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ICANN POLICY UPDATE | Volume 13, Issue 8 – September 2013 Issue

PDF Version [151 KB]

http://www.icann.org/en/resources/policy/update

CONTENTS:

Across ICANN

  1. Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

ASO

  1. Program Committee Formed in Preparation for ICANN 48

ccNSO

  1. Montenegro is 139th ccNSO Member
  2. Two New ccNSO Councilors

GNSO

  1. WHOIS Technical Survey Final Report Published
  2. Renewed Call for Volunteers: Drafting Team to Develop Charter for a GNSO Working Group on GNSO Metrics & Reporting

At-Large

  1. ALAC Submits Five Policy Advice Statements in early August and mid-September
  2. At-Large Community Expands to 157 At-Large Structures

GAC

  1. GAC Membership Increases to 129

RSSAC

  1. RSSAC Restructure Progresses

SSAC

  1. SSAC Publishes Comment on ICANN's Initial Report from the Expert Working Group on Next Generation Directory Services

Read in Your Preferred Language

ICANN Policy Update is available in all six official languages of the United Nations. Policy Update is posted on ICANN's web site and available via online subscription. To receive the Update in your Inbox each month, visit the ICANN subscriptions page, enter your e-mail address, and select "Policy Update" to subscribe. This service is free.

ICANN Policy Update statement of purpose

Send questions, comments and suggestions to: policy-staff@icann.org.

Policy Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees

Address Supporting Organization ASO
Country Code Names Supporting Organization ccNSO
Generic Names Supporting Organization GNSO
At-Large Advisory Committee ALAC
Governmental Advisory Committee GAC
Root Server System Advisory Committee RSSAC
Security and Stability Advisory Committee SSAC

Across ICANN

1. Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

Numerous public comment periods are currently open on issues of interest to the ICANN community. Act now to share your views on such topics as:

Proposal to Mitigate Name Collision Risks. Interisle Consulting Group has completed a study on the likelihood and potential consequences of collisions between new public gTLD labels and existing private uses of the same strings. Comment period closed 27 August; reply period closes 17 September.

GNSO Structures Charter Amendment Process. What should the process look like for amending GNSO Stakeholder Group and Constituency charters? Comment period closed 28 August; reply period closes 18 September.

DNS Risk Management Framework Report. Westlake Consulting prepared this report on risks within ICANN's sphere of concern but not necessarily under its control. Comment period closed 13 September; reply period closes 5 October.

Consultation on ccTLD Delegation and Redelegation User Instructions and Source of Policy and Procedures. A description of how IANA plans on handling country code top-level domain delegation and redelegation requests. Comment period closes 30 September; reply period closes 21 October

Consultation on gTLD Delegation and Redelegation User Instructions and Source of Policy and Procedures. A description of how IANA plans on handling generic top-level domain delegation and redelegation requests. Comment period closes 1 October; reply period closes 22 October.

For the full list of issues open for public comment, plus recently closed and archived public comment forums, visit the Public Comment web page.

The staff also populates a web page to help preview potential "upcoming" public comment opportunities. This page - "Public Comments - Upcoming" page – provides information about potential future public comment opportunities. The page is designed to be updated after every ICANN Public Meeting to help individuals and the community to set priorities and plan their future workloads.


ASO

ASO Logo

2. Program Committee Formed in Preparation for ICANN 48

Planning for ICANN's 48th Public Meeting in Buenos Aires has begun with the creation of an ASO Program Committee. The Program Committee will be comprised of the ASO Address Council chair and co-chairs, Regional Internet Registries and ASO Address Council members from Latin America, and the ASO/NRO support staff.

The Program Committee hopes to highlight the ASO's role in the policy development process and raise awareness of numbering issues. In the coming weeks, the group will identify substantive areas for engagement and participation in sessions with SOs and ACs as well as workshops with the broader ICANN community.

More Information

Staff Contact

Barbara Roseman, Policy Director and Technical Analyst


ccNSO

ccNSO Logo

3. Montenegro is 139th ccNSO Member

At a Glance

The operator of Montenegro's top-level domain (.ME) has joined the ccNSO as the 139th member.

Recent Developments

The operator of .ME, the Government of Montenegro, has joined the ccNSO. Montenegro is located in Southeastern Europe, between the Adriatic Sea and Serbia.

