September 2007 - council - lists.icann.org

Draft GNSO Council minutes 20 September 2007
by GNSO.SECRETARIAT＠GNSO.ICANN.ORG Oct. 10, 2007

Oct. 10, 2007

To: council[at]gnso.icann.org] Dear Council Members, Attached, and in plain text below, please find the draft minutes of the GNSO Council teleconference held on 20 SEptember 2007. Please let me know if you would like any changes made. Thank you very much. Kind regards, Glen ------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 September 2007 Proposed agenda and documents List of attendees: Philip Sheppard - Commercial & Business Users C Mike Rodenbaugh - Commercial & Business Users C. Bilal Beiram - Commercial & Business Users C Greg Ruth - ISCPC Antonio Harris - ISCPC Tony Holmes - ISCPC Thomas Keller- Registrars - absent Ross Rader - Registrars Adrian Kinderis - Registrars - absent - aplogies Chuck Gomes - gTLD registries Edmon Chung - gTLD registries - absent Cary Karp - gTLD registries Kristina Rosette - Intellectual Property Interests C Ute Decker - Intellectual Property Interests C Cyril Chau - Intellectual Property Interests C Robin Gross - NCUC Norbert Klein - NCUC Mawaki Chango - NCUC - absent Sophia Bekele - Nominating Committee appointee Jon Bing - Nominating Committee appointee - absent Avri Doria - Nominating Committee appointee 16 Council Members (20 Votes - quorum) ICANN Staff Denise Michel - Vice President, Policy Development Olof Nordling - Manager, Policy Development Coordination Kurt Pritz - Senior Vice President, Services Karen Lentz - Craig Schwartz - Chief gTLD Registry Liaison Patrick Jones - Registry Liaison Manager Glen de Saint Géry - GNSO Secretariat GNSO Council Liaisons Suzanne Sene - GAC Liaison - absent Alan Greenberg - ALAC Liaison Rita Rodin - ICANN Board member - absent - apologies Bruce Tonkin - ICANN Board member - absent - apologies Observers Tim Ruiz - Registrar Miriam Sapiro - consultant Liz Gasster - consultant MP3 Recording Chuck Gomes chaired the beginning of this meeting until Avri Doria arrived. Approval of the agenda Item 1: Update any Statements of Interest Mike Rodenbaugh noted that he was no longer with Yahoo, but had set up his own business, Rodenbaugh LLC.,currently a member of Business constituency and was thus representing himself. Mike also communicated that he would submit an updated statement of interest. Item 2: Report from IDN-ccTLD ad hoc group and discussion Summary of Report for discussion http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/ccnso-gac-issues-paper-idn-cctld-draft-21Aug07… http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/ccNSO-GAC-IDNs-issues-report-GNSO-draft-commen… Chuck Gomes noted that he was the author of the Summary of the GNSO Comments in response to the ccNSO-GAC Issues Report on IDN Issues, and it was distributed to members of the ad hoc group for comments. Working Group Information In its meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 29 June 2007, the ICANN Board approved the following resolution: “Resolved (07.56), the ICANN Board respectfully requests that that the ICANN community including the GNSO, ccNSO, GAC, and ALAC provide the Board with responses to the published list of issues and questions that need to be addressed in order to move forward with IDN ccTLDs associated with the ISO 3166-1 two-letter codes in a manner that ensures the continued security and stability of the Internet. The Board requests status reports regarding progress by the conclusion of the ICANN meeting in Los Angeles in October 2007.” It was decided in the Council meeting on 19 July to form a small ad-hoc group of volunteers who would develop draft responses to the questions asked in the "ccNSO-GAC Issues Report on IDN Policy Issues. The group worked via email and held three teleconference calls. Rough consensus was reached by the group regarding all the recommendations contained in the draft document. In cases where there were differing opinions, language was developed that most, if not all, could support. Document Overview Purpose: The document contains comments from the GNSO Council in response to the ccNSO-GAC Issues Report on IDN Issues. Four key documents are referenced throughout: 1. ccNSO-GAC Issues Report on IDN Issues 2. Adopted Board Resolutions - San Juan, Puerto Rico, 29 June 2007: Acknowledgement of Policy Progress on IDNs 3. Outcomes Report of the GNSO IDN Working Group 4. GNSO Reserved Names Working Group Final Report. The comments are divided into two sections: A. Comments related to an interim and an overall approach to IDN ccTLDs associated with the ISO 3166-1 two-letter codes in the context of the introduction of IDN gTLDs B. Input in response to the list of issues and questions identified by the ccNSO and the GAC. Note that every response is identified as ‘Proposed GNSO response’, recognizing that the Council needs to finalize the responses. Chuck Gomes read through a summary of the draft GNSO comment document that included proposed responses to the questions asked in the Issues Report and the following discussion occurred. Mike Rodenbaugh requested specificity or definition around the requirements and tests and their timeline as mentioned in 1."IDN TLDs (ccTLDs and gTLDs) should be introduced as soon as practicable after technical requirements and tests are successfully completed" Kurt Pritz would work with Chuck Gomes in providing the information. Tony Harris sought clarification