 January.

At any time, the full list of issues open for public comment, plus recently closed and archived public comment forums, can be found on the Public Comment web page.

The staff also populates a web page to help preview potential "upcoming" public comment opportunities. This page – "Public Comments – Upcoming" page – provides information about potential future public comment opportunities. The page is updated after every ICANN Public Meeting to help individuals and the community to set priorities and plan their future workloads.


ASO

3. Regional Internet Registry Number Resource Policy Discussions

At a Glance

Each of the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) has a webpage that lists Internet number policy proposals that are under discussion in their respective geographic regions. Internet number policy discussions take place on open policy mailing lists and at Public Policy Meetings (list and meeting information is provided).

This is a sample of some of the number policy and other discussions that took place on the RIR policy mailing lists this month.

AFRINIC
Proposal page: http://www.afrinic.net/en/library/policies

There was discussion of a new proposal that would reserve some IPv4 address space for Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in the region. The proposal is available at: http://afrinic.net/en/community/policy-development/policy-proposals/1231-resource-reservation-for-internet-exchange-points

Other discussions underway: a new policy proposal to improve overall service quality and transparency of AFRINIC's number resource services by documenting roles and responsibilities of AFRINIC. Proposal available at: http://www.afrinic.net/en/community/policy-development/policy-proposals/1233-afrinic-service-guidelines

APNIC
Proposal page: http://www.apnic.net/community/policy/proposals

The APNIC 38 meeting report was made available at: https://conference.apnic.net/38/report

Policies in 2014
Implemented:

prop-105: Distribution of returned IPv4 address (Modification of prop-088)

  • http://www.apnic.net/policy/proposals/prop-105
  • Aims: To make IANA returns available for distribution using a different policy from the "final /8" policy
  • Proposal: Each Member is able to justify need for an additional /22
  • Implemented: 27 May 2014

prop-107: AS number transfer policy proposal

  • http://www.apnic.net/policy/proposals/prop-107
  • Aims: This policy permits 'market' transfers of AS Numbers both intra- and inter-regionally
  • Proposal: Same criteria as existing "prop-50" IPv4 transfers. However, it requires another RIR to pass policy to allow inter-regional transfers
  • Implemented: 16 April 2014

prop-109: This policy allowed 1.0.0.0/24 and1.1.1.0/24 to be allocated to APNIC Labs to be used as research prefixes.

  • http://www.apnic.net/policy/proposals/prop-109
  • Aims: The objective of this proposal is to delegate 1.0.0.0/24 and 1.1.1.0/24 to APNIC Labs, to be used as research prefixes
  • Proposal: Delegate prefixes to APNIC Labs for use as passive traffic collectors of unsolicited traffic
  • Implemented: 7 May 2014

Abandoned:

prop-111: Request-based expansion of IPv6 default allocation size

http://www.apnic.net/policy/proposals/prop-111

prop-110: Designate 1.2.3.0/24 as Anycast to support DNS Infrastructure

http://www.apnic.net/policy/proposals/prop-110

ARIN
Proposal page: https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/

The ARIN 34 Public Policy and Members Meeting report, including presentations, summary notes, transcripts, and webcast archives, is now available on the ARIN website at:

http://www.arin.net/participate/meetings/reports/ARIN_34/

There was a good deal of discussion of a newly revised version of ARIN Draft 2014-1 "Out of Region Use".

LACNIC
Proposal page: http://www.lacnic.net/en/web/lacnic/politicas

The first policy discussed at the forum (LAC-2014-2) proposes a modification to the text describing ASN allocation requirements. It was authored by Jorge Lam and seeks to clarify and simplify LACNIC's ASN assignment process. This proposal achieved consensus and will enter the last-call-for-comments period, after which the LACNIC Board will be able to ratify the policy.

The second policy discussed (LAC-2014-3) seeks to update the Policy Development Process. It was authored by Ricardo Patara and seeks to establish terms and responsibilities for the process. It was decided that a new version of the proposal will be submitted excluding the text on a potential appeals process and sent back to the list for further comments.

