Tag Archives: Governmental Advisory Committee

Domain Name Registry, ICANN and Governance

ICANN Holds Its Second African Law Enforcement Capacity Building Workshop in South Africa

ICANN59_Johannesburg_logo[news release] Building on the success of the first workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya in January 2017, ICANN and Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Under Served Regions and Public Safety Working Groups are pleased to announce their collaboration with the ZA Domain Name Authority (.ZADNA) on the second law enforcement agencies capacity development workshop this month from 23rd-24th June 2017 taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa.  With cyber security issues becoming a growing concern for Africa it is important that African Law Enforcement and consumer protection Agencies are involved in various Internet governance processes.

The underlying theme of this series of workshops is to harness the potential of African governments for participation in the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) policy processes.

The workshop aims to continue to raise awareness amongst the joining African law enforcement community, particularly from our host country South Africa, on how to participate in ICANN and engage effectively in the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and ICANN policy making.  A roundtable with ICANN community and industry will focus on collaboration around security, stability and resiliency of the Internet and a half day will be devoted to the Africa Convention on Cybersecurity and Data Protection.

A range of topics will be covered:

  • Introduction to ICANN‘s mission and multistakeholder bottom-up policy development model
  • Introduction to the GAC: role, organisation and membership
  • Introduction to the PSWG: mandate and work plan
  • Definition of Abuse of the DNS that can be addressed through ICANN‘s processes and contracts
  • Mitigation of DNS Abuse: the role and obligations of contracted parties
  • Mitigation of DNS Abuse: the role and tools of ICANN‘s Security Stability and Resiliency Team
  • How Law Enforcement and consumer protection agencies should engage with ICANN
  • Areas of collaboration with other stakeholders (industry, technical community, RIRs, among others)
  • Discussion on WHOIS and related storage and retention of personal data;

Potential implications of European Data Protection legislation (GPDR) and African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection

The African Law Enforcement Capacity Building Workshop will provide an opportunity to share experiences on issues of DNS abuse, security, stability and resiliency with the South African Police Services, African Heads of Cybercrime units, Regional Economic Communities, the African Union as well as other representatives from governments and industry.

It will also provide an opportunity to share experiences, best practices, and lessons learnt with other agencies from a wide range of countries during the ICANN, GAC, PSWG sessions taking place the following week at ICANN‘s 59th public meeting in Johannesburg from 27th -29th June 2017.

The workshop is supported by the Government Engagement Department at ICANN in collaboration with ICANN‘s Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE), Security, Stability and Resiliency (SSR), Multistakeholder Strategy and Strategic Initiatives (MSSI) and Compliance teams, as well as the ZADNA.

The full agenda can be found here [PDF, 436 KB].

——-The End—-

About ICANN:

ICANN‘s mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address into your computer or other device – a name or a number. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation and a community with participants from all over the world.

For more information, please visit: icann.org

This page is also available in:

This ICANN news release was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2017-06-19-en

ICANN and Governance

ICANN: Pacific Governments to Enhance Better Participation in Internet Governance Discussions

ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee logoGovernment delegates from sixteen Pacific countries recently attended a workshop aimed at overcoming barriers to participating in global Internet governance discussions, such as those taking place within the ICANN community.

The two-day capacity development workshop, themed “Harnessing the Potential of the Pacific GAC Representatives for Better Participation in ICANN,” took place on 28-29 April 2017 in Nadi, Fiji. Organized by ICANN, in cooperation with the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Under-served Regions Working Group, it was supported by the Fiji Government’s Department of Communications.

The 20 government delegates in attendance were ICANN GAC members and represented these Pacific nations: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated State of Mircronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

“ICANN welcomes the participation of all stakeholders, including governments,” said  Savé Vocea, ICANN‘s Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement for Australia and the Pacific Islands. “ICANN is dedicated to demand-driven engagement, and we are happy to see that all the Pacific GAC members were present at this workshop, which demonstrates their willingness to be part of the process.”

Pacific nations face many challenges that inhibit their full ability to participate in global platforms such as ICANN. These include inadequate Internet access and a lack of human resources.

During the two-day workshop, the GAC representatives were introduced to ICANN and its policy development process, as well as high interest topics such as Domain Name System abuse. The delegates also learned about issues and working groups that required their immediate attention.

