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ICANN Policy Update | Volume 15, Issue 4 - May 2015

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

POLICY UPDATE

Volume 15, Issue 4 – May 2015


Community Proposals Open for Public Comment

After months of intense work, the Cross-Community Working Group to Develop an IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal on Naming Related Functions (CWG-Stewardship) and the Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) have released proposals for the global multistakeholder community to review. These proposals are now under consideration by the various policy development communities, who will provide valuable input through ICANN's enhanced public comment process. Learn more about the proposals here: CWG-Stewardship and CCWG-Accountability.

Publication of the two proposals is an important milestone for the policy development community. Most importantly, these two efforts continue to affirm our consensus-driven processes on behalf of the bottom-up, multistakeholder Internet community. Please consider participating in this important work and contributing to the future of a secure, stable, resilient, and interoperable global Internet.

We are just past the 100-day mark since ICANN launched improved processes and procedures to enhance the public comment experience. These changes implemented recommendations of the second Accountability and Transparency Review Team and were detailed in community webinars and my previous notes to you in this monthly report. I am pleased to report that the transition to new public comment landing pages and improved staff processes has been a smooth one and I are pleased that the initial feedback about longer comment periods and improved status features has been positive. Later this year, we will produce a comprehensive report on the impact of these enhancements and outline the next steps in our efforts to continuously improve the effectiveness of community input and feedback on ICANN's work.

David Olive's Signature

David Olive

Vice President, Policy Development Support
General Manager, ICANN Istanbul Hub Office


Across ICANN

Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

Address Supporting Organization (ASO)

NRO Calls for Comments on a Draft SLA for IANA Numbering Services

Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) Deployment

Regional Internet Registries Number Resource Policy Discussions

Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)

TLD-OPS Email List Grows

Draft Agenda of ccNSO Meeting at ICANN53 Published

Strategic and Operational Working Group Submits Input on FY16 Operating Plan and Budget

Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)

Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues Working Group Publishes Initial Report for Public Comment

GNSO Council Approves IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protections Working Group Charter Amendment

Next GNSO Working Group Newcomer Open House Session

At-Large/At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)

ALAC Submits Statement on FY16 Operating Plan and Budget

RALO Round Up

3 New At-Large Structures Accredited

Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)

The GAC Considers IANA Stewardship Transition Matters

New GAC Working Groups


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 Policy Update in your inbox each month, visit the ICANN subscriptions page.

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

Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

Several public comment proceedings are currently open on issues of interest to the ICANN community.

2nd Draft Proposal of the Cross-Community Working Group to Develop an IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal on Naming Related Functions

The Cross-Community Working Group responsible for the naming related portion of the IANA Stewardship Transition seeks public comment on its 2nd draft proposal for the transition of the stewardship of the IANA Functions Contract from the U. S. Department of Commerce's NTIA to the global multistakeholder community.

Public Comment Period Closes: 20 May 2015, 23:59 UTC

Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability Proposed Accountability Enhancements

The CCWG-Accountability requests community feedback on the proposed enhancements to ICANN's accountability framework it has identified as essential to happen or be committed to before the IANA Stewardship Transition takes place.

Public Comment Period Closes: 3 June 2015, 23:59 UTC

gTLD Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) Charter Amendments

In March 2015, the gTLD Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) of the GNSO submitted a set of Charter revisions to the Staff for processing in compliance with Phase I of the Process for Amending GNSO Stakeholder Group and Constituency Charters. As part of its Process Phase II responsibilities, Staff determined and reported to the Board's Structural Improvements Committee (SIC) that the proposed changes did not present any fiscal or liability concerns for the ICANN organization. The SIC has subsequently directed Staff to open a public comment proceeding to solicit community input concerning the RySG Charter amendments.

Public Comment Period Closes: 16 June 2015, 23:59 UTC

Proposed Renewal of .TRAVEL Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement

This proceeding seeks feedback on the proposed agreement for renewal of the 2005 Registry Agreement for .TRAVEL. This proposal is a result of discussions between ICANN and Tralliance Registry Management Company, LLC (formerly Tralliance Corporation).

