The Meeting started at 15:04 UTC:
List of attendees: NCA – Non Voting – Carlos Raúl Gutierrez – absent apologies
Contracted Parties House
Registrar Stakeholder Group: James Bladel, Volker Greimann, Yoav Keren gTLD Registries Stakeholder Group: Jonathan Robinson, Donna Austin, Bret Fausett
Nominating Committee Appointee (NCA): Thomas Rickert
Non-Contracted Parties House
Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG); Gabriela Szlak, Susan Kawaguchi, Osvaldo Novoa, absent excused, proxy to Tony Holmes, Tony Holmes, Brian Winterfeldt, Heather Forrest
Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG): Amr Elsadr, Marilia Maciel, Edward Morris, Stephanie Perrin, David Cake- joined call late, Avri Doria Nominating Committee Appointee (NCA): Daniel Reed
GNSO Council Liaisons/Observers:
Cheryl Langdon Or – ALAC Liaison
Patrick Myles – ccNSO Observer – absent apologies
Mason Cole – GNSO liaison to the GAC
ICANN Staff
David Olive – VP Policy Development
Marika Konings – Senior Policy Director
Rob Hoggarth – Senior Policy Director
Mary Wong – Senior Policy Director
Julie Hedlund – Policy Director
Steve Chan – Senior Policy Manager
Berry Cobb – Policy consultant
Lars Hoffmann – Policy Analyst
Glen de Saint Géry – GNSO Secretariat
MP3 recording
Adobe Chat Transcript
Transcript
Item 1: Administrative matters
1.1 Roll Call
1.2 Statement of interest updates
None
1.3 Review/amend agenda
Tony Holmes and Gabriella Szlak noted that they would have to leave the Council meeting before the end of the call.
1.4. Note the status of minutes for the previous Council meeting per the GNSO Operating Procedures:
Minutes of the GNSO Council Public meeting and the Administrative meeting of the new Council on 15 October 2014 and the GNSO Council meeting 13 November 2014 have been posted as approved on 7 December 2014.
Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List
Comments arising from the Action Items:
- CWG To Develop an IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal on Naming Related Functions
Topic on main agenda
- CWG on Enhancing ICANN Accountability
Topic on main agenda
- SSAC Liaison to GNSO Council / GNSO Council liaison to the SSAC
Jonathan Robinson to explore with Patrik Falström the options for a SSAC liaison to the GNSO and/or vice versa.
Still outstanding for Jonathan Robinson
- Issues for the SCI – voting thresholds
Still outstanding
- Issues for the SCI – amendments to motions – Still outstanding
- GNSO Review is passed so technically completed
- Discussion Groupon the policy development and integration of the work of the Expert Working Group (EWG) Final Report
Susan Kawaguchi , Discussion Group chair provided a brief update. The group met on 10 December and decided on a time line - A Final Report is expected in August or September 2015
- Presentation to the community in Singapore
- Preliminary report submitted for public comment March or April 2015.
The group is examining the issues and recommendations that have been identified and looking at additional information whereby the work of the Expert Working Group (EWG) can be synthesized with the GNSO Policy Development Process. All information in relation to the Board-GNSO EWG Process WG can be found here: https://community.icann.org/x/9SnxAg
Action Item
- Schedule an update from Susan Kawaguchi during the GNSO Weekend Working Sessions in Singapore.
- Susan committed to share any preliminary documents as work in progress with the Council.
- Suggest that meeting notices are sent to the Council list for interested persons to listen to the Adobe Connect during the call or meeting.
Outstanding IGO/INGO PDP Recommendations
Awaiting feedback from the NGPC to the GNSO Council letter
Board Working Group Report on Nominating Committee (BWG-NomCom) Part of main agenda.
New GAC Leadership
Jonathan Robinson still to contact Thomas Schneider, the new GAC Chair.
Name Collision, Skill sets for the Nominating Committee, GAC Communique, will he discussed as separate items on the agenda.
Item 3: Consent agenda
No items on the consent agenda.
Item 4: DISCUSSION - Board Working Group Report on the Nominating Committee
A draft proposal has been prepared by outgoing Councillor John Berard and Tony Holmes.
The reply period for submitting comments has been extended to 9 January 2015 In response to circulating the draft proposal on the Council mailing list Avri Doria submitted a comment on the 2nd of December 2014.
Discussions in the NCSG indicate that while Avri is not alone in some of the issues, all the points made are not supported. The comment was written as a personal comment and should not be a block to sending the draft, but it is suggested that the phrase a 'unanimity of its members' be removed.
Another view not supporting the document as such was expressed and it was mentioned that the draft proposal points out that the non-commercial representation is affected where actually it is not.
The following suggestions were made to move forward:
- – Modify the draft proposal to obtain unanimous support on the Council since the submission deadline has been moved to 9 January 2015.
