Dear all,

Please find below a summary of the key points and developments discussed during the ccNSO Council Meeting #223, held on November 20^th., 2025.

Agenda and Background Materials

1. Administrative Updates

Welcome & AOB

The Chair introduced three AoB items:

• Closure of the GAC-ccNSO meeting and World Café.
• Upcoming cooperation with the RySG on the GNSO DNS Abuse PDP.
• Tentative block schedule planning for ICANN85 in Mumbai.

Minutes & Action Items

• Minutes of Meeting 222 circulated on 14 November; no comments raised.
• Most action items from Meeting 222 were either completed or pending the launch of the new ccNSO website (expected mid-December).
• A (pending items tracker) pending requested items to the Board, remains regarding the creation and long-term maintenance of the joint SO/AC tracker, which requires further discussion.

2. Progress on Ongoing Work 

ccPDP4-IDN

No new updates since Meeting 222.

Review of Reviews (RoR CCG)

• Two community webinars were held, with increasing participation.
• The group is now entering the problem-definition phase and will initially focus on the “A bucket” issues.
• Meetings with each SO/AC are planned for ICANN85; a plenary is expected on Thursday morning of the week.

“How We Meet” CCG

No new updates.

Chair / Vice-Chairs / Secretariat Updates

• Discussions continue regarding scheduling conflicts between Smart Africa capacity-building activities and Tech Day.
• The new ccNSO website is expected to go live mid-December.
• Feedback was provided on the proposed Board-Community session for ICANN85; ccNSO suggested starting this experiment at ICANN86 instead.

 

3. Decisions & Key Discussions

Adoption of the Board Seat 11 Nomination Report

• The Nomination Report was presented, including analysis of inconsistencies across nomination guidelines.
• Recommendation: GRC to review and harmonize the ccNSO guidelines for all nomination procedures.
• As quorum was not met, the decision will be deferred to an online vote, but:
• Patricio Poblete remains the uncontested candidate for Board Seat 11.
• Council expressed appreciation for his continued service.

Council Selection Process

• EU, LAC, and NA seats: uncontested, no elections.
• AP region: two candidates; voting ongoing until 9 December. Only 12 of 57 Emissaries have voted so far.
• Secretariat is coordinating with RO and ICANN GSE to increase participation.
• African region: new call for nominations launched after the sole nominee declined to accept. Closes on 4 December.

 

Appointments to Working Groups

Approved:

• Kristian Ørmen (.se) – DASC
• Hsuping Tang (.tw) – DASC
• Siphokazi Simandla (.za) – IGLC

 

4. Review of the Bylaw Change Playbook

The Chair led a discussion on the draft ICANN Bylaw Change Playbook recently shared with SO/AC chairs.
Key observations included:

• Lack of clarity in roles, timelines, and escalation processes.
• Several community-requested Bylaw changes in past years were delayed or not accepted, impacting operational timelines (e.g., IFRT composition, review cycles).

Consensus:

• ccNSO will send informal feedback to ICANN staff (via Russ Weinstein).
• No formal resolution required.

5. Any Other Business

World Café Sessions – Closure

• Summaries from the GAC-ccNSO session will be published through the ICANN84 schedule.
• The GRC Continuous Improvement Program will further analyze indicators emerging from the sessions, with output expected for Mumbai.

Coordination with GNSO on DNS Abuse PDP & RySG

Discussion focused on whether ccNSO should:

• participate institutionally (as ccNSO), or
• encourage individual participation from ccTLD managers.

 Concerns raised:

• DNS Abuse policies in gTLDs can indirectly influence national authorities and ccTLD obligations.
• Risk of gTLD policy becoming a de-facto global baseline.

Agreement:

• Hold an informal conversation with DASC leadership before the next Council meeting.
• Explore a joint session with RySG at ICANN85.
• Encourage individual ccTLD participation while respecting scope limitations.

ICANN85 Block Schedule

Proposed structure includes:

• Weekend WG/Committee meetings
• DASC or IGLC on Tuesday
• A potential joint session with RySG
• Market Trends session featuring diverse ccTLD perspectives
• Council preparation and leadership selection discussions

 

If you need any more information and any topic, please let me know and I will provide it.

Thank you for reading.

Best Regards,

 Laura Margolis