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ICANN Policy Update | Volume 15, Issue 5 | Pre-ICANN53, June 2015

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

POLICY UPDATE

Volume 15, Issue 5, Pre-ICANN53, June 2015


Recognizing Our Community

Community-driven work is at the core of ICANN's mission. As we prepare to gather for ICANN53, it is important to acknowledge the vibrant role and critical impact of our community. Countless hours are spent in working groups across our supporting organizations and advisory committees developing and refining policies that ensure the security, stability, and resiliency of the global Internet. The Policy Development Support team is proud to help facilitate this work.

Last year, our team assumed responsibility for coordinating, organizing, and executing community recognition efforts. From ICANN49 to ICANN52, we have recognized 45 community leaders for their extraordinary service and contributions. At ICANN53, we will celebrate three community leaders throughout the week. We are also developing a comprehensive proposal for community recognition programming that aligns with the implementation of the new ICANN meetings strategy.

The community itself has embraced this spirit of appreciation through the Multistakeholder Ethos Award. A ten-member community selection panel has been reviewing nominations against a four-point criteria-set for this year's award. The decision of the panel will be announced during the opening ceremony at ICANN53. We hope you will join us in recognizing our community leaders at ICANN53 and beyond.

Hasta pronto,

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

Across SO/ACs

Leadership Training Program Applications to Open at ICANN53

Address Supporting Organization (ASO)

Ron da Silva Selected to Serve on Board Seat 9

ASO Address Council to Meet at ICANN53

IPv4 Transfers and the RIPE Community

Regional Internet Registries Number Resource Policy Discussions

Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)

GNSO at ICANN53: Reports, Launches, and Discussions

GNSO Council to Consider Policy and Implementation Recommendations at ICANN53

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

At-Large Community to Focus on IANA Stewardship Transition and Enhancing ICANN Accountability at ICANN53

ALAC Submits Statements on CWG-Stewardship 2nd Draft Proposal and CCWG-Accountability Draft Proposal

At-Large Website Revamp: Policy Section Development

190 At-Large Structures Milestone Reached as On-Boarding Initiative Launches

RALO Round Up

Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)

Country Names as Second Level Domains

Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC)

RSSAC Public Session Planned at ICANN53

Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC)

SSAC Publishes Advisory on the Use of Static Top Level Domain/Suffix Lists


Publication Information

Policy Update is posted on ICANN's website and is available via online subscription. To receive Policy Update in your inbox each month, please visit the subscriptions page.

Please send questions, comments, and suggestions to: policyinfo@icann.org.

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.

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 has been 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

Proposed Renewal of .CAT Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement

ICANN has posted for public comment the proposed agreement for renewal of the 2005 Registry Agreement for .CAT. This proposal is a result of discussions between ICANN and Fundació puntCAT (the Registry Operator for the .CAT TLD).

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

Proposed Renewal of .PRO Unsponsored Registry Agreement

ICANN has posted for public comment the proposed agreement for renewal of the 2010 Registry Agreement for .PRO. This proposal is a result of discussions between ICANN and Registry Services Corporation.

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

Release of Country and Territory Names with the .KOMATSU and RICOH TLDs

This public comment proceeding aims at gathering community input on proposed amendments to the .KOMATSU and .RICOH 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: 8 July 2015, 23:59 UTC

Draft Report: Review of the Generic Names Supporting Organization

The purpose of this public comment proceeding is to request community feedback on the Draft Report issued by Westlake Governance Limited (Westlake) on the Review of Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO).

Public Comment Period Closes: 20 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.


Across SO/ACs

Leadership Training Program Applications to Open at ICANN53

Leadership Training Program 2014

Leadership Training Program 2014

At a Glance

The application process for this year's Leadership Training Program (LTP) will begin during ICANN53. Incoming and current leaders from all supporting organizations (SO), advisory committees (AC), and stakeholder groups (SG) are eligible to apply. The LTP is designed for current and incoming leaders, helping them to better understand the complexity of ICANN and grow their leadership and facilitation skills. Sandra Hoferichter, the community lead organizer for the LTP will be briefing community groups during ICANN53.

Next Steps

Interested applicants should consult their community leadership and then complete the online application form. The third annual course will take place 14 to 16 October 2016 ahead of ICANN54.

