ccNSO & DNS Abuse: Council adopted the Roadmap

Date
28 March 2022

At its meeting on 10 March, the ccNSO Council adopted the Roadmap for the role of the ccNSO with respect to DNS Abuse.

What is this about?

The Roadmap provides a high level overview of the activities and phasing on how the ccNSO could be involved in the discussion and work around mitigating the impact of DNS Abuse. The main areas of activities are:

  • Enhance sharing of information and practices for the benefit of ccTLDs
  • Showcase ccTLD efforts
  • Reinforce the message about the nature of ccTLDs and the (limited) role of the ccNSO when addressing other stakeholders in the DNS ecosystem
  • Share DNS Abuse related metrics

To coordinate these activities, the Roadmap suggests creating the ccNSO DNS Abuse Standing Committee (DASC). This Committee would consist of ccTLD representatives. The Committee is expected to create and maintain a repository of useful resources for ccTLD managers. DASC will also explore creating a dedicated email list for ccTLDs to share experiences and stay informed with respect to DNS Abuse. Subscription to the email list would be voluntary.

Next steps

During ICANN73, ccTLDs suggested areas for improvement to the draft DASC's draft Terms of Reference, specifically to include safeguards with respect to the scope of its mandate. The amended Terms of Reference are currently being reviewed and discussed by Council.

Background

The ccNSO has organized various sessions on Domain Name System abuse in recent ICANN Public Meetings. Country code top-level domain managers and others shared their experiences with respect to mitigating DNS abuse, focusing on what ccTLDs do nationally and regionally. During ICANN72, the conversation shifted to focus on exploring the potential role of the ccNSO itself. Both ccTLDs and other stakeholders suggested activities the ccNSO could undertake to complement existing work being done by the community.

On 25 February, a proposed Roadmap and draft Terms of Reference for the ccNSO DNS Abuse Standing Committee (DASC) were circulated among the broader ccTLD community. The proposal builds on previous work during ICANN72 and a ccNSO workshop held in November 2021 when ccTLDs and the broader community suggested areas that the ccNSO should get involved in with respect to DNS abuse. An ad hoc committee under auspices of the ccNSO Council was formed to evaluate the suggestions, and to work on a proposed roadmap. ccNSO Council discussed the draft roadmap during its January meeting and tasked the ad hoc committee to seek ccTLD community feedback at and around ICANN73.

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