Dear Councilors, In support of item 7 on the Council’s July meeting, please find the briefing document referenced in the description of the agenda item. Please note that while the document has been seen by Work Track leadership and Council leadership, this is primarily a staff document prepared upon request. The intention of the document is to help provide the context for the two issues being brought to the attention of the Council, as well as to provide a proposed path forward, at least in respect of Question 1 (i.e., procedural issue regarding the Work Track’s status) . For Question 2 (i.e., consistency with limitations of the Addendum), we have included some factors that may aid the Council in its deliberations. Note however that we have done so with some reluctance as this discussion has not yet taken place at the Work Track level, so we have sought to simply provide statements of fact, not necessarily analysis. Apologies for the late delivery. Best, Steve Steven Chan Senior Director, GNSO Support Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300 Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536 Email: steve.chan@icann.org Skype: steve.chan55 Mobile: +1.310.339.4410 Find out more about the GNSO by visiting: https://learn.icann.org/ Follow @GNSO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ICANN_GNSO Transcripts and recordings of GNSO Working Group and Council events are located on the GNSO Master Calendar