Date: 18-Feb-2010 To: Business Constituency Members From: Steve DelBianco, vice chair for policy coordination Subject: Policy Coordination Calendar The purpose of this document is to inform members of policy work before the BC, and to inspire participation and debate. ICANN generates an overwhelming volume of material, so this is our first attempt to get it all in one place. We intend to publish this document whenever deadlines are looming or important new issues arise. We'd like to publish this material online in a wiki or on the BC website, and welcome your ideas for making it accessible even on mobile devices. First, let's acknowledge that we face 3 challenges in policy coordination in the present BC: 1. Talent: Recruit volunteers to be rapporteurs and working group members 2. Timing: Must get written positions circulated in time for 14-day comment period (plus time for discussion & voting if there is significant disagreement) 3. Tone: keep it professional (even when questioning motives) Second, this document is organized around the 4 distinct channels where BC policy work and advocacy should be coordinated: 1. BC participation in ICANN Public Comment processes 2. Supporting discussion and voting of BC Representatives on GNSO Council 3. Supporting discussion and voting on policy matters before the Commercial Stakeholders Group (CSG) 4. BC statements and responses during public meetings (Board breakfast, outreach events, Cross-Constituency, public forum, etc.) Current activity within each of these Channels are summarized below: 1. BC participation in ICANN Public Comment processes: ICANN Public Comment page is at http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/ Comments recently closed: 1. Affirmation of Commitments review process (closed 10-Feb). 32 comments filed. The BC can develop views on Terms of Reference for the Accountability Review, since that process will occur throughout 2010. For example, NetChoice proposed a definition for 'public interest' that is open to continued debate. 2. Consumer Constituency Charter (closed 13-Feb) 17 comments filed. 3. Amendment of the GNSO Operating Procedures on the 2010 Selection Process for ICANN Board Seat 13 (closed 18-Feb) Comments open now: (in order of deadline dates) 1. Selection process for at-large Board seat (closes 6-Mar) no comments filed. 2. GNSO Working Group Guidelines (closes 22-Mar). Zahid is on the WG 3. Registration Abuse Policies Initial Report (ends 28-Mar) 4. Global DNS-CERT Business Case (ends 29-Mar) 5. Proposed Strategic Initiatives for Improved DNS Security, Stability and Resiliency (SSR) (ends 29-Mar ) 6. Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) ( 1-Apr ) 7. TM Clearinghouse ( 1-Apr ) 8. Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (PPDRP) ( 1-Apr ) 9. Registry Restrictions Dispute Resolution Procedure (RRDRP) ( 1-Apr ) 10. IDN 3 Character ( 1-Apr ) 11. IDN Variants ( 1-Apr ) 12. Benchmarking of Registry Operations ( 1-Apr ) 13. Process for gTLD Registry Agreement Amendment ( 1-Apr ) 14. Proposed Framework for the Fiscal Year 2011 Operating Plan and Budget ( 1-Apr) 15. Draft Report on WHOIS Accuracy ( 15-Apr) 2. Supporting discussion and voting of BC Representatives on GNSO Council Upcoming discussions & votes: 1. Feb 18 vote on process to nominate Accountability Review team members from GNSO. 2. Vertical Integration PDP charter. Draft by 1-Mar; Council vote on 10-Mar Council Working Groups: Status at http://gnso.icann.org/meetings/notes-council-18feb10-en.htm <http://gnso.icann.org/meetings/notes-council-18feb10-en.htm> Vertical Integration Drafting Team drafting PDP charter now. DT members: Mike Rodenbaugh, Berry Cobb IRTP-B (Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy Part B) nearing a report that will require BC review and comment. WG members: Berry Cobb, Chris Chaplow, Mike O'Connor, Mike Rodenbaugh. RAP (Registration Abuse Policies) prelim report published 12-Feb. WG members: Mike Rodenbaugh (GNSO Council liason), Zahid Jamil, Phil Corwin, Martin Sutton, Mike O'Connor, Caleb Queern. BC should review and comment RAA (Registrar Accreditation Agreement) discussions ongoing re issues to potentially cover in revised RAA. WG members: Phil Corwin, Phil Lodico, Mike Rodenbaugh PEDNR (post-expiration domain name recovery) discussion ongoing to standardize transfers. WG members: Berry Cobb; Phil Corwin; Mike O'Connor; Mike Palage; Mike Rodenbaugh HSTLD (High Security TLDs) convened an expert group, based on ICANN Staff proposal. Participants: Mike O'Connor, Mike Rodenbaugh IDN Working Group. stalled-out! Members: Steve DelBianco, Mike Rodenbaugh PPSC (Steering Committee for OSC & PDP WTs). Member: Mike Rodenbaugh, Alternate: Zahid Jamil PDP-WT (Policy Development Process ) Work Team. WT members: Mike Rodenbaugh, Zahid Jamil, Marilyn Cade OSC-WT (Operations Steering Committee) includes several sub-teams. Members incl: Philip Shepard (chair), Zahid Jamil, Mike O'Connor Geographical Regions WG. Stalled. Members: Zahid Jamil Also see GNSO Council pending projects, at http://gnso.icann.org/meetings/pending-projects-list.pdf 3. Supporting discussion and voting on policy matters before the Commercial Stakeholders Group (CSG) CSG selection Accountability Review team candidates from the GNSO (Feb 24) Joint CSG submission on Board Seat 13 Drafting of a charter for the CSG (targeted date? ) 4. BC statements and responses during public meetings (Board breakfast, outreach events, Cross-Con, public forum, etc.) Note that if the BC does