Background

The LTP is a community-led effort developed by the ICANN Academy Working Group, an ICANN-wide group consisting of participants from each SO/AC/SG. The ICANN Academy Working Group is aware that understanding ICANN as an organization, the topics discussed within ICANN, and interaction among all stakeholders is challenging for incoming leaders and sometimes also for experienced leaders. ICANN and the community are undertaking considerable effort to help incoming leaders have a solid start in their term and provide current leaders the opportunity to strengthen their leadership and facilitation skills.

During the three days of the LTP, participants will:

  1. discuss ICANN policy topics in-depth
  2. deepen understanding of key ICANN processes
  3. meet leaders from the other community groups
  4. learn facilitation and leadership skills by global experts and have the opportunity to practice those skills
  5. increase personal effectiveness to run meetings and foster processes
  6. facilitate a session on a topic of their expertise and in accordance to the curriculum (experienced leaders only).

So far, two LTP sessions have been held for current and incoming ICANN leaders with a very positive feedback from graduates. The first LTP took place before ICANN48, and the second LTP was held before ICANN52.

More Information

Staff Contact

Heidi Ullrich, Senior Director for At-Large


Address Supporting Organization (ASO)

Ron da Silva Selected to Serve on Board Seat 9

The ASO Address Council (AC) has selected Ron da Silva to replace Ray Plzak on seat 9 of the ICANN Board of Directors. Mr. da Silva will serve a three-year term beginning after the Annual General Meeting at ICANN54.

Mr. da Silva is the Vice President of Network Engineering, Architecture, and Technology at Time Warner Cable. He currently serves on the Number Resource Organization's Number Council and previously served as the Chair of the Advisory Council for the American Registry of Internet Numbers. Mr. da Silva is a leader in the service provider and cable industries and maintains memberships in various organizations including ISOC and IETF.

The ASO AC appointed Mr. da Silva after a thorough and transparent selection process. The ASO AC would like to thank all candidates for participating in the process. Moreover, the ASO AC would like to recognize Mr. Plzak for his six-year tenure and advancing the Internet numbering community in ICANN.

More Information

ICANN Staff Contact

Carlos Reyes, Senior Policy Analyst


ASO Address Council to Meet at ICANN53

The ASO Address Council (AC) has scheduled five days of internal discussions on policy development matters relating to the numbering community as well as coordination among the five regional Internet registries.

On Wednesday, 24 June from 11:30 to 13:00, the ASO AC will conduct its annual public meeting and workshop in Aguila. The ASO AC will provide an update on its work as well as discuss Internet number resource issues as they relate to the IANA Stewardship Transition and the numbering community's perspectives on Enhancing ICANN Accountability.

More Information

ASO AC Public Meeting and Workshop

ICANN Staff Contact

Carlos Reyes, Senior Policy Analyst


IPv4 Transfers and the RIPE Community

The RIPE NCC is currently implementing the last in a series of policy changes relating to the transfer of unused or unneeded Internet number resources to other organizations. These policies were developed by members of the RIPE community in response to IPv4 exhaustion, after the RIPE NCC reached its last /8 of IPv4 addresses in September 2012.

Background

In 2014, the RIPE community reached consensus on a policy change that reduced IPv4 needs justification to a minimum. This means that organizations wishing to receive an IPv4 transfer no longer have to demonstrate their need for the addresses, beyond stating that they will use the allocation to make assignments. The RIPE NCC is the only regional Internet registry with such a policy in place.

The RIPE community has also accepted a number of other transfer proposals (inter-RIR, IPv4 PI, IPv6 and ASN). When taken together, the result is a much more liberalized set of policies governing the transfer of Internet number resources.

The discussions on these proposals drew many differing views from across the RIPE community. In 2014, more than 100 people from 26 countries participated in the mailing list discussions, with almost 1,000 posts in total. Over the course of these discussions, the RIPE community reached a clear consensus on removing restrictions around transfers while at the same time promoting correct registration of Internet resources. 

