Joint Meeting: ICANN Board and ALAC

This meeting between the ICANN Board and the members of the ALAC will allow for a discussion on key ALAC priorities for 2020 as well as specific developments relating to the ICANN Strategic Plan. The ALAC’s questions to the Board are: DNS Abuse Of course, the Board must now recognize that the ALAC will not miss any opportunity to discuss DNS Abuse. While we recognize the Board has yet to pass formal judgement on our most recent advice on the topic, we would welcome the opportunity to hear from individual Board members on what they imagine to be the best path forward on this issue. We’re well aware of initiatives to better define DNS Abuse but it’s fairly clear that, even considering the most restrictive of definitions, there’s a great deal that needs to be done. The current “brown out” of registrant data has only made matters worse for reputation engines, law enforcement and others who had grown used to the availability of those tools. While certainly not the fault of the Board, these factors certainly make the situation more dire. The Sale of PIR to Ethos Capital The ALAC would welcome any color commentary from individual Board members on how they perceive this is playing out. We submitted advice to the ORG, via the Board, that the ORG contract be amended to ensure the ideals of .ORG survive this and future transactions. What are your current reflections on where things stands and where they might end up? While the ALAC are most certainly not the voice of non-profits, individual end users benefit from their work and also represent a portion of the registrations in .ORG. Our primary concern is that the broad “character” of ORG registrants and PIR as a thought leader among registries might change leaving us all poorer for it. The GAC While it may seem like a strange question, how are things with the GAC? The ALAC believes that the GAC, along with the ALAC, plays an essential role in the legitimacy of ICANN as a multi-stakeholder, public interest organization. There are, in fact, three areas in which the GAC might imagine the system is rigged in such a way so as to downplay their interests. These areas are: An overly conservative outcome from the EPDP An overly liberal outcome from WT5 of the Subsequent Procedures Working Group Insufficient focus by ICANN on DNS Abuse In all three instances, the case could be made that, the outcome of the policy deliberations have reflected the economic interest of the contracted parties. While the ALAC is, by no means, in lock step with the GAC and, in some instances, the GAC, itself, lacks consensus, the ALAC remains concerned that too many “defeats” for the GAC could result in less cover for ICANN at national levels and an overall drop in trust and credibility in ICANN. The ALAC joins the GAC in expressing their concern about each of the above topics but wonders, in particular, if any of the board are concerned about ICANN’s relationship to the governments that make up the GAC. - Session Leader: Heidi Ullrich Staff Facilitator: Gisella Gruber

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