Public participation site

14 October 2013

ICANN welcomes over 40 diverse practitioners, subject matter experts, and thought leaders as members of the ICANN Strategy Panels to support development of ICANN's strategic and operational plans.

ICANN Strategy Panels will serve as an integral part of a framework for cross-community dialogue on strategic matters. Designed to conduct work in critical strategic areas identified by the community, Board, and staff [PDF, 209 KB], the work of these panels will build on public input being generated to inform a new, overarching vision and five-year strategic plan. As illustrated, there will be extensive information sharing and community engagement with the Panels. Panel output will be posted for public comments and community discussion online and at ICANN meetings, before being factored into ICANN's strategic and/or operating plans, as appropriate.

A video interview with Theresa Swinehart, Senior Advisor to the President on Strategy, is available here.

Identifier Technology Innovation Chair

Paul Mockapetris — Inventor, Domain Name System

Members

Jari Arkko — Chair, Internet Engineering Task Force
Anne-Marie Eklund-Löwinder — Security Manager, The Internet Infrastructure Foundation
Geoff Huston — Chief Scientist, Asia-Pacific Network Information Center
James Seng — CEO, Zodiac Holdings
Paul Vixie — CEO, Farsight Security
Lixia Zhang — Postel Chair of Computer Science, University of California Los Angeles

This panel is dedicated to strategizing engagement with the ICANN community and public on technology matters. Its objectives include developing a technology roadmap for DNS and other identifiers, and providing a technology roadmap for ICANN technical and security operations, including best practice recommendations and reference objects.

ICANN Multistakeholder Innovation Chair

Beth Simone Noveck — Founder and Director, The Governance Lab

Members

Alison Gillwald — Executive Director, Research ICT Africa
Joi Ito — Director, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab
Karim Lakhani — Lumry Family Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard University
Guo Liang — Director, China Internet Project
Geoff Mulgan — Chief Executive, National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts
Bitange Ndemo — Former PS of the Ministry of Communications

This panel is tasked with examining how Internet policy related to unique identifiers might be best managed. It will propose new models for broad, inclusive engagement, consensus-based policymaking, and institutional structures to support such enhanced functions. In addition, it will design processes, tools and platforms to enable the global ICANN community to engage in these new forms of participatory decision-making.

Public Responsibility Framework Chair

Nii Quaynor — Founding Chairman, AfriNIC

Members

Tim Berners-Lee — Director, World Wide Web Consortium
Soumitra Dutta — Dean of Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
Bob Hinden — Check Point Fellow, Check Point Software Technologies
Blake Irving — CEO, Go Daddy
Nevine Tewfik — Director, Cyber Peace Initiative
Raúl Zambrano — Team Leader, Inclusive Participation and Global Policy Adviser in the ICT for Development and e-governance team, United Nations Development Program

This panel will propose ICANN's role and five-year strategic objectives and milestones in promoting the global public interest. It will examine ways of building out ICANN's base of internationally diverse, knowledgeable and engaged stakeholders, especially within the developing world. It will also propose a framework for achieving those objectives and milestones as well providing advice on specific programs and initiatives.

ICANN's Role in the Internet Governance Ecosystem Chair

Vinton Cerf — VP and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google

Members

Adiel Akplogan — CEO, AfriNIC Ltd
Michael Barrett — President, The FIDO Alliance
Hartmut Glaser — Executive Secretary, Brazilian Internet Steering Committee/CGI.br
Erik Huizer — Chief Technology Officer, SURFnet
Hagen Hultzsch — Zimory Chairman of the Board
Janis Karklins — Assistant Director General of Communication and Information, United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization
Wolfgang Kleinwächter — Professor of International Communication Policy and Regulation, University of Aarhus
Luis Magalhães — Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon
Debbie Monahan — Domain Names Commissioner, Domain Name Commission Ltd, part of the InternetNZ Group
Alice Munyua — Chair of the Kenya Internet Governance Steering Committee
P.J. Narayanan — Director, Hyderabad International Institute of Information Technology
Alejandro Pisanty — Director General, Academic Computing Service of the National University of Mexico
Carlton Samuels — Former Secretariat, Latin America and Caribbean Regional At-Large Advisory Organization
Ismail Serageldin — Director, Library of Alexandria
Pindar Wong — Chairman VeriFi (Hong Kong) Ltd

The previously announced "Strategy Panel on ICANN's Role in the Internet Organizations' Ecosystem" and the "Strategy Panel on the Role of ICANN in the Future of Internet Governance" have been integrated given the topics, and are now covered under this Strategy Panel on "ICANN's Role in the Internet Governance Ecosystem." This panel will review the assumptions, linkages and frameworks that dictate ICANN's responsibilities in the current Internet ecosystem. It will seek insights into ways to maintain and enhance ICANN's stewardship of the evolving ecosystem while cultivating thought leadership on ways in which ICANN can serve a complex set of Internet constituencies.

The 5th panel originally identified will be refocused and is expected to be forthcoming later this year.