Shivnesh Prasad, Director of the Department of Communications, Government of Fiji, said during his opening remarks, “We are really happy to host this workshop. We often feel forgotten as a region in Internet governance discussions. It is challenging for us to participate in ICANN, as we do not have full understanding of the issues being discussed within the GAC.”

The workshop also included the participation of ICANN ecosystem partners, including the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), which discussed issues relating to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and the Address Supporting Organization (ASO).

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For photos on the capacity development workshop, please visit here.

For more information about the capacity development workshop for Pacific GAC representatives, please visit here [PDF, 247 KB].

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/resources/press-material/release-2017-05-04-en

ICANN and Governance

ICANN Holds First Capacity Development Workshop for Pacific GAC Members

ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee logoICANN in cooperation with the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Under-served Regions Working Group will hold the first capacity development workshop for Pacific GAC members and representatives from 28 – 29 April 2017 in Nadi, Fiji.

The workshop, themed “Harnessing the Potential of the Pacific GAC Representatives for Better Participation in ICANN“, will focus on raising awareness and assist in building capacity of Pacific GAC representatives and governments on how best to effectively participate and contribute to policy making at ICANN. It is supported by the Fiji Government’s Department of Communications.

Shivnesh Prasad, Director of the Department of Communications, Government of Fiji, will be making the opening remarks. 20 government delegates representing 16 Pacific countries (Australia, Cook Islands, Federated State of Mircronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) will also be attending the workshop.

For the Pacific region, challenges such as inadequate Internet access, human resource or unreliable Internet can make participation in ICANN difficult. The workshop will discuss ways to assist Pacific GAC representatives’ contribution to ICANN discussions. It will also introduce critical active relevant policy topics, working groups including relevant GAC and cross-community working groups that require the immediate attention and participation of GAC members. The workshop will seek feedback from the Pacific GAC representatives on how to better help them improve their regional footprint as well as at ICANN.

The workshop will cover a range of topics including:

  • Introduction to the ICANN ecosystem
  • Participation in ICANN‘s policy development process
  • Discussion on domain names (new generic top-level domains (gTLD), country code top-level domains (ccTLDs), etc.) and role of GAC
  • Security, stability and resiliency of the Internet
  • Next steps for Pacific GAC representatives

The full agenda can be found here [PDF, 247 KB].

About ICANN

ICANN‘s mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address into your computer or other device – a name or a number. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation and a community with participants from all over the world. For more information, please visit: www.icann.org

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-3-2017-04-20-en

ICANN and Governance

ICANN Holds the First Capacity Building Workshop for African GAC Members

[news release] ICANN in cooperation with the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Under-served Regions Working Group is pleased to announce the first capacity building workshop for the Africa Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) members in Nairobi, Kenya.

ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee logoThe workshop, themed “Harnessing the Potential of the Africa GAC Members for better Participation in ICANN” will be held from 23-24 January 2017 with the support of the Communication Authority and the Government of Kenya.

This is the first regional workshop organized by ICANN’s recently established Nairobi Engagement Office. From ICANN, Göran Marby, ICANN President & CEO, Thomas Schneider, GAC Chair will both be present with executives, the regional ICANN team and community members. The keynote address and Official Opening will be done by Joseph Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary Ministry of ICT – Republic of Kenya.

The workshop will focus on raising awareness and assist in building capacity of the African GAC representatives and governments on how best to effectively participate and contribute to policy making at ICANN. It will also introduce critical active relevant policy topics, working groups including relevant GAC and cross-community working groups that require the immediate attention and participation of GAC members. The workshop will seek feedback from the African GAC representatives on how to better help them improve their regional footprint as well as at ICANN.

The workshop will cover a range of topics that will include:

  • Understanding the ICANN Ecosystem
  • Policy development process at ICANN
  • ICANN Africa Strategy – an Overview
  • New gTLDs and the Role of GAC:
  • Understanding ccTLD Re-delegation

ICANN looks towards creating a stronger association with the community in Africa, including governments in the region, to help increase awareness and participation in ICANN’s work and the Internet policy processes under ICANN’s remit.

The full agenda can be found here [PDF, 440 KB].

The event will be livestreamed. The link will be uploaded soon.

——-The End—-

About ICANN:

ICANN’s mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address into your computer or other device – a name or a number. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation and a community with participants from all over the world.

