Dear all,

Please find below the resolutions from the GNSO Council meeting on 11 December 2025 which will be posted shortly on the GNSO Council resolutions page. 

Thank you.

Kind regards,

Terri

Policy Team Supporting the GNSO

**Beginning of the CONSENT AGENDA items

Motion - Confirmation of GNSO Representative to the Empowered Community Administration

Submitted by: Taiwo Peter Akinremi

Whereas,

1. The GNSO Council confirmed in November 2025 that the GNSO Chair (currently Susan Payne) will represent the GNSO as the Decisional Participant on the Empowered Community (EC) Administration on an interim basis;
2. The GNSO Council leadership team subsequently met to agree who from the GNSO Council leadership team would perform the role of GNSO representative to the Empowered Community Administration and mutually agreed that Jennifer Chung, Council Vice Chair, would serve in the role.

Resolved,

1. The GNSO Council hereby confirms that Jennifer Chung, Council Vice Chair, will represent the GNSO as the Decisional Participant on the Empowered Community Administration until the end of her term at ICANN87;
2. The GNSO representative shall act solely as directed by the GNSO Council in accordance with the ICANN Bylaws and other related GNSO Operating Procedures;
3. The GNSO Council requests the GNSO Secretariat to communicate this decision to the ICANN Secretary which will serve as the required written certification from the GNSO Chair designating the individual who shall represent the Decisional Participant on the EC Administration.

Vote Results

**Updated on 05 December 2025 (added names)

Motion to Confirm the GNSO Standing Selection Committee (SSC) Members and Leadership for 2026

Submitted by: Taiwo Peter Akinremi

Whereas,

1. The GNSO Standing Selection Committee (SSC) is tasked, as requested by the GNSO Council, to 1) where applicable, prepare and issue calls for applications related to the selection or nomination of candidates for ICANN structures such as ICANN review teams, 2) review and evaluate all relevant applicants/candidates, 3) rank candidates and make selection/appointment recommendations for review and approval by Council, and 4) communicate selections to all interested parties;
2. The membership of the SSC (9 members, not including the ex-officio members) is reconfirmed annually, which needs to be appointed and/or reconfirmed by the leadership of the appointing Stakeholder Groups and/or Constituencies;
3. Following reconfirmation each year, the SSC selects a Chair and one or two Vice-Chair(s) from its membership;
4. The SSC selected a leadership team for 2026, which is submitted for confirmation to the GNSO Council by way of this motion:

• Julf Helsingius to serve for a first term as Chair.
• Vivek Goyal to serve for a first term as Vice-Chair.

Resolved,

1. The GNSO Council confirms the SSC membership and leadership team for 2026:

• Chair: Julf Helsingius
• Vice-Chair: Vivek Goyal

2. The GNSO Council requests the GNSO Secretariat to inform SSC that the membership and leadership team has been confirmed;
3. The GNSO Council thanks the members, Chair, and Vice-Chair for volunteering to serve on the SSC. 

Vote Results

**Updated on 10 December 2025 (added names)

Motion to Confirm the Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (SPIRT) Leadership for 2025-2027

Submitted by: Taiwo Peter Akinremi

Whereas,

1. On 8 August 2024, the GNSO Council adopted the SPIRT Charter;
2. On 22 September 2025, the GNSO Council called for volunteers to the SPIRT, extending the deadline from 17 October 2025 to 7 November 2025;
3. On 7 November 2025, administrative updates were made to the SPIRT Charter following the ICANN Board adoption of the Applicant Guidebook (AGB) on 30 October 2025. Here, the Charter included reference to the ICANN Community Participant Code of Conduct Concerning Statements of Interest;
4. On 10 November 2025, the Call for Volunteers for SPIRT Leadership was announced, inviting members to serve on the inaugural SPIRT Leadership Team, which will consist of one (1) Chair and up to two (2) Vice-Chairs. There were a total of four (4) Chair candidates and nine (9) Vice-Chair candidates;
5. On 4 December, the SPIRT selected a Leadership Team to serve for the 2025-2027 term, which is submitted for confirmation to the GNSO Council by way of this motion:

• Jeff Neuman to serve for a first term as Chair.
• Cheryl Langdon-Orr and Segunfunmi Olajide to serve for a first term as Vice-Chairs.

Resolved,

1. The GNSO Council confirms the SPIRT Leadership Team for 2025-2027:

• Chair: Jeff Neuman
• Vice-Chairs: Cheryl Langdon-Orr and Segunfunmi Olajide

2. The GNSO Council requests the GNSO Secretariat to inform SPIRT that the Leadership Team has been confirmed;
3. The GNSO Council thanks the Chair and Vice-Chair(s) for volunteering to serve on the SPIRT. 

