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Community Reference - Background on GNSO Improvements

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The GNSO Improvements effort is part of ICANN's ongoing commitment to its evolution and development, which includes a comprehensive schedule for independent review of ICANN's structures, as well as of the Board. The reviews are intended to ensure an independent examination of the role and operation of key elements of ICANN. These reviews are conducted in an objective manner by independent evaluators, under guidance from the Board on each review's terms of reference, and with the opportunity for public comment on the results of the reviews.

This material is presented in chronological order and may be read sequentially or, to access a particular time heading, please click any of the individual bookmarked links in the table below.

TimeframeMajor Actions and Decisions
Years 2004-5Independent and GNSO Self Reviews
Year 2007Board Governance Committee Working Group (BGC WG)
Year 2008 
FebruaryICANN Board Accepts BGC WG Report
MayImplementation Planning Team (IPT)
JuneWorking Group on Council Restructuring (WG-GCR)
AugustICANN Board Actions-Council Restructuring
SeptemberICANN Board Actions-Council Restructuring
OctoberSummary of Board Actions-Council Restructuring
NovemberGNSO Improvements – Cairo ICANN Meeting
DecemberGNSO Council Submits Restructuring Plan
Year 2009 
JanuaryVarious Documents and Notices
FebruaryVarious Documents and Notices
AprilNew Constituency Petitions, Charters, and Notices of Intent to Form (NOIF)
MayRegistry Stakeholder Group Charter Updated and Public Comment Forum Opened
JuneGNSO Improvements – Syndey ICANN Meeting
AugustICANN Board Actions - Bylaws Amendments Approved (Article X)
SeptemberConsumers Constituency Updates NOIF and Charter
OctoberGNSO Improvements – Seoul ICANN Meeting
Year 2010 
JuneVarious activities and notices.

 

Years 2004-2005: Independent and GNSO Self Reviews

In 2004, ICANN commissioned Patrick Sharry to conduct a review of the GNSO Council (not the GNSO in general). Mr. Sharry examined the PDP timelines; staff support for policy development, policy implementation and compliance; how policy issues arise; voting patterns; constituency representation; and communications and outreach. He recommended that the Council include members from all five ICANN regions and find ways to encourage more non-English speaking participants; revamp the PDP, including by having a scoping phase and regular reporting on milestones achieved; develop a formal process for seeking input from other ICANN structures; use more face-to-face meetings and possibly a facilitator to help achieve consensus; establish a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Staff to establish metrics for support; develop a closer working relationship with the General Counsel's office; assess the viability of each policy recommendation; establish a way to monitor compliance with, and review the effectiveness of, each policy; utilize the Ombudsman's services more; determine how NomCom Councilors can add value; supply the NomCom with a description of what skills and expertise it needs most; and overhaul the GNSO website (see Annex 10.3 of this Report and the full review). There were three substantive comments posted on the Sharry Review from the GNSO Council, the Registry Constituency, and Danny Younger. One point by the Registry Constituency noted that the opportunity for public comment is not necessarily "sufficient without more outreach to impacted parties."

The GNSO Council also conducted a Self Review in 2004, which can be found in Appendix 3 of Mr. Sharry's review (see Annex 10.4 of this Report and http://gnso.icann.org/reviews/gnso-review-sec2-22dec04.pdf). The Council highlighted its work on several consensus polices, including the Whois Data Reminder Policy, the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy, the Whois Marketing Restriction Policy, the Restored Names Accuracy Policy and the Expired Domain Deletion Policy. The GNSO also provided policy advice to the Board and staff on a set of criteria by which to judge applicants seeking to operate .NET. The GNSO Self Review recommended making PDP timelines less rigid; using Staff and independent experts to prepare more analyses and issues papers; having Staff legal counsel available as needed; developing a project management process; establishing monitoring and enforcement mechanisms for new policies; and developing a complaints process for gTLD registration practices.

These reviews shared a common approach in certain respects: (i) allowing for more flexibility in the PDP process; (ii) ensuring strong Staff support for policy development; and (iii) developing better mechanisms for public participation and discussion.

