[council] GNSO Council Resolutions 8 May 2014

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Councillors,

Ahead of the Council minutes, please find the resolutions passed by the Council 
at its meeting on Thursday, 8 May 2014.

Consent agenda:
The Council confirmed the new Chair and Co-Chairs for the Data and Metrics for 
Policy Making non-PDP working group,
namely Jonathan Zuck (IPC) as Chair as well as Rudy Vansnick (NPOC), Olevie 
Kouami (NPOC) and Cheryl Langdon-Orr
(At-Large) as Co-Chairs.
Confirmation of Avri Doria as member of the GAC / GNSO Consultation Group and 
replacement for Mikey O’Conner.

Motion in response to the NGPC's letter with respect to Specification 13

WHEREAS,

1.  the NGPC has adopted a proposed Specification 13 to the Registry Agreement 
to reflect
requests by .BRAND TLDs whilst delaying the implementation of an additional 
clause contained
therein, which will allow a Registry Operator to designate up to three 
exclusive Registrars;

2.  the NGPC has sent a letter to the GNSO Council Chair asking for advice as 
to whether
the GNSO Council believes that this additional clause is inconsistent with the 
letter and
intent of GNSO Policy Recommendation 19 on the Introduction of New Generic 
Top-level Domains;

3. the GNSO Council thanks the NGPC for referring the matter back to the GNSO 
Council;

4. the GNSO Council has discussed the matter including with the Brand Registry 
Group
(BRG) and considered the background information provided by the BRG;

5. the GNSO Council has reached out to participants in the Policy Development 
Process
at the time of developing the policy and the associated Board Report on the 
Introduction
of New Generic Top-Level Domains (11 September 2007);

6.  the Council acknowledges and understands the proposal made by .BRAND TLD
operators;

It is now RESOLVED:

1.  that the right to only use up to three exclusive registrars, as contained 
in Specification
 13 is inconsistent with Recommendation 19 as (i) the language of this 
recommendation of
the final report of the GNSO does not stipulate any exceptions from the 
requirements to
treat registrars in a non-discriminatory fashion and (ii) the GNSO new gTLDs 
Committee
discussed potential exceptions at the time, but did not include them in its 
recommendations,
which is why the lack of an exception cannot be seen as an unintended omission, 
but a
deliberate policy statement;

2.  that the Council, notwithstanding resolved 1,does not object to the 
implementation of
Specification 13 as a whole, including an additional clause which will allow a 
Registry
Operator to designate up to three exclusive Registrars, given the specific 
circumstances
and the fact that a public comment period on Specification 13 was conducted in 
2013
without objections from the GNSO, save for that from certain registrars, which 
was
subsequently withdrawn;

3. that the Council reserves the right to initiate a policy development 
process, potentially
resulting in Consensus Policy affecting both existing and future TLDs, if and 
when the
right granted to .BRAND TLDs is at risk of, or bears the risk of, being used 
for augmenting
and / or circumventing the conditions of Specification 13 or any subsequent 
provisions;

4. that the Council's acceptance of a variation from original policy 
recommendation
may not be taken as a precedent for any future decisions.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you.
Kind regards,

Glen



Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat
gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
http://gnso.icann.org