9 October 2013 Comment Periods Extended, Aligned to Maximize Public Input

To provide more opportunity for community consideration and public comment on a draft ICANN Vision and 5-year Strategic Plan, the development schedule has been extended to accommodate two rounds of online public input, and community discussions at the ICANN Buenos Aires (November 2013) and Singapore (March 2014) meetings. In addition, to more tightly link the multi-stakeholder processes used for developing ICANN's strategic, operating and budget plans, as well as for commenting on the ICANN Strategy Panels, the schedules for these processes have been aligned. Specifically, public comment schedules for Strategic Planning, Strategy Panels, and the Operating Plan and Budget have been adjusted to maximize community input. The corresponding schedules are illustrated below.

Strategy Panels – To provide more opportunity for community consideration and public comment on the Panels' output—and to more clearly connect the Panels to ICANN's multi-stakeholder strategic, operational, and budget planning processes, the Panels' schedule has been escalated. ICANN President and CEO, Fadi Chehadé, is asking the Panels to provide strategic recommendations by the end of January 2014. (Panel membership will be announced shortly). Panel output will be posted for public comment 31 January—31 March 2014, and will be discussed by the community at the ICANN Singapore meeting in March. This allows time for public discussion and community engagement on the Panels' output, and integration of comments and recommendations into the Final Strategic Plan, as appropriate. This schedule also enables the Panels' recommendations to be factored into the FY2015 Operating Plan and Budget, which currently is scheduled for Board action by 21 June 2014.

Strategic Planning – The First Draft of an ICANN Vision and 5-year Strategic Plan will be posted on or before 28 October 2013 for public comment through January 2014. This will include community discussions at the ICANN meeting in Buenos Aires next month. Factored into the First Draft will be the extensive public input received thus far on ICANN's key challenges and opportunities and on the eight strategic areas [PDF, 209 KB] highlighted by ICANN's Board of Directors. Work and input on related initiatives, such as the Security, Stability & Resiliency Framework, and the Regional Engagement Strategies, also will inform the First Draft. Comments received on the First Draft, as well as on the output of the Strategy Panels, will be considered and incorporated, as appropriate, into a Final Draft. The Final Draft of ICANN's Vision and 5-year Strategic Plan will be posted for public comment by early March 2014 and discussed by the community at the ICANN meeting in Singapore, before being finalized at the end of April 2014 and submitted for Board action.

Operational Plan & Budget – The schedule for development of, and comment on, the FY2015 Operational Plan and Budget is expected to run from January – June 2014. The draft schedule is illustrated below and is expected to include public comment and community discussion for the proposed FY2015 Operating Plan beginning in January, followed by comment and discussion of the proposed FY 2015 Budget beginning in April. This will include opportunities for community engagement on the proposals at the ICANN Buenos Aires and Singapore meetings. The FY2015 Operating Plan and Budget is schedule for Board approval by 21 June 2014. A final schedule for this process will be posted on 15 November 2013.

8 October 2013

At its 18 May 2013 meeting, the ICANN Board adopted a resolution to commission a study to identify the levels of potential impact posed by each applied-for new gTLD on the use of TLDs that are not currently delegated at the root level of the public DNS.

The study, "Name Collision in the DNS," together with a proposal to manage the risks identified in the study, was published for public comment from 5 August 2013 to 17 September 2013. During the public comment period, 75 comments were received. Based on the public comments, staff updated the proposal to manage the risks identified in the study. The report of these public comments is available at: http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-name-collision-05aug13/.

The ICANN Board New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) met on 28 September 2013 to review and discuss a proposal on how to deal with name collisions. On 7 October 2013, the NGPC met again and approved an updated proposal, titled "New gTLD Collision Occurrence Management Plan," [PDF, 840 KB] to mitigate the risks of potential name collisions caused by the introduction of new gTLDs.

The Collision Occurrence Management Plan directs staff to undertake an additional study to develop a name collision occurrence management framework. The framework will include appropriate parameters and processes to assess both probability and severity of harm resulting from the occurrence of name collisions. Examples of the parameters might include number of DNS requests, type of DNS requests, type of queries, diversity of query source and appearances in internal name certificates. The framework will specify a set of collision occurrence assessments and corresponding mitigation measures, if any, that ICANN or TLD applicants may need to implement per second level domain name (SLD) seen in the "day in the life of the Internet" (DITL) dataset.

Additionally, the plan provides a registry operator with the option to proceed to delegation prior to receiving its SLD collision occurrence assessment report (subject to established processes and procedures). If the registry operator chooses this alternative path to delegation, it must initially block all SLDs that appear in the DITL dataset while the assessment is conducted.

An additional feature of the plan requires establishment of a process by each TLD operator to enable an affected party(ies) to report and request the blocking of an SLD that causes demonstrably severe harm as a consequence of name collision occurrences. This process is intended to mitigate the risk that collision occurrences from additional SLDs not observed in the study dataset could have severe impact.

