Dear ALAC colleagues, please be so kind to find below and attached, a letter which was sent by Ron Andruff to Cherine Chalaby, Chair of the ICANN New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) requesting a Public Consultation to take place about the Policy Advisory Board model proposal which the ALAC has supported in the past. Due to very short time-lines for a reply and since the letter asks for a Public Consultation in which the ALAC will be able to expand on the shortcomings of the Public Interest Commitments (PICs) which we have already pointed out but were ignored, the ALAC Leadership Team (ALT) has given me the green light to sign the letter on their behalf. You'll also find a couple of people from our community co-signing in their individual capacity too. Indeed, many of the PICs filed are so weak, including clauses reserving the right for the gTLD Registry to ignore the commitments altogether, that this process is being grossly mishandled and the ALAC need to voice its concerns. * *Kind regards, Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond ALAC Chair ** *From:* Ron Andruff [mailto:randruff@rnapartners.com] *Sent:* Monday, January 27, 2014 18:36 *To:* 'cherine.chalaby@icann.org' *Cc:* Heather.Dryden@ic.gc.ca; 'peter.nettlefold@dbcdd.gov.au'; 'Alan Greenberg'; 'Evan Leibovitch'; Marilyn Cade (marilynscade@hotmail.com) *Subject:* RE: Policy Advisory Board model - Public Consultation *Importance:* High Dear Cherine, Following on from discussions held in Beijing and Buenos Aires with a broad cross-section of the ICANN community, we understand that SGs/ACs/Constituencies want to provide public comments on how ICANN manages the proper roll out of regulated industries/sensitive string new gTLDs. The concept of the Policy Advisory Boards is currently being circulated more broadly within the community so the purpose of this email and attached letter is to follow up with the NGPC on this matter in support of the GAC Buenos Aires Communique reference to Public Interest Commitment Specifications (PICS). We look forward to your response in due course. Thank you for your consideration. Kind regards, RA *Ron Andruff* *RNA Partners* *www.rnapartners.com <http://www.rnapartners.com> * *From:* Ron Andruff [mailto:randruff@rnapartners.com] *Sent:* Wednesday, September 25, 2013 18:41 *To:* 'cherine.chalaby@icann.org' *Cc:* Heather.Dryden@ic.gc.ca <mailto:Heather.Dryden@ic.gc.ca>; 'peter.nettlefold@dbcdd.gov.au'; Olivier Crepin-Leblond *Subject:* Regulated industry/sensitive new gTLDs PICS - Policy Advisory Board model *Importance:* High Dear Cherine, During the NGPC discussions with the Government Advisory Committee at ICANN Beijing concerns emerged about how to ensure that new gTLDs from regulated industries/professions act in the public interest, and how they can demonstrate that they are fully supportive of the interests of those who are affected as users, not merely as registrants, in such gTLDs. As you know, numerous applications for gTLDs that are representative of, or related to, regulated sectors were received by ICANN. In recognizing the GAC's interest in how regulated industry/sensitive string applicants will adequately address core concerns about the public interest impact of their applications, I have been working with others to develop approaches that are high level and standardized to a great extent. This approach would allow applicants for gTLD strings associated with regulated industries and professions (or other high risk sectors, such as .KIDS, etc.) to demonstrate how they will develop, implement, and enforce policies for the registration practices and standards in their respective gTLDs. In our view, these practices and standards should reflect the concerns of regulatory authorities, public interest organizations -- and most importantly, users -- to enable those gTLDs applicants to move ahead through the review process as expeditiously as possible. An appropriate Policy Advisory Board (PAB) should be established prior to approval of a new gTLD application by ICANN, as the practices and standards it develops will determine acceptable registrants and uses. The attached Policy Advisory Board model documents provide a mechanism by which the GAC safeguard advice for protecting the public interest can be implemented to assure that, as Internet users interact with domains at new 'sensitive string' gTLDs associated with regulated industries and professions, they can be certain that the registrants are bona fide entities engaged in legitimate activities. This PAB approach establishes a standard framework for appropriate safeguards at sensitive string gTLDs that allows the flexibility to ensure that each Policy Advisory Board is reflective of a particular string and the concerns associated with it. The safeguards can be fully developed and implemented through the establishment of balanced and inclusive Policy Advisory Boards that can develop appropriate registrant eligibility criteria and registry policies -- those policies, in turn, can be incorporated within enforceable Public Interest Commitments Specifications (PICS) for the registry. The focus of this model is establishing baseline criteria and a standard threshold of certainty for the public, and for governments, through a standardized approach to accountability and public interest. On behalf of my colleagues and myself, we hope it might inform the NGPC and GAC deliberations on PICS in a useful and productive way. I would welcome further discussion on this matter should you feel that would be of benefit to your Committee. Kind regards, RA *Ron Andruff* *RNA Partners* *www.rnapartners.com* <http://www.rnapartners.com>**