Public Comment Period Closes: 21 June 2015, 23:59 UTC

Release of Country and Territory Names within the .SONY, .ARCHI, .BIO, and .SAARLAND TLDs

This public comment proceeding aims at gathering community input on proposed amendments to the .SONY, .ARCHI, .BIO, and .SAARLAND Registry Agreements to allow the registration of country and territory names currently reserved under Section 4 of Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement. These amendments are intended to implement the requests from the registry operators to offer a new registry service, which were submitted through the Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP) process.

Public Comment Period Closes: 25 June 2015, 23:59 UTC

Proposed Schedule and Process/Operational Improvements for AoC and Organizational Reviews

This public comment proceeding requests community feedback on a proposed schedule and process, including operational improvements, for Reviews mandated by the Affirmation of Commitments (AoC Reviews) and the ICANN Bylaws (Organizational Reviews).

Public Comment Period Closes: 2 July 2015, 23:59 UTC

2013 RAA Whois Accuracy Program Specification Review

The purpose of this initiative is to review the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement's Whois Accuracy Program Specification.

Public Comment Period Closes: 3 July 2015, 23:59 UTC

GNSO Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Issues Working Group Initial Report

This public comment proceeding is being opened in order to obtain community input on the Initial Report from the GNSO's Policy Development Process Working Group on issues relating to the accreditation of privacy and proxy service providers.

Public Comment Period Closes: 7 July 2015, 23:59 UTC

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

The staff also populates a web page to help preview potential "upcoming" public comment opportunities. The Upcoming Public Comment 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.


Address Supporting Organization (ASO)

NRO Calls for Comments on a Draft SLA for IANA Numbering Services

One of the key elements of the Consolidated RIR IANA Stewardship Proposal on behalf of the Internet number community is to replace the current NTIA IANA agreement with a new contract—a Service Level Agreement (SLA), between IANA and the five RIRs.

A team of legal experts from different RIRs has developed a first draft of the SLA, which is available at http://www.nro.net/sla. The content of this draft is not the result of negotiations with ICANN or any other parties, and the CRISP team has not yet reviewed it.

The NRO encourages all interested parties to review and comment on this first-draft proposal; including members of the RIRs, ICANN and its communities; members of the CRISP Team and the ICG; and any other organizations and individuals.

This NRO call for public comments will remain open until 14 June 2015, 23:59 UTC. Any interested party may submit comments to the ianaxfer@nro.net mailing list. Subscription to this list is open and available at: https://www.nro.net/mailman/listinfo/ianaxfer

About the Draft SLA

A team of legal experts from the different RIRs developed the draft SLA. The draft responds to the principles included in the Internet number community proposal and is based on the already-existing provisions of the NTIA IANA agreement. It has been written so that it can be signed as part of the implementation of the IANA transition when this occurs or before, without pre-judging the outcome of the ICG-coordinated proposal. The draft SLA includes legally important provisions, such as those that regulate the five RIRs acting together and being responsible collectively before ICANN. It includes background and definitions. This draft also includes explanatory footnotes that reference the source of each article according to the Internet number community proposal principles or the NTIA IANA agreement.

Next Steps

Discussions about the development of the SLA have already occurred in the APNIC 39 (2-6 March, 2015), ARIN 35 (12-15 April, 2015) and RIPE 70 (11-15 May, 2015) meetings. The draft SLA will also be discussed in the upcoming RIR meetings: LACNIC 23 (18-22 May, 2015) and AFRINIC 22 (3-5 June, 2015).

Results of these discussions will be documented on the NRO website at https://www.nro.net/sla-development

During the public comment period, the CRISP team may review the draft SLA and its consistency with the principles of the Internet number community proposal. All comments received by 14 June 2015, will be processed by the legal team of the RIRs and, when appropriate, included in a final draft of the SLA, which will be published before ICANN53. The legal team will be requested by the NRO Executive Council to explain their processing of each community comment into the final draft.

ICANN Staff Contact

Carlos Reyes, Senior Policy Analyst


Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) Deployment

In March 2015, the IETF published a Request for Comments on Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP), a successor protocol for Whois. This new specification is the product of collaboration from the Internet community including staff from ICANN and the RIRs. IANA has already begun publishing RDAP bootstrap files, and the RIRs will soon move their RDAP pilot services into production. LACNIC is the first registry to have deployed RDAP, and ARIN's production deployment of RDAP is scheduled for late June.