The plan also includes an outreach campaign targeted to potentially affected parties to help them identify and manage the origins (causes) of name collision occurrences in their networks. As part of the outreach campaign, ICANN, under the direction of the President and CEO, will invite and collaborate with relevant parties and members of the community that share the same interest in making progress in this issue.

At its 7 October meeting, the NGPC also recommended to the ICANN Board that the issue of name collisions be monitored by the Board's Risk Committee and reviewed periodically, and that ICANN work with the community in developing a long-term plan to retain and measure root-server data.

For more information about the NGPC, please visit: http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/new-gtld.

7 October 2013

Montevideo, Uruguay – The leaders of organizations responsible for coordination of the Internet technical infrastructure globally have met in Montevideo, Uruguay, to consider current issues affecting the future of the Internet.

The Internet and World Wide Web have brought major benefits in social and economic development worldwide. Both have been built and governed in the public interest through unique mechanisms for global multistakeholder Internet cooperation, which have been intrinsic to their success. The leaders discussed the clear need to continually strengthen and evolve these mechanisms, in truly substantial ways, to be able to address emerging issues faced by stakeholders in the Internet.

In this sense:

• They reinforced the importance of globally coherent Internet operations, and warned against Internet fragmentation at a national level. They expressed strong concern over the undermining of the trust and confidence of Internet users globally due to recent revelations of pervasive monitoring and surveillance.

• They identified the need for ongoing effort to address Internet Governance challenges, and agreed to catalyze community-wide efforts towards the evolution of global multistakeholder Internet cooperation.

• They called for accelerating the globalization of ICANN and IANA functions, towards an environment in which all stakeholders, including all governments, participate on an equal footing.

• They also called for the transition to IPv6 to remain a top priority globally. In particular Internet content providers must serve content with both IPv4 and IPv6 services, in order to be fully reachable on the global Internet.

Adiel A. Akplogan, CEO
African Network Information Center (AFRINIC)

John Curran, CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)

Paul Wilson, Director General
Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC)

Russ Housley, Chair
Internet Architecture Board (IAB)

Fadi Chehadé, President and CEO
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

Jari Arkko, Chair
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Lynn St. Amour, President and CEO
Internet Society (ISOC)

Raúl Echeberría, CEO
Latin America and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC)

Axel Pawlik, Managing Director
Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC)

Jeff Jaffe, CEO
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

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• To read this announcement in Spanish, please visit: http://www.icann.org/es/news/press/releases/release-07oct13-es

• To read this announcement in French, please visit: http://www.icann.org/fr/news/press/releases/release-07oct13-fr

• To read this announcement in Arabic, please visit: http://www.icann.org/ar/news/press/releases/release-07oct13-ar

• To read this announcement in Russian, please visit: http://www.icann.org/ru/news/press/releases/release-07oct13-ru

• To read this announcement in Chinese, please visit: http://www.icann.org/zh/news/press/releases/release-07oct13-zh

4 October 2013

ICANN today announced that Paul Mockapetris, inventor of the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS), has agreed to serve as Senior Security Advisor to the Generic Domains Division and its President, Akram Atallah.

"The Domain Name System has met the needs of the Internet for secure and reliable service and growth in size and function," said Mockapetris. "I'm looking forward to helping ICANN continue that tradition."

Mockapetris created the DNS in the 1980s while at the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute. He also has been an active member of the Internet Engineering Task Force since its inception, serving as its chairman from 1994-1996. Paul Mockapetris was also recently named chairman of ICANN's Strategy Panel on Identifier Technology Innovation.

2 October 2013

ICANN is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the testing period for internationalized top-level domains (IDNs) in the DNS root zone.

On 9 October 2007, ICANN inserted into the DNS root zone eleven internationalized domain names (IDNs) of the word "test" written in nine scripts representing ten different languages. The purpose of these domains was to identify potential adverse impacts on root zone operations caused by the use of IDNs as top-level domains (TLDs) prior to the production deployment of IDN TLDs. To test the domains, ICANN set up websites as various translations of "example.test" under the 11 test top-level domains. These websites allowed Internet users to create subpages to be used for testing and discussion on any issues encountered when accessing a whole domain name written in the characters of one of the designated languages.

Following a positive evaluation of the test IDN TLDs, ICANN launched in November 2009 the IDN Country Code Fast Track Process that enables qualified countries and territories to apply for production IDN TLDs. To date, 35 IDN ccTLDs (representing 25 countries and territories) have been delegated in the DNS root zone.

As a result of the successful testing and several years of production experience, there is no longer a need to have the test IDN TLDs delegated in the DNS root zone. This announcement serves as a notice to the community that the test IDN TLDs will be retired from the DNS root zone on 31 October 2013 in accordance with the ICANN Board approved procedure, Procedures for Test IDN Deployment.

