- ALAC-Announce - lists.icann.org

VOTE ANNOUNCEMENT: (203) Open Source Foundation for Nigeria (OSFON)
by ICANN At-Large Staff Aug. 4, 2014

Aug. 4, 2014

Dear All, The regional advice from AFRALO regarding ALS Applicant (203) Open Source Foundation for Nigeria (OSFON) has been received. The ALAC has decided to conduct a vote on whether to accept the regional advice. The following question has been posed to the ALAC: ***** Question: Should the regional advice from AFRALO for ALS Applicant (203) Open Source Foundation for Nigeria (OSFON) be accepted? The regional advice was to accept the application. ***** Please note that this vote will be open from 04 August 23:59 UTC until 11 August 2013 23:59 UTC. Regards, Heidi Ullrich, Silvia Vivanco, Ariel Liang, Gisella Gruber, Nathalie Peregrine and Terri Agnew ICANN Policy Staff in support of ALAC E-mail: staff(a)atlarge.icann.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/icann.atlarge Twitter: @ICANN_AtLarge

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ICANN News Alert -- ICANN Approves Investment Policy Statement Update for 2014
by ICANN At-Large Staff Aug. 4, 2014

Aug. 4, 2014

[ICANN]<http://www.icann.org/> News Alert https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-08-01-en ________________________________ ICANN Approves Investment Policy Statement Update for 2014 30 July 2014 As part of ICANN's responsibility to perform periodic reviews of the ICANN Investment Policy Statement, a revised policy has been approved by ICANN's Board of Directors implementing a number of minor changes. These updates have been made to provide additional clarity for the investment objectives including risk tolerance, credit quality requirements, liquidity needs, and an appropriate diversification of assets with the current investment environment in mind. The new Investment Policy Statement can be found at: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/investment-policy-2014-07-30-en

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ICANN News Alert -- ICANN Tells U.S. Court That ccTLDs Are Not "Property" | Files Motion to Quash in U.S. Legal Action Aimed at Seizing Top-Level Domains
by ICANN At-Large Staff Aug. 3, 2014

Aug. 3, 2014

[ICANN]<http://www.icann.org/> News Alert https://www.icann.org/resources/press-material/release-2014-07-30-en ________________________________ ICANN Tells U.S. Court That ccTLDs Are Not "Property" Files Motion to Quash in U.S. Legal Action Aimed at Seizing Top-Level Domains 30 July 2014 Washington, DC... The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has told a U.S. federal court in the District of Columbia, that a country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) cannot be considered "property," and thus cannot be attached by plaintiffs in a lawsuit, who are trying to obtain the assets of countries that they argued have supported terrorism. "We filed a Motion to Quash in the US federal court today, to ensure that the court has the essential information about how the Internet's domain name system (DNS) works. While we sympathize with what plaintiffs may have endured, ICANN's role in the domain name system has nothing to do with any property of the countries involved", said John Jeffrey, ICANN's General Counsel and Secretary. "We explained in our Motion to Quash, that country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLD) are part of a single, global interoperable Internet which ICANN serves to help maintain." Jeffrey further explained that "ccTLD's are not property, and are not 'owned' or 'possessed' by anyone including ICANN, and therefore cannot be seized in a lawsuit." ICANN's arguments were put forth when the victims of terrorism who had successfully won lawsuits against Iran, Syria and North Korea, sought to collect on those civil judgments. In their attempt to recover assets from these countries, the plaintiffs served ICANN with "writs of attachment" and subpoenas seeking information to help them seize the ccTLDs of those nations. The ccTLDs (and related IP addresses) targeted by the plaintiffs include; .IR (Iran), .SY (Syria) and .KP (North Korea), as well as internationalized top-level domains in non-ASCII characters for Iran and Syria. ## To read ICANN's legal filings, go here: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/icann-various-2014-07-30-en<http://www.icann.org/resources/pages/icann-various-2014-07-30-en> To read the original "Writs of Attachment," go here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_dOI5puxRA9M3hweE9Eel9mVTQ/edit?pli=1 Media Contacts Brad White Director of North American Communications Washington, D.C. Tel: +1.202.570.7118 Email: brad.white(a)icann.org<mailto:brad.white@icann.org> James Cole Global Media Coordinator Washington, D.C. Tel: +1.202.570.7139 Email: james.cole(a)icann.org<mailto:james.cole@icann.org> About ICANN ICANN's mission is to ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer - a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination we wouldn't have one global Internet. ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with participants from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet's unique identifiers. ICANN doesn't control content on the Internet. It cannot stop spam and it doesn't deal with access to the Internet. But through its coordination role of the Internet's naming system, it does have an important impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet. For more information please visit: www.icann.org<http://www.icann.org/>.

