GNSO Council Public Meeting | Minutes | ICANN50

25 June 2014

The meeting started at 12:04 UTC.
http://tinyurl.com/nwgcsw3

List of attendees: NCA – Non Voting – Jennifer Wolfe
Contracted Parties House
Registrar Stakeholder Group: James Bladel, Volker Greimann, Yoav Keren
gTLD Registries Stakeholder Group: Jonathan Robinson, Bret Fausett, Ching Chiao
Nominating Committee Appointee (NCA): Thomas Rickert
Non-Contracted Parties House
Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG): Tony Holmes, Osvaldo Novoa, Gabriella Szlak, John Berard, Brian Winterfeldt, Petter Rindforth
Non Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG): Klaus Stoll, David Cake, Avri Doria, Magaly Pazello, Amr Elsadr – absent apologies temporary alternate Robin Gross, Avri Doria, Maria Farrell
Nominating Committee Appointee (NCA): Daniel Reed

GNSO Council Liaisons/Observers:
Alan Greenberg – ALAC Liaison
Patrick Myles – ccNSO Observer

ICANN Staff
David Olive – VP Policy Development
Marika Konings – Senior Policy Director
Rob Hoggarth – Senior Policy Director
Mary Wong – Senior Policy Director
Julie Hedlund – Policy Director
Berry Cobb – Policy consultant
Lars Hoffmann – Policy Analyst
Glen de Saint Géry – GNSO Secretariat

MP3 Recording EN
MP3 Recording ES
MP3 Recording FR

Transcript

Item 1: Administrative matters

1.1 Roll Call
1.2 Statement of interest updates
No updates
1.3 Review/amend agenda
Move Item 10 up ahead of Items 7, 8, and 9, and move Item 7 to the end.
Add to Item 12: Any Other business
12.1 Reflect on/next steps with regard to the report from the Expert Working Group on gTLD Directory Services (EWG),

1.4. Note the status of minutes for the previous Council meeting per the GNSO Operating Procedures:
Minutes of the GNSO Council meeting 5 June 2014, posted as approved on 25 June 2014

Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List

Matters arising from the review of Projects List and Action List.

Need to confirm Amr Elsadr as Council liaison to the Thick WHOIS Implementation Review team
Add to the action item list reviewing and approving the charter of the cross community working group on Internet Governance

Item 3: Consent agenda

The Council confirmed Becky Burr (ccNSO) and John Berard (GNSO) as the permanent co-chairs for the Cross Community Working Group (CWG) on a Framework for CWG Operating Principles.

Item 4: MOTION – Approval of a charter for a PDP working group for the IGO & INGO access to curative rights protection mechanisms

Jonathan Robinson, seconded by Thomas Rickert proposed approving a charter for a PDP working group for IGO and INGO access to Curative Rights and Protection Mechanisms

WHEREAS:

The GNSO Council has resolved (see http://gnso.icann.org/en/council/resolutions#201406) to undertake a GNSO policy development process (PDP) to explore possible amendments to the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the Uniform Rapid Suspension procedure (URS) so as to enable International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) to access and use curative rights protection mechanisms;
The GNSO Council has reviewed the draft Working Group Charter appended as Annex 3 to the Final Issue Report (see http://gnso.icann.org/en/drafts/igo-ingo-crp-access-charter-25may14-en.pdf) which was delivered to the GNSO Council on 25 May 2014, and the 24 June 2014 amendments proposed thereto (see http://gnso.icann.org/en/drafts/igo-ingo-crp-access-charter-24jun14-en.pdf);

RESOLVED:

The GNSO Council approves the Charter as amended by the 24 June 2014 proposals and appoints Petter Rindforth as the GNSO Council liaison to the IGO-INGO Curative Rights Protection PDP Working Group (WG);
The GNSO Council directs ICANN staff to issue a call for volunteers for the PDP WG no later than seven days after the approval of this motion; and
Until such time as the WG selects a chair for the WG and that chair is confirmed by the GNSO Council, the GNSO Council liaison to the WG shall serve as the interim chair.