More Information

Policy Proposal 2013-03

ICANN Staff Contact

Carlos Reyes, Senior Policy Analyst


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 the 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 took 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/

AFRINIC held its Policy Development Sessions on 3 June 2015 in Tunisia, where the following policies were discussed:

  • Out of Region Use of AFRINIC Resources
  • Resource Reservation for Internet Exchange Points
  • AFRINIC Service Guidelines

The Annual General Members Meeting (AGMM) also took place in Tunisia during AFRINIC22. This year, two board seats are up for election: Seat 5 (Southern Africa), and Seat 6 (Eastern Africa). For more information on 2015 Board Election Candidates: http://www.afrinic.net/en/community/bod-candidate-2015

APNIC

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

There was a discussion on the mailing list regarding a proposal for address block 1.2.3.0/24, which is not delegated as it attracts a large amount of unwanted traffic sent to the address 1.2.3.4. It was suggested the block could be auctioned and the proceeds donated to a charitable or development cause.

The deadline for policy proposals to be discussed at the APNIC40 Open Policy Meeting is 31 July 2015. Those interested in proposing a policy change can review the Proposal Author Guidelines here: https://www.apnic.net/community/policy/process/guidelines-for-proposal-authors

ARIN

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

The most recent ARIN Public Policy Consultation was held at NANOG64 on 1 June 2015 in San Francisco, California.

After reviewing last call comments, the ARIN Advisory Council sent the following proposals to the ARIN Board of Trustees for ratification:

  • 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

ARIN-2014-17: Change Utilization Requirements from Last-Allocation to Total-Aggregate will be implemented no later than 26 June 2015.

Proposal text is available at: https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/

LACNIC

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

LACNIC23 took place 18-22 May 2015 in Lima, Peru. The following proposals were discussed:

  • LAC-2014-3: Update to the Policy Development Process—Author: Ricardo Patara, NIC.br.
  • The LACNIC community approved the proposal.

  • LAC-2015-2: Inter-RIR Transfers—Author: David Huberman, Microsoft
  • The proposal was widely discussed with differing opinions from across the RIRs. While the majority of the community agrees that there should be a policy of Inter-RIR transfer, the discussion will continue.

  • LAC-2015-1: Trigger 2.3.2.18 when a justified request larger than /22 is received which cannot be allocated from any remaining pool of addresses at LACNIC—Author: Mike Burns, IPTrading.com
  • The proposal did not reach consensus, and more discussion will take place on the mailing list.

The LACNIC23 meeting report is available at:
http://www.lacnic.net/web/eventos/lacnic23-recap3.

RIPE

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

RIPE70 took place from 11-15 May 2015 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Proposals discussed in the Address Policy Working Group included:

  • 2014-03 Remove Multihoming Requirement for AS Number Assignments
  • 2015-01 Alignment of Transfer Requirements for IPv4 Allocations
  • 2015-02 Keep IPv6 PI When Requesting IPv6 Allocation
  • 2015-03 Assignment Criteria for IPv6 Initial Allocation Size

On overview of the discussions can be read here: https://ripe70.ripe.net/programme/report/wednesday/

Next Steps

  • APNIC40 will be held 3-10 September 2015 in Mega Kuningan, Indonesia.
  • ARIN36 will be held following NANOG65 in October 2015 in Montreal, Canada. 

Subscribe to RIR Policy Development Mailing Lists

ICANN Staff Contact

Carlos Reyes, Senior Policy Analyst


Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)

GNSO at ICANN53: Reports, Launches, and Discussions

Highlights

The discussion on the CWG's Final Transition Proposal on Naming-Related Functions is expected to be one of the GNSO's main priorities during ICANN53. In addition, the GNSO Council will consider the Final Reports from the Policy and Implementation Working Group and the Translation and Transliteration Policy Development Process Working Group as well as discuss the request for an Issue Report on new gTLD subsequent procedures.

All GNSO-related information for ICANN53 can be found here: www.gnso.icann.org/icannmeeting.

ICANN53 Overview

The GNSO Weekend kicks off with updates on all GNSO projects on Saturday, including all policy development processes, followed by meetings with ICANN senior executives on Sunday. It is an important two-day preparatory session that will set much of the agenda and tone for the week. At the end of the day on Sunday, the GNSO will meet with the Governmental Advisory Committee. The GNSO Council will meet with the ccNSO on Monday.

Tuesday will see a full day of public meetings of the GNSO's Stakeholder Groups and Constituencies. The GNSO Council will meet in public on Wednesday, discussing the CWG's Final Transition Proposal and potentially decide whether to initiate policy development processes on subsequent new gTLD rounds, among other topics. Also on Wednesday, the Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Issues Working Group will present its Initial Report to the Community (which remains open for public comment beyond ICANN53), followed by a session on a possible cross-community working group on new gTLD Auction Proceeds.