For more information watch this video APNIC's George Michaelson and Andy Newton from ARIN: https://youtu.be/nyOGWCJlN8o

Regional Internet Registries Number Resource Policy Discussions

At a Glance

Each of the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) has a web page that lists all Internet number resource policy proposals that are under discussion. Policy discussions take place on open policy mailing lists and at Public Policy Meetings (list and meeting information is provided below). These are some examples of Internet number resource policy and other discussions that have taken place recently on the RIR policy mailing lists and/or at meetings.

AFRINIC

Proposal page: http://www.afrinic.net/en/community/policy-development/policy-proposals

APNIC

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

Three proposals, which failed to reach consensus at APNIC 39 will be presented again. A call for new proposals will be issued in July. The proposals currently under discussion are:

  • prop-115 – Registration of detailed assignment information in Whois database: a proposal to change IP address registration requirements.
  • prop-114 – Modification in the ASN eligibility criteria: a proposal to remove multihoming as a pre-requisite for Autonomous System number assignment.
  • prop-113 – Modification in the IPv4 eligibility criteria: a proposal to remove multihoming as a pre-requisite for IPv4 address delegation.

APNIC 40 Planning Underway

The APNIC 40 Program Committee is now seeking presentations for the APNIC 40 Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia (8-10 September 2015). The program committee is looking for content that would suit the APOPS Plenary, technical conference sessions, lightning talks and Birds of Feather (BoF) sessions.

The technical sessions at APNIC 40 will include presentations relevant to Internet operations and technologies. The following topics are examples of possible areas of interest.

  • ISP and Carrier Services
  • IXPs and Peering
  • Network and infrastructure security
  • Access and Transport Technologies
  • Content and Service Delivery
  • Software Defined Networking and Network Function Virtualization

For more information about APNIC 40, please visit: https://conference.apnic.net/40

ARIN

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

The ARIN 35 meeting took place 12-15 April 2015. The report of the meeting is available at: https://www.arin.net/participate/meetings/reports/ARIN_35/index.html

As a result of the discussions on the list and at the ARIN 35 meeting, two proposals were posted to last call (and three were abandoned). The proposals sent to last call were:

  • Recommended Draft Policy ARIN-2014-6: Remove Operational Reverse DNS Text
  • Recommended Draft Policy ARIN-2014-21: Modification to CI Pool Size per Section 4.4

There were two panels at ARIN 35, one on CRISP (Consolidated RIR IANA Stewardship Proposal) and the other on the IPv4 Transfer Market. Webcasts are available at:

  • https://www.arin.net/participate/meetings/reports/ARIN_35/webcast/crisp_panel.mov
  • https://www.arin.net/participate/meetings/reports/ARIN_35/webcast/transfer_panel.mov

LACNIC

Proposal page: https://politicas.lacnic.net/politicas/list

More information about LACNIC's Policies: http://www.lacnic.net/en/web/lacnic/politicas

Proposals to be discussed at LACNIC 23 (18-22 May):

RIPE

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

Number policy discussions that took place at RIPE 70 during the two Address Policy Working Group (APWG) sessions included:

  • Number policy discussions that took place at RIPE 70 during the two Address Policy Working Group (APWG) sessions included:
  • 2015-01 Alignment of Transfer Requirements for IPv4 Allocations
  • 2015-02 Keep IPv6 PI When Requesting IPv6 Allocation
  • 2015-03 Assessment Criteria for IPv6 Initial Allocation Size
  • Changes to the policy for IPv4 allocations from the last /8 and the idea for a unified transfer policy are also on the agenda

Next Steps

  • LACNIC 23 will be held 18-22 May 2015 in Lima, Peru.
  • AFRINIC 22, AIS15, and AfNog15 are scheduled to take place 24 May-5 June 2015 in Tunis, Tunisia.
  • APNIC 40 will be held 3-10 September 2015 in Mega Kuningan, Indonesia.
  • ARIN 36 will be held in October 2015 in Montreal, Canada following NANOG 65.

Subscribe to RIR Policy Development Mailing Lists

ICANN Staff Contact

Carlos Reyes, Senior Policy Analyst


Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)

TLD-OPS Email List Grows

At a Glance

The newly established ccNSO Incident Response email list TLD-OPS continues to grow. Also, an informational leaflet about the list has been released, aiming at those who have not yet joined.

