[registrars] FW: [council] Monthly Policy Update

["Adrian Kinderis" <adrian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

FYI

 

Adrian Kinderis
Managing Director

AusRegistry Group Pty Ltd
Level 8, 10 Queens Road
Melbourne. Victoria Australia. 3004
Ph: +61 3 9866 3710
Fax: +61 3 9866 1970
Email: adrian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:adrian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
Web: www.ausregistrygroup.com <http://www.ausregistryinternational.com/>


 

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From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Denise Michel
Sent: Tuesday, 15 July 2008 6:47 PM
To: Council GNSO; liaison6c
Subject: [council] Monthly Policy Update

 

ICANN's July Monthly Policy Update is included below.  It also will be
posted (with hyperlinks) on ICANN's website at
<http://www.icann.org/topics/policy/> and is available via online
subscription.  To receive these updates in your inbox each month, go to
<http://www.icann.org/newsletter> and select "Policy Update" to
subscribe.

Regards,
Denise Michel
ICANN VP, Policy 

==============================

ICANN POLICY UPDATE - July 2008 


CONTENTS

  1.  GNSO - IMPROVEMENTS
  2.  GNSO - DOMAIN NAME TASTING
  3.  GNSO - WHOIS
  4.  GNSO - INTER-REGISTRAR TRANSFER POLICY REVIEW
  5.  GNSO - FAST FLUX HOSTING
  6. MULTIPLE ENTITIES - DOMAIN NAME FRONT RUNNING
  7.  MULTIPLE ENTITIES - IDN ccTLDs
  8.  MULTIPLE ENTITIES - ICANN'S GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS
  9.  CCNSO - INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT PLANS
10.  AT-LARGE - PARIS MEETING
11.  AT-LARGE - AT-LARGE SUMMIT
12.  AT-LARGE - ELECTIONS
13.  ASO AC - GLOBAL POLICY PROPOSALS (ASNs, IPv4)
14.  SSAC - DNSSEC-CAPABLE NAME SERVER SURVEY
15.  SSAC - ANTI-PHISHING ACTIVITIES 


Below are brief summaries of issues that are being addressed by the
ICANN community's bottom-up policy development structure, as well as
other significant activities of interest.  This latest monthly update is
provided by ICANN's Policy Staff in response to community requests for
periodic summaries of ICANN's policy work.  Links to additional
information are included below and we encourage you to go beyond these
brief Staff summaries and learn more about the ICANN community's work.
Our goal is to maximize transparency and broad community participation
in ICANN's policy development activities.  Comments and suggestions on
how we can improve these efforts are most welcome and should be sent to
policy-staff@xxxxxxxxx. 


1.     GNSO - IMPROVEMENTS

Recent Developments
On 26 June 2008, the ICANN Board approved all of the GNSO Improvement
Report's recommendations, except for the recommendation on GNSO Council
restructuring.  The Board also requested that the GNSO convene a small
working group on council restructuring and provide for the Board's
consideration a consensus recommendation by 25 July 2008. 

Next Steps
The public comment period on the Council's top-level GNO Improvements
implementation plan is scheduled to close on 17 July 2008.  A small
working group on GNSO Council restructuring has convened and expects to
continue with its work.  Consistent with its Resolution, Board
consideration of the future structure of the GNSO Council is expected to
be resolved no later than at its 28 August 2008 meeting. 

Background
The ICANN Board has approved a comprehensive set of recommendations to
improve the structure and operations of the Generic Names Supporting
Organization (GNSO). This effort is part of ICANN's own ongoing
commitment to evolve and improve, and follows an independent review of
the GNSO by the London School of Economics and others, as well as
extensive public consultation.  

A working group of the ICANN Board Governance Committee (BGC WG)
developed and presented these recommendations in a GNSO Improvements
Report that includes ways to improve the effectiveness of the GNSO's
policy development activities, structure, operations and communications.
At the February 2008 Board meeting in New Delhi, the Board accepted the
Report for consideration, and directed ICANN Staff to post it for public
comment, draft a detailed implementation plan in consultation with the
GNSO, begin implementation of the non-contentious recommendations, and
then return to the Board and community for further consideration.

The GNSO Council subsequently formed a GNSO Improvement Planning Team
(Planning Team), comprised of GNSO leadership, constituency
representatives, ICANN Staff and a Board liaison participant, in order
to develop a top-level implementation plan to organize and manage the
implementation effort. On 19 May 2008, the Planning Team produced a
draft version of the GNSO Improvements Top Level Plan.  The plan focuses
on the creation of two standing committees, GNSO Process and GNSO
Operations, which would be responsible for ensuring that the work of
implementing BGC WG recommendations is carried out. 