2 October 2013 Forum Announcement: Comment Period Opens on Date: 2 October 2013 Categories/Tags:

• Top-Level Domains
• Contracted Party Agreements
• Intellectual Property

Purpose (Brief): The Public Interest Commitments Dispute Resolution Procedure (PICDRP) is the third Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure for new gTLDs, and addresses complaints relating to Specification 11, Public Interest Commitments of the Registry Agreement. The revised PICDRP incorporates community-proposed revisions, and is being posted for comment to give an opportunity for the community to review and provide feedback on this procedure. Public Comment Box Link: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/draft-picdrp-02oct13-en.htm

1 October 2013

The ICANN Board New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) met on 28 September 2013 and, among other things, adopted a scorecard of remaining advice from the Beijing and Durban GAC Communiqués. The scorecard, available here <http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/resolutions-new-gtld-annex-1-28sep13-en.pdf> [PDF, 94 KB], reflects the following:

.wine and .vin: On 9 September 2013, the NGPC received a letter from Heather Dryden to Steve Crocker re: .wine and .vin. The letter noted that there is no GAC consensus advice on additional specific safeguards, and that the GAC or its members may communicate further details to the Board as to the nature of the differences in views. As such, the NGPC stands ready to hear from GAC members as to the nature of the differences in views expressed in the advice while the NGPC is analyzing the community input received on this advice.

The NGPC directs staff to analyze the GAC advice and other community input received on this issue, and prepare an analysis and recommendation for decision at the NGPC meeting in Buenos Aires.

.spa, .yun, ?? (guangzhou), .?? (shenzhen): ICANN will allow evaluation and dispute resolution processes to go forward, but will not enter into registry agreements with applicants for the identified strings, subject to the parties having reached agreement or the GAC issuing final advice prior to the close of the ICANN Public meeting in Buenos Aires.

.amazon (and related IDNs): directs staff to prepare additional analysis regarding the GAC advice and the issues raised by the applicant for NGPC consideration at a subsequent meeting.

Intergovernmental (IGO) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC/CICR) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC/FICR) acronyms: The NGPC is working on an implementation plan for the advice and will inform the GAC of the details upon approval by the NGPC.

Category 1 Safeguard Advice: The NGPC is working on an implementation plan for the advice and will inform the GAC of the details upon approval by the NGPC.

Category 2 Safeguard Advice: The NGPC directs staff to move forward with the contracting process for applicants for strings identified in the Category 2 Safeguard Advice that are prepared to enter into the Registry Agreement as approved.

The NGPC further directs staff to prepare an analysis and proposal for how to implement the Category 2 Safeguard Advice for applicants who do intend to impose exclusive registry access for generic strings.

The New gTLD evaluation and objection processes remains on track while the NGPC continues its deliberations. The NGPC is prioritizing its work in order to allow the greatest number of applications to move forward as soon as possible. We will continue to provide updates on the NGPC's progress in responding to the GAC Beijing and Durban Advice.

1 October 2013

The ICANN Board is pleased to announce that it has appointed Cheryl Langdon-Orr as Chair and Stéphane Van Gelder as Chair-Elect for the 2014 Nominating Committee (NomCom) [http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/resolutions-28sep13-en.htm#2.a]. At Cheryl's request, Yrjö Länsipuro has agreed to serve as Associate Chair for the 2014 NomCom. These three members of the 2014 NomCom Leadership are well-known personalities in the ICANN community with in-depth knowledge of ICANN from many years of involvement and experience in ICANN. Cheryl Langdon-Orr serves as Chair-Elect of the 2013 NomCom, Stéphane Van Gelder is a member of the 2013 NomCom, and Yrjö Länsipuro serves as Chair of the 2013 NomCom and was a member of the 2011 and 2012 NomComs.

Cheryl commented on her appointment as Chair of the 2014 NomCom, stating:

I am delighted to be working again in 2014 with Stéphane and Yrjö, having served with them in 2013 whilst Chair Elect, but this time as the 2014 NomCom Leadership Team. We can assure the ICANN Community and Stakeholders, that we will be continuing to build on the continued evolution in practices and changes to ICANN's Nominating Committee transparency that have been seen in 2013. We are looking forward and planning for the 2014 NomCom 'kick off' meeting and activities following the ICANN Public meeting in Buenos Aires in November 2013, which is when the work of the 2014 NomCom starts, and where we formally take our seats with the rest of the appointed Community representatives and voting delegates.

After its initial meetings later this year, the 2014 NomCom will issue a public call for applicants to the open ICANN leadership positions and work to reach their final selections in 2014. The NomCom's activities can be followed on the NomCom website, at http://nomcom.icann.org/, where all relevant documentation regarding NomCom can be found.

About the NomCom Leadership:

The NomCom Chair is responsible for organizing the NomCom in its activities to select ICANN Board members and individuals who will serve in other key leadership positions within ICANN's Supporting Organizations (SO) and Advisory Committees (AC) in accordance with ICANN's Bylaws. The Chair-Elect serves alongside the Chair, with anticipated succession into the role of the Chair for the subsequent year's NomCom. The Associate Chair, selected by the Chair, assists with the duties of the Chair. The Chair, the Chair-Elect and Associate Chair are non-voting members of the NomCom.