For more information, please visit: https://www.icann.org/

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2017-01-13-en

ICANN and Governance, New gTLDs

TMCH Review Recommends Status Quo by Philip Corwin

Philip Corwin imageOn July 25th ICANN announced the publication of the Draft Report of the Independent Review of the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH). This study was coordinated for ICANN by the Analysis Group, in conjunction with researchers from the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford as well the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Continue reading TMCH Review Recommends Status Quo by Philip Corwin →

Domain Name Registry, ICANN and Governance, New gTLDs

ICANN: Release of Country and Territory Names within the .HYUNDAI, .KIA and .GODADDY TLDs

ICANN new generic Top Level Domains logoBrief Overview

Purpose: This public comment period aims at gathering community input on proposed amendments to the .HYUNDAI, .KIA and .GODADDY 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.

Open Date:27 Apr 2016 23:59 UTC

Close Date:9 Jun 2016 23:59 UTC

Staff Report Due:23 Jun 2016 23:59 UTC

Current Status: As required by the Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP), ICANN has undertaken a preliminary determination on whether the proposals might raise significant competition, security or stability issues. ICANN‘s preliminary review (based on the information provided) did not identify any such issues for these proposals.

To inform discussions of the next steps, ICANN is posting for public review and comment drafts of Registry Agreement amendments that would apply to the registry service, if approved.

As required per Section 4 of Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, the release of country and territory names from reservation is subject to review by ICANN‘s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and approval by ICANN. Alternatively, the Registry Operator may reach agreement with the applicable government(s) to release specific country and territory names.

In the GAC‘s Singapore Communiqué [PDF, 113 KB] (11 February 2015), the GAC advised ICANN Board to “work with the GAC to develop a public database to streamline the process for the release of country and territory names at the second level, as outlined in Specification 5. The database will inform whether individual GAC Members intend to agree to all requests, review them case by case, or not agree to any. The absence of input from a government will not be considered as agreement”.

Subsequent to the GAC‘s Singapore Communiqué (11 February 2015), on 23 April 2015, the GAC Chair sent a letter [PDF, 180 KB] to the Chairman of the ICANN Board, confirming its intent to work on a proposal for the development of such database for the process for release of country and territory names.

Also it is stated in the GAC‘s Buenos Aires Communiqué [PDF, 107 KB] (24 June 2015) that “the GAC is continuing to develop a database of country requirements for notification of requests for release of country/territory names at the second level in new gTLDs (reserved according to the application rules for new gTLDs), with options for governments to state that they do not object to release and abstain from notifications for such requests”. The list was finalised and published on the GAC website on 30 July 2015.

On 12 October 2015, ICANN published the Country and Territory Names webpage to provide information regarding names currently reserved under Specification 5 Section 4 of the New gTLD Registry Agreement. The webpage provides clarification regarding the Governmental Advisory Committee Notification Requirements list established to facilitate notification of registry requests for release of country and territory names as second-level domains in new gTLDs.

Next Steps: ICANN will prepare a Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report at the conclusion of the comment period. ICANN will consider these comments along with the advice from the GAC as it considers whether or not to approve the requested amendments.

Section I: Description, Explanation, and Purpose

Section 4 of Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement addresses the reservation and release of country and territory names. Registry Operators are required to reserve such names, and may propose either the release of specific country and territory names upon agreement with the relevant government(s), or the release of country and territory names subject to review by the Governmental Advisory Committee and approval by ICANN. Specifically, the Registry Agreement provides as follows:

The country and territory names (including their IDN variants, where applicable) contained in the following internationally recognized lists shall be withheld from registration or allocated to Registry Operator at All Levels:

4.1. the short form (in English) of all country and territory names contained on the ISO 3166-1 list, as updated from time to time, including the European Union, which is exceptionally reserved on the ISO 3166-1 list, and its scope extended in August 1999 to any application needing to represent the name European Union <http://www.iso.org/iso/support/country_codes/iso_3166_code_lists/iso-3166-1_decoding_table.htm>;

4.2. the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, Technical Reference Manual for the Standardization of Geographical Names, Part III Names of Countries of the World; and

4.3. the list of United Nations member states in 6 official United Nations languages prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names;

provided, that the reservation of specific country and territory names (including their IDN variants according to the registry operator IDN registration policy, where applicable) may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with the applicable government(s). Registry Operator must not activate such names in the DNS; provided, that Registry Operator may propose the release of these reservations, subject to review by ICANN‘s Governmental Advisory Committee and approval by ICANN. Upon conclusion of Registry Operator’s designation as operator of the registry for the TLD, all such names that remain withheld from registration or allocated to Registry Operator shall be transferred as specified by ICANN. Registry Operator may self-allocate and renew such names without use of an ICANN accredited registrar, which will not be considered Transactions for purposes of Section 6.1 of the Agreement.