Next Steps

The ccNSO welcomes further ccTLDs to join the ccNSO Community.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat


4. Two New ccNSO Councilors

At a Glance

The ccNSO welcomes Celia Lerman Friedman and Jordi Iparraguirre as new NomCom appointed Councilors.

Recent Developments

Celia Lerman Friedman and Jordi Iparraguirre have been appointed to take seats on the ccNSO Council on behalf of the ICANN Nominating Committee (NomCom); Jordi Iparraguirre was appointed as Mary Wong's replacement.

Next Steps

Jordi will take his seat immediately and will serve on the Council for the remainder of Mary Wong's term (until the end of the 2015 ICANN Annual General Meeting).

Celia is taking her seat at the end of the Buenos Aires meeting, replacing Sokol Haxhiu, whose term is ending in November 2013.

Background

Three NomCom appointed Councilors serve on the ccNSO Council; each year, the NomCom appoints one new member. As Mary Wong left her position earlier this year, a replacement had to be found, hence the appointment of two Councilors this year.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat


GNSO

5. WHOIS Technical Survey Final Report Published

At a Glance

The WHOIS Service Working Group, tasked by the GNSO Council to draft, implement, and analyze the results of a survey measuring the level of support for various technical requirements outlined in the final Inventory of WHOIS Service Requirements Report (29 July 2010), has published its Final Report. The objective for the Working Group was to develop a set of proposed recommendations regarding the measurement of support of the proposed technical requirements.

Recent Developments and Next Steps

The WSWG Working Group has provided its Final Report to the GNSO Council. At its next meeting on 10 October 2013, the Council will vote on a Motion to approve the recommendations in the Final Report and to send the survey results on to other applicable organizations and working groups who are examining WHOIS and Domain Name Registration Data issues.

Background

In May 2009 the GNSO Council asked ICANN staff to compile a comprehensive set of requirements for WHOIS that included known deficiencies in the current service and "any possible requirements that may be needed to support various policy initiatives that have been suggested in the past." As a result, ICANN staff produced a report compiling an Inventory of WHOIS Service Requirements and delivered the report to the GNSO Council on 29 July 2010. Subsequently, the GNSO Council, on 6 October 2011, convened a Working Group to draft, implement, and analyze the results of a survey measuring the level of support for various technical requirements as outlined in the aforementioned Final Inventory of WHOIS Service Requirements Report. After eight months of work, the WG produced a draft version of the technical requirements survey and opened a public comment forum to solicit feedback from the community. All feedback was submitted through the draft survey itself as hosted by the open-source survey software of Lime Survey.

More Information

Staff Contact

Berry Cobb, ICANN Policy Development Support


6. Renewed Call for Volunteers: Drafting Team to Develop Charter for a GNSO Working Group on GNSO Metrics & Reporting

At a Glance

The GNSO Council has given more time to seek volunteers to develop a charter for a future working group that will explore opportunities regarding reporting and metrics recommendations that could better assist the policy-development process by enhancing fact-based decision-making.

Recent Developments

As a result of limited registration for the Drafting Team from the first call for volunteers, the GNSO Council at its 5 September meeting extended the time for volunteers to join this effort. Adequate representation from the community is being sought.

The Drafting Team will be tasked to develop a Charter on the basis of the GNSO Working Group Guidelines [PDF, 350 KB] taking into account the Final Issue Report on Uniformity of Reporting [PDF, 1.5 MB]. The Final Issue Report recommends that a Working Group be formed to:

  • Review how the community can collaborate with contracted parties and other service providers to share complaint and abuse data that may help to further educate Registrants and Internet users when submitting complaints to relevant parties; and
  • Investigate more formal processes for requests of data, metrics and other reporting needs from the GNSO that in turn may aid GNSO policy development processes.

On 9 May 2013, the GNSO Council approved the report's recommendations to postpone further action regarding contractual compliance metrics and reporting until the conclusion of the implementation of the ICANN Contractual Compliance Team's three-year plan towards the end of 2013. In the meantime, the GNSO Council also adopted the recommendation to form a non-PDP Working Group tasked with exploring opportunities of reporting and metrics recommendations that might better inform policy development via fact-based decision making, where applicable. An availability review of both ICANN internal and external data sources is expected to be performed to help inform the deliberations of the WG.