The motion carried by a show of hands.
Voting results:
Robin Gross, temporary alternate for Amr Elsadr, voted against the motion. All the other council members voted in favour of the motion.

Jonathan Robinson noted that he had sent a letter to the GAC chair, Heather Dryden informing the GAC of the work that the Council proposes to undertake.

Action Item:

Call for volunteers to the discussion group to be circulated.

Item 5: MOTION – Consideration and evaluation of the New gTLD programme

Bret Fausett seconded by Avri Doria proposed the motion below, as amended by Jonathan Robinson on New gTLDs Subsequent Rounds.

Whereas, in 2005, this Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) began a policy development process to consider the introduction of new gTLDs, which resulted in the creation of certain policy recommendations for the launch of a new gTLD application process; and,
Whereas, in September 2007, this Council adopted the policy recommendations from the GNSO policy development process and forwarded them to the ICANN Board of Directors; and,
Whereas, in June 2008, the ICANN Board adopted the GNSO's policy recommendations for the introduction of new gTLDs and directed staff to develop an implementation plan for a new gTLD introduction process; and
Whereas, in September 2009, ICANN and the U.S. National Telecommunications Information Administration entered into an Affirmation of Commitments ("AOC") in which ICANN committed to organize a review of certain aspects of the introduction and expansion of gTLDs (AOC, at Section 9.3); and,
Whereas, in its April, 2011 Communique, ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee ("GAC") asked (at p.6) for a "comprehensive post-launch independent review of the [Trademark] Clearinghouse [to] be conducted one year after the launch of the 75th new gTLD in the round;" and,
Whereas, in June 2011, the ICANN Board approved an Application Guidebook ("AGB") for new gTLDs and authorized the launch of the New gTLD Program; and,
Whereas, the AGB provided that it was intended to govern "the first round of what is to be an ongoing process for the introduction of new TLDs" (Application, Module 2); and,
Whereas, Section 1.1.6 of the AGB ("Subsequent Application Rounds") provided that "ICANN's goal [was] to launch subsequent gTLD application rounds as quickly as possible" and promised to base the timing of subsequent rounds on "experiences gained and changes required after this round is completed" with a "goal…for the next application round to begin within one year of the close of the application submission period for the initial round.;" and
Whereas, the first round application submission period closed in June, 2012; and,
Whereas, the Council believes that it has a continuing interest and role to play in evaluating the experiences of the first round and proposing policy recommendations, if necessary, for changes to subsequent rounds;

Now therefore, it is resolved:

The GNSO Council creates a new Discussion Group to discuss the experiences gained by the first round of new gTLD applications and identify subjects for future issue reports, if any, that might lead to changes or adjustments for subsequent application procedures; and,
ICANN invites the New gTLD Program Committee of the ICANN Board to provide input into the GNSO Council discussion to identify areas that it believes may be appropriate for discussion for an evaluation of the current gTLD application round and/or for possible adjustments for subsequent application procedures; and,
The GNSO Council requests a status report from ICANN Staff on the current progress of (a) the New gTLD program generally; (b) ICANN's anticipated timeline and work plan for the review specified in Section 9.3 of the Affirmation of Commitments; (c) ICANN's work to date on any evaluation of the first round; (d) the work to date on the post-launch independent review of the Trademark Clearinghouse; and (e) ICANN's current projection for a timetable for subsequent rounds.

The motion carried unanimously.
Bret Fausett volunteered as an interim lead to the discussion group.

Action Items:

Call for volunteers to the discussion group to be circulated.
Communicate request for status report to responsible Staff

Item 6: Discussion – Letter from the NGPC regarding protection of IGO-INGO identifiers in all gTLDs

In the GNSO Council's consideration whether or not to, and potentially the route to, modifying or amending its approved consensus policy recommendations relating to recommended second level protections for IGO acronyms and certain Red Cross identifiers, prior to adoption by the ICANN Board as provided for under Section 16 of the GNSO Operating Procedures, staff pointed out that the section had never before been used and should be well thought through before being used the first time.