The New gTLD registry operators listed below submitted requests to ICANN through the Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP) process to release country and territory names in the second level. In total, the requests concern three new gTLDs. The RSEP requests are proposed to be implemented by amending Exhibit A, Approved Services of the respective Registry Agreements, which are being posted for public comment.

Proposal TLD Registry Name Documents
2016016 godaddy Go Daddy East, LLC Go Daddy East, LLC Request 4 April 2016 [PDF, 17 KB]
2014142 kia KIA Motors Corporation KIA Motors Corporation Request 22 September 2015 [PDF, 19 KB]
2014141 hyundai Hyundai Motor Company Hyundai Motor Company Request 22 September 2015 [PDF, 19 KB]

As part of these requests, each registry operator described the country and territory domain names that it would offer for registration. These RSEP requests were posted for public information on the Registry Service Evaluation Process webpage, available at https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/rsep-2014-02-19-en.

As provided by the Registry Services Evaluation Policy, ICANN has undertaken a preliminary determination on whether these proposals might raise significant competition, security or stability issues. ICANN‘s preliminary review (based on the information provided) did not identify any such issues for these requests.

In addition, as required per Section 4 of Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, the proposed release of the reserved country and territory names is subject to review by ICANN‘s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). Thus, these requests have been forwarded to the GAC for consideration and also the amendments to implement these requests are being posted for comment by the community.

Section II: Background

The proposed amendments to .HYUNDAI, .KIA and .GODADDY Registry Agreements to implement the registry services as described in the RSEP proposal are similar to the previously posted nine public comment announcements which included a total of thirty-eight RSEP requests involving forty-four new gTLDs:

On 19 September 2014, a similar public comment period for the RSEP proposal and amendment for the release of country and territory names within .NEUSTAR was opened. The public comment forum for this request can be found here: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-neustar-2014-09-19-en.

On 11 December 2014, a similar public comment period for the RSEP proposals and amendments for the release of country and territory names within .BMW and .MINI was opened. The public comment forum this request can be found here: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/bmw-mini-amendment-2014-12-11-en.

On 6 January 2015, a similar public comment period for the RSEP proposals and amendments for the release of country and territory names within .DVAG, .TUI, .SPIEGEL, .ALLFINANZ and .FLSMIDTH was opened. The public comment forum this request can be found here: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2015-01-06-en.

On 2 March 2015, a similar public comment period for the RSEP proposals and amendments for the release of country and territory names within .EMERCK, .HAMBURG and .BERLIN was opened. The public comment forum this request can be found here: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/emerck-hamburg-berlin-amendment-2015-03-02-en.

On 31 March 2015, a similar public comment period for the RSEP proposals and amendments for the release of country and territory names within .HONDA, .AXA, .EPSON, .HSBC, .XYZ and .COLLEGE was opened. The public comment forum this request can be found here: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2015-03-31-en.

On 13 May 2015, a similar public comment period for the RSEP proposals and amendments for the release of country and territory names within .SONY, .ARCHI, .BIO and .SAARLAND was opened. The public comment forum this request can be found here: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2015-05-13-en.

On 26 May 2015, a similar public comment period for the RSEP proposals and amendments for the release of country and territory names within .KOMATSU and .RICOH was opened. The public comment forum this request can be found here: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2015-05-26-en.

On 21 June 2015, a similar public comment period for the RSEP proposals and amendments for the release of country and territory names within .GLOBAL, .BNPPARIBAS, .BRIDGESTONE and .FIRESTONE was opened. The public comment forum this request can be found here: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2015-06-21-en.

On 1 September 2015, a similar public comment period for the RSEP proposals and amendments for the release of country and territory names within .BROTHER, .GEA, .ACO, .SECURITY, .PROTECTION, .THEATRE and .RENT was opened. The public comment forum this request can be found here: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2015-09-01-en.

On 15 December 2015, a similar public comment period for the RSEP proposals and amendments for the release of country and territory names within .STUDY, .COURSES, .LAMBORGHINI, XN–3OQ18VL8PN36A, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA was opened. The public comment forum this request can be found here: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2015-12-15-en.