on IDN ccTLDs, in the case of a country, such as India or China which could mirror their current two character ccTLD string in ASCII in their own alphabet. Chuck Gomes clarified that it did not make sense to refer to two characters or the length of the string when referring to IDNs in the same way as in the ISO 3166. Cary Karp added that the notion of abbreviations and of alphabetic strings were biased from the outset. Olof Nordling added the likely assumption was that the IDN ccTLDs would map to the territories which were currently identified in the ISO 3166. Alan Greenberg commented that if any given country reacted slowly and IDN ccTLDs were not introduced first, a gTLD could be approved, which might have been the logical IDN ccTLD for that given country and that there were no provisions in the gTLD for any mechanism to stop that. Avri Doria commented that it would fall under the objection process provided for in the new gLTD process. It was suggested and agreed that an executive summary, with pointers highlighting the key features should be available to the broader community to facilitate understanding and discussion at the Los Angeles meetings. Avri Doria proposed continuing the discussion of the recommendations on the Council mailing list as each recommendation had to be discussed separately for the GNSO council to agree as a whole with the proposed statements from the working group. Item 3: Follow-up on the Registrar Transfer Policy Review Advisory Concerning Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/Transfer-Advisory-23aug07.pdf Communication to GNSO on Policy Issues Arising from Transfer Review http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/Transfer-Policy-Issues-23aug07.pdf Points of Clarification Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy [PDF, 88K] http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/Transfer-Denial-Clarifications-23aug07.pdf Ross Rader reported that the working group on inter-registrar transfers had concluded its work. Pursuant to the GNSO Council resolution 20050512-03, the working group had a mandate to "...review the staff Transfers report in order to seek clarification, further information and provide guidance for the 6 month review and to report back to the Council..." The working group conducted its work through mailing lists and teleconferences sporadically held throughout 2005-2007 and with the assistance from Karen Lentz, on the ICANN staff, produced the following three reports: 1. Advisory Concerning Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy The report was submitted by the Working Group (WG) to the Council as a suggestion for an advisory to be posted and distributed to the community. It was intended to provide clarifications and reminders on some common questions. The items covered in the document were those raised by the WG and believed to be not generally well-known or understood. Kurt Pritz clarified that the Notice of Intent to Issue Advisory Regarding the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy posted on the ICANN website should complement the GNSO work and coincidentally was published at the same time.. 2. Points of Clarification Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy The WG document suggested tightening the language on 4 areas within the list of reasons for which a registrar may deny a transfer request - to modify these would require policy development work, but the document could be helpful as a starting point to reduce the time necessary to be spent on the work. The purpose was to move toward tighter wording of some key points in the existing policy to remove loopholes/provide clarification. The suggestions included in the document were based on available references to the intent of the original policy work. 3. Communication to GNSO on Policy Issues Arising from Transfer Review The document suggested areas in which further policy development work may be desirable but did not require immediate action. Ross Rader, seconded by Chuck Gomes proposed: "i) Whereas the GNSO Working Group on Inter-registrar Domain Transfers Policy Review (Transfers WG) has completed its work, and; ii) Whereas, the Transfers WG has provided a series of reports to the GNSO Council for its consideration, Be it resolved that; i) The GNSO Council will issue the working group report entitled "Advisory Concerning Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy" for constituency and community review and comment for a period of no less than 14 days, and; i.a) pursuant to this comment period, all material commentary will be summarized and reviewed by Council i.b) pursuant to the review by Council that the current, or an amended form of this report be provided to Staff for posting to the ICANN web site as a community advisory. ii) Pursuant to section 1.b of Annex A of ICANN's Bylaws, that the GNSO Council initiate the formal GNSO Policy Development Process by requesting the creation of an issues report evaluating issues raised by the working group document "Points of Clarification Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy". iii). That the GNSO Council form a short-term planning group to analyse and prioritize the policy issues raised in the report "Communication to GNSO on Policy Issues Arising from Transfer Review" before the Council further considers a PDP on any of the work discussed in the report." Avri Doria called for a