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UPDATED GNSO and At-Large calls - week of 04 August 2014
by ICANN At-Large Staff Aug. 1, 2014

Aug. 1, 2014

Dear all, Please find below the list of At-Large and GNSO WG meetings in which At-Large members are participants for the week of the 04 August 2014. Updates will follow as Doodles close. Updated: LACRALO Governance meeting Monday 04 August LACRALO ccTLD WG call Thursday 07 August Monday 04 August 22:00 UTC: LACRALO Governance: https://community.icann.org/x/U7-hAg Tuesday 05 August 14:00 UTC: GNSO PPSAI WG https://community.icann.org/x/9iCfAg 19:00 UTC: GNSO Standing Committee on Improvements Implementation meeting (SCI) https://community.icann.org/x/5ILT 20:00 UTC: GNSO non-PDP Data & Metrics for Policy Making Working Group (DPMP) https://community.icann.org/x/myt-Ag Wednesday 06 August 19:00 UTC: GNSO Policy and Implementation WG https://community.icann.org/x/y1V-Ag Thursday 07 August 12:00 UTC: GNSO Working Group Newcomer Open House 14:00 UTC: GNSO Review Working Party: https://community.icann.org/x/X5LhAg 22:00 UTC: LACRALO ccTLD WG call: https://community.icann.org/x/cb-hAg Friday 08 August None at this time Please confirm your dial-out requests For GNSO calls: GNSO Secretariats gnso-secs(a)icann.org<mailto:gnso-secs@icann.org> For At-Large calls: At-Large Staff : staff(a)atlarge.icann.org<mailto:staff@atlarge.icann.org> Kind regards, Heidi Ullrich, Silvia Vivanco, Ariel Liang, Gisella Gruber, Nathalie Peregrine and Terri Agnew ICANN Policy Staff in support of ALAC E-mail: staff(a)atlarge.icann.org<applewebdata://68497759-1B04-4F9B-84B7-B9445B8F305F/Regards,%20Heidi%20Ullrich,%20Silvia%20Vivanco,%20Matt%20Ashtiani,%20Ariel%20Liang,%20Gisella%20Gruber,%20Nathalie%20Peregrine%20and%20Julia%20Charvolen%20ICANN%20Policy%20Staff%20in%20support%20of%20ALACmailto:staff@atlarge.icann.org> Facebook: www.facebook.com/icann.atlarge<https://www.facebook.com/icann.atlarge> Twitter: @ICANN_AtLarge<https://twitter.com/ICANN_AtLarge>

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GNSO and At-Large calls - week of 04 August 2014
by ICANN At-Large Staff Aug. 1, 2014

Aug. 1, 2014

Dear all, Please find below the list of At-Large and GNSO WG meetings in which At-Large members are participants for the week of the 04 August 2014. Updates will follow as Doodles close. Monday 04 August none Tuesday 05 August 14:00 UTC: GNSO PPSAI WG https://community.icann.org/x/9iCfAg 19:00 UTC: GNSO Standing Committee on Improvements Implementation meeting (SCI) https://community.icann.org/x/5ILT 20:00 UTC: GNSO non-PDP Data & Metrics for Policy Making Working Group (DPMP) https://community.icann.org/x/myt-Ag Wednesday 06 August 19:00 UTC: GNSO Policy and Implementation WG https://community.icann.org/x/y1V-Ag Thursday 07 August 12:00 UTC: GNSO Working Group Newcomer Open House 14:00 UTC: GNSO Review Working Party: https://community.icann.org/x/X5LhAg Friday 08 August None at this time Please confirm your dial-out requests For GNSO calls: GNSO Secretariats gnso-secs(a)icann.org<mailto:gnso-secs@icann.org> For At-Large calls: At-Large Staff : staff(a)atlarge.icann.org<mailto:staff@atlarge.icann.org> Kind regards, Heidi Ullrich, Silvia Vivanco, Ariel Liang, Gisella Gruber, Nathalie Peregrine and Terri Agnew ICANN Policy Staff in support of ALAC E-mail: staff(a)atlarge.icann.org<applewebdata://68497759-1B04-4F9B-84B7-B9445B8F305F/Regards,%20Heidi%20Ullrich,%20Silvia%20Vivanco,%20Matt%20Ashtiani,%20Ariel%20Liang,%20Gisella%20Gruber,%20Nathalie%20Peregrine%20and%20Julia%20Charvolen%20ICANN%20Policy%20Staff%20in%20support%20of%20ALACmailto:staff@atlarge.icann.org> Facebook: www.facebook.com/icann.atlarge<https://www.facebook.com/icann.atlarge> Twitter: @ICANN_AtLarge<https://twitter.com/ICANN_AtLarge>