On 28 March 2016, a similar public comment period for the RSEP proposals and amendments for the release of country and territory names within .TORAY and .PICTET was opened. The public comment forum this request can be found here: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2016-03-28-en.

The current language in Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement regarding the required reservation of country and territory names was included in response to advice from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) during the development of the New gTLD Program (see this exchange of letters between the ICANN President and the GAC dated 17 March 2009 [PDF, 244 KB] and 24 April 2009 [PDF, 95 KB].

Furthermore, the GAC commented on this topic in the Singapore Communiqué [PDF, 449 KB] published on 27 March 2014. The GAC noted that it “discussed the Brand Registry Group proposal for a streamlined process under an addendum to the Registry Agreement for the approval of country names and 2-letter and character codes at the second level.” The GAC stated that it “has no major concerns about brand owners seeking approval for such names,” but that the approval should be “done directly with the countries concerned rather than through a GAC-level operational process.” The GAC noted that “individual GAC members could assist with proposals relevant to their particular country if requested,” and further suggested that “consideration be given to establishing a register of countries that do not require individual requests to be made“. Subsequent to the GAC‘s Singapore Communiqué, on 8 August 2014, the GAC confirmed its intent to review the proposed release of country and territory names as well (see 10 September 2014 letter from the GAC Chair to the Chairman of the ICANN Board). In the GAC‘s Los Angeles Communiqué [PDF, 127 KB] (15 October 2014), the GAC noted that “It will review the use of country and territory names at the second level and advice the ICANN Board in due course”.

In the GAC‘s Singapore Communiqué [PDF, 113 KB] (11 February 2015), the GAC advised ICANN Board to “work with the GAC to develop a public database to streamline the process for the release of country and territory names at the second level, as outlined in Specification 5. The database will inform whether individual GAC Members intend to agree to all requests, review them case by case, or not agree to any. The absence of input from a government will not be considered as agreement.”

Subsequent to the GAC‘s Singapore Communiqué (11 February 2015), on 23 April 2015, the GAC Chair sent a letter [PDF, 180 KB] to the Chairman of the ICANN Board, confirming its intent to work on a proposal for the development of such database for the process for release of country and territory names. The GAC indicated in its letter that “The GAC has started to work on a proposal for such a database and on related aspects of the process for release of country and territory names. This work has priority status for the GAC and a proposal will soon be shared with ICANN. In the meantime, it is the expectation of the GAC that a realistic timeline will be followed, and that existent RSEP requests will not be approved before an adequate process involving the GAC and individual governments in the release of country and territory names at the second level has been developed.”

Also it is stated in the GAC‘s Buenos Aires Communiqué [PDF, 107 KB] (24 June 2015) that “the GAC is continuing to develop a database of country requirements for notification of requests for release of country/territory names at the second level in new gTLDs (reserved according to the application rules for new gTLDs), with options for governments to state that they do not object to release and abstain from notifications for such requests”. The list was finalised and published on the GAC website on 30 July 2015.

On 12 October 2015, ICANN published the Country and Territory Names webpage to provide information regarding names currently reserved under Specification 5 Section 4 of the New gTLD Registry Agreement. The webpage provides clarification regarding the Governmental Advisory Committee Notification Requirements list established to facilitate notification of registry requests for release of country and territory names as second-level domains in new gTLDs.

To access the Country and Territory Names webpage, please visit https://www.icann.org/resources/country-territory-names.

ICANN will consider these comments along with the advice from the GAC as it considers whether or not to approve the requested amendments.

Section III: Relevant Resources

Section IV: Additional Information

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2016-04-27-en

ICANN and Governance

ICANN Updates Authorization Process for Release of Two-Character ASCII Labels

ICANN logoToday, ICANN is announcing updates to the “Authorization Process for the Release of Two-Character ASCII Labels” to take into account additional direction from the ICANN Board.
On 12 February 2015, the Board took action to accept advice from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) on this subject issued in the GAC‘s 11 February 2015 Communiqué – Singapore [PDF, 113 KB], and directed the President and CEO, or his designee, to proceed immediately to implement the following changes to the process:
  • Implement improvements to the process to alert relevant governments when requests are initiated. Comments from relevant governments will be fully considered.
  • For new requests, the comment period will be for 60 days.
  • For requests with pending or completed comment periods, extend or re-open the comment period so that each request will undergo 60 days of comment period in total.