More Information
*    GNSO Improvements information page
<http://www.icann.org/topics/gnso-improvements/>
*    Full GNSO Improvements Report
<http://www.icann.org/topics/gnso-improvements/gnso-improvements-report-
03feb08.pdf> 
*    15 February 2008 Board resolution on GNSO Improvements
<http://www.icann.org/minutes/resolutions-15feb08.htm#_Toc64545918>
*    Summary and Analysis of Comments on GNSO Improvements Report
<http://forum.icann.org/lists/gnso-improvements-report-2008/msg00033.htm
l> 
*    GNSO Improvements - Top Level Plan, 21 June 2008
<http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/gnso-improvements-top-level-plan-21jun08.p
df>
*    26 June Board resolution on GNSO Improvements
<http://www.icann.org/minutes/resolutions-26jun08.htm - _Toc76113182>

Staff Contact
Rob Hoggarth, Senior Policy Director 


2.     GNSO - DOMAIN NAME TASTING

Recent Developments
The ICANN Board approved the GNSO Council recommendation to curb abuse
of the "add grace period" (AGP) for domain tasting, and also approved
the draft budget for FY 2008-09, which includes language to curb domain
tasting. Prior to Board approval, Staff prepared an initial
"Implementation Advisory" on modifications to the AGP, which examined
each component of the GNSO Council recommendation and identified
particular implementation steps that should be considered to put the
recommendation and the FY 09 Budget Plan in place.

Next Steps
Staff will be developing a detailed implementation plan for community
review. 

Background
The term "domain name tasting" refers to a situation where an entity
registers a domain name and then tests to see if the name has sufficient
traffic to generate more income than the annual registration fee,
usually through the addition of pay-per-click advertising. If the
address is deemed sufficiently profitable, it is kept.  If not, the
current "add grace period" (AGP), that allows domains to be returned
within five days without cost, is used to return the domain at no net
cost to the registrant and no ICANN charge levied on the registrar. The
practice is controversial because registrants who engage in it are able
to temporarily register hundreds of thousands of domain names, with
these temporary registrations far exceeding the number of domain names
actually licensed. 

Over time, there has been a significant increase in the number of
domains registered and returned prior to expiration of the AGP.  A
significant number of community members feel the AGP process presents a
loophole that facilitates this conduct.  On 17 April 2008, the GNSO
Council by supermajority vote approved a recommendation that would
prohibit any gTLD operator that has implemented an AGP from offering a
refund for any domain name deleted during the AGP that exceeds 10% of
its net new registrations in that month, or fifty domain names,
whichever is greater. Under the terms of the motion, an exemption from
the limitation could be sought for a particular month, upon a showing of
extraordinary circumstances detailed in the motion. 

In addition, the provision that had been included previously in the
ICANN draft budget for FY 2009 (applying the ICANN USD .20 annual fee to
all new registrations) was modified to reflect the same threshold
included in the GNSO Council recommendation.  This new language would
apply the annual ICANN fee only to those registrations that exceed the
maximum of (i) 10% of that registrar's net new registrations in that
month (defined as total new registrations less domains deleted during
AGP), or (ii) fifty (50) domain names, whichever is greater. 

More Information
*    Public comment request on Domain Tasting motion with summary of
comments <http://www.icann.org/public_comment/#dt-motion-21may08>
*    GNSO Domain Tasting Issues Report, June 2007
<http://gnso.icann.org/issues/domain-tasting/gnso-domain-tasting-report-
14jun07.pdf> 
*    Outcomes Report, October 2007
<http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/gnso-domain-tasting-adhoc-outcomes-report-
final.pdf>
*    Final Report, 4 April 2008
<http://gnso.icann.org/issues/domain-tasting/gnso-final-report-domain-ta
sting-04apr08.pdf>
*    ICANN Board resolution on Domain Tasting
<http://www.icann.org/minutes/resolutions-26jun08.htm#_Toc76113173>
*    Reference to relevant language in FY 09 Budget, see p. 20
<http://www.icann.org/en/financials/proposed-opplan-budget-v3-fy09-25jun
08-en.pdf>
*    16 June Staff Implementation Advisory on Domain Tasting
<http://gnso.icann.org/issues/domain-tasting/gnso-domain-tasting-impleme
ntation-advisory-16jun08.pdf>

Staff Contact
 Liz Gasster, Senior Policy Counselor


3.     GNSO - WHOIS 

Recent Developments
During the June 2008 Paris meeting, the GNSO Council voted to reconvene
a group to review the study recommendations offered through the public
comment period and the studies requested by the GAC and, based on those
recommendations and the GAC request, prepare a concise list of
hypotheses. The group has six (6) weeks to deliver this to the Council
for consideration.

Next Steps
Following submission of the list of hypotheses to the Council, the
Council will then decide whether any potential studies should be further
considered, and if so, identify hypotheses that it would like the Staff
to determine cost, feasibility, potential methodology, and estimated
time frames for testing.

Background
WHOIS services provide public access to data on registered domain names,
data that currently includes contact information for Registered Name
Holders. The extent of registration data collected at the time a domain
name is registered, and the ways such data can be accessed, are
specified in agreements established by ICANN for domain names registered
in generic top-level domains (gTLDs). For example, ICANN requires
accredited registrars to collect and provide free public access to (1)
the name of the registered domain name and its name servers and
registrar, (2) the date the domain was created and when its registration
expires, and (3) the contact information for the Registered Name Holder
including the technical contact, and the registrant's administrative
contact. 