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Call for Volunteers to New GNSO Working Group on Curative Rights Protection for IGOs and INGOs
by ICANN At-Large Staff July 31, 2014

July 31, 2014

http://gnso.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-11jul14-en.htm Call for Volunteers to New GNSO Working Group on Curative Rights Protection for IGOs and INGOs 11 July 2014 In Brief The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council seeks volunteers to serve on a Working Group to develop policy recommendations relating to access to curative rights protection mechanisms for certain international governmental organizations (IGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs). What This Team Will Do The Working Group (WG) is tasked to provide the GNSO Council with a set of recommendations regarding whether: (1) the current Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and Uniform Rapid Suspension procedure (URS) should be amended to enable their access and use by IGOs and INGOs whose names or acronyms have been listed as protected identifiers, and if so how; or (2) if a new, separate, narrowly-tailored dispute resolution mechanism should be created for these protected IGO and INGO identifiers. Specific issues to be discussed by the WG are detailed in the WG's charter: http://gnso.icann.org/en/drafts/igo-ingo-crp-access-charter-24jun14-en.pdf. How This Team Will Work ICANN Working Groups use transparent, open processes. The meetings of this WG will be recorded, and the recordings will be available to the public. The mailing list for the WG will be archived publicly. WG members are expected to submit Statements of Interest (SOI<https://community.icann.org/display/gnsosoi/New+SOIs>). The group will collaborate using a public workspace. The WG is expected to follow the GNSO Working Group Guidelines<http://gnso.icann.org/council/annex-1-gnso-wg-guidelines-08apr11-en.pdf>. Working Group members are expected to attend conference calls and to actively participate in online discussions. If you are concerned about the amount of time or input that you will be able to provide to the group, but would like to remain informed of the group's activities, you are encouraged to participate as an observer. Participating as an observer will allow you to follow the group's work on the mailing list. Should you wish to actively participate in conference calls and online discussions, you will need to change your status from observer to member, which can be accomplished by simply emailing your request to the GNSO Secretariat (gnso-secs(a)icann.org<mailto:gnso-secs@icann.org>). The GNSO Secretariat will endeavor to ensure your status is changed in time for the group's next meeting. How to Join The GNSO Council invites interested parties to join the WG, which will be open to anyone interested to join, including representatives from IGOs and INGOs. As noted above, you can join the WG either as a member or an observer. Please contact the GNSO secretariat<mailto:gnso.secretariat@icann.org?subject=Application%20to%20Join%20Uniformity%20of%20Reporting%20Drafting%20Team> (gnso.secretariat(a)icann.org<mailto:gnso.secretariat@icann.org>) if you wish to join the WG. Background In October 2012 the GNSO Council initiated<http://gnso.icann.org/en/council/resolutions#201210> a Policy Development Process (PDP) to explore possible protections at the top and second level for IGOs and INGOs in all gTLDs. In November 2013, the GNSO Council unanimously adopted<http://gnso.icann.org/en/council/resolutions#201311> the consensus recommendations developed by the IGO-INGO WG chartered to develop the PDP recommendations. One of these recommendations was for the GNSO Council to request an Issue Report - a mandatory preceding step to a PDP - on the question of access by IGOs and INGOs to the curative rights protections provided by the existing UDRP and URS. The Preliminary Issue Report was published<https://www.icann.org/public-comments/igo-ingo-crp-prelim-2014-03-10-en> for public comment on 10 March 2014 and a report of public comments received was published<https://www.icann.org/news/public-comment/report-comments-igo-ingo-crp-prel…> on 16 May 2014. On 25 May 2014 a Final Issue Report<http://gnso.icann.org/en/issues/igo-ingo-crp-access-final-25may14-en.pdf> incorporating relevant public comments received was sent to the GNSO Council. On 5 June 2014 the GNSO Council voted<http://gnso.icann.org/en/council/resolutions#20140605-2> to initiate a PDP on the topic. The Charter for the PDP WG was adopted<http://gnso.icann.org/en/council/resolutions#201406> by the GNSO Council on 25 June 2014. The WG Charter expressly limits consideration to those IGO and INGO identifiers that the original IGO-INGO WG had previously noted as eligible for protection. It also requires that the WG review previous community work on the topic. This WG is an opportunity for the GNSO and other interested community members to help develop specific recommendations that will assist in determining the nature and extent of access to and use of curative rights protections by IGOs and INGOs, in the form of the most appropriate dispute resolution mechanism (if any). Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat gnso.secretariat(a)gnso.icann.org<mailto:gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org> http://gnso.icann.org<http://gnso.icann.org/>