Next Steps

The GNSO Council invites interested parties to provide names of volunteers who can be added to the drafting team mailing list. Anyone is welcome to join. Community members who wish to join the group should contact the GNSO Secretariat. Volunteers will be expected to submit a Statement of Interest.

Background

In 2010, the Registration Abuse Policies Working Group (RAPWG) identified in its Final Report the "need for more uniformity in the mechanisms to initiate, track, and analyze policy-violation reports" and recommended that "the GNSO and the larger ICANN community in general, create and support uniform reporting processes." The GNSO, in collaboration with the community and the ICANN Contractual Compliance Team, deliberated the issues through due diligence analysis, a review of current state compliance reporting systems, and future state implementation plans within ICANN. Based on the information gathered, the GNSO Council recommended the creation of an Issue Report [PDF, 1.5 MB]. The report created by ICANN Staff further outlined accomplishments regarding reporting and metrics for the ICANN Contractual Compliance function and it also reviewed other reporting sources that were of possible relevance.

More Information

Staff Contact

Berry Cobb, ICANN Policy development Support


At-Large

7. ALAC Submits Five Policy Advice Statements in early August and mid-September

At a Glance

The ALAC continued its high rate of preparing statements in response to ICANN public comments periods as well as comments and communications. Between early August and mid-September, the ALAC submitted five statements. The ALAC is currently developing several additional policy advice statements.

Recent Developments

The five ALAC Policy Advice Statements and communications submitted between early August and mid-September are summarized below.

Preferential Treatment for Community Applications in String Contention

  • Applications with demonstrable support, appropriate safeguards and strong emphasis on community service should be accorded preferential treatment in the new gTLD string contention resolution process.

Community Expertise in Community Priority Evaluation

  • The ALAC has concerns about the sufficiency of community expertise in panels that evaluate new gTLD community applications.
  • The ALAC stands ready to offer appropriate ICANN community volunteers to serve as panel members or advisors.

Proposal to Mitigate Name Collision Risks

  • The ALAC welcomes the completion and publication of the "Name Collisions in the DNS [PDF, 3.34 MB]" study report by Interisle Consulting Group and the subsequent response by ICANN in "New gTLD Collision Risk Management Proposal [PDF, 166 KB]."
  • The ALAC wishes to reiterate its previous advice to the Board that, in pursuing mitigation actions to minimize residual risk, especially for those strings in the "uncalculated risk" category, ICANN must assure that such residual risk is not transferred to third parties such as current registry operators, new gTLD applicants, registrants, consumers and individual end users." In particular, the direct and indirect costs associated with proposed mitigation actions should not have to be borne by registrants, consumers and individual end users.
  • The ALAC remains concerned that this matter is being dealt with at such a late stage of the New gTLD Process. The ALAC urges the Board to investigate how and why this crucial issue could have been ignored for so long and how similar occurrences may be prevented in the future.

Explore the Draft Next Generation gTLD Directory Services Model

  • The ALAC strong supports continuing discussions on the development of the ARDS proposal, and expects to continue to be involved in those discussions.
  • The ALAC strongly supports the following elements of the ARDS proposal:
    • The allowance of tiered access to registration data. The public will still have access to some WHOIS data, but only those with recognized reasons to access specific data will be able to do so – thus addressing some legitimate privacy concerns with all WHOIS data being publicly available;
    • The provision of a centralized responsibility for data accuracy.

Community Priority Evaluation (CPE) Guidelines Update from ICANN

  • The ALAC welcomes the proposal of "Community Priority Evaluation (CPE) Guidelines" prepared by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
  • The ALAC notes with satisfaction that the EIU has transposed the Applicant Guidebook Criteria into Evaluation Guidelines for what is intended to be an evidence-based evaluation process.
  • The ALAC supports the need for comprehensive community assessment to ensure the legitimacy of applicants and the long- term sustainability of their value proposals.
  • Without re-opening the debate on the Applicant Guidebook Guidelines themselves, the ALAC has several recommendations and observations to make based on the document within this Statement.