voice vote. The motion passed unanimously by voice vote Ross Rader thanked the working group participants for their time and effort and expressed special thanks to Karen Lentz of ICANN for her patience, persistence and work. Item 4: Discuss agenda for LA public meeting Avri Doria commented on the different structure proposed, in response to community suggestions at the San Juan meeting, for the GNSO Public Forum and Council meeting in Los Angeles. Possible topics for discussion would be : - IGO dispute resolution - IDN ccTLD - Domain Tasting, - Whois services, The proposed format would be receiving community input, constituency and staff reports followed by the Council discussion and a vote, if required, on each topic. Council members cautioned that the topics should be carefully prepared and timed so as to prevent an extended public forum session and that any votes should perhaps be postponed if there was insufficient time for constituency consultation. The proposed topics for the GNSO Council and working group sessions: - on Saturday 27 October 2007, a discussion on Whois, IDN ccTLD and the rights protection mechanism working group report. - on Sunday 28 October 2007, a discussion on the GNSO reforms where the Board Governance committee has been invited to join the Council, preparation for the gTLD workshop on Monday and the joint GAG/GNSO Council discussion. All the meetings are open and observers are welcome to participate. Item 5: Follow up on Reserved Names for existing TLDs Staff Proposed Implementation Document on GNSO Reserved Names Working http://www.gnso.icann.org/drafts/icann-implementation-doc-gnso-rswg-04sep07… Patrick Jones reported that the Council discussed the Reserve Name recommendations at the meeting in San Juan and after some minor modifications were made, the staff developed the proposed implementation document from the recommendations. There was additional work staff was required to conduct with existing gTLD registries on gTLD names at the second level. For ICANN and IANA names, the recommendation was to maintain the existing reservation in the current registry agreements and that IANA/ICANN names at the top level would be dealt with in the implementation of the new gTLD process. In the case of existing registries, the recommendation was to consult with those parties that had a name on the reserve list and to find out if they wished to maintain that reservation. This outreach had not yet happened. On single letters and digits for the second level, the proposed implementation was for staff to develop proposed allocation methods and post a forum, after the Council call, on the ICANN website to request ideas. The recommendations that concern the top level, have been either included in the new TLD process or will be added as a contractual condition for the new TLDs. There was agreement that no Council action was necessary on the staff status report. Item 6: Action Item Review 6.1 Whois Constituency comments have been invited. Avri Doria invited Nominating Committee appointees, to submit individual comments to the WHOIS process as they did not form part of a constituency Kristina Rosette asked for clarification on the community public comment period that was already open for the WHOIS reports, as it was understood from the resolution that Council passed that the community public comment period on the final report would be from 15 - 31 October 2007. Avri Doria pointed out that the formal comment period on the version of the draft that included updated constituency statements would occur as decided in the council resolution. The current open comment opportunity had been arranged so that the public would have as much time to comment on the report as possible. There was general agreement that all the public comments should be included in the Final Report 6.2 New gTLD s - Olof Nordling reported that the document in preparation for the Board report had been sent to Denise Michel on October 19, 2007. - Chuck Gomes reported that a supplemental draft document, facilitating community understanding of the issue, would be ready at the beginning of October 2007. - The proposed plan for the new gTLD workshop on October 29 would be ready for Council review NLT October 4, 2007. 6.3 IGO issue follow up Olof Nordling reported that the document would meet the deadline for the Council meeting on 11 October 2007. 6.4 Domain Name Tasting The report would be discussed in Los Angeles 6.5 Report on the IDN ccTLDs Issue paper The report will be discussed during the Council session in Los Angeles on October 27, at the joint GAC/GNSO Meeting on October 28 and during the open Council meeting on October 31. Avri Doria would provide a summary to present at the ICANN public forum. 6.6 Registrar Transfer policy review Chuck Gomes suggested that the group examining the policy development process be composed of outside participants, not only councillors, and preferably participants who had been on the working group. 6.7 Proxy voting Awaiting a response from the General Counsel's office. 6.8 Term limits for Councillors A response is likely to be in the report from the Board Governance committee. Avri Doria adjourned the GNSO Council meeting and thanked everyone for their participation. The meeting ended at 16:00 UTC. Next GNSO Council teleconference will be on 11 October 2007 at 14:00 UTC. see: Calendar Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org