Year 2007: Board Governance Committee Working Group (BGC WG)

On 30 March 2007, the Board created a Working Group of the Board Governance Committee (BGC WG), comprising current and former Board members, to oversee improvements to the Generic Supporting Names Organization (GNSO).  The purpose of the Working Group is to consider the independent reviews conducted by the London School of Economics Public Policy Group and others to determine whether, in general, the GNSO has a continuing purpose in the ICANN structure and, if so, whether any change in structure or operations is desirable to improve its effectiveness. The Board charged the BGC WG with recommending a comprehensive proposal to improve the effectiveness of the GNSO, including its policy activities, structure, operations and communications.

February 2008: ICANN Board Accepts BGC WG Report

The BGC WG developed and presented its recommendations in a GNSO Improvements Report that includes ways to improve the effectiveness of the GNSO's policy development activities, structure, operations and communications.  The Board Governance Committee determined that the BGC WG had fulfilled its charter and forwarded the report to the Board for consideration.  At the 15 February 2008 Board meeting in New Delhi, the Board accepted the Report for consideration, and directed ICANN Staff to post it for public comment, draft a detailed implementation plan in consultation with the GNSO, begin implementation of the non-contentious recommendations, and then return to the Board and community for further consideration.

May 2008: Implementation Planning Team (IPT)

The GNSO Council subsequently formed a GNSO Improvement Planning Team (IPT), comprised of GNSO leadership, constituency representatives, ICANN Staff and a Board liaison participant, in order to develop a top-level implementation plan to organize and manage the implementation effort. On 19 May 2008, the Planning Team produced a draft version of the GNSO Improvements Top Level Plan. The plan focuses on the creation of two steering (formerly "standing") committees, GNSO Policy Process and GNSO Operations, which would be responsible for ensuring that the work of implementing BGC WG recommendations is carried out. A second draft of the Top Level Plan was produced on by the IPT on 21 June 2008.

June 2008: Working Group on Council Restructuring (WG-GCR)

On 26 June 2008 the ICANN Board of Directors endorsed the recommendations of the BGC WG with the exception of the recommendations regarding GNSO Council restructuring. The Board asked the GNSO to convene a special Working Group on Council Restructuring (WG-GCR) and said that the group "should reach consensus and submit a consensus recommendation on Council restructuring by no later than 25 July 2008 for consideration by the ICANN Board as soon as possible." (see ICANN Board Resolution 2008.06.26.13. As directed by the Board, the group has consisted of one representative from the current NomCom appointees, one member from each GNSO constituency and one member from each liaison-appointing advisory committee.

The WG-GCR convened on 4 July 2008 and deliberated exhaustively during seven conference call meetings and extensively via email through midnight on 25 July and into the next day in an effort to develop a consensus recommendation for Board consideration. The report of the working group was formally accepted by the Board at its 31 July meeting. The Board was highly appreciative of the working group's efforts and instructed ICANN Staff to (1) perform an analysis of implementation issues presented by the consensus proposals in the report and (2) report back to the Board by August 21 with an implementation review and recommendations regarding those implementation issues.

August 2008: ICANN Board Actions -- Council Restructuring

As a continuation to the GNSO Improvements process, the ICANN Board devoted most of its 28 August 2008 meeting to a thorough discussion of the future structure of the GNSO Council. The Board approved a single body - bicameral voting structure as proposed by a special GNSO working group formed by the Board at its June meeting in Paris, France. The Board also established the size and composition of the two voting houses that will be used by the community to identify, discuss, manage and develop solutions to various gTLD policy and operational issues. The Board assigned Council seats as follows and asked the GNSO to submit for Board approval an implementation plan to transition the Council to this new structure by January 2009:

  • 6 seats to the "contracted party house" — 3 representatives from each stakeholder group in this house — Registrars and Registries, plus 1 voting Nominating Committee appointee;
  • 12 seats to the "non-contracted party" house — 6 representatives from the commercial stakeholder group and 6 representatives from the non-commercial stakeholder group, plus 1 voting Nominating Committee appointee; and
  • 1 Nominating Committee appointee whose role and voting status is still to be determined.

The GNSO Council is expected to expeditiously follow-up on a variety of implementation matters including establishing a new GNSO policy development process and creating a new working group model to effectuate future policy development.

September 2008: ICANN Board Actions -- Council Restructuring

During its 30 September/1 October meeting, the ICANN Board adopted most of the Report of the Working Group on GNSO Council Restructuring (the WG-GCR Report), including its recommendations on Nominating Committee appointees, election of Council leadership, voting thresholds for various Council decisions, as well as t he timing for the implementation of these elements and other related matters.