Recent Developments

During the month April, the TLD-OPS email list reached and exceeded the 100 subscribers mark. Additionally, the Secure Email Communication for ccTLD Incident Response (SECIR) Working Group produced a leaflet, which explains the function of the email list. The leaflet is to be distributed primarily amongst those who have not yet signed up to the email list.

Next Steps

Both ICANN staff and SECIR Working Group members are engaged in reaching out to fellow ccTLDs that have not yet joined the email list. The informational leaflet about the email list has also been published in order to encourage further subscriptions.

The SECIR Working Group is hoping to be able to welcome several more subscribers in the immediate future. The more subscribers the email list has, the more powerful its function will be.

Background

The TLD-OPS list is an initiative of the ccNSO and was set up by the Secure Email Communication for ccTLD Incident Response (SECIR) Working Group. The purpose of the TLD-OPS list is to enable ccTLD operators to easily and quickly contact each other, thus allowing them to better handle incidents that require a coordinated response of ccTLDs at the global level. Examples of these incidents may include targeted attacks on or malfunctions of registration systems, the DNS, or the Internet at large.

The TLD-OPS list is only accessible to people who are responsible for the overall security and stability of a ccTLD, and in particular, for the authoritative name servers and registration system of the registry. List members need to go through a lightweight admission procedure in which their IANA administrative contact authenticates them as being responsible for their registry's security and stability.

The TLD-OPS list's primary purpose is to act as a contact repository. As it is unencrypted, members should exchange actual incident information through a different channel (such as telephone or instant messaging). The TLD-OPS list is open to all ccTLDs, and non-ccNSO members are also encouraged to sign up. The list and is being maintained by the ccNSO Secretariat and runs at DNS-OARC.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, Policy Specialist & ccNSO Support Manager


Draft Agenda of ccNSO Meeting at ICANN53 Published

At a Glance

The draft agenda of the ccNSO Members Meeting at ICANN53 has been published.

Recent Developments

The ccNSO Program Working Group has released its first draft agenda for ICANN53. While focusing on the IANA Stewardship Transition and Enhancing ICANN Accountability, it also guarantees time for other popular sessions, such as the ccTLD Update session.

Next Steps

The agenda will be continuously updated, reflecting recent developments.

Background

Much of the agenda setting is relying on the input received in the survey from ICANN52; however, topical issues are also brought into the agenda, in order to ensure useful and interesting meeting days for the community.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, Policy Specialist & ccNSO Support Manager


Strategic and Operational Working Group Submits Input on FY16 Operating Plan and Budget

At a Glance

The ccNSO's Strategic and Operational (SOP) Working Group, which objective is to monitor and provide input to ICANN's Strategic and Operating Planning processes, has submitted its input on the ICANN Draft FY 2016 Operating Plan and Budget.

Next Steps

The SOP Working Group awaits ICANN's reaction to their input and will monitor which aspects are incorporated into the final Operating Plan and Budget. It will also inform the community and meet with relevant ICANN staff at ICANN53 to discuss its input and upcoming developments.

Background

The SOP Working Group is a ccNSO standing working group that was established with the goal of coordinating and organizing participation of ccTLD managers in ICANN's Strategic and Operational planning processes. Since its setup in 2010, it has provided input and feedback to each of ICANN's Strategic and Operational plans to date. The input does not represent the view of individual ccTLD managers, nor that of the ccNSO Council.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, Policy Specialist & ccNSO Support Manager


Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)

Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues Working Group Publishes Initial Report for Public Comment

At a Glance

This public comment proceeding will allow the community to provide feedback to the Working Group on its Initial Report, which will form the basis for the development of the WG's Final Report. The final recommendations from this Policy Development Process (PDP) Working Group will guide ICANN's implementation of a privacy and proxy service provider accreditation program. Currently, the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) contains an Interim Specification that is due to expire on 1 January 2017.

Recent Developments

The Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues (PPSAI) Working Group issued its Initial Report for public comment on 5 May 2015. The report contains a number of preliminary recommendations covering a range of topics relating to the accreditation and de-accreditation of privacy and proxy service providers, including mandatory minimum provisions to be included in their terms of service, requirements on contactability, and responsiveness to requests for disclosure of customer contact information. The Working Group has also developed an illustrative procedural framework for provider handling of disclosure requests from trademark and copyright owners. There are a number of open questions and alternative formulations still under consideration by the WG, described in the Initial Report, for which the Working Group also seeks community input.