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Updated Statement of interest - add ref. to Interisle Consulting Group
by Avri Doria Oct. 5, 2007

Oct. 5, 2007

I am an independent research consultant and a part time adjunct professor at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. I also have a recurring contract with the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) as a consultant to its secretariat and am an affiliate of the Interisle Consulting Group. I currently have no employment, contract, statement of work, financial interest, share ownership or any other business relationship with ICANN, registries or registrars except as a registrant of several domain names. As part of my volunteer activities I give advice to various representatives of indigenous nomadic and semi-nomadic populations on Internet topics which include the possibility of obtaining an TLD. I am currently involved in activities that may lead to the creation of an non governmental organization (NGO) whose primary purpose would be to assist indigenous groups as well as populations from the less developed nations, NGOs active in representing the needs of these populations, and other advocacy groups, in obtaining a presence on the Internet. These activities may involve providing assistance in obtaining a TLD, including assistance in raising the necessary funding for a TLD, when that is an appropriate solution to their goals.

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Report on IGO Domain Names DRP
by olof nordling Sept. 29, 2007

Sept. 29, 2007

Dear Councilors, Attached please find a Staff Report on a draft IGO Domain Names Dispute Resolution Procedure, as requested by the Council at the San Juan meeting. Very best regards Olof

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Draft GNSO Council minutes 6 September 2007
by GNSO.SECRETARIAT＠GNSO.ICANN.ORG Sept. 26, 2007

Sept. 26, 2007

To: council[at]gnso.icann.org] Dear Council Members, Attached, please find the draft minutes of the GNSO Council teleconference held on 6 September 2007. Please let me know if you would like any changes made. Thank you very much. Kind regards, Glen -- Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org

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Nominating Committee Announces New Board Members and Supporting Organisation Roles
by GNSO.SECRETARIAT＠GNSO.ICANN.ORG Sept. 26, 2007

Sept. 26, 2007

[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org; liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: regional-liaisons[at]icann.org] http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-25sep07.htm Nominating Committee Announces New Board Members and Supporting Organisation Roles ICANN BOARD Harald Alvestrand (Norway - Europe) Dennis Jennings (Ireland/UK - Europe) Jean-Jacques Subrenat (France - Europe) Term: Conclusion of ICANN Annual Meeting for 2007 until conclusion of ICANN Annual Meeting for 2010 ccNSO COUNCIL Nashwa Abdel-Baki (Egypt - Africa) Term: Conclusion of ICANN Annual Meeting for 2007 until conclusion of ICANN Annual Meeting for 2010 GNSO COUNCIL Olga Cavalli (Argentina - Latin America and the Caribbean) Avri Doria (USA - North America) Term: Conclusion of ICANN Annual Meeting for 2007 until conclusion of ICANN Annual Meeting for 2009 INTERIM AT LARGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE Hue Nguyen (Vietnam - Asia) Vanda Scartezini (Brazil - Latin America and the Caribbean) Fatimata Sylla (Senegal - Africa) Term: Conclusion of ICANN Annual Meeting for 2007 until conclusion of ICANN Annual Meeting for 2009 GNSO Council Avri Doria (USA, North America) Avri Doria is an adjunct professor at LuleÂ University of Technology (LTU) in Sweden. She also works part time as a consultant to the IGF Secretariat at the UN, as an independent consultant and as an associate with Interisle consulting. Ms. Doria, has been an Internet technologist involved in the development of Internet protocols and architectures for over 25 years, an active participant in the IETF, past chair of the IRTF Routing Research group, and Senior Fellow and past Technical Committee Chair of the Multi Service Forum She has also been active in Internet Governance for the past 5 years, is currently chair of the ICANN GNSO council, was an active particpant in WSIS and post WSIS civil society, is a past chair of the Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus and was a member of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) . Ms Doria is a also a member of the APC Women's Networking Support Program. Her current projects include research into methods of bringing the Internet into areas that are communication challenged and is working with the semi-nomadic Sámi population of Sapmi (aka Lapland) to develop an ICT infrastructure for the UNESCO heritage region of Laponia. Another current project innvolves creating a graduate curriculum in Internet Governance at LTU. Ms. Doria has one MA from the University of Chicago in Philosophy and one from Rhode Island College in Counseling Psychology and is allegedly trying to complete a trans disciplinary PhD dissertation at Blekinge University of Technology in Sweden on the nature of the relationship between technology and governance. Olga Cavalli (Argentina, Latin America & Caribbean) Olga Cavalli is a ICT and Internet specialist with large experience in project management, market research, competitive analysis, public policy and regulations. This experience has been developed in a multistakeholder environment. Ms. Cavalli is a professor at Universidad de Buenos Aires, at the Instituto Tecnológico Buenos Aires and at the Diplomacy Career of the Ministry of Foreing Affairs of Argentina. In these institutions she teaches subjects related with technology and public policy. She is also an invited teacher and speaker to several other institutions from Argentina and other countries. Ms. Cavalli is a member of the Advisory Group for the Internet Governance Forum. As an advisor of the Ministry of Foreing Affairs of Argentina, she has represented Argentina in the WSIS Second Phase held in Tunis, also in the GAC of ICANN (Governmental Advisor Committee). She is also involved in activities in the ccNSO of ICANN and in LAC TLD. Ms. Cavalli is the argentine focal point for the eLAC 2007 Regional Information Society Plan of Action, she is the coordinator of the Internet Governance Group in eLAC 2007 and was former coordinator of the Financing eLAC 207 working group. She has also been responsible for evaluating the argentine export offer in technology and for advising the Ministry in technology trends and public policy related with technology. She has published papers and articles in many magazines and newspapers from Argentina and South America, about Internet, telecommunications and IT regulations and market. In the private sector she has worked as a consultant for many companies and non governmental organizations from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela, USA, Canada and Germany. Graduated as Electronic and Electric Engineer at Universidad de Mendoza, she has completed her background with and MBA at the Universidad del CEMA and a Masters Degree in Telecommunication Regulation at Universidad de Buenos Aires. Today she is a PHD Candidate at the PHD in Business Administration program at the Universidad del CEMA. She is fluent in English, German and Portuguese, and she can read and understand Italian and French. She is a member of the Argentine Chapter of Internet Society (ISOC) and she is a Certified Engineer at the Consejo de Profesionales de Ingeniería Electrónica of Argentina, COPITEC. She is the mother of Juana (12) and Federico (18). -- Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org