Specifically, the Board:

  • Authorized a third Council-level non-voting Nominating Committee Appointee (NCA);
  • Authorized the GNSO Council to elect a Chair by a vote of 60% in each voting house and gave each house the flexibility to create a process for selecting its own Vice Chair; the Board also asked the Council to develop a process for subsequent balloting, if needed, until a Council Chair is duly elected;
  • Adopted all of the new voting thresholds proposed in the WG-GCR Report; the Board also asked the GNSO to develop (for Board approval) any additional voting thresholds or categories that may be needed;
  • Acknowledged development by ICANN Staff of a new "Notice of Intent" document for potential new constituencies and directed Staff to develop a formal petition and charter template to assist applicants in satisfying the formative criteria (consistent with the ICANN Bylaws) and to facilitate the Board's evaluation of new constituency petitions;
  • Directed Staff to work with the existing GNSO constituencies to design and develop a streamlined process (along with appropriate mechanisms) to assist with the Board's timely recognition and approval of existing constituencies.

The Board also reinforced its support for the following principles pertaining to the formation of the new Stakeholder Groups and requested that all constituency members, as well as other relevant parties, comply with the principles included in the BGC Working Group's GNSO Improvements Report when establishing these newly formed structures, including:

  • The need to represent more broadly the wide variety of groups and individuals that comprise the global ICANN community in a structure that can adapt easily and fluidly to the new gTLD environment and its stakeholders;
  • The inclusion of new actors/participants and the expansion of constituencies within Stakeholder Groups, where applicable.

The Board directed ICANN Staff to work with existing constituencies to develop a set of streamlined processes (including appropriate templates, tools, or other mechanisms) that will assist in the formation of these new Stakeholder Groups and facilitate the Board's subsequent review and approval of those structures.

The Board directed the four new Stakeholder Groups (approved during the 28 August Board meeting) to submit their plans, consistent with the above principles, to the Board for consideration at the March 2009 ICANN Mexico City Board meeting. The Board said those plans of the Registry, Registrar, Commercial and Non-commercial Stakeholder Groups must be reviewed and approved by the Board before a newly structured GNSO Council is seated in June 2009. The Board said it will consider the need for interim action to fill Council seats in the event that it finds any Stakeholder Group plan to be deficient or delayed.

The Board did not reach final decisions on two significant issues that will be dealt with after further deliberations. Board members requested additional community dialogue and input on the appropriate GNSO representation of individual commercial and non-commercial Internet users. The Board said it would be particularly helpful to have feedback from the GNSO and At-Large communities along with any relevant applicants for new constituencies.

The Board and General Counsel also have outstanding questions about the WG-GCR recommendation regarding Board seat elections and the Board directed ICANN Staff to share these issues with and seek additional community input.

The Board also amended its previous implementation timetable for seating the new Council and directed that the transition to a new bicameral GNSO Council voting structure take place over a phased implementation schedule that begins immediately and ends in June 2009 with the seating of the new Council. The implementation phases will be as follows:

Phase 1 – GNSO Council restructuring implementation plan submitted in advance of the December 2008 Board Meeting;

Phase 2 – Existing Constituencies submit confirmation documents to the Board for review in advance of the February 2009 Board Meeting;

Phase 3 – Stakeholder Groups submit formal plans for Board approval for consideration at the March 2009 ICANN Mexico City Board meeting; and

Phase 4 – Stakeholder Groups with plans approved by the Board select Council representatives, and the newly structured GNSO Council is seated by the June 2009 Asia-Pacific ICANN Meeting.

In view of the Board's efforts to complete its review and approval of the various improvements recommendations, the GNSO Council's Implementation Planning Team also reconvened over the last month to review its proposed top-level implementation plan. The Planning Team made a number of modifications to that plan and submitted a new version of the plan (see "GNSO Improvements Implementation Plan") to the GNSO Council on 25 September 2008.

October 2008: Summary of ICANN Board Actions -- Council Restructuring

On 16 October the GNSO Council approved the GNSO Improvements Implementation Plan developed by the Implementation Planning Team (IPT).

Email (Sent 15 October 2008) from Denise Michel to Community Outlining Current GNSO Improvements Action Items:

"Dear Community Members:

In advance of the 16 Oct. GNSO Council meeting, I wanted to provide everyone with the follow-up action items from the Board's most recent draft GNSO Restructuring Resolution (see draft resolution below and at http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/prelim-report-01oct08.htm). I'd be happy to elaborate on these during the Council call, or feel free to email questions to policy-staff@icann.org.