WHOIS has been the subject of intense policy development debate and
action over the last few years. Information contained in WHOIS is used
for a wide variety of purposes. Some uses of WHOIS data are viewed as
constructive and beneficial. For example, sometimes WHOIS data is used
to track down and identify registrants who may be posting illegal
content or engaging in phishing scams. Other uses of WHOIS are viewed as
potentially negative, such as harvesting WHOIS contact information to
send unwanted spam or fraudulent email solicitations. Privacy advocates
have also been concerned about the privacy implications of unrestricted
access to personal contact information. 

The GNSO Council decided in October 2007 that a comprehensive, objective
and quantifiable understanding of key factual issues regarding WHOIS
would benefit future GNSO policy development efforts, and plans to ask
the ICANN Staff to conduct several studies for this purpose. Before
defining the details of these studies, the Council solicited suggestions
for specific topics of study on WHOIS from community stakeholders, with
possible areas of study including a study of certain aspects of gTLD
registrants and registrations, a study of certain uses and misuses of
WHOIS data, a study of the use of proxy registration services, including
privacy services, and a comparative study of gTLD and ccTLD WHOIS.  A
public comment forum was opened through 15 February 2008, in order to
solicit suggestions for specific topics of study on WHOIS. Approximately
25 suggestions were received, and a summary of comments was prepared. 

On 27 March 2008, the GNSO Council convened a group of volunteers to do
the following: (1) review and discuss the Report on Public Suggestions
on Further Studies of WHOIS; (2) develop a proposed list of recommended
studies, if any, for which ICANN Staff would be asked to provide cost
estimates to the Council; and (3) produce the list of recommendations
with supporting rationale.

On 22 May 2008, the WHOIS study group delivered its report to the
Council. In addition to considering the recommendations solicited from
the public, the group also considered recommendations offered by the
Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) for WHOIS studies. The report
reflected two opposing viewpoints among participants.  A significant
number of participants believe that no further studies should be
conducted because further study (and the resulting information) would be
unlikely to persuade any stakeholders to modify existing strongly held
positions.  The second group of participants believe further studies
would be useful in informing the debate, and their comments include
specific recommendations for further study in three primary areas: 1)
the availability of privacy services; 2) the demand and motivation for
the use of privacy services; and 3) certain studies of WHOIS misuse,
detailed further in the report.  

More Information
*    GNSO WHOIS Policy Work Web Page
<http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/>
*    GAC Recommendations of 16 April 2008
<http://www.icann.org/correspondence/karlins-to-thrush-16apr08.pdf>
*    Summary of Public Suggestions on Further Studies of WHOIS (updated
10 May 2008 with GAC recommendations of 16 April)
<http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/whois-study-suggestion-report-10may0
8.pdf>
*    25 June GNSO Council resolution on WHOIS
<http://gnso.icann.org/resolutions/>

Staff Contact
Liz Gasster, Senior Policy Counselor 


4.     GNSO - INTER-REGISTRAR TRANSFER POLICY REVIEW

Recent Developments
A GNSO drafting group addressing the first set of transfer denial
reasons  (called "Transfer PDP 1") reported on its findings to the GNSO
Council.  The Council resolved on 25 June 2008 to post the proposals for
transfer denial reasons #8 and #9 for public comments, while deferring
denial reasons #5 and #7 to be handled in a future transfer policy
development process (PDP) (see explanations below). The Council also
decided to launch the new PDP on "New IRTP Issues" (aka "Set A"
described below).

Next Steps
Following the public comment period regarding Transfer PDP 1, the
Council will decide on whether to forward the two proposed texts as a
Council Recommendation to the ICANN Board for modification of the IRTP
provisions. Regarding the New IRTP Issues - Set A, a charter for a new
working group is being developed and will be considered at the next GNSO
Council meeting on 17 July 2008.

Background
Consistent with ICANN's obligation to promote and encourage robust
competition in the domain name space, the Inter-Registrar Transfer
Policy aims to provide a straightforward procedure for domain name
holders to transfer their names from one ICANN-accredited registrar to
another should they wish to do so. The policy also provides standardized
requirements for registrar handling of such transfer requests from
domain name holders. The policy is an existing community consensus that
was implemented in late 2004 and is now being reviewed by the GNSO. As
part of that effort, the GNSO Council formed a Transfers Working Group
(TWG) to examine and recommend possible areas for improvements in the
existing transfer policy. The TWG identified a broad list of over 20
potential areas for clarification and improvement.
The IRTP performs a critical function but the specific terms of the
policy can be arcane and the work to clarify them complex.  In an effort
to deal with that complexity while moving to get clarifications and
improvements on-line as soon as possible, the Council initiated a policy
development process (Transfer PDP 1) to immediately examine four
specific issues from the broader list that addressed reasons for which a
registrar of record may deny a request to transfer a domain name to a
new registrar. The IRTP currently enumerates nine (9) specific reasons
why a registrar can deny a transfer. Those issues identified as needing
clarification included the following:
*    "No payment for previous registration period" (Denial Reason #5);
*    "A domain was already in "lock" status" (Denial Reason #7);
*    The domain was in the first 60 days of an initial registration
period (Denial Reason #8); and
*    A domain name is within 60 days of being transferred (Denial Reason
#9)
ICANN Staff finalized and posted an Initial Report for public comment as
part of this PDP and used public comments received to compile a Final
Report for the Council's consideration on further steps to take. At the
GNSO Council meeting on 17 April 2008, a drafting group was launched to
develop suggested text modifications for the four transfer denial
reasons. 