Please, make sure to consult the ICANN53 Schedule for any last-minute changes and follow the GNSO Twitter feed (@ICANN_GNSO) for all the latest information during ICANN53.

More Information

Staff Contact

Lars Hoffmann, Policy Specialist


GNSO Council to Consider Policy and Implementation Recommendations at ICANN53

At a Glance

The GNSO Policy and Implementation Working Group has submitted its Final Recommendations Report to the GNSO Council for adoption. The Working Group recommends the adoption of three new standardized processes for GNSO deliberations, namely 1) a GNSO Input Process, 2) a GNSO Guidance Process, and 3) a GNSO Expedited Policy Development Process.

Recent Developments

The GNSO Policy and Implementation Working Group (WG) published its Initial Recommendations Report [PDF, 1.46 MB] for public comment earlier this year. Following its review [DOC, 267 KB] of the comments received, it has now submitted its Final Report to the GNSO Council for consideration. The WG believes the materials contained in the report as well as its recommendations will enhance, clarify, standardize, and increase the transparency of all GNSO policy development efforts as well as implementation related processes and activities. The report includes the following recommendations:

  • The WG recommends adhering to the Policy and Implementation principles as outlined in section 4 of the Initial Recommendations Report when policy or implementation related issues arise in the implementation phase.
  • The WG proposes three new standardized processes for GNSO deliberations, namely 1) a GNSO Input Process, 2) a GNSO Guidance Process, and 3) a GNSO Expedited Policy Development Process. The details of each of these processes can be found in Annex C (GNSO Input Process), Annex D (GNSO Guidance Process) and Annex E (GNSO Expedited Policy Development Process) of the Initial Recommendations Report.
  • The WG recommends requiring the creation of an Implementation Review Team (IRT) following the adoption of GNSO policy recommendations and adhering to the IRT principles as outlined in Annex H of the Initial Recommendations Report.

Background

Mainly as a result of discussions stemming from implementation-related issues of the new generic Top-Level Doman (gTLD) program, there has been an increased focus on which topics call for policy and which call for implementation work, including which processes should be used, at what time and how issues which are the subject of diverging opinions during the implementation process should be acted upon. Following several discussions, including the publication of a staff discussion paper and a community session during ICANN46, the GNSO Council decided in July 2013 to form a Working Group (WG), which was tasked to provide the GNSO Council with a set of recommendations on a number of questions that specifically relate to policy and implementation in a GNSO context. The WG has now published its Final Recommendations Report for GNSO Council consideration.

More Information

Staff Contact

Marika Konings, Senior Policy Director and Team Leader for the GNSO


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

At-Large Community to Focus on IANA Stewardship Transition and Enhancing ICANN Accountability at ICANN53

At a Glance

Representatives from the At-Large community will hold 22 meetings as well as numerous informal meetings during ICANN53, focusing on the IANA Stewardship Transition and Enhancing ICANN Accountability process.

Next Steps

The ALAC will be holding over five hours of meetings on the IANA Stewardship Transition and Enhancing ICANN Accountability process. In addition to their traditional policy meetings, the ALAC and RALO leaders will be meeting with the ICANN Board of Directors, the ccNSO, the GAC, the NCSG, the SSAC, and ICANN senior staff.

All RALOs will be holding their monthly meetings as well as a secretariat meeting. There will also be new meetings between the ALAC Leadership Team and RALO Chairs. LACRALO will be hosting a showcase on the theme of "LACRALO: Knowledge for Inclusion."

More Information

At-Large ICANN53 Workspace

Staff Contact

Heidi Ullrich, Senior Director for At-Large


ALAC Submits Statements on CWG-Stewardship 2nd Draft Proposal and CCWG-Accountability Draft Proposal

At a Glance

The ALAC submitted statements in response to the public comment requests of the 1) 2nd Draft Proposal of the Cross-Community Working Group (CWG) to Develop an IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal on Naming Related Functions and the 2) Cross-Community Working Group (CCWG) on Enhancing ICANN Accountability—Proposed Accountability Enhancements (Work Stream 1).

Background

These two statements are the result of extensive consultation among At-Large members and participants in the CWG and the CCWG, the At-Large Ad-Hoc Working Group on IANA Transition and ICANN Accountability, and the wider community.