1) COUNCIL CHAIR -- The Board adopted the WG-GCR recommendation that the GNSO Council Chair be elected by a vote of 60% of both voting houses and each voting house has the flexibility to create a process for selecting its own Vice Chair. To address questions on whether a "back-up" process was needed in the event that a vote did not yield a Chair, the Board decided to ask the Council to consider this matter. "The Board directs the Council to develop a process for subsequent balloting, if needed, until a Council Chair is duly elected. This process should be developed before the first Chair election of the newly structured Council."

*ACTION: As the Council moves forward with GNSO Improvements implementation, this should be addressed and provided to the Board.

2) BOARD SEATS -- "The Board and General Counsel have outstanding questions about the WG-GCR recommendations regarding Board seat elections and directs Staff to share these with the community and seek additional input."

*ACTION: Staff will post outstanding questions and solicit input shortly.

3) VOTING THRESHOLDS -- The Board adopted all voting thresholds proposed by the WG-GCR Report. Concerns that implementation of GNSO Improvements (e.g. new PDP, working group model, etc) might necessitate additions to, or clarifications of, thresholds, the Board requested that "the GNSO develop any additional voting thresholds or categories that may be needed as part of its proposed GNSO Improvements Implementation Plan to be submitted to the Board for approval." (Note: this draft wording likely will be changed to avoid confusion; the Board expects to receive an overall plan for implementing restructuring; this is separate from the GNSO's effort to create a structure of committees and teams to start the GNSO Improvements implementation work.)

*ACTION: As the Council moves forward with GNSO Improvements implementation, this should be addressed and, if changes or additions are deemed necessary, they should be provided to the Board.

4) NEW/EXISTING CONSTITUENCIES -- The Board acknowledged Staff development of a "Notice of Intent" document for potential new constituencies (*see attached) and directed Staff "to develop a formal petition and charter template that will assist applicants in satisfying the formative criteria (consistent with the ICANN Bylaws) to facilitate the Board's evaluation of petitions to form new constituencies. Staff also is directed to work with the existing GNSO constituencies to design and develop a streamlined process along with appropriate mechanisms that will assist with the Board's timely recognition and approval of existing constituencies".

*ACTION: Attached is a "Notice of Intent" to solicit and publicly share information on entities interested in forming new constituencies, along with a proposed petition and charter template. (Note: these documents can be found at http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm). Staff would appreciate receiving any input you may have by 28 Oct. Staff also is developing for your consideration a draft template for constituencies to use to enable the Board to "renew" constituencies. Since this is a new endeavor, Staff is offering a draft as a starting point for discussion.

Staff will collect and share input with the community during the Cairo ICANN meeting.

5) STAKEHOLDER GROUPS - The Board "reinforced its support for the following principles pertaining to the formation of the new Stakeholder Groups, and requests that all constituency members and other relevant parties comply with the principles included in the BGC Working Group's GNSO Improvements Report approved by the Board in establishing the newly formed structures, including: the need to better represent the wide variety of groups and individuals that compose the global ICANN community, in a structure that can change more easily with the gTLD environment and stakeholders; and the inclusion of new actors/participants, where applicable, and the expansion of constituencies within Stakeholder Groups, where applicable." Further, Staff was directed to work with the GNSO community to develop "a set of streamlined processes (along with appropriate templates, tools, or other mechanisms) that will assist in the formation of these new Stakeholder Groups and also facilitate the Board's subsequent review and approval of those structures." The Board directed that plans for each of the four new Stakeholder Groups be submitted to the Board for consideration at the ICANN Mexico City Board meeting, and the plans "must be reviewed and approved by the Board before a newly structured GNSO Council is seated in June 2009.

The Board will consider the need for interim action to fill Council seats in the event that it finds any Stakeholder Group plans to be deficient or delayed."

*ACTION: Staff will provide some initial draft material shortly to support community consideration and discussion.

6) ROLE/REPRESENTATION OF USERS - The Board requested additional community "dialogue and input on the appropriate role and representation of individual Internet users, including individual commercial and non-commercial Internet users, in the GNSO. Input from the GNSO, the ALAC and At-Large community, and any relevant applicants for new constituencies, would be particularly helpful and should address the inclusion of registrants and individual users in the GNSO in a manner that compliments the ALAC and its supporting structures, and ensures that registrants' and individual Internet users' gTLD interests are effectively represented within the GNSO."