Parallel to the PDP process, the Council tasked a short term planning
group to evaluate and prioritize the remaining 19 policy issues
identified by the Transfers Working Group. In March 2008, the group
delivered a report to the Council that suggested combining the
consideration of related issues into five new PDPs.  On 8 May 2008, the
Council adopted the structuring of five additional inter-registrar
transfers PDPs as suggested by the planning group (in addition to the
ongoing Transfer PDP 1 on the four reasons for denying a transfer).  The
five new PDPs will be addressed in a largely consecutive manner, with
the possibility of overlap as resources permit.
The Council requested an Issues Report from Staff on the first of the
new PDP issue sets (Set A - New IRTP Issues), which has since been
delivered to the Council. The three "new" issues in Set A address (1)
the potential exchange of registrant email information between
registrars, (2) the potential for including new forms of electronic
authentication to verify transfer requests and avoid "spoofing", and (3)
to consider whether the IRTP should include provisions for "partial bulk
transfers" between registrars.

More Information
*    Draft Advisory
<http://gnso.icann.org/issues/transfers/gnso-draft-transfer-advisory-14n
ov07.pdf>
*    Initial Report
<http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-17mar08.htm>
*    Final Report <
http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/final-report-irt-policy-09apr08.pdf>
*    Drafting group outcome <
http://gnso.icann.org/issues/transfers/gnso-final-draft-denial-reasons-0
4jun08.pdf>
*    PDP Recommendations
<http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/transfer-wg-recommendations-pdp-groupings-
19mar08.pdf> 
*    Issues Report, Set A
(http://gnso.icann.org/issues/transfers/transfer-issues-report-set-a-23m
ay08.pdf 


 5.     GNSO - FAST FLUX HOSTING

Recent Developments
At its 25 June 2008 meeting, the GNSO Council initiated a fast flux
policy development process and appointed a fast flux working group chair
and Council liaison. 

Next Steps
With assistance from Staff, a template for constituency statements is
due 40 days after the Working Group is initiated (5 August 2008), and
constituency statements are then due 30 days after the template is
released (no later than 4 September 2008).  A Final Report will be
submitted to the GNSO Council and posted for public comment at 90 days
(target - 25 September 2008). 

The Working Group's Final Report will discuss these questions and the
range of possible answers developed by its members. The Report also will
outline potential next steps for Council deliberation. These next steps
may include further work items for the Working Group or policy
recommendation for constituency and community review and comment, and
for Council deliberation.

Background
Fast flux hosting is a term that refers to several techniques used by
cybercriminals to evade detection in which the criminals rapidly modify
IP addresses and/or name servers. The ICANN Security and Stability
Advisory Committee (SSAC) recently completed a study of fast flux
hosting. The results of the study were published in January 2008 in the
SSAC Advisory on Fast Flux Hosting and DNS (SAC 025).  Because fast flux
hosting involves many different players - the cybercriminals and their
victims, ISPs, companies that provide web hosting services, and DNS
registries and registrars - it is possible to imagine a variety of
different approaches to mitigation. Most of these will require the
cooperation of a variety of actors, and some will be outside of ICANN's
scope. 

On 26 March 2008, Staff posted an Issues Report on fast flux hosting, as
directed by the GNSO Council. In the Report, Staff recommends that the
GNSO sponsor additional fact-finding and research to develop best
practices concerning fast flux hosting. Staff also notes that it may be
appropriate for the ccNSO to participate in such an activity. 

At its 8 May 2008 meeting, the GNSO Council formally launched a policy
development process (PDP), rejected a task force approach and called for
creation of a working group on fast flux. Subsequently, at its 29 May
2008 meeting, the GNSO Council approved a working group charter to
consider the following questions:

*    Who benefits from fast flux, and who is harmed?
*    Who would benefit from cessation of the practice and who would be
harmed?
*    Are registry operators involved, or could they be, in fast flux
hosting activities? If so, how?
*    Are registrars involved in fast flux hosting activities? If so,
how?
*    How are registrants affected by fast flux hosting?
*    How are Internet users affected by fast flux hosting?
*    What technical (e.g. changes to the way in which DNS updates
operate) and policy (e.g. changes to registry/registrar agreements or
rules governing permissible registrant behavior) measures could be
implemented by registries and registrars to mitigate the negative
effects of fast flux?
*    What would be the impact (positive or negative) of establishing
limitations, guidelines, or restrictions on registrants, registrars
and/or registries with respect to practices that enable or facilitate
fast flux hosting?
*    What would be the impact of these limitations, guidelines, or
restrictions to product and service innovation?
*    What are some of the best practices available with regard to
protection from fast flux?

The group also will obtain expert opinion, as appropriate, on which
areas of fast flux are in scope and out of scope for GNSO policy making.