More Information

Staff Contact

Matt Ashtiani, Policy Specialist


8. At-Large Community Expands to 157 At-Large Structures

At a Glance

The ALAC has certified another organization as an At-Large Structure (ALS): The Internet Society Nepal Chapter (ISOC Nepal). This new ALS expands the regional diversity of the At-Large community, which represents thousands of individual Internet end-users. With the addition of this new organization, the number of accredited ALSes will now total 157.

Recent Developments

The ALAC has voted for the certification of the Internet Society Nepal as At-Large Structure (ALS). The certification process included due diligence carried out by ICANN staff and regional advice provided by Asian, Australasian and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO).

Additional information on the new At-Large Structure:

The Internet Society Nepal Chapter (ISOC Nepal) is located in Kathmandu, Nepal. The mission of ISOC Nepal includes, among others, to support the standardization of the Internet from every prospect of use, infrastructure, awareness and its operation, facilitating the governing body with policy recommendations and amendments at national level according to the global needs, as well as organizing effective trainings and seminars in the field of internet development and new innovations.

This organization will be an ALS within APRALO.

Background

One of the strengths of the At-Large community is that it incorporates the views of a set of globally diverse, Internet end-user organizations, or ALSes, organized within five RALOs. The views of these grassroots organizations are collected through an internal, bottom-up, consensus-driven policy development process and find representation in the official documents of the ALAC.

More Information

Staff Contact

Silvia Vivanco, Manager, At-Large Regional Affairs


GAC

9. GAC Membership Increases to 129

At a Glance

At the meeting in Durban, the GAC welcomed five new members, notably Madagascar, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Swaziland and Zambia. This brings the total number of GAC Members to 129, in addition to 28 GAC Observers (IGOs like OECD, World Bank and WTO).For further information please see the Durban GAC Communiqué [PDF, 104 KB].

Background

ICANN receives input from governments through the GAC. The GAC's key role is to provide advice to ICANN on issues of public policy, and especially where there may be an interaction between ICANN's activities or policies and national laws or international agreements. The GAC usually meets three times a year in conjunction with ICANN meetings, where it discusses issues with the ICANN Board and other ICANN Supporting Organizations, Advisory Committees and other groups. The GAC may also discuss issues between times with the Board either through face-to-face meetings or by teleconference.

More Information

Staff Contact

Jeannie Ellers, ICANN Policy Staff


RSSAC

10. RSSAC Restructure Progresses

The Root Server System Advisory Committee is progressing through its reorganization. The Executive Committee of the RSSAC has met several times, most recently at IETF 87 in Berlin, Germany. The old RSSAC has been dissolved with all ongoing work products moving to the new group and timelines set for delivery. Invitations to the SSAC and Internet Architecture Board to send liaisons to the RSSAC have been issued, and documents about the operating processes, roles and responsibilities are being completed.

More Information

Staff Contact

Barbara Roseman, Policy Director and Technical Analyst


SSAC

11. SSAC Publishes Comment on ICANN's Initial Report from the Expert Working Group on Next Generation Directory Services

At a Glance

The SSAC has published a Comment [PDF, 384 KB] on the Initial Report from the Expert Working Group (EWG) on Next Generation Directory Services.

Recent Developments and Next Steps

The SSAC has published a comment on the Initial Report of the EWG on Next Generation Directory Services. In this comment, the SSAC describes four substantive issues with the EWG Initial Report: 1) Purpose of Registration Data, 2) Availability Risks, 3) Authentication and Access Control and 4) Data Accuracy. The SSAC proposes the four recommendations for the EWG to consider. The next step will be for the EWG to consider the comments received from the SSAC and other community members.

Background

In its comment the SSAC notes that the EWG Initial Report proposes paradigm shifts from norms that have been in place for many years. These shifts include proposed changes to how domain registration data is stored and accessed, and proposals for broad limitations on who can access what data and for what purposes.

Given the complexity of the issues and the evolving nature of the EWG Initial Report, the SSAC comment does not attempt to address all of the security and stability issues involved. The SSAC will track the evolving discussion closely, and plans on providing additional input as the process proceeds. Since the proposals may have far-reaching consequences to the Internet community-at-large, registrars, and registries the SSAC expects that those policies and implementation ideas that the ICANN community finds of potential merit will be subject to the formal Policy Development Process.

More Information

Staff Contact

Julie Hedlund, Policy Director

update-sep13-en.pdf  [151 KB]

Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."