*ACTION: Staff will post a public comment solicitation and will provide background information to encourage community consideration and input to the Board.

7) IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE - The Board amended its previous implementation timetable and directs that the transition to a new bicameral GNSO Council voting structure take place over a phased implementation schedule that begins immediately and ends in June 2009 with the seating of the new Council. The implementation phases will be as follows:

-Phase 1 - GNSO Council restructuring implementation plan submitted in advance of the December 2008 Board Meeting;

- Phase 2 - Existing Constituencies submit confirmation documents to the Board for review in advance of the February 2009 Board Meeting;

- Phase 3 - Stakeholder Groups submit formal plans for Board approval for consideration at the ICANN Mexico City Board meeting; and

- Phase 4 - Stakeholder Groups with plans approved by the Board select Council representatives, and the newly structured GNSO Council is seated by the June 2009 Asia-Pacific ICANN Meeting.

*ACTION - Staff will assist the GNSO in developing a restructuring implementation plan that the Board expects to receive later this year."

November 2008: GNSO Improvements – Cairo ICANN Meeting

GNSO Improvements Session (Cairo), conducted by Denise Michel, Abdeen Room, 8:45-9:45 a.m.

GNSO Improvements Presentation by Chuck Gomes at GNSO Council Open Meeting 5 Nov 2008 (Cairo), Saroya Room

GNSO Improvements: Constituency Survey (Update: survey period closed effective 14 December 2008)

The ICANN Policy Staff, in cooperation with the GNSO Council, is seeking broad based feedback on a number of Board Governance Committee (BGC) recommendations, specifically related to GNSO constituency operations, that were approved by the Board this past summer. To this end, we have developed an online survey instrument designed to collect individual constituency member opinions that will be used to inform the community's discussions concerning how those BGC recommendations might be implemented.

The survey contents, as well as the online system in which it is published (Big Pulse at www.bigpulse.com), have been through two months of design/development and more than three full weeks of staff and community testing.

The survey is planned to run from November 3rd - December 2nd (30 days) taking advantage of the opportunity to stimulate participation at the ICANN meeting in Cairo. (Note: survey input was extended through 14 December 2008)

Staff's goal is to analyze the survey data publish a report in early January, 2009.

December 2008: GNSO Council Submits Restructuring Plan

Council Submits Draft Restructuring Plan to Board (5 Dec 2008) [PDF, 61 KB]

Role of Individual Users in GNSO - Briefing and Action

Explanation: The ICANN Board has requested (see Resolution below) that the community provide a recommendation on or before 24 January 2009 on the appropriate role and representation of individual non-commercial Internet users in the GNSO as well as the composition and organization of the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG). The Board continues to consider this issue and has asked that various stakeholders in the GNSO, ALAC and At-Large groups, and any relevant applicants for new constituencies, work together to structure a recommendation for Board consideration.

Whereas, the Board has received varying recommendations on registrant and user involvement in the GNSO, and the issue of how to incorporate the legitimate interests of individual Internet users in constructive yet non-duplicative ways remains an open issue that affects GNSO restructuring.

Resolved, (2008-12-11-02) the Board requests that members of the GNSO community work with members of the ALAC/At-Large community and representatives of potential new "non-commercial" constituencies to jointly develop a recommendation for the composition and organizational structure of a Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group that does not duplicate the ALAC and its supporting structures, yet ensures that the gTLD interests of individual Internet users (along with the broader non-commercial community) are effectively represented within the GNSO. This recommendation should be submitted no later than 24 January 2009 for consideration by the Board.

January 2009: Various Documents and Notices

Existing Constituency Charter Renewals/Recertifications can be found at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/renewal-process-en.htm

New Constituency "Notices of Intent " Forms and New Petitions/Charters can be found at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm

An announcement has been posted on ICANN.org concerning the GNSO Improvements and how you can become involved.

Volunteers are now being accepted to joint Work Teams that will develop GNSO Improvement Implementation plans. To view the actual announcement, please click here.