It was further noted that the particular provision under consideration does not reopen the PDP or the working group which was of concern to some; instead, it allows the Council the possibility to amend or propose an amendment to a policy recommendation. The proposal will be taken back to the original IGO Working Group that will be reconvened for the purpose of considering the specific proposed modification, and then submitted for public comment, the summary of which comments come back to Council for the Council to decide the course of action.

After careful consideration and much discussion, Council decided to submit a motion for the next Council meeting on 24 July 2019, rather than call for a special Council meeting between the London meeting and the already scheduled meeting on 24 July 2014.

Councillors are encouraged to be thoroughly prepared for the proposed motion.

Action Item:

Submit a motion for the proposed modification of the GNSO's consensus recommendations relating to recommended second level protections for IGO acronyms and certain Red Cross identifiers.

Item 10: UPDATE – On the work of the GAC / GNSO Consultation Group

Jonathan Robinson noted that the purpose of the GNSO GAC Consultation Group is to foster improved early engagement of the GAC in the Policy Development Process (PDP) to promote effective working together as a broader community.

The Council supported the appointment of the proposed GNSO liaison to the GAC and moving ahead with the recruitment process which will involve the Council chair and two vice chairs, as documented. The appointment will be the subject to a Council vote. This will be a one‐year pilot project and it is expected that GNSO liaison to the GAC, subject to Council approval, will be appointed and in office for a term of one year by the ICANN 51 meeting in Los Angeles in October 2014.

Action Item:

Call for volunteers / applicants to be circulated to all stakeholder and constituency groups. Candidates to be submitted to the GNSO Secretariat by 31 July 2014.

Item 8: DISCUSSION – A cross-community working group to develop a transfer process for the IANA stewardship role

Jonathan Robinson in a brief overview noted that the cross-community drafting team, that he and Byron Holland initiated in their capacities as chairs of the respective GNSO and ccNSO organizations and which has the support of the ALAC and SSAC needs to form and to set its work program. One of the over-arching issues for the drafting team to consider is its relationship with the developing and emerging accountability track and the link with the coordination group on the IANA stewardship transition. The coordination group proposed by ICANN is a mechanism to provide an overall coordination of the numerous different initiatives in the community.

Concern was expressed that the range of different committees and activities (of which this is potentially only one) drains the community volunteer resources.
It was suggested that a feedback loop is needed between the cross community working group on Internet governance and this group.
It was pointed out that the technical community has already done work and care needs to be taken to work effectively with them which might mean that the cross community working group focuses mainly on names.
In view of the substantial discussion at the upcoming Thursday meeting, on the London schedule, Council supported ending the discussion and waiting for further information before taking any decisions.

Item 9: UPDATE – On the work of the GNSO Review Working Party

Jen Wolfe provided a brief update on the work of the GNSO Review Working Party
The review of the questions has been extended to 10 July 2014.
There are open‐ended questions and there is a "catch‐all" section at the end of the survey for further information on issues not covered in the survey. The online survey will be available through the month of September 2014. There will be two surveys, a short version and a long version. Although the participants name and basic information is requested when taking the survey, there is an option to anonymize all personal information.
Staff selected Westlake Governance as the independent Examiner.
The GNSO working party will have the opportunity to take all of the data gathered and provide their own set of analyses and recommendations.

The selection of Westlake reviewers was based on the RFP criteria.
Strong concern was expressed with the constraint of scope of the review.
A self-review process sponsored by ICANN was suggested using the information gathered however, some were of the view that rather than duplicate any work, it is important to try and influence the scope of the GNSO review as is currently set out.
An apparent contradiction was pointed out between the current scope and the scope of the ICANN Board resolution of September 2013 which emphasized the importance of making sure that current parties and new parties to ICANN are all involved in the GNSO and in policy making process.

Action Item:
Council members are encouraged to review the questions of the 360 assessment and provide feedback by 10 July 2014