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Call for Volunteers: GNSO New gTLDs Subsequent Rounds Discussion Group
by ICANN At-Large Staff July 31, 2014

July 31, 2014

http://gnso.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-08jul14-en.htm Call for Volunteers: GNSO New gTLDs Subsequent Rounds Discussion Group Date: 8 July 2014 This is a call for volunteers to participate in a GNSO Discussion Group to discuss experiences gained by the first round of new gTD applications and identify subjects for possible future issue reports, if any, that might lead to changes or adjustments for subsequent new gTLD application procedures. This Discussion Group has been created by the Generic Names Supporting Organization and is open to anyone interested in participating. What this Discussion Group will do The Discussion Group is to review the first round of the new gTLD program and discuss and reflect upon experiences gained. The Discussion Group is expected to report its findings to the GNSO Council, which may include a list of recommended subjects for future GNSO issue reports that may lead to changes or adjustments for subsequent new gTLD application procedures. Issue reports are a required first step in developing new policies. How this Group will work Like other GNSO efforts, the Discussion Group is expected to use transparent and open processes. Meetings are recorded, mailing lists are publicly archived and members from the Discussion Group are expected to submit Statements of Interest in order to participate. The group may decide to collaborate using a public workspace for draft materials and all final work products and milestones will be documented. Please note that as a Discussion Group member you are expected to attend conference calls and to actively participate in online discussions. If you are concerned about the amount of time or input that you would be able to provide to the group, but would like to remain informed of the group's activities, it is encouraged that you participate as an observer. Participating as an observer will allow you to follow the group's work on the mailing list. To be able to actively participate in conference calls and online discussions, you would need to change your status from observer to member, which can be accomplished by simply emailing your request to the GNSO Secretariat (gnso-secs(a)icann.org<mailto:gnso-secs@icann.org>). The GNSO Secretariat will endeavor to ensure your status is changed in time for the group's next meeting. How to Join The GNSO Council invites all interested parties to put forward their names so that they can be added to the Discussion Group mailing list. The Discussion Group will be open to anyone interested to join. Community members who wish to be invited to join the group should contact the GNSO secretariat (gnso.secretariat(a)gnso.icann.org<mailto:gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org>) and clearly indicate whether they would like to be subscribed as a member or observer to the mailing list. Background 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. In June 2011, the ICANN Board approved an Application Guidebook ("AGB") for new gTLDs and authorized the launch of the New gTLD Program. 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 gTLDs" and that "ICANN's goal [was] to launch subsequent gTLD application rounds as quickly as possible" and promised to base the timing of the subsequent rounds on "experiences gained and changes required after this round is completed" with a "goal...for the new application round to begin within one year of the close of the application submission period for the initial round." With the application submission period for the initial round closing in June 2012, the GNSO 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. This Discussion Group is being created to begin that evaluation process and possibly identify areas for future GNSO policy development. Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat gnso.secretariat(a)gnso.icann.org<mailto:gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org> http://gnso.icann.org<http://gnso.icann.org/>

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New Public Comment: .NGO and .ONG Registry Services Evaluation Process Request Introduction of Technical Bundling
by ICANN At-Large Staff July 30, 2014

July 30, 2014

Dear All, Please kindly note that the At-Large Workspace for the following public comment has been created: .NGO and .ONG Registry Services Evaluation Process Request - Introduction of Technical Bundling<https://community.icann.org/x/KKvhAg> Regards, Heidi Ullrich, Silvia Vivanco, Ariel Liang, Gisella Gruber, Nathalie Peregrine and Terri Agnew ICANN Policy Staff in support of ALAC E-mail: staff(a)atlarge.icann.org<mailto:staff@atlarge.icann.org> Facebook: www.facebook.com/icann.atlarge<https://www.facebook.com/icann.atlarge> Twitter: @ICANN_AtLarge<https://twitter.com/ICANN_AtLarge>