More Information
*    SSAC Report 025 on Fast Flux Hosting, January 2008
<http://www.icann.org/committees/security/sac025.pdf>
*    Issues Report on Fast Flux Hosting, corrected 31 March 2008
<http://gnso.icann.org/issues/fast-flux-hosting/gnso-issues-report-fast-
flux-25mar08.pdf>
*    25 June GNSO Council resolution on Fast Flux Hosting
<http://gnso.icann.org/resolutions/>

Staff Contact
Liz Gasster, Senior Policy Counselor 


6.     MULTIPLE ENTITIES - DOMAIN NAME FRONT RUNNING

Recent Developments
At its 8 May 2008 meeting, the GNSO Council approved a motion to create
a drafting team to consider questions such as the following:
 
*    How is the [domain name front running] problem defined?
*    How prevalent is the problem?
*    Will the measures relating to domain tasting affect front running?
*    Are there rules within the RAA that can be used to address this
activity? 

The goal of the drafting team was to bring a recommendation to the
Council on whether to request an Issues Report or a more extensive
research effort that could help to define the terms of reference for
further work.  Subsequently, on 29 May 2008, ICANN Staff recommended
that more information be obtained about other research activities that
may be contemplated or underway (such as possible research by the SSAC
and by ICANN) before proceeding with work by this drafting team. At the
GNSO Council meeting on 25 June 2008, the Council accepted this
recommendation and voted to put the drafting team effort on hold until
current research efforts are completed.

At its June 2008 meeting in Paris, the ccNSO Council asked the ccNSO
Secretariat to produce a high-level overview on front-running to allow
further ccNSO discussion.  

Next Steps
The GNSO Council may consider further work once current research efforts
are completed, and the ccNSO Council will consider the Staff overview
and related material.

Background
Domain name front running is the practice whereby a domain name
registrar uses insider information to register domains for the purpose
of re-selling them or earning revenue via ads placed on the domain's
landing page. This practice is also sometimes referred to as domain
reservation or cart-hold or cart-reserve. By registering the domains,
the registrar locks out other potential registrars from selling the
domain to a customer. The registrar typically uses the 5-day add grace
period (AGP), during which the domain can be locked without permanent
payment.  

On 27 March 2008, after being alerted to the issue by (1) industry
input, (2) a Security and Stability Advisory Committee report, and (3) a
letter from the At-Large Advisory Committee to the ICANN Board
requesting emergency action, the Chair of the ICANN Board referred the
matter to the GNSO Council for additional information gathering and
policy development, if necessary. 

More Information
*    Original ALAC Correspondence Raising Front Running Issue
<http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/pipermail/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org/2
008q1/003290.html>
*    SAC 022, SSAC Advisory on Domain Name Front Running, October 2007
<http://www.icann.org/committees/security/sac022.pdf>
*    29 May 2008 Staff response to GNSO Council questions on Front
Running
<http://gnso.icann.org/correspondence/front-running-staff-response-to-gn
so-council-08may-request-29may08.pdf> 
*    25 June GNSO Council resolution on Front Running drafting team
<http://gnso.icann.org/resolutions/>

Staff Contact
Liz Gasster, Senior Policy Counselor, GNSO, and Gabriella Schittek,
ccNSO Secretariat


7.     MULTIPLE ENTITIES - IDN CCTLDs

Recent Developments
The working group on IDN country code top level domains (IDNC WG)
concluded its work and submitted to the ICANN Board a final report on
feasible methods for timely (fast-track) introduction of a limited
number of IDN ccTLDs associated with ISO 3166-1 two-letter codes while
an overall, long-term IDN ccTLD policy is under development by the
ccNSO. At the June 2008 Paris meeting, the Board directed Staff to: (1)
post the IDNC WG final report for public comments; (2) commence work on
implementation issues in consultation with relevant stakeholders; and
(3) submit a detailed implementation report, including a list of any
outstanding issues, to the Board in advance of the November 2008 ICANN
Cairo meeting. 

Next Steps
The IDNC WG Final Report has been posted for public comments. Staff will
begin work on implementation issues in consultation with relevant
stakeholders. 

Background
The potential introduction of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)
represents the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the history of
the Internet. IDNs offer many potential new opportunities and benefits
for Internet users of all languages around the world by allowing them to
establish domains in their native languages and alphabets.

An IDN ccTLD (internationalized domain name country code top level
domain) is a country code top-level domain (corresponding to a country,
territory, or other geographic location as associated with the ISO
3166-1 two-letter codes) with a label that contains at least one
character that is not a standard Latin letter (A through Z), a hyphen,
or one of the standard numerical digits (0 through 9). The technical
potential for ICANN to now make these domain names available for
assignment is prompting significant discussion, study and demand within
the ICANN community - particularly for territories and communities who
want to make use of non-Latin characters.  Current efforts are taking
place on two fronts: (1) efforts to identify a "fast track" process to
provide new domain opportunities to territories with immediate
justifiable needs; and (2) efforts to develop a comprehensive long term
plan that ensures a stable process for all interested stakeholders.

