Dear All, Here is an overview of today’s ICANN71 ccTLD-relevant sessions, scheduled for Wednesday, 16 June 2021. You are warmly invited to participate. Sessions will be held during general working hours in The Hague, Netherlands (CEST / UTC+2, Amsterdam/Paris). You must be registered and signed in to view the ICANN71 schedule and participation details. Access and ability to log into the schedule platform<https://71.schedule.icann.org/> can take up to 30 minutes after completing the registration process. ICANN71 links to bookmark now: * ccNSO Schedule Hub: https://community.icann.org/x/WIG1CQ * ccNSO Members Meeting, including sessions held prior to ICANN71: https://community.icann.org/x/UYG1CQ ccNSO POLICY SESSION Wednesday, 16 June 2021 | 10:30-12:00 UTC https://71.schedule.icann.org/meetings/4A6vJLvW3GREPnpYf Two ccNSO Policy Development Process Working Groups will provide an update on their progress to date and seek input from the ccTLDs and other community members present on their proposals: * The ccPDP3 Working Group, which develops a review mechanism for decisions pertaining to delegation, transfer, revocation and retirement of ccTLDs has - among others - identified the decisions that should be subject to a review mechanism, and is currently exploring the requirements for the review mechanism itself. * The ccPDP4 Working Group on the (de) selection of Internationalised Domain Name ccTLD strings is steadily making progress reviewing and updating the criteria, procedures and documentation of the process for the selection of IDN ccTLD strings The Working Group has compiled a brief document with the core criteria that will be discussed. Read more here<https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/162890072/Preparatory%20doc...>. You will have an opportunity to ask questions for clarifications. Moreover, the Working Group will seek feedback from the audience regarding separate elements that determine the direction of travel. Moreover, during this session, the ccTLD and broader communities will have an opportunity to learn more about the proposed policy regarding ccPDP3 on the retirement of country code top-level domains, which will now go into the decision-making phase. At its 17 June 2021 meeting<https://community.icann.org/display/ccNSOCWS/17+June+@ICANN71>, the ccNSO Council is expected to discuss and vote on the recommendation to adopt the proposed policy<https://ccnso.icann.org/en/workinggroups/pdp3-retirement-final-report-08jun2...> on the Retirement of ccTLDs (ccPDP3-RET<https://ccnso.icann.org/en/workinggroups/pdp-retirement.htm>), as developed by the ccPDP3-Retirement Working Group. If approved, the recommendation will be put forth to the ccNSO members to vote on. Voting in the first election round is expected to start on Wednesday, 7 July 2021 (00:01 UTC) and will close on Wednesday, 28 July (23:59 UTC). At least 50% of the ccNSO members need to lodge their votes, and at least 66% of the members need to vote in favour. Only if the recommended Retirement Policy gets approved by the ccNSO members, the policy recommendations will be presented to the ICANN Board of Directors for their consideration. A heads up regarding the upcoming member vote has been posted here<https://ccnso.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-03jun21-en.htm>. CSC/IANA SESSION Wednesday, 16 June 2021 | 14:30-15:30 UTC https://71.schedule.icann.org/meetings/pSMFgAPymfM4wmqGc A CSC/IANA update to the community will be held to inform the ccTLD and gTLD registry operators (and other interested stakeholders) about the latest with respect to the IANA Naming Function and CSC. This would be the first time since ICANN66, that the CSC, and IANA staff would meet with the direct customers of the IANA Naming Function, namely the ccTLD and gTLD registry operators. Goal of the session is to inform the community about the current state of affairs and what direct customers can expect in the near future. Consult the CSC website (https://www.icann.org/csc) for a detailed agenda. Best regards, Joke Braeken ccNSO Policy Advisor joke.braeken@icann.org