27 September 2013

In order to participate, please RSVP via email to the GNSO Secretariat (gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org) to receive the call details.

You are invited to participate in a webinar about the recently released Whois Privacy/Proxy Abuse Study, conducted for ICANN by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the United Kingdom. This study has now been published for public comment, and community feedback is being invited in order to assist ICANN with evaluating potential changes to Whois policy and the use of privacy/proxy services.

The study was commissioned by the GNSO to help the ICANN community understand the role that privacy and proxy service abuse plays in obscuring the identities of parties engaged in illegal or harmful activities, including phishing, cybersquatting, hosting child abuse sexual images, advanced fee fraud, and the online sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals. NPL was engaged to analyze domain names across the top five gTLDs - .biz, .com, .info, .net and .org – to measure whether the percentage of privacy/proxy use among domains engaged in illegal or harmful Internet activities is significantly greater than among domain names used for lawful Internet activities.

NPL's chief investigator on the study, Dr. Richard Clayton of the University of Cambridge, and ICANN staff will provide a briefing on Tuesday 15 October at 12.00 UTC and 19.00 UTC, summarizing NPL's findings and conclusions based on the data they collected and analyzed. Amongst other topics, Dr. Clayton will discuss:

• NPL's methodology for the study and the hypothesis tested;
• The different project activities and work packages undertaken for the study;
• NPL's statistical analysis of the data sampled for the study, including comparative differences observed by the research team; and
• NPL's conclusions based on the results of its analysis.

The two sessions are duplicates, scheduled to accommodate different time zones. Each session, scheduled to run for sixty (60) minutes, will be conducted in English only. The meeting will be run in Adobe Connect with a slide presentation along with a dial-in conference bridge for audio.

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of each session. During the course of the webinar, questions may also be submitted using the chat function of Adobe Connect. If you are not able to participate in either of the live sessions, the recording of the session will be made available shortly after the meeting. The policy staff is always available to answer any questions that you email to policy-staff@icann.org.

In order to participate, please RSVP via email to the GNSO Secretariat (gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org) to receive the call details. Please indicate which call you would like to join on Tuesday 15 October - at 12.00 UTC or at 19.00 UTC (to convert those times into your local time, see: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedform.html). We will send you an e-mail reminder before the event with log-in and dial-in details. Please DO NOT RSVP to any other ICANN staff member's e-mail address.

24 September 2013 Forum Announcement: Comment Period Opens on Date: 24 September 2013 Categories/Tags: Policy Processes Purpose (Brief):

This study, conducted by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the United Kingdom, analyzes gTLD domain names to measure whether the percentage of privacy/proxy use among domains engaged in illegal or harmful Internet activities is significantly greater than among domain names used for lawful Internet activities. Furthermore, this study compares these privacy/proxy percentages to other methods used to obscure identity – notably, Whois phone numbers that are invalid.

These findings will help the community understand the role that privacy and proxy service abuse plays in obscuring the identities of parties engaged in illegal or harmful activities, including phishing, cybersquatting, hosting child abuse sexual images, advanced fee fraud, online sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, and more.

Public Comment Box Link: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/whois-pp-abuse-study-24sep13-en.htm

20 September 2013 Forum Announcement: Comment Period Opens on Date: 20 September 2013 Categories/Tags: Policy Processes Purpose (Brief): The Generic Names Supporting Organization ("GNSO") Policy Development Process Working Group is tasked with addressing the issue of Protecting the identifiers of certain International Government Organizations ("IGOs") and International Non-Governmental Organizations ("INGOs") in all gTLDs and they have published its draft Final Report for public comment. Public Comment Box Link: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/igo-ingo-final-20sep13-en.htm

20 September 2013

What is the Fellowship Program?

The Fellowship Program has demonstrated success in its mission to build capacity in the ICANN multistakeholder environment through focused interactive engagement between newcomers to ICANN and community members at each of the ICANN meetings. The program seeks to identify members of the Internet community who either have not previously been able to participate in ICANN processes or constituent organizations, or those who require further exposure to the Internet community and its work but cannot travel and attend a meeting without financial support. This outreach program seeks participants from developing regions and countries of the world, in order to help create a broader base of knowledgeable constituents who will become the new voice of experience in their regions and beyond.

Applications to become an ICANN Fellow are assessed for each meeting by an independent selection committee. Priority is given to applicants who: meet minimum program requirements; are current residents of developing and least developed nations; and are interested in participating in the ICANN multistakeholder process and its supporting organizations, advisory committees or stakeholder groups. An effort will be made to include participants from the region in which the ICANN meeting is being held.

All confirmed fellowship participants must comply with the terms and conditions of the Fellowship program, as outlined at http://www.icann.org/en/about/participate/fellowships/terms-conditions. As stated within these terms and conditions, ICANN is a California non-profit public benefit corporation and must therefore comply with all the laws and regulations of California and the United States. Fellows are responsible for obtaining all travel visas once accepted into the program. ICANN will purchase tickets for Fellows after all necessary documentation has been obtained and Fellows demonstrate that they have obtained all necessary travel visas.