LACNIC 22 meeting report was made available at: http://www.lacnic.net/en/web/eventos/lacnic22   

RIPE
Proposal page: http://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/current-proposals/current-policy-proposals

During the meeting, there were discussions on several proposals currently in the Policy Development Process (PDP):

RIPE 2014-03, which would remove the multihoming requirement for AS Number assignments: https://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2014-03

RIPE 2014-04, which aims to remove the requirement that networks have an IPv6 allocation before receiving a /22 IPv4 allocation from the last /8:
https://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2014-04

RIPE 2014-05, which aims to enable transfers of IPv4 addresses between RIR service regions with reciprocal policies:
https://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2014-05

RIPE 2014-06, which would publish the link between legacy Internet number resources and their sponsoring LIRs: https://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2014-06

RIPE 2014-12, which would allow the transfer of IPv6 address space within the region: https://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2014-12

RIPE 2014-13, which would allow the transfer of AS Numbers within the region: https://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2014-13

Another five new proposals ranging from RIPE 2014-07 to 2014-11 were discussed, which aim to clean up possible ambiguities in existing policy text arising from various uses of the terms "should" and "must".

Next Steps

  • AFRINIC 21 will be held in Mauritius 22-28 November 2014.

  • APNIC 39 and APRICOT 2015 will be held in Fukuoka, Japan 24 February-6 March 2014.

  • ARIN 35 will be in San Francisco, California 13-15 April 2015.

  • RIPE 69 will be in London, United Kingdom 3-7 November 2014.

More Information

Staff Contact

Carlos Reyes, Senior Policy Analyst


ccNSO

4. ICANN 51 Los Angeles Meeting Summary Page

At a Glance

All ccNSO meetings-related information, including presentations, has been captured on a dedicated webpage.

Next Steps

Any missing details will be completed as soon as possible.

Background

The ccNSO holds several meetings during the ICANN Public Meeting. These meeting pages have been designed in order to keep all relevant information in one easy accessible place.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, Policy Specialist & ccNSO Support Manager


5. Evaluation Results from ccNSO ICANN 51 Meetings

At a Glance

The results of the ccNSO Meetings Evaluation from Los Angeles have now been published.

Recent Developments

The traditional ccNSO Meetings Evaluation results are now available for the Community to review.

Next Steps

The ccNSO Program Working Group will evaluate the results and will provide feedback to the replies received, so that the respondents know what happened to their input. Much of the next meeting agenda will be built upon the input received in this evaluation.

The Program Working Group hopes that more community members than currently will use this opportunity to provide feedback in the future.

Background

After every ICANN meeting, the ccNSO Program Working Group measures the community's satisfaction with the ccNSO meeting days. The input is used as a basis for shaping upcoming meetings.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, Policy Specialist & ccNSO Support Manager


6. Working Group for Secure Email Communication for ccTLDs Incidence Response Advances its Work

At a Glance

After gaining support at ICANN's 51st public meeting in Los Angeles from the ccTLD Community for its recommendations, theSecure Email Communication for cccTLD Incident Response (SECIR) Working Group is now advancing its work.

Recent Developments

At the Los Angeles Public Meeting, the Working Group presented the status of its work so far and its recommendations for setting up a secure email list for incident response – which is to use the The DNS Operations, Analysis, and Research Center's (DNS-OARC) offer to operate, customize and administer an "OPS-Trust" platform for the ccTLD community.

Next Steps

The Working Group has now started looking into possibilities of starting some preparatory work, in order not to lose time to get a working version of the SECIR services online. At the same time, the group is finalizing a list of requirements needed for the secure email list.

Background

The SECIR Working Group is working on the implementation of a ccTLD Contact Repository, consisting of a secure mailing list that enables ccTLD operators to obtain each other's contact details and exchange rudimentary incident messages. It will be designed to work with similar lists of regional organizations, such as CENTR, or LACTLD. As many ccTLD operators as possible, including non-ccNSO members, will be invited to join this list, once established.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, Policy Specialist & ccNSO Support Manager


GNSO

7. GNSO Activities During ICANN 51

At a Glance

The GNSO held over 60 sessions during ICANN 51 in Los Angeles. One of its Working Groups also held a full day face-to-face facilitated meeting on the Friday prior to the start of the Meeting. In addition the GSNO Council saw seven new Councilors taking their seats, welcomed a new ALAC liaison, and re-elected Jonathan Robinson as Chair for another 12-month term.