The joint IDNC WG was chartered by ICANN's Board to develop and report
on feasible methods, if any, that would enable the introduction of a
limited number of non-contentious IDN ccTLDs, in a timely manner that
ensures the continued security and stability of the Internet while a
comprehensive long-term IDN ccTLD policy is being developed. On 1
February 2008, the IDNC WG posted a Discussion Draft of the Initial
Report (DDIR) for public comment and input from the ICANN community. The
DDIR clarified the relationship between the "fast track" process and the
broader long-term ccNSO Policy Development Process on IDN ccTLDs
(IDNccPDP), and also identified the mechanisms for the selection of an
IDN ccTLD and an IDN ccTLD manager. The ccNSO Council determined that
those mechanisms were to be developed within the following parameters:

*    The overarching requirement to preserve the security and stability
of the DNS Compliance with the IDNA protocols;
*    Input and advice from the technical community with respect to the
implementation of IDNs; and
*    Current practices for the delegation of ccTLDs, which include the
current IANA practices.

On 13 June 2008, the IDNC WG published a draft Final Report for
discussion by the IDNC WG and the broader community. At the June 2008
Paris ICANN meeting, several workshops and meetings were conducted to
discuss the draft Final Report, resulting in several revisions and the
work necessary to enable the WG to submit its final report to the ICANN
Board. 

In parallel to considerations of a "fast track" approach, the ccNSO
Council initiated a comprehensive long-term policy development process
for IDNccTLDs (referred to as the IDNcc PDP).  The ccNSO Council
formally requested an Issues Report on 19 December 2007 and directed
ICANN Staff to identify policies, procedures, and/or by-laws that should
be reviewed and, as necessary revised, in connection with the
development and implementation of any IDN ccTLD policy - including
efforts designed to address the proposed fast-track concept.  According
to the ICANN bylaws, the creation of the Issue Report is the second step
in launching the IDN ccPDP. The final step is the decision of the ccNSO
Council to initiate the ccPDP

The GNSO and several other parties submitted comments regarding a
proposed IDNcc PDP. The Issues Report was submitted to the ccNSO Council
and is the basis for the Council's ongoing IDNcc PDP discussions.

More Information
*    Board Proposal IDNC WG, the Final Report IDNC WG on Fast Track
Process for IDN ccTLDs
<http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-26jun08-en.htm>
*    IDNccPDP Announcement
<http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-19dec07.htm>

Staff Contact
Bart Boswinkel, Senior Policy Advisor, ccNSO


8.      MULTIPLE ENTITIES - ICANN'S GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS 

Recent Developments 
ICANN Staff is soliciting input from Supporting Organizations and
Advisory Committees. 

Next Steps
Input will be summarized and reported to the Board for consideration.

Background
An ICANN Board resolution in 2000 directed Staff to assign countries to
geographic regions on the basis of the United Nations Statistics
Division's current classifications, and introduced the concept of
"citizenship" in relation to the definition of ICANN Geographic Regions.
The ICANN Geographical Regions were originally created to ensure
regional diversity in the composition of the ICANN Board and were
subsequently expanded in various ways to apply to the GNSO, ALAC and
ccNSO.

The ICANN Bylaws define five geographic regions as Africa, North
America, Latin America/Caribbean, Asia/Australia/Pacific and Europe --
and also expand the concept that "persons from an area that is not a
country should be grouped together with the country of citizenship for
that area" so that the area or territory itself was similarly allocated
to the region of the "mother country."

Over time, the ccNSO has developed concerns about the Geographic Regions
and related representational issues.  The ccNSO Council passed a
resolution recommending that the ICANN Board appoint a community-wide
working group to further study and review the issues related to the
definition of the ICANN Geographic Regions, to consult with all
stakeholders and submit proposals to the Board to resolve the issues
relating to the current definition of the ICANN Geographic Regions.

The ICANN Board determined that because any change to ICANN Geographic
Regions could have widespread effect in ICANN, the views of other
Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees should be sought by the
Board. The Board asked the ICANN community, including the GNSO, ccNSO,
ASO, GAC, and ALAC, to provide the ICANN Staff with input on the ccNSO
Council's resolution relating to ICANN's Geographic Regions. 

More Information
*    ccNSO Working Group Report and Recommendations
<http://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/ccnso-final-report-regions-wg-2409
07.pdf>
*    2 November 2007 ICANN Board Resolution
<http://www.icann.org/minutes/resolutions-02nov07.htm#_Toc55609368>

Staff Contact
Robert Hoggarth, Senior Policy Director


9.     CCNSO - INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT PLANS 

Recent Developments
At its June 2008 meeting in Paris, the ccNSO Council adopted new
administrative procedures that include:

*    Guidelines for ccNSO Council meetings;
*    Guidelines for ccNSO general meetings;
*    Setting-up Working Groups and templates to assist drafting of
charters;
*    Guidelines for Selection of Board seats 11 and 12, and election of
ccNSO Council members by the ccNSO; and
*    Guidelines for liaisons and observers from other ICANN related
entities. 

Next Steps
The Processes WG will continue its work on a few more guidelines,
including one to improve the participation of ccTLDs in ICANN's yearly
strategic and operational planning processes. 