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Follow-up to call last Thursday re New gTLD actions
by Olof Nordling Sept. 25, 2007

Sept. 25, 2007

Dear all, At the call last Thursday, the question was raised whether other SOs and ACs had been informed about the New gTLD Final Report - I promised to consult Denise and get back to you. Denise has indeed already informed the other SOs and ACs, when inviting them to the LA workshop on the topic. Very best regards Olof

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ICANN's General Calendar of Internet Community Events
by GNSO.SECRETARIAT＠GNSO.ICANN.ORG Sept. 25, 2007

Sept. 25, 2007

[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org; liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: regional-liaisons[at]icann.org] Please note the calendar page http://www.icann.org/general/calendar/ that gives an overall view of Internet Community events. Thank you. Kind regards, -- Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org

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Updated Statement of Interest for Mike Rodenbaugh
by Mike Rodenbaugh Sept. 24, 2007

Sept. 24, 2007

I am owner of Rodenbaugh LLC, a member of the Business and Commercial Users Constituency. I am an attorney licensed in California. I advise and represent entities and individuals with various commercial interests in domain names and other forms of intellectual property, and with varying interests in internet commerce. I am personally concerned about the security and stability of the Internet, as it is increasingly the backbone of our society, critical to global commerce, communications and safety. So I am interested in ICANN's role in managing and coordinating the technical and policy aspects of the Internet. I am mindful of the many enormous benefits of the internet that are fostered by ICANN policy, and seek for ICANN policy to develop in ways that will enhance the growth of internet commerce and communications. I am also concerned about various, serious harms enabled by policies of ICANN and its contracting registries and accredited registrars, or by lack of effective policy. Businesses and their customers are experiencing increasingly severe harm from phishing, malware distribution, hacking and other forms of online crime and intellectual property infringement. For many years I served as in-house counsel at Yahoo! Inc., working increasingly to protect Yahoo! users and their commercial and personal interests, as well as Yahoo!'s commercial interests, against these increasing worldwide threats. I believe that these harms will continue to rapidly grow, unless DNS policies are adapted to help fight them. So I strive for DNS policy that helps to mitigate those threats as much as reasonably possible. On occasion, I may have clients with similar concerns, or who have other policy interests at ICANN. As a representative elected to the GNSO Council by the collective members of the Business Constituency, I am required by the Constituency's Charter to support and otherwise remain faithful to approved positions of the Constituency as applicable, rather than my own views or those of any client I may have at any given time. To the extent that any client seeks my representation or advocacy in any ICANN forum, I would further disclose the identity of such client and their interest in the matter at the time of that representation.

