Status Update Notes from the GNSO Council teleconference 23 November 2008
Special Trademark Issues (STI) update - Zahid Jamil
When this update was written the STI had held four conference calls. Two each on each of the two heads (TM Clearinghouse & URS) raised by the Board’s letter.
Constituencies represented and ALAC have provided their position statements in regards the issues and the Group is currently working on a Common Grounds Paper where some issues have reached agreement. This update will avoid identifying/characterising issues under discussion or their importance since there may be varying views on these.
There is some interest for a possible face to face meeting to attempt resolution of outstanding issues or at least to meet once comments are received on the final report of the STI.
It has been felt by the STI that the time allocated for submission of the Final Report is not practically feasible if consensus on all issues is to be effectively reached. Whereas the GNSO had passed a resolution in its Public meeting at Seoul on 28th October 2009 stating that “The GNSO STI review team will provide a final report to the GNSO on or before the GNSO's council meeting in late November, 2009”. There is consensus within the STI Review Team that the time available for submission of a final report may not be adequate in order for the Review Team to submit meaningful and efficacious report. The Review Team suggests that the next meeting of the GNSO be scheduled near enough the deadline (14th of December 2009) set by the Board for submission of the GNSO response, in order to provide the Review Team with adequate time to effectively complete its review and submit a final report before the date of the next GNSO meeting to be scheduled before the Board mandated deadline. However, the STI-RT intends to deliver its report no later than Monday, 7 December."
Joint SSAC/GNSO WG on Internationalized Data Registration - Julie Hedlund
The Internationalized Registration Data Working Group (IRD-WG) has scheduled its first meeting for 24 November 2009. There are 16 people on the WG with representation from all of the GNSO Stakeholder groups, from SSAC, and from ALAC. In its first meeting the WG will consider selecting a Chair or Co-Chairs and will develop a Work Plan.
Board update - Denise Michel
At the Council's 23 November meeting, I have nothing new to share under agenda item 8.4 - "Status updates - Board update." The next Board meeting is scheduled for 9 December and the agenda has not yet been set. Resolutions approved at the last Board meeting (30 October in Seoul) can be found at http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-30oct09-en.htm.
JIG (Joint ccNSO/GNSO IDN Group - Edmon Chung
ccNSO representatives appointed some observers (including from the SSAC, participation from other ACs being invited) Charter adjusted to have the group come to a close at the adoption of either the new gTLD process (which includes IDN) or the IDN ccTLD PDP (not the fast track)
Discussions just starting, trying to identify the items of common interest to be discussed, possible 3:
1. IDN TLD string length restrictions for IDN ccTLDs and IDN gTLDs
2. Variant management at the root
3. IDN Language tables/policies implementation at the root zone (and consistency across TLDs)
Registration Abuse Policies Working Group - Mike Rodenbaugh
The Registration Abuse Policies Working Group continues its work, and has agreed on a schedule to produce an Initial Report in advance of the Nairobi meeting. If anyone has any questions, please advise on the list. I will not attend the Council call on Nov. 23 (at 3a.m.!).
Geo Regions Working Group - Olga Cavalli
The working group is preparing a survey of percieved community value/benefits of ICANN Geographic regions framework.
Draft Interim Report is being reviewed by working group members, these comments will be used to prepare a new version of the report.
Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) Sub-team A (Registrant Rights Charter) - Beau Brendler coordinator
Subteam A met concurrently with subteam B in Seoul, during which time we discussed the parameters of the task and reviewed some similar, but not necessarily analogous, efforts by other groups (one consumer and one industry) to create sets of best practices, guidelines and consumer "bills of rights." There was some consensus that the final product would need to be readable and understandable by the consumer and not overloaded with legal jargon.
Subteam A will be having its first conference call next week, either Monday or Tuesday, during which time we will briefly discuss, among other topics, the recent suggestions of the law enforcement community and the RAA, as well as beginning to go line-by-line through the existing charter document.
Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) subteam B (identifying issues for possible RAA amendments) - Steve Metalitz coordinator
At our previous meeting, we had established a target date of November 9 for submission of lists of topics for possible RAA amendments. Several sets of lists were received and a few other topics were identified on the subteam B mailing list. Staff prepared a cumulative chart of the topics on these lists, and most of our November 18 meeting was spent reviewing this chart. A number of questions were raised, especially regarding items on the list submitted by a group of law enforcement representatives, and one of these representatives will be invited to our next meeting to present the joint law enforcement list and to answer questions. The date for the next meeting has not been set but is expected to be in early December.
ccNSO update - Olga Cavalli
.fm (Micronesia) and .zm (Zambia) are now ccNSO members number 98 and 99.
Travel drafting team - Olga Cavalli
The team met with ICANN Staff in Seoul. Constituencies and stakeholder groups should inform as soon as possible the names of participants and requested level of support.