To enhance At-Large members' understanding of these two important draft proposals and to facilitate their engagement in the public comment process, special briefings were held on April 27, April 29, and May 18, 2015. Notably, the African Regional At-Large Organization and several At-Large members submitted comments separately.

Recent Developments

2nd Draft Proposal of the Cross Community Working Group (CWG) to Develop an IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal on Naming Related Functions [PDF, 638 KB]

The ALAC is generally supportive of the Draft Proposal. However, the ALAC does have a number of critical concerns that it believes will need to be addressed to allow the ALAC to fully support the final CWG proposal.

The ALAC would prefer an IANA wholly integrated into ICANN, but is willing to accept a compromise of a separate legal entity if the details of its organization and governance are satisfactory.

The ALAC's main general concerns include:

  • the lack of multistakeholder oversight involvement—the ALAC will offer guidance as to how this might be addressed
  • the current direction of the CWG, specifically the Board (or other controlling entity) of the Post-Transition IANA (PTI)—the ALAC had not yet reached consensus but has some concerns.

Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) - Proposed Accountability Enhancements (Work Stream 1)

In general the ALAC is supportive of the direction being taken by the CCWG. In its comments, the ALAC provided guidance on a number of issues, some of which the CCWG is explicitly seeking, and others where the ALAC believes that reconsideration may be required.

More Information

Staff Contact

Xinyue (Ariel) Liang, At-Large Policy Coordinator


At-Large Website Revamp: Policy Section Development

At a Glance

Since early April, ICANN staff and community members in the At-Large Website Revamp Task Force have been focusing on the development of the policy sections on the new At-Large website, which will be presented during ICANN53. Key features under construction include integration with the Public Comment page of www.icann.org and a taxonomy system. The Task Force met in late April to review the project progress.

Recent Developments

At-Large staff has worked collaboratively with ICANN's Digital Services and offshore team in India on developing the "pre-alpha" version of the new At-Large website that will be presented at ICANN53. The pre-alpha version will demonstrate how the new website improves the policy management process for At-Large and how it facilitates member participation in the policy work of ICANN.

One of the key features of the new website is its integration with the Public Comment page on www.icann.org. This integration enables the automatic creation of a page on the At-Large website that corresponds to a given public comment period. If the ALAC decides to submit a statement on a public comment proceeding, the page will enable visitors to keep track of the statement's development process in a transparent manner, as well as direct them to the community wiki or other relevant webpages to learn and engage.

Another key feature of the new website is its taxonomy system. All ALAC advice will be tagged based on topics, targets, material types, and other categorizations. Those tags will significantly improve the organization, search, and user experience of the website.

Besides developing the aforementioned features, the team has been working on new mockups, new HTML pages, design/UX improvements, mobile responsiveness, administrative access, the Content Management System, and other items.

In late April, community members in the At-Large Website Revamp Task Force had a detailed review of the progress and provided guidance for next steps. Two key decisions made during the meeting were 1) to move the future At-Large website under the ICANN domain (e.g. www.icann.org/atlarge) and 2) to recruit more community members to the Task Force at appropriate times for tackling different aspects of the website development.

Next Steps

During ICANN53, a 45-minute session on the At-Large Website Revamp project will be held on Tuesday, 23 June. There will be a live demonstration of the policy sections of the website, as well as an interactive question and answer session to solicit feedback from the wider At-Large community.

More Information

At-Large Website Revamp Taskforce Workspace

Staff Contact

Xinyue (Ariel) Liang, At-Large Policy Coordinator


190 At-Large Structures Milestone Reached as On-Boarding Initiative Launches

At a Glance

Following two recent ALS accreditations, the At-Large community has reached a milestone in its membership with a total of 190 At-Large Structures.  ALSes make up the backbone of At-Large and more specifically of the Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs). A sharp increase in demand for At-Large Structures has been triggered in part by last year's second At-Large Summit (ATLAS II) and by efficient community/staff collaboration toward effective outreach.

Given the large number of recent At-Large members, a new on-boarding initiative targeted at new ALSes and individual members is launching. This on-boarding program consists of a series of webinars and tools that will facilitate the process of engaging in the At-Large community.