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ICANN, TWNIC Host “Toward the New Era of Internet”- IDN Key topic
by GNSO.SECRETARIAT＠GNSO.ICANN.ORG Sept. 24, 2007

Sept. 24, 2007

[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org; liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: regional-liaisons[at]icann.org; gnso-idn-wg[at]icann.org] http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-20sep07.htm ICANN, TWNIC Host “Toward the New Era of Internet” in Taipei Internationalized domain names, Internet security key topics at three-day meeting 20 September 2007 MARINA DEL REY, Calif.: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is joining forces with the Taiwan Network Information Centre (TWNIC) to host a special regional meeting — “Toward the New Era of Internet” — in Taipei 19-21 October 2007. “ICANN, TWNIC, and the global Internet community are tackling some of the most important issues impacting the Internet since its creation,” said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN’s President and CEO. “This meeting is an opportunity for technical communities, Internet businesses, and policy makers from the Asia-Pacific to come together and share thoughts and ideas on how we can move forward together.” Some of the meeting highlights include: * Internet security and the challenges it presents to governments, service providers, and end-users * The need for a migration to IPv6, with its 340 trillion trillion trillion Internet Protocol addresses, because of the depletion of the widely-used IPv4 space * One of the last official ICANN functions for Board Chair Vint Cerf, whose term ends at the Los Angeles International Public Meeting at the end of October. * ICANN’s progress on implementing internationalized domain names (IDNs), which have the goal of adding to the 37 characters presently available for domain names to tens of thousands of characters from many of the languages of the world. “IDNs are going to change the face of the Internet when they arrive — it will give people the chance to register domain names with their names in their languages,” Dr Twomey added. “ICANN is about to launch a technical evaluation of the impact IDNs will have, and if all goes well internationalized domain names could be available sometime in 2008.” Links to the agenda and registration for the Taipei meeting are online at: http://taipei2007.icann.org/. -- Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org

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Request for Comments — ICANN Board Review Draft Terms of Reference
by GNSO.SECRETARIAT＠GNSO.ICANN.ORG Sept. 24, 2007

Sept. 24, 2007

[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org; liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: regional-liaisons[at]icann.org] Please note that the request for Comments on ICANN Board Review Draft Terms of Reference is open until October 11, 2007 http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-20sep07.htm 20 September 2007 As part of the 2002-03 Evolution and Reform process, the ICANN community and Board established a principle of ongoing review of ICANN's structures to ensure their continuing relevance and effectiveness. This principle was embedded in the ICANN bylaws — making it a rare example in an international entity of constitutionally-required ongoing reform. In accordance with this requirement, and as part of ICANNs ongoing commitment to evolution and improvement, the Board approved at ICANN's December 2006 meeting in Sao Paulo a comprehensive schedule for independent review of ICANNs structures. The Board, on the recommendation of the Board Governance Committee, subsequently expanded this list to include the Board itself. The schedule is as follows: * Nominating Committee estimated launch — December 2006 * At-Large Advisory Committee estimated launch — February 2007 * DNS Root Server System Advisory Committee estimated launch — July 2007 * Board estimated launch — October 2007 * Security and Stability Advisory Committee estimated launch — January 2008 * ccNSO Supporting Organisation estimated launch — July 2008 * Address Supporting Organisation (ASO) estimated launch — December 2008 The reviews are intended to ensure an independent examination of the role and operation of key elements of ICANN. As with the first two independent reviews, which were completed for the GNSO Council and the GNSO , these reviews will be conducted in an objective manner by independent reviewers, under guidance from the Board on each reviews terms of reference, and with the opportunity for public comment on the results of the reviews. As specified in Article IV, Section 4 of ICANNs Bylaws, the goal of the review, to be undertaken pursuant to such criteria and standards as the Board shall direct, shall be to determine (i) whether that organization has a continuing purpose in the ICANN structure, and (ii) if so, whether any change in structure or operations is desirable to improve its effectiveness. The results of these reviews shall be posted for public review and comment, and shall be considered by the Board not later than its second scheduled meeting after being posted for 30 days. Consideration by the Board includes the ability to revise the structure or operation of the Nominating Committee by a two-thirds vote of all members. The Draft Terms of Reference for a review of the Board is to be found at http://www.icann.org/reviews/icann-board-review-20sep07.pdf [PDF, 17K]. They are open for public comment until October 11, 2007. Public comments should be made at board-review-tor(a)icann.org and can be reviewed at http://forum.icann.org/lists/board-review-tor/. -- Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org

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