The updates to the process are effective as of 23 February 2015. The webpage where users can review requests has also been updated with several enhancements to improve navigability and allow users to find information more easily. New features include the following:

  • Requests can now be sorted by reference number, TLD, registry name and date posted.
  • The list of all requests for letter/letter two-character ASCII labels is now available for download as a .csv file.
  • A column has been added to identify whether a TLD has been granted a .BRAND specification.
  • The “View Comments” page has been updated to show all comments made in a calendar year, rather than showing comments on a month-by-month basis.

Please refer to the Authorization Process for Release of Two-Character ASCII Labels webpage for additional details.

# # #

About ICANN

ICANN‘s mission is to ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer – a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination we wouldn’t have one global Internet. ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with participants from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers. ICANN doesn’t control content on the Internet. It cannot stop spam and it doesn’t deal with access to the Internet. But through its coordination role of the Internet’s naming system, it does have an important impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet. For more information please visit: www.icann.org

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2015-02-20-en

ICANN and Governance

Pre-ICANN 52 Policy Update Webinar

The ICANN Policy Development Support Team will provide a Policy Update Webinar on Thursday 29 January 2015 at 10:00 UTC and 19:00 UTC, summarizing policy activities across the ICANN policy development community and the ongoing Transition of Stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions and the ICANN Accountability efforts.

Please RSVP via this form by 23 January 2015.

Remote participation details will be sent the week of 26 January 2015.

Updates will also be provided on topics from ICANN‘s Support Organizations and Advisory Committees:

  • Address Supporting Organization (ASO) and Regional Internet Registries (RIR) Activities
  • Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Policy and Implementation Working Group
  • GNSO Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues Working Group
  • GNSO Translation & Transliteration of Contact Information PDP Working Group
  • Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) Framework of Interpretation Working Group Recommendations
  • At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and Regional At-Large Organizations (RALO) Activities
  • Government Advisory Committee’s (GAC) Advice on Country Names at the Second Level
  • GAC‘s Implementation of the Second Accountability and Transparency Review Team’s (ATRT2) Recommendations
  • GAC Advice on new gTLD Safeguards
  • Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) Advisories Update
  • Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) Advisory on Maintaining the Security and Stability of the IANA Functions Through the Stewardship Transition

The two sessions are duplicates, scheduled to accommodate different time zones. Each session runs for 90 minutes and will be conducted in English only. The webinar will be conducted in Adobe Connect along with a dial-in conference bridge for audio. The slides and transcript of the sessions will be available in the 5 UN Languages and Portuguese.

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of each session. During the course of the webinar, questions may be submitted using the chat function in Adobe Connect.

Recordings of the webinars will be made available. The Policy Development Support Team is always available to answer any questions via email at policyinfo@icann.org.

Please RSVP via this form by 23 January 2015.
Remote participation details will be sent the week of 26 January 2015.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2015-01-14-en

 

ICANN and Governance, New gTLDs

ICANN Staff Requests Six-Month Delay for UDRP/URS RPM Report by Philip Corwin, Internet Commerce Association

Internet Commerce Association logoICANN staff have requested a six-month delay in the delivery date of a Preliminary Issue Report on the “current state of all rights protection mechanisms (RPMs) implemented for both existing and new gTLDs, including but not limited to the UDRP and the URS”.  The request is contained in a January 5, 2015 e-mail sent by ICANN  Senior Policy Director Mary Wong to members of the GNSO Council.

A December 2011 Council Resolution had requested that the staff-developed Report be “delivered to the GNSO Council by no later than eighteen (18) months following the delegation of the first new gTLD”. The e-mail requests that the delivery date be pushed back from March to October of 2015.

Reasons cited for the delay request include:

  • The substantial work that will be required to prepare the Report.
  • Preparation of a draft paper on RPM implementation by ICANN’s Global Domain Division (GDD) that is expected to be published shortly for community discussion at the upcoming ICANN Public Meeting in Singapore.
  • An ongoing, Governmental Advisory Committee(GAC)-requested review of the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) that is expected to be completed by mid-year.
  • Substantial staff and community engagement on a number of pending policy matters, including the overarching matter of the IANA transition and ICANN accountability.