- – Put the draft proposal to a vote providing a mechanism to lodge individual opposition and make statements into the record.
There was support for submitting the draft proposal in substantially the same form to a vote outside of a Council meeting and providing the opportunity for any individual or collective positions to be stated outside of the outcome of that vote.
Action Item:
- Tony Holmes to hold the pen on refining the proposal up to 31 December 2014.
- Vote on the content of the refined proposal in the first week of January 2015 as per the new voting procedures (Voting Outside a Meeting) outlined in Section 4.10 in the revised GNSO Operating Procedures
- Prepare the vote outside of a meeting and announce the voting timeline to the Council.
Item 5: UPDATE - Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability
Thomas Rickert provided a brief update on the progress of the Accountability Cross Community Working Group which has held its first meeting. The group has 120 members and participants from the ALAC, ASO, ccNSO, GAC and the GNSO. A co-chair, Mathieu Weill has been appointed by the ccNSO. The first two hour meeting, attended by 70 to 80 people, predominantly concentrated on the charter's administrative and procedural aspects.
The group agreed to split into four subgroups as a scoping exercise for the work ahead and in preparation for discussions of the work plan and the timeline.Sub-group one will create an inventory of existing accountability mechanisms in ICANN.
Sub-group two will analyze ICANN's public comment period on accountability and determine which recommendations would fall into Work Stream 1 (dealing with matters that need to be either completed or binding prior to the IANA stewardship transition) or Work Stream 2 (dealing with long term accountability mechanisms).Sub-group three will analyze the deliberations and the proposals of the Naming Community, that the CWG published on December 1, 2014.
Sub-group four is tasked with creating a list of contingencies to contemplate when conducting the work so as to provide counter measures and perhaps improving existing accountability measures or establishing new ones.
The plan is to proceed with weekly two-hour calls, a two day face to face meeting in January as well as two sessions during the upcoming ICANN meeting in Singapore most probably on Monday and Thursday. Remote participation facilities will be available.
A list of the public experts has not yet been determined.
The chairs of the IANA Stewardship cross community working group and the Accountability cross community working group have established regular calls to ensure the utmost collaboration between the efforts of the two groups.
Action Item:
Keep the Council regularly informed of developments in the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability.
Item 6: DISCUSSION – Prospective policy work on "name collision
Donna Austin provided a brief overview of the Registry Stakeholder Group discussions to date. The group is of the view that name collision is not an issue so it is a difficult starting point to discuss whether any policy work is required. It is too early to tell whether the name collision mitigation strategy implementation framework that has been deployed has been helpful or to what extent it has met expectations. Any policy work undertaken at this point in time would not impact the current round of Top Level Domains (TLDs). In a slightly different context it has been noted that while the Board has imposed name collision mitigation on the new gTLD Registries the imposition does not apply to IDN ccTLDs. Thus potential policy in this area it would not have any applicability to ccTLDs.
Susan Kawaguchi provided input from the Business Constituency (BC) noting that as the BC's first priority is security, stability and resiliency for business registrants and users, a follow up on SSAC concerns and recommendations is needed. ICANN is recommended to review the three different SSAC reports that involve name collisions SSAC 066 -June 2014, SSAC 064 -February 2014 and SSAC 062 -November 2013 and ensure that the concerns have been addressed. An additional priority for the BC is to avoid disruption costs and other consequences affecting business users and registrants as the result of changes in the DNS. It is important that internet users are protected from any name collision issues.
Tony Holmes, on behalf of the Internet Service and Connectivity Providers (ISP), concurred with the BC remarks particularly with the reference to the SSAC reports however from an ISP perspective it is too early to make policy decisions. A prudent approach would be to pick up the issue again at the Singapore meeting.
Action Item
Council to send a draft letter to Cyrus Namazi and his team, well in advance of the Singapore meeting (February 2015) indicating that the Council views the topic of name collision as being potentially open for policy development work but that it is too early to determine this.
- Donna Austin to provide a draft of the gTLD Registries position
- Susan Kawaguchi to supplement with the Business Constituencies position
- Tony Holmes to follow on with the Internet Service Providers Constituency position
Item 7: DISCUSSION - Board resolution concerning future gTLD Application Rounds
Bret Fausett reminded Council that a motion was passed at the London meeting to start a discussion group in the GNSO with the purpose of gathering information to inform a subsequent round of new gTLD applications. On 17 November 2014 the ICANN Board adopted a resolution planning for future gTLD application rounds. As part of its action, the Board acknowledged the effort and progress within the GNSO to identify areas where the GNSO believes that policy advice can be clarified or where it wishes to provide additional policy advice applicable to future application rounds. Furthermore, as requested in the GNSO Council's June 2014 resolution, the Board provided input into the GNSO Council's discussion to identify areas that the Board believes may be appropriate for discussion in an evaluation of the current gTLD application round and for possible adjustments for subsequent application procedures.