Once all of the requirements for travel are met, the Fellowship program arranges for and covers the costs for airfare and hotel, as well as providing a stipend to assist with some meeting and subsistence costs. The stipend is provided after each selected candidate successfully completes the requirements of the Fellowship program, Recipients will be expected to actively participate in and contribute to ICANN processes during and after the meeting. As always, registration for ICANN meetings is free for anyone wanting to attend.

Find out more about applying »

17 September 2013

Volunteers needed by 15 October 2013

ICANN is revising its previous call for volunteers to clarify that:

1) The actual Affirmation of Commitments (AoC) review of Competition, Consumer Trust and Consumer Choice (CCT) will not occur until the AoC requirement has been met ('If and when new gTLDs … have been in operation for one year, ICANN will organize a review that will examine the extent to which the introduction or expansion of gTLDs has promoted competition, consumer trust and consumer choice, as well as effectiveness..")1; and

2) That the current metrics and data gathering advice for which volunteers have been requested, will be separated from a future call for volunteers to serve on a CCT Review Team, which will give volunteers more certainty regarding the timing of their commitment.

The group of volunteers to be convened this year will serve for a limited duration and scope—focusing exclusively on evaluating the proposed metrics for data gathering to support a future AoC review. As this will be a precursor to help inform the future review, the volunteer team for this initial activity will be referred to as the "Implementation Advisory Group for Competition, Consumer Trust and Consumer Choice."

The Implementation Advisory Group for CCT is expected to conduct its work December 2013 – July 2014 (estimated time). The Affirmation of Commitments CCT Review Team will be organized "If and when new gTLDs … have been in operation for one year," and the dates have not yet been established. Similar to previous AoC reviews, a call for volunteers will be issued for the CCT Review at the appropriate time and individuals who served on the CCT Independent Advisory Group are welcome to apply; they are not obligated to participate.

The CCT Review, as stipulated by the AoC, "will examine the extent to which the introduction or expansion of gTLDs has promoted competition, consumer trust and consumer choice, as well as effectiveness of (a) the application and evaluation process, and (b) safeguards put in place to mitigate issues involved in the introduction or expansion." The work of the Implementation Advisory Group for CCT, and the subsequent data gathered, will help inform the review, along with other relevant research and data gathering that the review team deems useful.

Interested in volunteering?

Individuals interested in serving on the Implementation Advisory Group for CCT are encouraged to email iag-cct@icann.org by 15 October 2013. The work of this group is detailed below and involves developing recommendations for the set of metrics to be collected by ICANN in preparation for a future review relating to New gTLDs1. Once the proposed metrics are delivered to the Board, the Implementation Advisory Group's work will be concluded. As directed by the Board, ICANN will develop the systems and collect the metrics approved through this process.

The Implementation Advisory Group for CCT will be responsible for:

1. Evaluating the feasibility, utility and cost-effectiveness of adopting the recommendations of the GNSO Council [PDF, 203 KB] and the At-Large Advisory Committee [PDF, 491 KB] (ALAC) with respect to the metrics to be used in conducting the review;

2. Evaluating other inputs, including historical data regarding metrics used to evaluate earlier rounds of new gTLDs (2000, 2004);

3. Engaging in outreach with the GNSO, ALAC and other interested ICANN stakeholders on the proposed metrics;

4. Evaluating the staff analysis to be delivered to the CCT Implementation Advisory on the feasibility and utility of each of the proposed metrics, and whether the implementation costs are reasonable in light of the value of the information to be revealed;

5. Proposing to ICANN a set of metrics to be compiled by ICANN in advance of the AoC review of the New gTLDs, if and when such review team is to be convened.

Where the Implementation Advisory Group's proposed metrics differ from those recommended by the GNSO Council or the ALAC, the Group is expected to consult with the GNSO and ALAC to share its rationale, and determine whether the collective set of metrics recommended by the Group sufficiently address the goals of the GNSO and the ALAC.

In line with these requirements, ICANN invites interested individuals to volunteer to serve on the Implementation Advisory Group for CCT by sending an email to iag-cct@icann.org by 15 October 2013. The Advisory Group will be conducted in a public, transparent manner and membership is open to any interested Community member. The work of the Implementation Advisory Group is expected to be conducted via conference calls and emails.

1 Affirmation of Commitments, 9.3: "ICANN will ensure that as it contemplates expanding the top-level domain space, the various issues that are involved (including competition, consumer protection, security, stability and resiliency, malicious abuse issues, sovereignty concerns, and rights protection) will be adequately addressed prior to implementation. If and when new gTLDs (whether in ASCII or other language character sets) have been in operation for one year, ICANN will organize a review that will examine the extent to which the introduction or expansion of gTLDs has promoted competition, consumer trust and consumer choice, as well as effectiveness of (a) the application and evaluation process, and (b) safeguards put in place to mitigate issues involved in the introduction or expansion. ICANN will organize a further review of its execution of the above commitments two years after the first review, and then no less frequently than every four years."