While we cannot predict the Council’s action on this request, we would not be surprised if it were granted. Many Council members, staff, and other members of the ICANN community are already engaged to the point of near-exhaustion on the transition and accountability project, and the request e-mail makes clear that an Issues Report delivered in March would be hurried and lack the benefit of considering two relevant processes that are nearing completion and directly related to the subject of RPM review.

Assuming that the Council grants the request, if the Issues Report  delivered in October becomes the basis for a either consideration of a tweaking of RPMs for the next round of gTLDs, and/or a Policy Development Process (PDP) on UDRP reform, such processes could not commence until late this year or the first part of 2016. A PDP on UDRP reform would have to consider complex issues and address potentially controversial proposals, and we would expect that it would take a year or longer before completing its work and delivering a report and recommendations for community and Board consideration.

ICA has long favored comprehensive UDRP review and reform. We are disappointed that this will likely be put off once again by half a year. However, it may be best to defer it until more fully developed information on the performance of the RPMs developed for the new gTLD program becomes available, and the bulk of work on the IANA transition and ICANN accountability has been completed.

The text of the staff e-mail follows—

Dear Councilors,

Staff would like to request that the GNSO Council consider extending the timeline for the preparation and delivery of the Preliminary Issue Report that had been requested by the Council in December 2011, on the “current state of all rights protection mechanisms (RPMs) implemented for both existing and new gTLDs, including but not limited to the UDRP and the URS, to be “delivered to the GNSO Council by no later than eighteen (18) months following the delegation of the first new gTLD” (see gnso.icann.org/en/council/resolutions#201112 for the relevant GNSO Council resolution). This request meant that the Preliminary Issue Report will be due in or around March 2015, given that the first new gTLD delegated under the new gTLD Program occurred in October 2013.

Since the Council’s passage of the above-mentioned resolution, which was prior to the delegation date of the first new gTLD, several developments have occurred that in the view of staff merits the Council’s considering postponing the delivery date of the Preliminary Issue Report for another six (6) months, i.e. extending the deadline to October 2015. We now know, for example, that one year after the delegation of the first new gTLD, over 400 new gTLDs have been delegated and about 150 URS complaints filed, with 1 appeal so far. A draft Work Plan was also published in September 2014, detailing the scope and nature of the various assessments that are being and will be done prior to the launch of the next round, including those concerning RPMs (see newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/reviews-assessments-draft-work-plan-22sep14-en.pdf for the full document).

As outlined in the Work Plan, the proposed data gathering and analysis of the RPMs implemented for the new gTLD program will include the following (see page 13 of the Work Plan):

  • Compilation and analysis of statistics provided by third-party providers (for example, geographic distribution of Clearinghouse records, outcomes of URS proceedings);
  • Coordination among service providers and ICANN to identify the issues and questions most raised in customer service submissions; and
  • Soliciting feedback from users of the effectiveness of these processes to meet rights protection objectives

Policy staff has been consulting and coordinating with our GDD colleagues on the timing of each of these assessments, since they are expressly intended to also identify potential issues for policy development work, including providing information for the Preliminary Issue Report noted above. We are informed that a draft paper on RPM implementation is expected to be published shortly for community discussion, including at the upcoming ICANN Public Meeting in Singapore.

In addition, as also noted in the Work Plan, the GAC’s May 2011 advice to the ICANN Board in respect of a review of the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) is currently being scoped, and we are informed that the intention is to complete the review by mid-2015 (see https://archive.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/gac-comments-new-gtlds-26may11-en.pdf for the GAC’s request).

In light of the above-mentioned developments, and in view of the ongoing work of the community (including the GNSO community) on a number of policy issues as well as on the broader issues of the IANA stewardship transition and ICANN accountability, staff therefore believes that extending the timeline for the requested Preliminary Issue Report by six (6) months will allow that Report to take on board the results of the various assessment exercises as well as consider a further number of URS filings and results. The hope is that this will provide the GNSO Council and community with more concrete data and specific information that will assist in your consideration of next steps in relation to RPM review for both existing and new gTLDs.

We will be happy to provide further information should you or your groups have any questions. The Council may also wish to discuss this on its next call, if desired. In any case, please let us know whether you have any concerns or objections to this request.

Thanks and cheers – and best wishes to you and yours for a very happy 2015!

Mary

Mary Wong

Senior Policy Director

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN)

This article by Philip Corwin from the Internet Commerce Association was sourced with permission from:
www.internetcommerce.org/rpm-report-delay/