The proposed next steps for the New gTLD Discussion Group is to prepare a summary of the work to date and submit it to the Council as a possible draft charter for creating a working group. An Issue Report request is expected by the Singapore meeting.
It was noted that Staff have pre-empted the work and a report will be submitted to the Council list.
The topic will be on the Council agenda in January 2015.
Action Item:
Share the Staff document with the Council that tabulates the areas the Board believes may be appropriate for discussion in an evaluation of the current gTLD application
Item 8: UPDATE – GNSO / GAC Consultation Group and related work
Mason Cole provided Council with a brief update as follows: The focus of the GNSO GAC Consultation Group, which meets regularly, is attempting to develop a methodology for the GAC to contribute to policy making through the GNSO Policy Development Process (PDP). Currently, the Issue Report is seen as the ideal time in the process for the GAC to become involved, however the GAC's challenge remains its workload.
The GAC, for the first time, has engaged formally with the GNSO on the issue of IGO protections in particular at the second level in new gTLDs. The IGO -INGO Curative Rights Protection Mechanism working group has formulated four specific questions for GAC input because there is a disparity between the Los Angeles GAC communiqué and the working group charter. It is recognized that the GAC input comes midpoint in the PDP rather than early but it provides a means to investigate how the GAC can organize itself to contribute to a GNSO PDP.
Mason will report back to Council when the input is received.
Volker Greimann provided an update on the draft proposal for a framework for discussing the GAC communiqué and noted that the Policy and Implementation Working group has suggested that some of the processes that are being developed may be applicable to this topic.
Donna Austin drew attention to the correspondence from Thomas Schneider, GAC Chair, to the ICANN Board on the 9th of November 2014, which provides a detailed explanation about some of the language in the GAC communiqué from Los Angeles.
Even though the process is not completely refined it has been suggested that the Los Angeles GAC communiqué is discussed at the Singapore meeting. It was further pointed out that the Registries stakeholder group sent a letter to the New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) raising concerns related to safeguard advice in the GAC communiqué from Los Angeles which indicates some proactive discussion with regard to the GAC communiqué.
Action Items:
Jonathan Robinson to meet with Thomas Schneider the GAC chair and/or one or more of the GAC vice-chairs face to face in Singapore to socialize the draft proposal for a framework for discussing the GAC communiqué.
Volker Greimann to review the Registry Stakeholder Group correspondence to the GAC, and a letter from Thomas Schneider to the ICANN Board on the 9th of November 2014, in moving forward with the proposed framework for discussion on the GAC communiqué.
David Cake to take the lead on work to be done on the GAC communiqué in the interim in preparation for Singapore.
Councillors are encouraged to provide comments and input on the Framework for Discussion.
Item 9: UPDATE – Cross Community Working Group to develop a transition proposal for IANA stewardship on naming related functions
Jonathan Robinson stated that as the GNSO chair he is co-chair of the Cross Community Working Group to develop a transition proposal for IANA stewardship on naming related functions. A series of webinars have been conducted to educate the audiences on the substance of the proposal that is out for public comment until the 22nd of January 2015.
The key message is that the GNSO constituencies and stakeholder groups are up to date and well informed on the work of this group so that they will be in a position to vote as a chartering organization.
Action Item:
Ensure that the Constituencies and Stakeholder Groups are informed of both, the deadlines and time scales, as well as the inter-relationship between the IANA Stewardship Transition working group and the Accountability working group through the of these groups liaising
Item 10 Any Other Business
10.1 Correspondence with NGPC on IGO & RCRC.
Still awaiting response from New gTLD Program Committee.
10.2 Skill sets for Nominating Committee.
Action Item:
Dan Reed to send off revised skill sets for the Nominating Committee document as soon as possible.
10.3 Letter to the GAC sub-working group on geographic names from Cross-Constituency Working Group on Country and Territory Names (CWG) Action Item:
Inform the Cross-Community Working Group on Use of Country/Territory Names as TLD that the Council expressed no objection to the submission of the Letter to the GAC sub-working group.
10.4 Planning for ICANN meeting in Singapore
Action Item:
Add session on Expert Working Group to the GNSO weekend agenda. Councillors are encouraged to provide input on the mailing list or to ICANN staff as soon as possible on proposed topics for the GNSO weekend working sessions in Singapore.
10.5 Letter from Akram Atallah concerning IDN Implementation Guidelines
No comments
Jonathan Robinson adjourned the GNSO Council meeting and thanked everyone for their participation.
The meeting was adjourned at 16:50 UTC.
The next GNSO Council meeting will take place on Thursday, 15 January 2015 at 18:00 UTC.
See: Calendar