Background
The ccNSO Council has initiated efforts to improve its work plans,
administrative procedures and communications tools. As a result of a
Council workshop held at the ICANN New Delhi meeting earlier this year,
a working group of the Council was established to propose administrative
procedures for the ccNSO. The Council also approved the creation of a
new "authoritative" ccTLD managers email list. At the time of the Paris
meeting, 95 ccTLD managers had subscribed.  Subscription is open to
ccTLD managers and any persons they designate to be on the list. 

In addition, the ccNSO has been conducting a participation survey to
understand better why ccTLDs do or do not participate in ccNSO meetings.
The results of the survey were presented at the ccNSO meeting and will
be published on the ICANN website. The Participation WG, in close
cooperation with ICANN's Regional Liaisons, developed a leaflet on
participation in both the ccNSO and Regional organizations. The leaflet
was presented at the ICANN meeting in Paris last month.

More Information
*    Guidelines and ccNSO information <http://www.ccnso.icann.org/>
*    ccTLD Community Email List <
http://www.ccnso.icann.org/about/charter-cctld-community-list.pdf>
*    ccNSO Participation Working Group
<www.ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/participationwg.htm>
*    ccNSO Administrative Processes Working Group
<http://www.ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/processeswg.htm>

Staff Contacts
Bart Boswinkel, Senior Policy Advisor, ccNSO and Gabriella Schittek,
ccNSO Secretariat


10.     AT-LARGE - PARIS MEETING 

Recent Developments
Last month in Paris, At-Large concluded a highly productive series of
meetings.  Highlights include:

*    Discussions on IDNs and new GTLDs at the ALAC's first meeting with
the GAC; 
*    Discussions on IDNs, New GTLDs, GNSO Improvements and future
cooperative efforts at the ALAC's first meeting with the GNSO Council; 
*    Discussions on Fast Track IDNs and Geographic Regions with the
ccNSO Council;
*    The first meeting of the General Assembly of the European Regional
At-Large Organisation (EURALO) (Regional At-Large Organizations - RALOs
-- are the federations of At-Large user groups at the regional level);
*    Finalization of a statement to the ICANN Board on elements of the
GNSO's New gTLD Policy Report; 
*    Discussions in the At-Large community on how to create a
structured, repeatable, bottom-up process for the development of ALAC
policy statements to the Board;  
*    Continued preparatory work on the At-Large Summit;
*    A well-attended and received workshop on the migration from IPv4 to
IPv6; 
*    Concentrated work and initial comments on the draft At-Large Review
at two public sessions.

More Information
*    The European Regional At-Large Organisation (EURALO)
<http://www.euralo.org>
*    ALAC Statement to the Board of ICANN on the GNSO New gTLD Policy's
Objections Provisions
<https://st.icann.org/gnso-liaison/index.cgi/AL-ALAC-MT-32-6-2%20ALAC%20
Statement%20on%20New%20GTLD%20Policy%20Objections%20-%20EN.pdf?action=at
tachments_download;page_name=new_gtlds_documents;id=20080703094502-0-173
6>

Staff Contact
Nick Ashton-Hart, Director for At-Large


11.  AT-LARGE - AT-LARGE SUMMIT

Recent Developments
The ICANN Board approved funding for the At-Large Summit at its meeting
in Paris last month. The Summit proposed by the At-Large community will
bring together one representative from each of the worldwide community
of Internet end-user groups participating in ICANN At-Large.  The Summit
is tentatively scheduled to be held in conjunction with the 2009 ICANN
meeting in Mexico City.

More Information
*    At-Large Summit proposal <https://st.icann.org/summit-wg>

Staff Contact
Nick Ashton-Hart, Director for At-Large


12.  AT-LARGE - ELECTIONS 

Recent Developments
The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) Chair, Cheryl Langdon-Orr, opened
the nominations for ALAC's ICANN Board Liaison position for the term
that will commence at the close of the Cairo ICANN Meeting, in November
2008. The candidates include the incumbent, Wendy Seltzer, and Beau
Brendler of Consumer Reports.  Members of the At-Large community will
have a teleconference with the candidates prior to the vote.

An election also will be held in July 2008 for a vacant European seat on
the ALAC. 

A third of the members of ALAC will be up for election in advance of the
Cairo ICANN meeting as part of the staggered election cycles adopted by
the RALOs in 2006 and 2007.  

Staff Contact
Nick Ashton-Hart, Director for At-Large


13.   ASO AC - GLOBAL POLICY PROPOSALS (ASNs, IPv4)

Recent Developments - Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs)  
ASNs are addresses used in addition to IP addresses for Internet
routing. A new global policy proposal for ASNs would formalize the
current procedure for allocation of ASNs and provides a policy basis for
the transition from 2-byte (16 bits) to 4-byte (32 bits) ASNs. The final
transition step is now foreseen for 31 December 2009, after which date
the distinction between 2- and 4-byte ASNs will cease and all ASNs will
be regarded as of 4-byte length, by appending initial zeroes to those of
2-byte original length. The policy proposal has been adopted by all RIRs
and the final text submitted from the NRO Executive Committee to the ASO
Address Council (ASO AC).  The proposal was forwarded to the ICANN Board
for ratification on 13 June 2008. 