Recent Developments

During ICANN 51 the GNSO had, as usual, a very full schedule and, for the first time, a policy development process (PDP) Working Group (WG) met for a day-long face-to-face meeting. This session, held on the Friday prior to the start of ICANN 51, allowed the Proxy and Privacy Services Accreditation Issues (PPSAI) Working Group to discuss high-priority issues in person and advance consensus building among its members. Another such face-to-face Working Group session will be held at ICANN 52, for which the GNSO Council has selected the IGO-INGO Curative Rights Protection PDP WG.

The GNSO met for its customary preparatory weekend session prior to the official opening of the Meeting. GNSO Councilors and community members discussed various policy issues, including work-progress updates from ongoing working groups. Councilors also met with the SSAC, the consultants for the ongoing GNSO Review, senior ICANN staff, the ICANN Board and the GAC.

During the week, the GNSO Stakeholder Groups and Constituencies had their own meetings and each group also met with the ICANN Board. During the GNSO Council's Public Meeting, two motions were passed, including the adoption of the IRTP Part D Final Report [PDF, 1.10 MB] and all its 18 consensus recommendations; and the adoption of the Charter for a Cross Community Working Group to discuss Internet governance (CWG-IG) issues affecting ICANN.

The ICANN 51 Public Meeting also marked the annual transition to a new Council as several communities had elected new Council representatives. In Los Angeles, seven new Councilors took their seats: Donna Austin, RySG (Australia); Susan Kawaguchi, BC (USA); Heather Forrest, IPC (Australia); Stephanie Perrin, NCSG (Canada); Marilia Maciel, NCSG (Brazil); Edward Morris, NCSG (UK), and Carlos Raúl Guetierrez, NomCom (Costa Rica). Cheryl Langdon-Orr (Australia) was introduced as the new ALAC Liaison and, finally, Jonathan Robinson was re-elected by Councilors to serve for another year as the GNSO Chair.

In Los Angeles several new Council members and Council Chair Jonathan Robinson were interviewed about ICANN 51, the look towards ICANN 52, and their role within the Council and their Stakeholder Groups and Constituencies. Please check the GNSO video site, ICANN YouTube channel, and the GNSO Twitter account for video postings and updates of these interviews during the coming days and weeks.

More Information

Staff Contact

Policy Staff


8. Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) Part D Final Report Adopted by GNSO Council

At a Glance

On 15 October 2014 the GNSO Council adopted unanimously the Final Report, including all 18 recommendations, submitted by the IRTP Part D PDP Working Group. The report has been translated into all UN languages as well as Portuguese, and the recommendations are currently open for public comment.

Recent Developments

The IRTP Part D PDP Final Report [PDF, 1.10 MB] contains 18 recommendations, submitted to the GNSO Council on 25 September 2014 and adopted on 15 October 2014. The recommendations include:

  1. Reporting requirements to be incorporated into the Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy (TDRP).
  2. A domain name to be returned to the original Registrar of Record if it is found through a TDRP procedure that a non-IRTP compliant domain name transfer has occurred.
  3. The statute of limitation to launch a TDRP be extended from the current 6 months to 12 months from the initial transfer.
  4. If a request for enforcement is initiated under the TDRP, the relevant domain is to be 'locked' against further transfers.
  5. No dispute options for registrants to be developed and implemented as part of the current TDRP, but the implementation of the IRTP Part C policy recommendations concerning a change of registrant should be closely monitored to determine whether dispute resolution mechanisms are necessary to cover the Use Cases in Annex C of the Final Report.
  6. The TDRP to be modified to eliminate the First Level (Registry) layer of the TDRP.
  7. The Form of Authorization (FOA) should not be abandoned.
  8. Following the implementation of all IRTP recommendation, a future review of the IRTP and the TDRP should be initiated, based on relevant data points that the Registries and Registrars should starting collect as soon as possible.

For full details on all 18 recommendations, please review the Final Report [PDF, 1.10 MB] and it is currently open for public comment.

Next Steps

Once the comment and reply periods have closed (1 December 2014), staff will prepare a Recommendations Report that, once adopted by the GNSO Council, will be submitted to the ICANN Board. This Report will serve to inform Board members in their deliberations on whether to adopt the recommendations.

