Introduction
At its meeting on 17 October 2012, the GNSO Council initiated a Policy Development Process (PDP) on the Protection of Certain International Organization Names in all GTLDs. (see 20121017-2). The GNSO Council decided at this meeting that a group of volunteers should now be convened to draft the charter for the IGO-INGO PDP Working Group, which is to be approved by the GNSO Council.
Task of the Drafting Team
The Drafting Team will be tasked with developing a charter for the PDP Working Group on the Protection of Certain International Organization Names in all GTLDs. The Charter should include, at a minimum, the following elements as specified in the GNSO Working Group Guidelines: Working Group identification; Mission, Purpose and Deliverables; Formation, Staffing and Organization, and; Rules of Engagement. The proposed charter will be submitted to the GNSO Council for its consideration. Upon completion of the Charter by the Drafting Team, the Working Group will then begin execution of the Charter.
Volunteers
If you are interested to participate, please send an email to the GNSO Secretariat. You will be required to complete a Statement of Interest in order to participate. It is proposed that the group meet each Wednesday at 18:00 UTC for two hours.
Background Information on the Issue
The ICANN Board has requested policy advice from the GNSO Council and the GAC on whether special protections should be afforded for the names and acronyms of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement ("RCRC"), the International Olympic Committee ("IOC") and/or International Government Organizations ("IGOs").
In September 2011, the GAC sent advice to the GNSO with a proposal for granting second level protections based upon the protections afforded to IOC/RCRC at the first level during the initial round of new gTLD applications, and that such protections are permanent. As a result of the GAC proposal submitted to the GNSO, the GNSO IOC/RCRC Drafting Team was formed and created a set of recommendations for protecting the IOC/RCRC names at the second level of the initial round new gTLDs, including the initiation of an "expedited PDP" to determine appropriate permanent protections for the RCRC and IOC names.
The latest inquiry to examine the issue of protecting IGO names emerged as a result of a request from the ICANN Board in response to letters received from the OECD and other IGOs in December 2011. Specifically, IGOs are seeking ICANN approval of protections at the top level that, at a minimum, are similar to those afforded to the RCRC and IOC in the Applicant Guidebook. In addition, IGOs are seeking a pre-emptive mechanism to protect their names at the second level. On 11 March 2012, the ICANN Board formally requested that the GNSO Council and the GAC provide policy advice on the IGO's request.
The Final Issue Report was submitted by ICANN Staff on 1 October 2012 (see http://gnso.icann.org/en/issues/protection-igo-names-final-issue-report-01oct12-en.pdf) and in this report a number of issues are outlined that will need further consideration during the PDP.
The GNSO Council approved the IGO-INGO PDP at its 17 October 2012 meeting.