Next Steps

The Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues (PPSAI) Working Group issued its Initial Report for public comment on 5 May 2015. The report contains a number of preliminary recommendations covering a range of topics relating to the accreditation and de-accreditation of privacy and proxy service providers, including mandatory minimum provisions to be included in their terms of service, requirements on contactability, and responsiveness to requests for disclosure of customer contact information. The Working Group has also developed an illustrative procedural framework for provider handling of disclosure requests from trademark and copyright owners. There are a number of open questions and alternative formulations still under consideration by the WG, described in the Initial Report, for which the Working Group also seeks community input.

Background

The Working Group on Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues was chartered in October 2013, to provide the GNSO Council with "policy recommendations regarding the issues identified during the 2013 RAA negotiations, including recommendations made by law enforcement and GNSO working groups, that were not addressed during the 2013 RAA negotiations; specifically, issues relating to the accreditation of Privacy & Proxy Services." The RAA is the contract that governs the relationship between ICANN and its accredited registrars. Its provisions also may have impacts on registrants and other third parties involved in the domain name system. In June 2013, the ICANN Board approved a new 2013 RAA (see http://www.icann.org/en/resources/registrars/raa/approved-with-specs-27jun13-en.pdf).

In initiating negotiations for the 2013 RAA with the Registrars Stakeholder Group in October 2011, the ICANN Board had also requested an Issue Report from the GNSO that, upon the conclusion of the RAA negotiations, would start a PDP to address remaining issues not dealt with in the RAA negotiations that would be suited to a PDP. The outcome of this PDP will guide ICANN's implementation of an accreditation program for privacy and proxy service providers, as the current Interim Specification relating to privacy and proxy services in the 2013 RAA is set to expire on 1 January 2017.

The Working Group's charter covers issues including registration and maintenance of a privacy/proxy service, provider contactability and responsiveness, de-accreditation and topics that have been of longstanding discussion amongst the ICANN community, including provider obligations in relation to "relay" and "reveal" procedures to handle requests for the disclosure of a privacy/proxy customer's identity and contact details.

The Working Group's preliminary recommendations cover all aspects of its Chartered questions, and include specific recommendations concerning "relay and "reveal". Some of these preliminary recommendations cover only certain aspects of a Charter topic, with the Working Group yet to reach consensus on the remaining aspects and open questions. In some instances, a preliminary recommendation or an open question includes bracketed language indicating alternative versions still under consideration by the Working Group and for which they would particularly welcome community input.

Following analysis of all public comments received, the Working Group will finalize its recommendations and prepare a Final Report for delivery to the GNSO Council for its review and action.

More Information

Staff Contact

Mary Wong, Senior Policy Director


GNSO Council Approves Amendment to Charter of IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protections Working Group

At a Glance

At its April 2015 meeting, the GNSO Council approved a request from the Working Group (WG) conducting the Policy Development Process (PDP) on access to and use of existing curative rights processes by International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) to amend the Working Group's Charter. The Working Group had requested the amendment to increase its flexibility and ability to consider a broader set of criteria for IGOs than had been listed in its original Charter.

Recent Developments

The IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms Working Group has been considering the issue of standing by IGOs to file a complaint under existing curative rights processes, i.e. the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) procedure. Its original Charter had limited it to considering only those IGOs for whom a previous GNSO Working Group had recommended be granted certain preventative protections. In order for the Working Group to consider a broader list of IGOs and applicable criteria, its Charter would therefore have to be amended. It submitted a request for amendment to the GNSO Council in March 2015.

Next Steps

The Working Group will continue its deliberations of its Chartered tasks, and plans to hold a community session reporting on its progress and seeking feedback at ICANN53.