Background

The IRTP is a 2004 consensus policy developed through the GNSO's policy development process (PDP) and has been under review by the GNSO through a series of PDPs. The IRTP provides a straightforward procedure for domain name holders to transfer domain names between registrars. On the recommendation of the IRTP Part C WG, the GNSO Council agreed to combine all the remaining IRTP issues into this final PDP, IRTP Part D, in addition to one issue that was raised by the IRTP Part C WG in its Final Report. The GNSO Council unanimously adopted the request for an Issue Report on IRTP Part D at its meeting on 17 October 2012. And so, this PDP is the fourth and final policy development process of different aspects of the Inter Registrar Transfer Policy. The Group was charted to address the following six questions:

  1. Whether reporting requirements for registries and dispute providers should be developed, in order to make precedent and trend information available to the community and allow reference to past cases in dispute submissions;
  2. Whether additional provisions should be included in the Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy (TDRP) on how to handle disputes when multiple transfers have occurred;
  3. Whether dispute options for registrants should be developed and implemented as part of the policy;
  4. Whether requirements or best practices should be put into place for registrars to make information on transfer dispute resolution options available to registrants;
  5. Whether existing penalties for policy violations are sufficient or if additional provisions/penalties for specific violations should be added into the policy;
  6. Whether the universal adoption and implementation of EPP AuthInfo codes has eliminated the need of FOAs.

More Information

Staff Contact

Lars Hoffmann, Policy Specialist


At-Large

9. At-Large Achievements at ICANN 51

At a Glance

Representatives from the At-Large community held 27 meetings during the 51st ICANN Public Meeting that took place in Los Angeles, California, USA 12th – 16th October 2014.These meetings resulted in many policy and process-related achievements.

Meetings

  • During the Sunday ALAC and Regional Leaders Session, briefings were given by Fadi Chehadé, ICANN President and CEO, the GSE and Government Engagement teams, an update on ICANN Accountability and Transparency Activities by Theresa Swinehart , Senior Advisor to the President on Strategy, an update on the status of the At-Large website revamp, a discussion with Ashwin Rangan, Chief Innovation and Information Officer and Chris Gift, VP, Online Community Services, on the next steps for a Information Management System, a meeting with the SSAC including brief review of draft Beginners Guide on DNS, and a discussion with Lee Hibbard of the Council of Europe on the Report on ICANN and Human Rights [PDF, 519 KB].
  • ATLAS II Recommendations – The ALAC briefed the Board on its activities regarding ATLAS II Implementation. The majority of At-Large WG meetings during ICANN 51 focused on the ATLAS II recommendations that were assigned to them. Their agreements will be communicated to the ATLAS II Implementation Taskforce for next steps.
  • The ALAC met with members of the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) to discuss the NTIA IANA Functions' Stewardship Transition.

ALAC Policy Advice Activities

Summary

  1. The ALAC advises the Board of ICANN to immediately "freeze" (that is, cease contracting of or delegating) the 28 TLD strings identified by the GAC as requiring enhanced safeguards ("Category 1, Safeguards 1-8"), pending further community review and subsequent changes to the Public Interest provisions of the TLD agreements;

  2. The ALAC forms a sub-committee, comprised of At-Large and other ICANN community members, to examine the current Public Interest Commitments (PIC) mechanism, as well as any other Public Interest safeguards that may be deployed for relevant TLDs, and to recommend enhancements that better protect consumers and end-users in an expedited manner;

  3. The ALAC assigns a liaison to the newly-formed ICANN Contract Compliance and Safeguards group (subject to its approval), in order to ensure that the At-Large Community is aware of the initiatives and progress of the Department on an ongoing basis.

Incoming ALAC and At-Large Leaders

As it was the Annual General Meeting, the ALAC and At-Large had several leadership changes which occurred during ICANN 51:

  • Incoming ALAC Chair
    • Alan Greenberg
  • 2015 ALAC Leadership Team
    • Tijani Ben Jemaa – Vice Chair (AFRALO)
    • Holly Raiche (APRALO)
    • Olivier Crépin-Leblond – Vice Chair (EURALO)
    • León Sanchez (LACRALO)
    • Alan Greenberg – Chair (NARALO)
  • Incoming ALAC Members:
    • Tijani Ben Jemaa (AFRALO) – returning
    • Holly Raiche (APRALO) – returning
    • Vanda Scartezini (LARALO) – elected
    • Jimmy Schulz (NomCom Selectee from Europe)
    • Sandra Hoferichter (EURALO) – returning
    • Alan Greenberg (NomCom Selectee from North America) – returning
    • Glenn McKnight (NARALO) – elected)
  • Incoming RALO Officers
    • Barrack Otieno (AFRALO) – Secretary
    • Garth Bruen (NARALO) – Chair – returning
    • Evan Leibovitch (NARALO) – Secretary
  • 2015 ALAC Liaisons
    • ccNSO: Maureen Hilyard
    • GNSO: Cheryl Langdon-Orr
    • NCSG: Evan Leibovitch
    • SSAC: Julie Hammer
    • .MOBI: Murray McKercher