Recent Developments

Two new organizations became ALSes:

The High Tech Centre for Nigerian Women and Youths became part of AFRALO on 22 May 2015. The organization's mission is to become a leading capacity building center in information technology for the development of women and youth in Nigeria. Dr. Wunmi Hassan, CEO of the High Tech Centre, is well known in the African region and in the telecommunications industry. Other than her role in promoting access to ICT for Nigerian women and youth, she also evaluated in her PhD research Nigeria's Information Technology Policy of 2001. Her results provided input to the reform and convergence of the major ICT institutions in the country, culminating in the Communications Technology Ministry of Nigeria today.

ISOC Zimbabwe joined AFRALO on 22 May 2015. ISOC Zimbabwe promotes the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout Zimbabwe. The chapter achieves this through fostering an environment for international cooperation, as well as serving as a focal point for cooperative efforts to promote the Internet as a positive tool throughout Zimbabwe.

Next Steps

Many potential ALSes are currently in the accreditation pipeline, either undergoing Due Diligence (ISOC Uganda) or being voted on by members of the ALAC (IEEE Nicaragua).

At-Large Staff, in collaboration with the RALO leaders, is also delighted to begin implementing a new on-boarding program for At-Large Structures in the short-term, followed by an expansion of the capability to all new At-Large members in the long-term. The emphasis of this new program is on effective engagement and on favoring interaction between newcomers, staff, and RALO leadership.

A series of on-boarding webinars will take place several times a year. The first webinar will be informal allowing the opportunity for new ALSes and staff to interact and get to know more about one another. The second webinar will seek to promote activity between the new ALSs and their RALO leadership. A Skype chat "helpline" will also start shortly allowing new ALSes to converse directly with staff for a determined period of time, and where questions can be asked freely. Added to these efforts, staff is taking a close look at the documents currently provided to new ALSes, evaluating which areas can be improved to trigger further interest from our newest members.

Background

One of the main focuses 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 the At-Large Structure (ALS) status.

More Information

Staff Contact

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


RALO Round Up

At a Glance

The Chairs and Secretariats of the five Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs) will be extremely active during ICANN53 as they collaborate with the ALAC and meet with community leaders and ICANN senior staff. All five RALO Chairs will participate in the Community Roundtable with SO/AC/SG/RALO Chairs on 19 June.

Also of note, the RALOs leaders will participate in two new meetings: a RALO Chairs Meeting and a RALO-ALAC Leadership Team (ALT) working session. They will also hold their customary Regional Secretariats meeting. Reflecting the increased activities within the RALOs, all regions will hold their respective June monthly meetings at ICANN53.

Overview RALO Activities in Buenos Aires

On 20 June 2015, the RALOs will hold the RALO Chairs meeting, co-chaired by the LACRALO and EURALO Chairs. The aim of the inaugural meeting of this group is to leverage synergies between the Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE) team and the At-Large community in their work with civil society in the ICANN context. The focus will be a discussion on civil society engagement within ICANN featuring Jean-Jacques Sahel, Vice President, Global Stakeholder Engagement—Europe, as the invited speaker.

The RALOs will also meet with the ALAC Leadership Team (ALT) to discuss issues of strategic importance for At-Large. The five RALOs will hold their Regional Secretariat meeting on 24 June 2015.  

Specific RALO Activities at ICANN53

AFRALO

The AFRALO-AfrICANN meeting will take place on 24 June 2015 on the theme "African Views on the Proposal of Governance of the Internet's Unique Identifiers." Invited speakers include Fadi Chehadé; Alan Greenberg, ALAC Chair; Pierre Dandjinou, Vice President, Global Stakeholder Engagement—Africa, Olivier Crépin Leblond, and Rinalia Abdul Rahim. There will also be an introductory address by Mathieu Weill and Thomas Rickert, Co-Chairs of the Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability.

APRALO

APRALO will hold its monthly meeting on 24 June 2015. The agenda includes issues such topics as the activities identified under the APAC Hub-APRALO Framework.

EURALO

EURALO will hold its monthly meeting on 23 June. This meeting will review EURALO's activities and achievements and will emphasize preparations for the EURALO General Assembly during ICANN54 later this year.

LACRALO

LACRALO will hold its monthly meeting on 24 June. LACRALO expects to welcome approximately 10 self-funded members, in addition to two LACRALO leaders, four CROPP-funded travelers, and the winner of the Internet governance trivia contest, funded by the GSE Latin America and Caribbean team.