OSC Constituency work team recommendations for a constituency /SG toolkit of services - Chuck Gomes - OSC chair
OSC Steering Committee has accepted the Work Team's recommendations. The document has been distributed to all stakeholder groups. Please remind stakeholder group/constituency members to review the recommendations as there will be a proposed motion for the Council to vote on at the 17 December 2009 meeting.
OSC Constituency & Stakeholder Group WT progress report - Olga Cavalli - chair
Key Actions Completed/In-Progress
First outcome document about In Kind Staff services was submitted to the OSC before the Seoul Meeting.
Actions towards developing a global outreach program to broaden participation in constituencies will be reviewed in the next conference call.
Red Flags
A draft document with recommendations should be available by first week December, approx.
Significant Schedule Changes
Conference calls schedule is byweekly.
OSC Community Coordination Communications Work Team - Mason Cole - chair
Right now the CCT is revising its recommendations based on feedback from the wider OSC. Ken Bour is helping us merge those recommendations into the document. I don't have a timeline for this but will try to get one.
PPSC Policy Development Process work team (PDP-WT) - Jeff Neuman - chair
The PDP-WT divided its work into five stages and "overall issues". They are:
Stage 1 - Planning and Initiation
Stage 2 - Proposal Review and Voting Thresholds
Stage 3 - Work phase
Stage 4 - Voting and Implementation
Stage 5 - Assessment of Policy Effectiveness and Compliance
The PDP WT has finished its initial discussions on the first three stages and has draft reports out now for Stages 1 and 2. We have completed a survey on Stage 3, and have begun discussions on Stage 4. I have attached a proposed Time Line with milestones for completion by the end of April. The milestones are fairly ambitious and also relies on a face to face meeting in early 2010. The face to face meeting is still in the planning stages and we recognize that depending on other priorities the Council may have (i.e., STI), the face to face may be pushed out. Participation the last several weeks since Seoul has been declining and we need to encourage the constituencies to attend.
PPSC Working Group model work team - J. Scott Evans - chair
The WGWT met in Seoul and finalized language for the Model Operating Guidelines for Working Groups. In addition, our team met with Jeff Neuman and received some clarification on provisions in the Charter Drafting Guidelines. After Seoul, Marika took the draft Model Operating Guidelines and revised the language to reflect the agreed upon revision from the team meeting in Seoul. We have a call planned for Wednesday, November 25, 2009 to review the revised language and discuss the next steps for combining the draft Charter Drafting Guidelines and Working Group Operation Guidelines into one document.
Constituency/Stakeholder Group Update Report For 23 November GNSO Council Meeting - Rob Hoggarth
Renewed "Re-confirmation" Effoorts for Existing GNSO Constituencies - The seating of the new GNSI Cpuncil now frees up some ICANN Board resources to address the "re-confirmation" of the existing GNSO Constituencies. Back in August of last year, the ICANN Board determined taht if potential new GNSO Constituencies were going to be subject to a certification process, then it was appropriate to set up a system by which existing GNSO Constituencies could be regularly evaluated as well. The Board adopted a concept of "re-confirming" the charters and operational mechanisms of each GNSO Constituency every three years (see- http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-28aug08.htm).
The initial Constituency re-confirmation process was slated for earlier this year, but the process took a back seat as the Board focused its efforts on evaluation and approval of the new GNSO Stakeholder Group structures and approval of the processes and recommended Bylaws changes necessary for seating the new GNSO Council. Now that the Board has generally resolved those issues, it has set a deadline of March 2010 for formal re-submission of any revised re-confirmation proposals by the existing GNSO Constituencies and has directed the ICANN Staff to assist constituency leaders in developing those submissions (see - 30 October 2009 Board Meeting Resolutions - Consent Agenda Item 1.3).
The GNSO Constituency Operations Work Team is also making progress on a set of recommendations for review by the Operating Steering Committee. A document may be completed by the work team next month and that work product could be combined with the re-confirmation effort.
The Board is also awaiting charter updates to reflect the new Stakeholder Group structures from the Commercial and Business Users Constituency and the Internet Service and Connectivity Providers Constituency and has instructed Staff to provide assistance in completing those efforts.
Potential New GNSO Constituencies Remain Under Consideration – ICANN Board members conducted substantial discussions in Seoul regarding the proposals for four new GNSO Constituencies but took no formal action. All four of the proposed new GNSO Constituency charters (CyberSafety, Consumers, City TLDs and IDNgTLDs) remain “pending.” The latest public documents regarding the proposals are located here - http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm. The process also remains available for other interested parties to develop proposals for new GNSO Constituencies and to submit them to the Board.
Permanent Stakeholder Group Charters – When the Board approved the four (4) new GNSO Stakeholder Group structures earlier this year it acknowledged that the charters for the Commercial Stakeholder Group and the Non Commercial Stakeholder Group were to be transitional/temporary and that permanent charters were to be developed over the course of the coming year. The Board is already examining some options being considered by the community for what permanent charters might look like. Based on discussions in Seoul, the Staff will be working to develop opportunities for dialogue and further community discussion of these important matters.