More Information

Los Angeles At-Large Los Angeles Meeting Agendas Workspace

Staff Contact

Heidi Ullrich, Senior Director for At-Large


10. ALAC Policy Development Activities from Mid-October to Early-November

At a Glance

The ALAC had a notable increase of policy development activities. Between mid-October and early-November, the ALAC submitted four Policy Advice Statements responding to Public Comment requests. In addition, the ALAC ratified the Joint SO-AC-SG-C Comment on Enhancing ICANN's Accountability Process.

It is worth mentioning that Thomas Lowenhaupt, an At-Large Structure representative from NARALO and a Second At-Large Summit (ATLAS II) participant, drafted his first ALAC Statement in collaboration with two ALAC members. It is encouraging to see a greater involvement from community volunteers in the bottom-up Policy Development activities. Such enhanced engagement reflects the accomplishment of ATLAS II.

At the end of the ICANN 51 meeting, Alan Greenberg succeeded Olivier Crépin-Leblond as the ALAC Chair. As the former ALAC Liaison to the GNSO and as a long-serving ALAC member, Alan has a great interest in ICANN policy issues. Concerned with how difficult it is to enter the complex and acronym-based world of ICANN policy, Alan aims, among his other targets, to make policy matters more accessible to At-Large members and organizations throughout the world.

Recent Developments

The four ALAC Policy Advice Statements submitted between mid-September and early-October are summarized below.

  • ALAC Statement on the Introduction of Two-Character Domain Names for .JETZT, .GLOBAL, .NEUSTAR, .KIWI, .BERLIN, which is the same as the ALAC Statement on the Introduction of Two-Character Domain Names in the New gTLD Namespace (for explanations, please see this motion)
  • ALAC Statement on the Public Interest Commitments
    • The ALAC advises the Board of ICANN to immediately "freeze" (that is, cease contracting of or delegating) the 28 TLD strings identified by the GAC as requiring enhanced safeguards ("Category 1, Safeguards 1-8"), pending further community review and subsequent changes to the Public Interest provisions of the TLD agreements;
    • The ALAC forms a sub-committee, comprised of At-Large and other ICANN community members, to examine the current Public Interest Commitments (PIC) mechanism, as well as any other Public Interest safeguards that may be deployed for relevant TLDs, and to recommend enhancements that better protect consumers and end-users in an expedited manner;
    • The ALAC assigns a liaison to the newly-formed ICANN Contract Compliance and Safeguards group (subject to its approval), in order to ensure that the At-Large Community is aware of the initiatives and progress of the Department on an ongoing basis.
  • ALAC Statement on the Board Working Group Report on Nominating Committee (BWG-NomCom)
    • ALAC believes that Recommendation #8 is potentially destabilizing and complex for a process that has worked well in the past. We recommend deferring this recommendation and it to be re-evaluated in a future NomCom review.
    • The changes in the member composition in Recommendations #1 and #3, voting rights in Recommendation #7 and GNSO normalization in Recommendation #2 provide a welcome modification that enhances diversity and parity.
    • ALAC supports a staggered 2-year and term limit for its members included in Recommendation #9. However it should clearly state that, in addition to allowing the NomCom to remove any member by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of its members, the appointing organizations may also remove any of its NomCom representatives according to their rules and procedures. The recommendations need to cover transition situations where existing NomCom delegates have served 1 or 2 years.
    • ALAC supports Recommendation #10 regarding expanding the scope outside of the ICANN community for the selection of the NomCom Chair, but adds the caution that bringing in someone with no ICANN NomCom experience and no substantive knowledge of ICANN might be counter-productive.
    • Regarding Recommendation #12, the concept of a Chair-in-training or Chair-in-waiting is quite compelling. Perhaps the Associate-Chair should be a Board-appointed position and could be a possible future Chair, but with no presumption of such succession.
    • The interim chair process included in Recommendation #12 needs to be clarified and specific to avoid misunderstandings. Another option to be considered is keeping the current three member NomCom Leadership Team.
  • ALAC Statement on the Draft document from GAC Sub-group on Geographic Names
    • The ALAC supports the scope of the draft document and recommends that protection of geographic names must be addressed in next rounds of new gTLDs.
    • The ALAC advocates a strengthening of the nexus between an application for a geographic TLD and the public interest of the geographic area for which a TLD is sought: 1) A compilation of experiences of the 2012 applicants for geographic TLDs should be made available to applicants for geographic TLDs; 2) this compilation should detail the impact the 2012 geographic TLDs had on their respective areas; 3) geographic areas should be required to demonstrate and certify their "Informed Consent" about the scope and impact a geographic TLD might have on their residents and organizations; 4) this Informed Consent shall have been established through inclusive engagement of residents and organizations; 5) the TLD application shall indicate an ongoing process for various Internet stakeholders to engage in the TLD's governance processes at the local, national, and global levels.
    • The ALAC also suggests that the clause "2.2.1.4 Geographic Names Review" in the Applicant Guidebook (AGB) be modified to consider international treaties that address those rights of countries in relation with geographic names.