The LACRALO Showcase on the theme "Knowledge for Inclusion" will be held on 24 June. This Showcase aims to facilitate outreach activities for regional Internet user organizations attending ICANN53 and to celebrate LACRALO's achievements since its inception. Speakers include Fadi Chehadé; Steve Crocker, Chair; Rodrigo de la Parra, Vice President, Global Stakeholder Engagement—Latin America and the Caribbean; Alan Greenberg; and Fatima Cambronero, LACRALO ALAC member. There will be an artistic performance and cocktail reception. See the showcase website for complete details.

NARALO

The NARALO monthly meeting will take place on 22 June. The meeting will review this year's accomplishments, challenges, and upcoming projects. Chris Mondini, Vice President, Global Stakeholder Engagement—North America, will speak at the meeting.

More Information

At-Large ICANN 53 Workspace

Staff Contact

Silvia Vivanco, Manager, At-Large Regional Affairs


Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)

Country Names as Second Level Domains

At a Glance

The GAC is collecting its members' notification requirements, in response to recent requests filed by new gTLD registries for the use of country and territory names as second-level domains.

Recent Developments

A number of new gTLD registries have filed RSEP requests with ICANN for the use of country and territory names as second level domains, a feature formally requiring that the relevant governments be notified and enabled to object.

Foreseeing a similar notification process as established earlier this year by ICANN for the use of two-letter codes as second-level domains, the GAC has started to collect information about its members' notification requirements regarding requests for use of country and territory names as second level domains. The GAC member information may include specific contact details for notifications and may also clarify if there is no need for notifications regarding certain gTLD categories, for example in the case of brand gTLDs.

The collected data will be made available as a basis for a foreseen subsequent notification process, while recognizing that ICANN will also have to use other channels in order to approach governments of countries that are not yet GAC members with the requisite notifications.

Next Steps

Individual GAC members are currently providing details about their notification requirements and an update session features in the GAC's agenda for ICANN53, in anticipation of a subsequent notification process being launched by ICANN.

More Information

GAC website

Staff Contact


Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC)

RSSAC Public Session Planned at ICANN53

The RSSAC will hold a public session on 24 June, 15:30 to 16:45 in Auditorio to provide updates on its work. Among the topics to be discussed will be the implementation of RSSAC002, which recommends an initial set of measurement parameters for establishing a baseline and trends for the root server system, as well as an update from the Work Party on Root Zone TTLs.

Throughout the week, the RSSAC will conduct three working sessions to discuss the work of the Caucus—both ongoing and upcoming—as well as the IANA Stewardship Transition and Enhancing ICANN Accountability efforts. The RSSAC will also meet with the SSAC and the Board of Directors in Buenos Aires. 

More Information

Staff Contact

Carlos Reyes, Senior Policy Analyst


Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC)

SSAC Publishes Advisory on the Use of Static Top Level Domain/Suffix Lists

At a Glance

In June 2015, the SSAC published SAC070: SSAC Advisory on the Use of Static TLD/Suffix Lists [PDF, 954 KB].

Recent Developments

The Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) has published SAC070: SSAC Advisory on the Use of Static TLD/Suffix Lists. This advisory investigates the security and stability needs surrounding the growing use of Public Suffix Lists (PSLs) on the Internet. In this advisory, the SSAC takes Mozilla's PSL as an archetype to study the current landscape. The SSAC finds varied uses of the Mozilla list. From this case study, the SSAC derives various potential difficulties in two general areas: the content of a PSL generally; and operational and administrative concerns surrounding use and maintenance of a PSL.  The advisory provides findings and recommendations concerning the use of PSLs. The SSAC will brief the ICANN community on the advisory at ICANN53.

Background

There is no uniform consensus on the definition of a public suffix. For the purposes of this advisory, a public suffix is defined as "a domain under which multiple parties that are unaffiliated with the owner of the public suffix domain may register subdomains."1  Examples of public suffix domains include "org", "co.uk", "k12.wa.us" and "uk.com."

There is no programmatic way to determine the boundary where a Domain Name System label changes stewardship from a public suffix, yet tracking the boundary accurately is critically important for security, privacy, and usability issues in many modern systems and applications, such as web browsers. One method of determining this boundary is by use of PSLs, which are static files listing the known public suffixes.

More Information

Staff Contact


1 See https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-pettersen-subtld-structure-10.

policy-update-jun15-en.pdf  [597 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."