Next Steps
The global policy proposal for ASNs has been posted for public comments
on the ICANN website. Following the outcome of the public comments, the
ICANN Board will decide on ratification of the policy within a 60-day
period from the date of submission. 

Recent Developments - Remaining IPv4 Address Space  
The IANA pool of unallocated IPv4 address blocks continues to be
depleted.  As previously announced, a new global policy has been
proposed to allocate the remaining address blocks once a given threshold
is triggered. The text of the proposed policy essentially recommends
that when there are five /8 blocks remaining in the IANA pool, one
remaining block will be allocated to each RIR. The proposal has been
discussed at all the RIR meetings (APNIC, ARIN, RIPE, LACNIC and
AfriNIC) during the last four (4) months. The proposal has been adopted
within ARIN and is in discussion within the other RIRs, where it has
reached consensus within AfriNIC and LACNIC. 

Next Steps
Discussions within RIPE and APNIC are not conclusive regarding the level
of support for the proposal at this stage and may not be so until the
next RIPE and APNIC meetings later in 2008.

More information:
*    Background Report ASN
<http://www.icann.org/announcements/proposal-asn-report-29nov07.htm>
*    Background Report IPV4
<http://www.icann.org/announcements/proposal-ipv4-report-29nov07.htm> 

Staff Contact
Olof Nordling, Director Services Relations


14.  SSAC - DNSSEC-CAPABLE NAME SERVER SURVEY

Recent Developments
SSAC continues to survey the availability of DNSSEC features amongst
commercial, open source, and publicly available name server software
releases. A public notice web page (SAC030) announcing the survey has
been published.  The set of survey questions were sent to approximately
40 software vendors and developers. SSAC has received survey responses
from about 40% of the vendors and products surveyed. The majority of
responses come from commercial vendors. Soliciting survey responses from
the Open Source community has been more difficult. The initial set of
responses is now published and contains responses from most major
commercial DNS vendors. The initial results are encouraging -60% of
products support DNSSEC core standards and have conducted
interoperability testing. Tabularized results are online at
http://www.icann.org/committees/security/sac030.htm.

Next Steps
SSAC will continue to collect information related to DNSSEC deployment
status and intends to provide a more comprehensive report at the Cairo
ICANN meeting.
 
More Information
*    SSAC <http://www.icann.org/committees/security/> 

Staff Contact
Dave Piscitello, Senior Security Technologist


15.   SSAC - ANTI PHISHING ACTIVITIES

Recent Developments
The term phishing has been used to describe criminal and fraudulent
attempts by bad actors to acquire sensitive private information, such as
usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as
trustworthy entities in an electronic communication.  SSAC has been
addressing this matter through several activities. 

Following a one-month opportunity offered to the Registrar community to
review and comment, SAC028, Registrar Impersonation in Phishing Attacks,
was published on 26 May 2008.  The document was well received by the
Internet Policy Committee's Anti Phishing Working Group (APWG), which
hopes to factor some of SAC028's findings into the fast flux issues
identification work being done for the GNSO.

ICANN Staff has also reviewed a new APWG report, Global Phishing Survey:
Domain Name Use and Trends in 2007, that surveys and analyzes data
related to phishing attacks during 2007.  Of particular interest is the
report's analysis of phishing distribution across ccTLDs and a rise in
the use of subdomains for phishing attacks. This report and a second
report presented at the High Technology Crime Investigation Association
(HTCIA) provide valuable insight into the spam and phishing "hot spots."
Using spam data collected since 2005 the HTCIA report concludes that 90%
of illegal web sites are hosted at domains registered through just 20
registrars.

SSAC has concluded an initial study of a practice wherein a DNS operator
may return a different DNS response message in response to a
non-existent domain name error from the one that would reflect content
the domain registrant intended to publish in its zone file. Two variants
of this practice are described in SAC032, Preliminary Advisory on DNS
Response Modification (June 2008).  

Parties to whom the registrant entrusts to host its zone file use the
first variant, where the entrusted party creates a wild card resource
record that resolves any name the registrant did not explicitly include
in his zone file to an IP address of the entrusted party's choosing
(typically a revenue generating or advertising page). The second variant
is implemented by any operator of an iterative name server that
processes a client's DNS query of a name in a domain. The operator
intercepts and rewrites "name error" DNS responses so that the response
signals "name exists" rather than the error the domain registrant
intended to return. The DNS response from such an operator also
redirects the client to an IP address of the DNS operator's choosing.
Both variants create several troubling security and operational
stability issues for domain registrants, and also create opportunities
for phishing attacks.

More Information
*    SAC028, Registrar Impersonation in Phishing Attacks, 26 May 2008
<http://icann.org/committees/security/ssac-documents.htm>
*    Global Phishing Survey 2007
<http://www.apwg.org/reports/APWG_GlobalPhishingSurvey2007.pdf>
*    SAC 032, Preliminary Advisory on DNS Response Modification, June
2008 <http://www.icann.org/committees/security/sac032.pdf>

Staff Contact
Dave Piscitello, Senior Security Technologist
 

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