Background

This PDP originated in a consensus recommendation from the GNSO's prior Working Group on the Protection of International Organization Names in All gTLDs (IGO-INGO WG). This group had recommended that the GNSO Council request an Issue Report, as a preceding step to a possible PDP, to explore possible amendments to existing curative rights protection mechanisms, i.e. the UDRP and the URS procedure, to address the specific needs of IGOs and INGOs. In June 2014 the GNSO Council resolved to initiate the PDP following its review of the Final Issue Report and chartered the PDP Working Group. The Working Group has made significant progress in its deliberations over the topics outlined in its charter, which tasks it to also consider the possibility of developing a separate, narrowly tailored dispute resolution procedure based on the UDRP and/or URS, to apply specifically to those IGOs and INGOs whose identifiers had previously been recommended for protection by the original IGO-INGO Working Group.

The Working Group has preliminarily determined: (1) to exclude INGOs from further consideration in the PDP, thus focusing only on IGOs; and (2) that standing to file a complaint under the UDRP or URS may appropriately be based on an IGO's having affirmatively sought protection under Article 6ter of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Because this latter recommendation would include IGOs that are not on the list used for its recommendations by the previous IGO-INGO-WG, the current Working Group decided to seek an amendment to its Charter from the GNSO Council.

The Working Group is currently considering the issue of an IGO's immunity from suit, and how this might affect the Mutual Jurisdiction requirement currently in the UDRP and URS.

More Information

Staff Contact

Mary Wong, Senior Policy Director


Next GNSO Working Group Newcomer Open House Session

At a Glance

GNSO Working Group Newcomer Open House sessions give GNSO working group newcomers a unique opportunity to learn more about the policy development process and how to engage in a GNSO working group.

Recent Developments

After moving from a monthly format to a trimester format, these community-chaired webinars are increasingly geared toward interactivity and exchange. The focus is on community engagement and attempting to improve understanding of policy-making processes. For this, the updated agendas concentrate not only on the main GNSO mechanisms but also on communication tools allowing members to understand the information provided, and also, where to go or whom to ask to find out more information.

In order to better cater to community needs, an RSVP form is sent out 2 weeks before the webinar where participants can submit questions, or topics they would like to know more about ahead of time.

Next Steps

The next session is on 4 June 2015. Announcements will be sent out closer to the time. A further session is planned for 24 September 2015 prior to the ICANN 54 meeting in Dublin.

These Newcomer sessions are a work in progress. Staff is constantly striving to improve the format and increase interaction. For this staff is focusing on participant input and working closely with the chairs of each session with the aim to create a true exchange with GNSO working group newcomers.

Background

The GNSO Working Group Newcomer Open House sessions began at the end of 2013 with the aim of creating an informal gathering of GNSO newcomers who could learn more about the policy development process and other GNSO working group related topics

More Information

Staff Contact

Nathalie Peregrine, Secretariat Operations Coordinator, At-Large & GNSO

At-Large / At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)

ALAC Submits Statement on FY16 Operating Plan and Budget

At a Glance

During this period, the ALAC submitted one statement in response to ICANN public comment request.

Recent Developments

ICANN Draft FY16 Operating Plan & Budget

  • The ALAC is satisfied with the Budget proposal as a whole, but has one specific item of concern, related to the evolution of support for ICANN Policy Development.
  • Both the GNSO and the ALAC's activities are essentially funded under the ICANN Policy budget. Policy development is a core activity at ICANN. It is this multistakeholder policy development that differentiates ICANN from any other organization. The overall budget allocated to policy development and supporting the SO/ACs, including constituency travel support, is about $11.4 million US dollars, which is surprisingly less than 10% of total budget for a core activity and key differentiation factor.
  • The ALAC believes the growth of this budget to be too low. This concern translates directly to concerns about staffing levels. The budget indicates that 16 new staff hires are expected for FY16, yet, none of the hires seem to be in Policy Support. The ALAC forecasts a number of new PDPs, review processes, as well as a potential next round of gTLDs which will only serve to increase the demand on already busy staff. Also, its community of At–Large Structures will soon reach the 200 mark – which translates to a need for increased support of its increased activity. The ALAC is concerned that this need to increase FTEs supporting Policy both in the GNSO and in the ALAC is not currently reflected in the budget and may lead to staff overwork, community frustration, and a reduction in community involvement that risks making long–term evolution of the multistakeholder model unsustainable.