Next Steps

More Information

Staff Contact

Xinyue (Ariel) Liang, At-Large Policy Coordinator


11. October Monthly RALO Round Up

At a Glance

Four RALOs held face-to-face monthly meetings in Los Angeles during ICANN 51. In addition to individual RALO meetings, RALO leaders held the customary At-Large Regional Leadership Meeting. This meeting focused on cross-RALO issues such as leveraging synergies and coordinating the implementation of various strategic tasks derived from the ATLAS II declaration [PDF, 201 KB]. Other issues discussed included the status of performance Metrics Expectations and Requirements across RALOs and ALSes as well as recent RALO actions to increase engagement and cooperation agreements with Regional Internet Registries (RIRs).

ICANN 51 gave the opportunity to RALO leaders to hold informal discussions with ICANN's President and CEO Fadi Chehadé, David Olive, Vice President, Policy Development, and other ICANN senior executives to brainstorm and continue discussions on strategic actions to leverage civil society's participation in ICANN and in the Internet eco-system in general.

Recent Developments

  1. AFRALO

    AFRALO held its AFRALO-AFRICANN meeting Wednesday, 15 October. The meeting attendees discussed the theme and issued a statement, "IANA Stewardship Transition and Accountability as seen by the African Community". Among other inputs, the declaration states that "for an effective participation from the African internet community, an effort towards awareness raising and capacity building about IANA functions and facilitation of the engagement of the African community in the process through the operational community channels (naming, numbering, protocol parameters) is drastically needed. The African Internet community requests the operational communities (naming, numbering and protocol), the IANA Coordination Group (ICG) and the accountability coordination group to ensure that the opinions of the Internet Community in Africa and other developing regions of the world are considered when they participate in the proposals development". See AFRALO-AFRICANN statement for further details of this important strategic document.

    The meeting had the special participation of Adiel Akplogan, AFRINIC CEO, Pierre Dandjinou, Global Stakeholder Engagement Vice President for Africa, and AFRALO and ALAC leaders.

  2. APRALO

    APRALO held its monthly meeting on Wednesday, 15 October. One of the highlights of the meeting was the discussion of the APRALO – ICANN APAC HUB PILOT FRAMEWORK document. This strategy was prepared jointly by APRALO members and the staff of the Asia Global Stakeholder Engagement office. The strategy has identified specific focus areas and synergies between APRALO and the ICANN APAC Hub and has determined key priorities and initiatives to improve the participation of civil society in ICANN's Regional Strategies. The implementation of the first stage of the strategy, the language localization, has started. This phase includes the development of presentations by various local Internet Communities depending on topical issues such as IDN, WHOIS, etc.  

    Another highlight was the participation of APNIC's Representative, Pablo Hinojosa, who gave an update on the results of the cooperation agreement between APRALO and APNIC.

  3. LACRALO

    LACRALO held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, 14 October 2014. LACRALO members discussed, among other issues, implementation of recommendations of the ATLAS II Summit, performance metrics and subsequent recommendations for LACRALO ALSes.

    The meeting also included the participation of Rodrigo De la Parra, VP for Latin America and Caribbean and Rodrigo Saucedo, Project Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, who provided an update on the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Strategy and Synergies with LACRALO. Two LACRALO members have led a very important project, the Communications project, which is one of the five pilot programs being carried out by GSE in the region. There is a Portfolio of 35 – 40- additional projects in which the participation of LACRALO ALSes will be requested.