A new Stakeholder Group Petition/Charter Template (Draft #2) was released by Denise Michel on 15 January 2009. The template and transmittal email can be found at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/stakeholder-process-en.htm

February 2009: Various Documents and Notices

Update of GNSO Improvements presented by Denise Michel to the community on 6 March 2009, Mexico City:

Stakeholder Group Charters, which were due prior to the ICANN Board meeting in Mexico City, can be found at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/stakeholder-process-en.htm

Constituency Charter Reconfirmations, due prior to the ICANN Board meeting in Mexico City, can be found at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/renewal-process-en.htm

A formal New Constituency Petition and Charter, submitted by the CyberSafety Constituency, can be found at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm

Two new "Notice of Intent to Form New Constituencies" (NOIF) have been received and are posted at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm

Role of Individual Users within the GNSO in response to 11 December Board Resolution (for Background, see December 2008 entry below)

April 2009: New Constituency Petitions, Charters, and Notices of Intent to Form (NOIF)

A formal New Constituency Petition and Charter, submitted by the proposed IDNgTLD Constituency, can be found at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm. A Public Comment Forum is also open, effective 21 April 2009 through 20 May 2009.

A formal New Constituency Petition and Charter, submitted by the Consumers Constituency, can be found at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm. A Public Comment Forum is also open, effective 15 April 2009 through 14 May 2009.

A new "Notice of Intent to Form a New Constituency" (NOIF) has been received by the proposed IDNTLD Constituency and can be viewed at this link: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm

May 2009: Registry Stakeholder Group Charter Updated and Public Comment Forum Opened

On 24 April, David Maher, on behalf of the Registry Constituency, provided an updated Registry Stakeholder Group Charter to the ICANN Board. It can be viewed at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/stakeholder-process-en.htm. A Public Forum Comment is also open effective 11 May 2009 through 10 June 2009.

June 2009: GNSO Improvements – Syndey ICANN Meeting

ICANN Meeting, Sydney:

A formal New Constituency Petition and Charter, submitted by the City Top-Level Domain Constituency (CTLDC), can be found at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm. A Public Comment Forum will also open, effective 5 June 2009 through 10 July 2009.

August 2009: ICANN Board Actions - Bylaws Amendments Approved (Article X)

ICANN Bylaws Amendments, related to GNSO Restructuring, were approved by the Board on 27 August (http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/prelim-report-27aug09.htm) after a second public comment period (referred to as V2) that closed on 24 August. The following documents are being published to assist the community in identifying all changes made between V2 and the final approved version, referenced as V3.

September 2009: Consumers Constituency Updates NOIF and Charter

In response to community and Board member questions and comments concerning its original New Constituency application (submitted 28 Feb 2009), the Consumers Constituency has revised its "Notice of Intent to Form" (NOIF) petition as of 15 Sep 2009, which can be accessed at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm. In addition, to make its original Constituency Charter provisions consistent with recent Board decisions pertaining to Stakeholder Groups (30 July 2009), particularly the NCSG Transitional Charter, the petitioners revised their proposed Charter document (also viewable at the above link).

October 2009: GNSO Improvements – Seoul ICANN Meeting

The Structural Improvements Committee (SIC) hosted a public meeting in Seoul on 28 October 2009 to update Board members on the progress of GNSO Improvements. The slide presentation was delivered by Rob Hoggarth, Sr. Policy Director.

June 2010: Various activities and notices.

A new "Notice of Intent to Form a New Constituency" (NOIF) has been received for the proposed Not-for-Profit Organizations Constituency (NPOC) and can be viewed at this link: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm

The Communications and Coordination Work Team’s (CCT) Final Consolidated Report, previously approved by the Operations Steering Committee (OSC), was adopted by GNSO Council Resolution (see Item #20100623-2).

The GNSO Council accepted by Resolution (see Item #20100623-3) the following deliverables approved by the Operations Steering Committee (OSC):

  • four (4) GNSO Operations Procedures chapters/sections submitted by the GNSO Council Operations Work Team (GCOT); and
  • the Task #1 Report submitted by the Constituency and Stakeholder Group Operations Work Team (CSG).
  • Staff was directed Staff to open a Public Comment Forum (28 June to 18 July 2010).

The GNSO Council, during a group discussion session held on 19 July 2010 in Brussels, completed final Value Ratings for 14 Eligible GNSO Projects as part of the GNSO Work Prioritization initiative approved at its 21 April 2010 meeting. The Value Ratings were approved by Resolution (see Item #20100623-1) at the Council’s meeting on 23 June in Brussels.