Next Steps

More Information

Staff Contact

Xinyue (Ariel) Liang, At-Large Policy Coordinator


RALO Round Up

At a Glance

Some RALOs have started their regional elections in synchronization with the ALAC schedule of elections, selections and appointments 2015. This allows both staff and At-Large community members to focus on all elections at once, maximizing time and resources.

The five RALOs held a Cross RALO Secretariat meeting, where they discussed common activities. The main issues on the agenda included the need to have a common reporting format for RALO monthly activities, the professional capabilities survey, and agenda items for meetings at ICANN53.

Recent RALO Developments

AFRALO

AFRALO has started its Regional elections in synchronization with the 2015 ALAC Election Schedule. The following positions are open: AFRALO Chair to serve a 2-year term ending in November 2017, a Vice Chair to serve a 2-year term ending in November 2017, and an ALAC Delegate to the Nominating Committee from Africa for a 1 year term ending November 2016. A call for nominations was sent out to the AFRALO list on 30 April 2015. See AFRALO 2015 Elections for details.

APRALO

APRALO issued a call for consensus to confirm nominations for leadership positions made during its 21 April APRALO monthly call. The nominations are for the following positions: APRALO Representative to the ALAC (2- year term AGM 2015-AGM 2017), APRALO Vice Chair (2 year term AGM 2015-AGM 2017) and confirmation of appointment for APRALO Secretariat. See details of these nominations in the APRALO Wiki page.

APRALO members continue carrying out activities under the APAC Hub-APRALO Framework. Under this program APRALO is holding a new series of capacity building webinar for At-Large Structures (ALSes) in APRALO. The second webinar on the topic of "Internet Governance – APAC Perspective" will take place on 21 May 2015 and is being organized by staff and APRALO members. The webinar will be held in an interactive fashion, with a Q & A session and an evaluation survey to be distributed to provide feedback.

EURALO

Several EURALO members are involved in the planning process for EuroDIG 2015, "Shaping the Internet Together" in Sofia, Bulgaria this June. EURALO decided to request CROPP funding for five members to attend EURODIG.

EURALO members have requested a briefing call on the IANA Transition and latest developments from the ICG, CWG, and CCWG.

LACRALO

The Buenos Aires Showcase Working Group continues preparations for the LACRALO Showcase at ICANN53.

LACRALO's CROPP proposal for two travelers to attend the Forum for Information Technology Leaders "FELTi 2015" in Cuba was approved. LACRALO members are speakers in two sessions: "Transition in Internet Governance" and "At-Large and LACRALO." See the proposal here.

NARALO

NARALO's FY16 request for the creation of ALAC Learner Guides as e-books was approved.

The positions of NARALO Chair, Secretariat, NARALO ALAC Representative and NARALO 2015 Delegate to the Nominating Committee are up for election in accordance to the 2015 ALAC Election Schedule. NARALO will hold a call in the upcoming days to allow NARALO members to get to know the candidates better, introduce themselves, and answer any questions regarding their candidacies and plans for the region.

More Information

Staff Contact

Silvia Vivanco, Manager, At-Large Regional Affairs


3 New At-Large Structures Accredited

At a Glance

Currently, 188 At-Large Structures make up the backbone of the At-Large community and its Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs). There has been an increase in demands for At-Large Structures, triggered by last year's ATLAS II Summit and by more efficient community/ staff collaboration toward effective outreach.

Recent Developments

Last month, three new organizations became accredited ALSes. They are the following:

ISOC India Trivandrum Chapter became part of APRALO on 20 April 2015. It focuses mostly on the following ICANN related issues: preservation of free, open, unified, global Internet governance, including policy development through the multistakeholder model; use of the Internet as an instrument for human development, poverty alleviation, and enhancing the quality of life around the world; and grassroots-level capacity building for influencing Internet policy initiatives that enhance the resilience of the Internet such as running L-root instances.

ISOC Korea joined APRALO on 20 April 2015. The ISOC Korea chapter facilitates Internet governance dialogues in Korea inviting all stakeholders in civil society, academia, the private sector, and
government. ISOC Korea aims to serve individuals who live and/or work in the Republic of Korea. The chapter also places a high emphasis on enhancing collaboration between members of ISOC Korea and the ISOC community.

ISOC Russia Chapter is the most recent ALS to be part of EURALO. The Russian branch of ISOC was established in the territory of the Russian Federation in the form of a non-profit partnership "Internet Community" to promote the development and widespread use of the Internet in Russia, contributing to the mission of the international public organization, ISOC.