  4. NARALO

    NARALO held its monthly meeting on Wednesday, 15 October. The meeting had the participation of Christopher Mondini and Joe Catapano of ICANN's North American Global Stakeholder Engagement team. They discussed issues such as strategic engagement of civil society in North America and further opportunities for collaboration.

    NARALO held an Outreach event with the theme "Our Internet, Our Stories, Our network – First Nations of the World". This theme followed up on the recent efforts of NARALO to engage first nations and native communities of the North American region in the Internet eco-system. The meeting was well attended by members of the At Large community and other ICANN's constituencies and general public attending the ICANN meeting. See NARALO Outreach Event for more details.

More Information

Los Angeles At-Large Meeting Agendas Workspace for details and transcripts and recordings of the meetings held in Los Angeles.

Staff Contact

Silvia Vivanco,Manager, Regional Affairs


GAC

12. GAC Los Angeles Communiqué Issued

At a Glance

At the ICANN 51 meeting, the GAC provided advice to the ICANN Board on new gTLD matters, including outstanding safeguard issues, WHOIS matters and ICANN's draft work plan to prepare the launch of further rounds of new gTLDs.

Recent Developments

The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) issued its Los Angeles Communiqué [PDF, 127 KB] at the ICANN 51 meeting, including recommendations to the ICANN Board on the New gTLD Program.

The Los Angeles Communiqué urges the Board to modify the Dispute Resolution Process to address non-compliance with Public Interest Commitments (PICs) and reiterates previous advice from the GAC onnew gTLD safeguards regarding verification and validation of registrant credentials for Category 1 strings, non-discriminatory registration policies for Category 2 strings and protections for IGO and Red Cross/Red Crescent names and acronyms.

The Communiqué also emphasizes priority topics for the GAC, including implementation of WHOIS-related safeguards; security risks and the framework for registries to respond to these risks; as well as the importance of finalizing the New gTLD Program Reviews and Assessments Draft Work Plan before developing policy for further gTLD rounds.

Next Steps

The GAC remains engaged with the Board as the Board's New gTLD Program Committee considers the GAC's advice and with ICANN as a whole as the work plan for the New gTLD Program Reviews and Assessments is further refined.

More Information

Staff Contacts

Olof Nordling, Senior Director, GAC Relations

Julia Charvolen, Coordinator, GAC Services

Karine Perset, GAC Relations Advisor


13. GAC Engaging with the Community

At a Glance

The GAC took advantage of its meetings at ICANN 51 in Los Angeles to continue to deepen its engagement in cross-community efforts, both on high-level strategic initiatives and for more issue-specific working groups. The GAC's outreach efforts to the community were ongoing as well.

Recent Developments

In Los Angeles, the GAC continued its engagement in the strategic processes that ICANN is convening to develop a proposal for an IANA transition plan and to enhance ICANN's accountability. In its communiqué, the GAC emphasized the importance of these processes of consensus-based decisions, of serving the public interest and of public policy considerations.

The GAC met with other ICANN constituencies in Los Angeles, notably the ccNSO, the GNSO, the ALAC, and the ICANN Board. Members participated in joint meetings to advance ongoing work, including the GAC-GNSO Consultation Group for the GAC's early engagement in GNSO policy development processes.

All but one of the GAC sessions in Los Angeles were fully open to non-GAC participants, publicly recorded and transcribed. The only exception was the GAC communiqué drafting session, with its government-only focus on public policy matters. The GAC once again held a GAC Open Forum, an information session designed to shed light on how the Committee goes about its work.

Next Steps

The GAC is considering adoption of the Charter of the Cross Community Working Group on ICANN Accountability alongside ICANN's other SOs and ACs. GAC members are fully engaged in the work of this burgeoning Group as well as in the work regarding Names regarding the IANA stewardship transition process. The GAC is articulating principles intended to inform both processes.

More Information

Staff Contacts

Olof Nordling, Senior Director, GAC Relations

Karine Perset, GAC Relations Advisor

Julia Charvolen, Coordinator, GAC Services


14. New GAC Leadership Team

At a Glance

The newly-elected GAC Chair, Mr. Thomas Schneider of Switzerland, and five new Vice Chairs, Ms. Olga Cavalli of Argentina, Mr. Henri Kassen of Namibia, Ms. Gema Campillos Gonzalez of Spain, Mr. Wanawit Ahkuputra of Thailand and Mr. Ihsan Durdu of Turkey, took up their leadership roles in the GAC in October 2014. Outgoing Vice-Chairs will facilitate the transition.