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ICANN Newsletter -- 25 July 2014
by ICANN At-Large Staff July 29, 2014

July 29, 2014

[ICANN]<http://www.icann.org/> ICANN Weekly Newsletter News from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers http://www.icann.org/Week ending 25 July 2014 ________________________________ Announcements This Week China's 21Vianet Contributes to Stable and Resilient Internet with L-Root Instance | Introduction on Instance Helps Mitigate Network Outages, Delivers Improved Internet Experience<https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-07-24-en> A new instance of L-Root has been installed in China, increasing the Domain Name System's (DNS) overall fault tolerance and its resilience against certain types of cyber threats, such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. 24 July 2014 Introduction of Two-Character Domain Names for .LUXURY, .WANG, XN--3BST00M, XN--6QQ986B3XL, XN--CZRU2D, XN--45Q11C, .BUILD, .REN, .PIZZA, .RESTAURANT, .GIFTS, .SARL, XN--55QX5D, XN--IO0A7I, and 20 TLDs associated with Top Level Domain Holdings Limited<https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-07-23-en> Seven (7) Registry Services Evaluation Process (RSEP) requests were submitted by the registry operators to allow the introduction of two-character domain names for the below TLDs. 23 July 2014 ________________________________ Upcoming Events 12-16 October 2014: 51st International Public ICANN Meeting - Los Angeles<http://la51.icann.org/en/> About ICANN ICANN Bylaws<http://www.icann.org/en/general/bylaws.htm> Our bylaws are very important to us. They capture our mission of security, stability and accessibility, and compel the organization to be open and transparent. Learn more at www.ICANN.org<http://www.icann.org/>. Strategic Plan, 2012 - 2015<http://www.icann.org/en/planning/> Adopted FY14 Operating Plan and Budget<http://www.icann.org/en/financials/budget-opplan.htm>

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ICANN News Alert -- China¹s 21Vianet Contributes to Stable and Resilient Internet with L-Root Instance | Introduction on Instance Helps Mitigate Network Outages, Delivers Improved Internet Experience
by ICANN At-Large Staff July 26, 2014

July 26, 2014

[ICANN]<http://www.icann.org/> News Alert https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-07-24-en ________________________________ ICANN News Alert -- China's 21Vianet Contributes to Stable and Resilient Internet with L-Root Instance | Introduction on Instance Helps Mitigate Network Outages, Delivers Improved Internet Experience 25 July 2014 [21vianet Logo] A new instance of L-Root has been installed in China, increasing the Domain Name System's (DNS) overall fault tolerance and its resilience against certain types of cyber threats, such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. The launch of the server node is a joint operation between ICANN and China's 21Vianet Group, Inc (NASDAQ:VNET). As China's largest carrier-neutral Internet data center with more than 80 data centers in over 40 cities in China, 21Vianet supplied the equipment necessary for the installation of the new L-Root node. "We have selected Beijing as the initial site as Beijing is one of the largest Chinese cities, with one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the country," said Frank Meng, President of 21Vianet Group, Inc (NASDAQ:VNET). "But we will deploy in other major cities very shortly as part of our DNS Open Network program". DNS Open Network is a program by 21Vianet to build a trusted and robust DNS infrastructure that provide open peering with any ISPs and ICPs in China. This cooperation between both organizations is an effort to provide security, stability and resiliency to Chinese Internet users and reduce the response time they experience when making Domain Name System (DNS) queries. "The stability and resiliency of the global Internet continues to be strengthened with 21Vianet installation of the L-Root instances," said ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehadé. "ICANN is working with other Chinese partners to bring in more L-Root instances into the country," said Kuek Yu-Chuang, ICANN's Vice President and Managing Director for ICANN Asia Pacific Hub. There are 13 "root," or fully authoritative, DNS servers, identified by alphabetic letters A through M - the "L" root being one. Computers locate one another on a network by using numeric addresses, while humans find it easier to use and remember names (for instance, users typically remember the domain name "ICANN.org" more easily than the Internet Protocol address, 2620:0:2d0:200::7). The Domain Name System (DNS) matches domain names with numeric addresses, in much the same way a phone book matches names to phone numbers. Spreading root information out geographically by duplicating the root servers leads to a resilient, dispersed system that cannot be taken offline by a problem at any single instance of a given DNS root server. For more information about L-root, please visit www.dns.icann.org/<http://www.dns.icann.org/>.

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