12 September 2013

The ICANN Board New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) met on 10 September 2013 and, among other things, reached a decision regarding the GAC's further advice on new gTLDs. The GAC conveyed its advice to the NGPC in its Durban Communiqué [PDF, 103 KB], issued on 18 July 2013. Applicants submitted responses to the advice on 23 August 2013.

At its most recent meeting, the NGPC adopted the Durban Scorecard, available at Annex 1 [PDF, 119 KB], disposing of all of the GAC's further advice with one exception – the NGPC indicated it would take action on the advice concerning the .amazon string at a future meeting.

The NGPC also discussed the remaining open items from the Beijing Communiqué. These include the advice pertaining to protections for IGO names and acronyms; Category 1 Safeguard advice; and Category 2 advice with respect to exclusive access registries. The NGPC and staff are working with the GAC to identify a time and place for further dialogue on these items.

The NGPC will next meet on 28.09.2013 and will provide a further update following that meeting.

The New gTLD evaluation and objection processes remains on track while the NGPC continues its deliberations. The NGPC is prioritizing its work in order to allow the greatest number of applications to move forward as soon as possible. We will continue to provide updates on the NGPC's progress in responding to the GAC Beijing and Durban Advice.

10 September 2013 Forum Announcement: Comment Period Opens on Date: 10 September 2013 Categories/Tags: Top-Level Domains Purpose (Brief): A consultation on User Instructions and Source of Policy for Delegation and Redelegation of a Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD). Public Comment Box Link: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/gtld-drd-ui-policy-10sep13-en.htm

9 September 2013

On 27 June 2013, the ICANN Board approved the proposed amendments of the Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) Fast Track Process Final Implementation Plan (FIP). The amendment implements a two-panel process for string similarity review in the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process, and was proposed following the conclusion of the IDN Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) Policy Development Process (PDP) and the request from the ccNSO to implement the string similarity review process in the Fast Track Process as recommended in the PDP. The ccNSO work has taken into account the experiences and reviews of the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process as well as the Governmental Advisory Committee advice on the matter. Following extensive public consultations, the ccNSO Council adopted in April 2013 [PDF, 118 KB] the Final Report on the IDN ccNSO PDP [PDF, 376 KB]. In time, the proposed policy is expected to replace the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process.

The amendment to the FIP addresses multiple inputs from the community, in particular the call for additional transparency and consistency of the string similarity evaluation for IDN ccTLDs. Through the amendment, ICANN will implement a two-panel process for string similarity evaluation in the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process. The first string similarity review will remain a function of the DNS Stability Panel, as is currently implemented in the IDN ccTLD Fast Process, while adding an optional second review panel, called Extended Process Similarity Review Panel (EPSRP), which provides a second and final review of the string. The amended process will also allow all pending Fast Track IDN ccTLD string requests, including those whose string was considered not valid according to the current string similarity review, to request a final review of their string by the EPSRP.

The implementation of the two-panel string similarity review process is currently underway, including: finalizing the updates to the IDN ccTLD Fast Track FIP, defining the scientific-based evaluation methodology for the second panel as proposed, and constructing the panel and the procedure used to reevaluate eligible requests. Once completed, the methodology to be used by the second panel will be made public by ICANN.

The two-panel process for string similarity evaluation in the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process will be effective once the Extended Process Similarity Review Panel appointment is announced by ICANN. The community should take note that, until the appointment of this second panel is announced, requests under the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process will continue to be processed according to the version of the IDN ccTLD Fast Track FIP [PDF, 887 KB] published on 4 June 2012.

The IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process Implementation Plan [PDF, 498 KB] was approved by the ICANN Board at its meeting in Seoul, Republic of Korea in October 2009. ICANN has conducted two annual reviews of the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process between its implementation in October 2010 and July 2012. Summary and analyses of each public comment process are available here.

9 September 2013 Forum Announcement: Comment Period Opens on Date: 9 September 2013 Categories/Tags: Top-Level Domains Purpose (Brief): A consultation on User Instructions and Source of Policy for Delegation and Redelegation of a Country-Code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD). Public Comment Box Link: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/cctld-drd-ui-policy-09sep13-en.htm

6 September 2013

ICANN is pleased to announce that the Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) Variant Top Level Domain (TLD) Program has completed the selection of the Integration Panel for the IDN Root Zone Label Generation Rules (LGR). We received many applications from well-qualified individuals and we thank all the applicants for their interest in the IDN Variant TLD Program. The Integration Panel is a vital component in the implementation of the Procedure to Develop and Maintain the Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone in Respect of IDNA Labels [PDF, 1.39 MB] (the Procedure), and its success depends on having Integration Panel members with the right skills to perform the substantive work.

The Procedure defines a two-pass process for the creation of IDN label generation rules (LGR) for the root zone. These rules are used to determine sets of potential "variants" of a given label that may be afforded specific treatment in the various root zone processes.