Recent Developments

During the ICANN 51 meeting in Los Angeles, Mr. Thomas Schneider of Switzerland was elected as Chair of the GAC. He succeeds Ms. Heather Dryden of Canada who chaired the GAC since 2010 and was reaching the maximum term of her mandate. The GAC expressed its deep appreciation of Ms. Heather Dryden's dedicated work in the Chair position and wished her the best in her future endeavors. As new GAC Chair, Mr. Thomas Schneider formally also takes over the GAC Liaison seat on the ICANN Board.

Elections were also held for the three GAC Vice-Chair positions. Ms. Olga Cavalli of Argentina, Mr. Henri Kassen of Namibia and Ms. Gema Campillos Gonzalez of Spain were elected as Vice Chairs. In addition, the GAC designated Mr. Wanawit Ahkuputra of Thailand and Mr. Ihsan Durdu of Turkey to perform the roles of Vice-Chairs for the same 1-year period as the newly elected Vice-Chairs.

Next Steps

The outgoing Vice-Chairs, Mr. Peter Nettlefold of Australia and Mr. Tracy Hackshaw of Trinidad & Tobago, while also reaching the maximum terms of their mandates, continue to officiate until the end of the ICANN 52 meeting in 2015 in order to ensure a smooth transition.

More Information

Staff Contacts

Olof Nordling, Senior Director, GAC Relations

Karine Perset, GAC Relations Advisor

Julia Charvolen, Coordinator, GAC Services


RSSAC

15. RSSAC Participates in ICANN 51

At a Glance

The RSSAC had a full schedule of activities at ICANN 51 as it continues to engage in ICANN public meetings.

Developments

The RSSAC held three working sessions in Los Angeles, as well as a public session convening the Caucus for the first time. The Caucus, which consists of 53 DNS experts, is currently finalizing two publications: RSSAC 001 and RSSAC 002 by the end of this month. The RSSAC working sessions enabled the group to make significant progress on key issues relating to accountability, administration, and planning. The RSSAC also held an informative dialogue with the leadership of the Nominating Committee. In addition, the RSSAC highlighted its recently completed operational procedures document, RSSAC 000, during its public session.

Next Steps

The RSSAC is transitioning to a monthly schedule of teleconferences leading up to ICANN 52.

More Information

Staff Contact

Carlos Reyes, Senior Policy Analyst


SSAC

16. SSAC Publishes Report on the IANA Functions Contract

At a Glance

On 10 October 2014 the SSAC published SAC068: SSAC Report on the IANA Functions Contract [PDF, 561 KB].

Recent Developments and Next Steps

On 10 October 2014 the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) published SAC068: SSAC Report on the IANA Functions Contract [PDF, 561 KB]. In this report, the SSAC identifies key aspects of the relationship between the U.S. Government's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as defined by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions Contract.

Next Steps

The SSAC briefed the ICANN community on the Report at the ICANN meeting in Los Angeles (ICANN 51) in October 2014. The SSAC may publish related work on this topic.   

Background

On 14 March 2014, the U.S. Commerce Department's (DoC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced its intention to transition out of its current role with respect to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions. In that announcement, NTIA called upon the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to "convene global stakeholders to develop a proposal to transition the current role played by NTIA in the coordination of the Internet's domain name system (DNS)." The NTIA also specified a set of criteria that must be met by the proposal.

During this process, as the stakeholder communities discuss and formulate their expectations and proposals for a post–NTIA IANA Functions arrangement, it will be important to understand the role that NTIA currently plays with respect to the IANA Functions. The SAC068 report documents that role based on current public contractual information. It complements SAC067, "Overview and History of the IANA Functions" by focusing specifically on the role that NTIA currently plays in the context of the IANA Functions Contract between NTIA and ICANN.

More Information

Staff Contact

Steve Sheng, Director, SSAC and RSSAC Advisories Development Support


1 The RSSAC and SSAC were invited to participate in the Drafting Team, but were unable to join the effort.

policy-update-nov14-en.pdf  [749 KB]

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."