[council] 1) Welcome David Olive, 2) Board Meeting Summary

["Denise Michel, ICANN" <denise.michel@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Council and Community Members,

Please join me in welcoming David Olive, our new VP Policy Development (<
http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/council/msg08215.html>).  He
started this week and has been added to the Council email list and other
requisite email lists.  Although I'm assuming my new duties as Advisor to
the CEO, I also am helping David get up-to-speed on ICANN and policy matters
and, together with the Policy Staff, will help ensure a smooth transition.

For Item 6, "Status Updates," on the Council's meeting agenda, I've included
highlights of the 4 Feb. ICANN Board meeting, below. The preliminary meeting
report is posted at <http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-04feb10-en.htm>.


Regards,
Denise


Denise Michel
Advisor to the CEO
ICANN
denise.michel@xxxxxxxxx


   - Approved the *Registry Services Evaluation Policy *request to amend the
   .CAT* Registry Agreements to allocate one and two-character domain names;
   in doing so noted the **recommendations of the GNSO Reserved Names
   Working Group to permit the release of one and two-character domain names.
   *
   - Approved release of* $1.5 million from the existing FY10 budget
   contingency line item for FY10 operating expenses, and directed Staff to
   undertake cost containment efforts while maintaining essential services.
   *
   - Approved a re-delegation of .IN (India)
   - Approved a July 2010 - June 2013 Strategic Plan, directed Staff to move
   forward with the community-based Operational planning process, noted minor
   edits to the Strategic Plan will be provided by the Board by 8 Feb. and will
   be subject to the Chairman's approval (final Strategic Plan not posted as of
   this writing).
   - Adopted an "Event Security Risk, Contracts and Cancellation Management
   Policy," which was precipitated by the Nairobi meeting.
   - Received an update from Staff on work related to the "Expressions of
   Interest in new gTLDs," deferred a decision on EOI until the Nairobi
   meetings, asked for a Staff summary and explanation of major issues raised
   in the public comment process, and directed Staff to schedule a forum on
   this topic in Nairobi.
   - Received a brief update on the final report on relaxing the 3-character
   requirement for gTLDs.
   - Received a brief update on the ICANN Proposed Security Initiatives
   - Asked the Board Governance Committee to develop a plan for research and
   analysis on Board Chairman remuneration.
   - Received an update on the ICANN CEO's media relations planning.
   - Briefly discussed an Ombudsman case report that focused on civility
   within ICANN and its effect on participation, affirmed "*that all
   participants in ICANN are expected to adhere to the Expected Standards of
   Behavior" (<
   
http://www.icann.org/en/transparency/acct-trans-frameworks-principles-10jan08.pdf>),
   and asked Staff to consider the Ombudsman proposals to enhance civility.
   *
   - The Board received a brief update on Internationalized Domain Name
   (IDN) ccTLD Fast Track requests (four requestors had successfully completed
   the string evaluation stage).
   - Discussed Vertical Integration (after two Directors and four Liaisons
   withdrew from participation in the discussion due to their conflicts of
   interest).
   - Received a brief update on the status of the Affirmation of Commitments
   reviews.