Next Steps

Many potential ALSes are currently in the accreditation pipeline, either undergoing Due Diligence (ISOC Zimbabwe) or being discussed by RALO Leadership who will provide Regional Advice regarding the application (High Tech Centre for Nigerian Women and Youths—AFRALO; IEEE Nicaragua—LACRALO).

Background

One of the main focus areas of the Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs) is, and always has been, outreach. RALO leaders and staff work hard together to ensure that organizations or associations across the world with similar goals to those of the ICANN community know about At-Large and are motivated to be part of it. In order to manage this, they need to gain At-Large Structure (ALS) status.

More Information

Staff Contact

Nathalie Peregrine, Secretariat Operations Coordinator, At-Large & GNSO


The GAC Considers IANA Stewardship Transition Matters

At a Glance

For its upcoming meeting at ICANN53, the GAC is prioritizing the outcomes from the IANA Stewardship Transition and Enhancing ICANN Accountability processes. The GAC held internal briefings on 5 and 6 May to share views and prepare for the following steps based on the recently posted proposals from these two groups.

Recent Developments

The GAC is a chartering organization of both the CWG-Stewardship and the CCWG-Accountability and views the recently posted outcomes (CWG's proposal and CCWG's proposal) from both groups as important milestones. GAC nominees have been active in both the CWG-Stewardship (Norway and Thailand) and the CCWG-Accountability (Argentina, the African Union Commission, Denmark, Niue, and the United States) since the launch of these groups, and numerous GAC participants have joined as well.

To follow-up on developments and prepare the work ahead, the GAC held internal briefings on 5 and 6 May 2015. The purpose of these briefings was to inform GAC members in an interactive way, to share views across the GAC and to prepare for the following steps, when individual governments may consider commenting on the proposals through the public comment process.

Next Steps

The GAC and its members will contribute in various ways during the next stages of this work. Some individual GAC members were expected to contribute during the Public Comment period for the CWG proposal (22 April– 20 May 2015) and the CCWG proposal (4 May – 3 June 2015). In parallel, the GAC will exchange views and develop joint statements for contributions during the period for consideration by chartering organizations (approximately 8 June 2015 until the end of ICANN53); and potentially also thereafter, if circumstances so require.

More Information

Staff Contact

Olof Nordling, Senior Director, GAC Relations

Karine Perset, GAC Relations Advisor

Julia Charvolen, Coordinator, GAC Services


New GAC Working Groups

At a Glance

Following discussions at ICANN52 and thereafter, certain issues have been selected by the GAC to address in new Working Groups (WGs). Noteworthy cases include Human Rights & International Law, Public Safety, Community Applications, Underserved Regions and Nominating Committee relations. These WGs are in various stages of development and update sessions for all are foreseen in the GAC's agenda for ICANN53.

Recent Developments

One long established GAC WG, on Future gTLD Rounds, spun off from a separate Working Group on Geographic Names last year and its sub-group on Community Applications was likewise spun off recently as an independent Working Group. Other topics with links to new gTLD matters and selected for consideration in GAC Working Groups are Public Safety and Underserved Regions.

Discussions in the community before and during ICANN52 prompted the GAC to launch a Working Group on Human Rights & International Law, in addition to the community efforts to organize discussions on this matter. Renewed discussions between the GAC and ICANN's Nominating Committee, also resulted in the launch of a GAC Working Group to consider GAC's future relations with the group.

These are the most recent additions to a growing number of GAC Working Groups, to be seen as a way to advance substantive discussions on selected topics "inter-sessionally", meaning between the GAC's face-to-face meetings.

Next Steps

Some of the new Working Groups are already active while others will have their terms of reference ready for adoption at ICANN53, where all GAC Working Groups will have short sessions to report on progress and discuss ways ahead. These sessions will be open and can be attended by anybody, in person or remotely, as is current practice for all GAC sessions except the Communiqué drafting session.

More Information

Staff Contact

Olof Nordling, Senior Director, GAC Relations

Karine Perset, GAC Relations Advisor

Julia Charvolen, Coordinator, GAC Services

policy-update-may15-en.pdf  [478 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."