not adopt consensus comments/positions on issues arising in Nairobi, no member or officer is authorized to speak on behalf of the BC. On Feb 15, ICANN posted several documents regarding new gTLD process, at http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-4-15feb10-en.htm Among those documents released are several with comment periods thru 1-Apr-2010: Staff Discussion Memo for the Board as they consider the EOI Proposal. In the trademark area, new/updated Draft Proposals on Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS), Trademark (TM) Clearinghouse, Post Delegation Dispute Resolutions Procedure (PDDRP). In the IDN area a relaxation of the 3 character requirement, and an approach to IDN variants at the top level. In registry operations, release of a benchmark of Registry Operations and a proposed process for future changes to the gTLD registry agreements. ICANN also released summaries and analyses of comments received on: DAGv3 Summary of comments on URS and TM Clearinghouse Summary of comments on EOI and Pre-registration Economic studies on new gTLDs: although a study was promised by late January, there will be a verbal update by two new economists retained by ICANN. ICANN has contracted with Greg Rosston of Stanford University and Michael Katz of University of California Berkeley. Work will be done in a three-phase project with initial report expected in mid March and the second early June. During the first phase, the economists will survey published resources that describe the potential impacts of new gTLD introduction; examine theoretical arguments about benefits and costs of increased gTLDs; consider and propose empirical studies to identify areas where additional work can serve to assess costs and benefits. A verbal report on results will be presented during the ICANN Nairobi Meeting Vertical Integration (aka Registry/Registrar Separation: talks about proposing a new model for community consultation sometime in the future. Based on debates on the subject held at the ICANN meetings in Seoul, discussion during the consultation with certain community representatives held on 7-Jan-2010 in Washington DC, ICANN will propose for community comment a new registry-registrar separation model for inclusion in the next draft of the gTLD agreement. We expect Board and community will discuss the issue in Nairobi. Root Scaling. Staff anticipates a report from SSAC and RSSAC before Nairobi. Also, four demand scenarios for application volumes have been modeled: below expected, expected, above expected and significantly above expected. For each demand scenario, there's an assumption that only a fraction of the applications will lead to delegations, and that the processing time for the successful applications will be spread out. If there are more than, say, 500 applications, the processing will be batched further spreading out the delegation rates. These models will be published before the Nairobi meeting. Malicious Conduct: In an effort to reduce malicious conduct in new gTLDs, ICANN created an initiative called the High Security Zone Top Level Domain ("HSTLD") Advisory Group. This group brings together community representatives to evaluate a voluntary program, supporting control standards and incentives that could be adopted to provide enhanced trust and security over the baseline registration-authority controls. A concept paper was published as a component of the new gTLD Draft Applicant Guidebook version 3 and can be referenced on the following link: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/high-security-zone-verification-04o ct09-en.pdf [PDF, 214 KB] The HSLTD Advisory Group continues to work on the concept of a voluntary HSTLD program. Relevant next steps include a review and approval working draft material and work on controls necessary to support the HSTLD purpose, goals and principles. Also part of addressing malicious conduct concerns is the creation of another advisory group addressing Zone File Access. The group was formed to study and discuss (benefits and methods) to effectively and efficiently enhance access to zone file information (anticipating an environment with many gTLDs). Details of this groups work can be found here: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/zone-file-access-en.htm Updated documentation on the malicious conduct work will be available prior to Nairobi. Upcoming Critical Program Meetings During the ICANN Meeting in Nairobi, staff will hold several New gTLD sessions, including: * Program update and a panel discussion regarding the Expressions of Interest and Pre-Registrations proposed process; * Trademark Protection; * High Security Top-Level Domains (HSTLD) & Zone File Access Advisory Group Meetings; * New gTLD introduction session for new comers. The Draft Applicant Guidebook, Version 4 is expected to be published prior to the ICANN Brussels Meeting (20-25 June 2010). Related Resources: * New gTLD Program: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm <http://icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm> * Additional information about the HSTLD program, the HSTLD AG and recordings of the HSTLD AG meetings can be accessed at the following link: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/hstld-program-en.htm <http://icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/hstld-program-en.htm> * Draft Applicant Guidebook, Version 3 <http://icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/draft-rfp-clean-04oct09-en.pdf> [PDF, 1.5 MB]