ICANN published the Call for Subject Matter Experts for IDN Root Zone LGR Integration Panel and Advisors to All Panels on 6 June 2013. In response, ICANN received 22 eligible submissions and utilized the following selection process:

1. ICANN reviewed the candidates' submissions against the predefined criteria. The selection criteria were shared with the candidates and candidates were given the opportunity to provide any additional information in support of their candidature:
   • The selection criteria for members of the Integration Panel included at least one area of primary expertise in Unicode, Linguistics and Writing Systems, Domain Name System (DNS) and IDNA.
   • The selection process also took into account secondary experience the candidates had in those same areas of expertise.
   • In addition, the selection criteria required demonstrable ability and experience to perform systematic and detailed analysis of large data sets and to produce accurate and comprehensive results, have prior work experience, and demonstrated ability to advocate positions and build group consensus.
2. Each selection criterion was assigned a score. The evaluation team ranked each candidate's submission in relation to the selection criteria. The process allowed the evaluation team to identify the candidates who best satisfied the selection criteria.
3. Based on the scores for each of the candidates, the evaluation team arrived at a list of the most suitable candidates. For each area of expertise, the evaluation team reviewed the top candidates and made the final selection based on the aggregate expertise of the panel to ensure that all areas had appropriate representation.

Selected panel members are listed below:

• Marc Blanchet
• Asmus Freytag
• Michel Suignard
• Nicholas Ostler
• Wil Tan

Integration Panel members are expected to serve an initial term through June 2014. Responsibilities of the Integration Panel members are stated in the Procedure and the call for subject matter experts. The decisions by the integration Panel are required to be unanimous.

Expert advisors are available to the Integration Panel to aid its deliberations. These advisors aid the Integration Panel by lending their subject matter expertise, based on specific requests from the Panel. Using the same selection criteria as used for Panel members, the following advisor has been selected:

• Michael Everson

The selected Advisor will serve an initial term through June 2014. Additional advisors may be added at a later time as requested by the Panel and as specified in the Procedure.

The Integration Panel will undertake the work through periodic conference calls and face-to-face meetings. The first face-to-face meeting is planned for early October 2013. Initial work includes preparing the maximal set of code points and default whole label variant evaluation rules for the root zone. This will serve as a starting point for the community Generation Panels, the second part in the two-pass process.

For more information on the IDN Variant TLD Program, please visit http://www.icann.org/en/resources/idn/variant-tlds.

4 September 2013

The 2013 Nominating Committee (NomCom) is pleased to announce the selection of Jordi Iparraguirre as a member to the ccNSO Council.

The position became vacant following the recent resignation of council member Mary Wong, selected by the 2012 NomCom. Jordi Iparraguirre will take up his position with the ccNSO Council immediately and will serve for the remainder of the term vacated by Ms. Wong, ending at the conclusion of the 2015 ICANN Annual General Meeting.

Yrjo Lansipuro
Chair, 2013 Nominating Committee

Jordi Iparraguirre

Jordi Iparraguirre Computer Science engineer (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Master in Business Administration (ESADE) and DEA on Information and Knowledge Society (UOC/Internet Interdisciplinary Institute). He speaks Catalan, English, French and Spanish.

Since he started in France in 1993, Jordi worked at Hewlett Packard until 2006 in different countries and positions, from technical to management. In his last role at HP his team was responsible and succeeded to redefine and migrate all technical and support training content and delivery on HP's Commercial products from face to face into eLearning.

From 2006 to 2013 at the .cat gTLD, he first was its Operations manager during .cat Sunrise, then its director/CEO until January 2013. Under his leadership .cat won an ever increasing market share, a solid reputation amongst the Catalan and also ICANN's communities, being repeatedly praised as a success case and an example for the new gTLDs to come.

During his tenure .cat has been totally self-funded and profitable year after year since day one. On the technical side .cat offered IDN and IPv6 at its Sunrise and was DNSSEC ready in March 2010. The .cat Registry managed to negotiate amendments to its ICANN contract to hide Whois' individual user's public data, and to to become a registrar. The Registry also presented 3 new gTLD candidatures.

Being .cat a gTLD mostly perceived as a ccTLD .cat also joined and actively participated in CENTR (Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries) and LACTLD (Latin-American and Caribbean TLD association), hosting a CENTR General Assembly and the first ever LACTLD-CENTR joint meeting.

Jordi has also served at ICANN's GNSO Council as a Registry Constituency counselor (2007-2009)

Member of the Internet Society (ISOC) since 1996, he is currently President of ISOC-CAT (ISOC's Catalan Chapter) since November 2012 and its representative in ICANN's EURALO (European At-Large Organization).

As member of the Board of the Catalan professional association of Computer Science Engineers he has participated in the drafting of the Catalan Digital Agenda.

He is currently working on bringing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to children and persons with autism, popularizing why privacy matters and how to reduce and control our digital footprint, and advising and offering Business Intelligence services to TLDs.