Vote Results

Motion for GNSO Council Review of ICANN84 GAC Communiqué

Submitted by: Taiwo Peter Akinremi

Whereas,

1. The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) advises the ICANN Board on issues of public policy, and especially where there may be an interaction between ICANN's activities or policies and national laws or international agreements. It usually does so as part of a Communiqué, which is published towards the end of every ICANN Public Meeting;
2. The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) is responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains (gTLDs);
3. The GNSO Council has expressed a desire to provide feedback to the ICANN Board on issues in the GAC Communiqué as these relate to gTLDs to inform the ICANN Board as well as the broader community of past, present, or future gTLD policy activities that may directly or indirectly relate to Advice provided by the GAC;
4. The GNSO Council's review of GAC Communiqué Advice and Issues of Importance is intended to further enhance the co-ordination and promote the sharing of information on gTLD related policy activities between the GAC, Board, and the GNSO.

Resolved,

1. The GNSO Council adopts the GNSO Review of the ICANN84 Dublin Communiqué Issues of Importance and requests that the GNSO Council Chair communicate the GNSO Council Review of ICANN84 GAC Communiqué Issues of Importance to the ICANN Board;
2. The GNSO Council requests that the GNSO Liaison to the GAC also informs the GAC of the communication between the GNSO Council and the ICANN Board.

Vote Results

**End of the CONSENT AGENDA items

**Friendly amendment submitted by Jennifer Chung and accepted by Jennifer Chung and Damon Ashcraft

Motion - DNS Abuse Mitigation - PDP 1 and PDP 2 

Submitted by: Jennifer Chung 

Seconded by: Damon Ashcraft

 WHEREAS, 

1. The GNSO Council recognizes that DNS Abuse is a longstanding topic[1] that the GNSO has devoted two Small Teams to in 2022 and 2025; 

2. In April 2025, the GNSO Council tasked a Small Team consisting of Council members to consider what policy efforts, if any, the GNSO Council should consider undertaking after considering new data that has been received, since the last DNS Abuse Small Team Recommendations in 2022; 

3. The Small Team delivered its Report, containing 4 recommendations, to the GNSO Council on 4 August; 

4. The GNSO Council requested an Issue Report on DNS Abuse in August 2025 and in doing so, suggested three (3) priority topics that should be included in the Policy Development Process (PDP) on DNS Abuse that is expected to follow the completion of the Final Issue Report; 

5. The Preliminary Issue Report was published for Public Comment on 8 September and received 27 submissions; 

6. During ICANN84, the GNSO organised a working session on DNS Abuse to further inform the Final Issue Report and Draft Charter; 

7. On 13 November, the Council discussed the proposed updates to the Final Issue Report based on community input and provided further feedback on PDP structure, the WG Model, and Charter Questions/Scope; 

8. On 1 December 2025, the Final Issue Report on a PDP on DNS Abuse Mitigation was delivered to the GNSO Council, which accounted for the Public Comment review process summarized through a Public Comment Summary Report; 

9. Informed by the DNS Abuse Small Team`s recommendations, the Public Comment on the Preliminary Issue Report, the ICANN84 DNS Abuse working sessions, and the clear preference for narrowly scoped Policy Development Processes (PDP), the Final Issue Report recommends two separate PDPs on:

a. Associated Domain Checks: A framework requiring registrars to proactively investigate domains linked to malicious actors, particularly in cases of high-volume domain registrations used for DNS Abuse campaigns; and, 

b. Safeguards for Application Programming Interface (API) access to new customers: A proactive approach that seeks to introduce friction for new customer accounts, prior to gaining access to high volume registration tools until trust is established; and, 

10. The Final Issue Report further recommends that the PDP on Associated Domain Check be started first, hereafter DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP 1. The PDP on Safeguards for unrestricted Application Programming Interface (API) access, hereafter DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP 2, second, will follow when the Council decides it is an appropriate time taking into consideration the progress and resources needed for DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP 1. 

RESOLVED, 

1. The GNSO Council adopts the recommendation for two (2) PDPs on DNS Abuse Mitigation and initiates DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP 1 and DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP 2; 
2. The GNSO Council requests the formation of a Charter drafting team on PDP 1 to further update the Charter where relevant and present it for a vote by the Council at its next meeting; 

3. The GNSO Council requests that the DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP 1 Working Group be convened as soon as possible after the adoption of the Charter in order to fulfill the requirements of this PDP; 

4. The GNSO Council will revisit the draft Charter and timing for the commencement of DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP 2 when deemed appropriate based upon the progress and resources needed for PDP 1. The Council asks staff to find efficiencies where sensible and appropriate in managing the two separate PDPs. 

5. The GNSO Council requests that DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP 2 be convened after the Charter is adopted. 

6. The GNSO Council thanks the DNS Abuse Small Team, the ICANN Community and everybody who contributed to it for their efforts in moving this important topic forward, with the aim to improve the security and stability of the Internet. 

[1] Some past work includes: 

● Registration Abuse Policies WG Final Report from 2010: https://gnso.icann.org/issues/rap/rap-wg-final-report-29may10-en.pdf (some, but not all recommendations adopted) 

● Staff best practices discussion paper from 2011: https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/filefield_26745/discussion-paper-rap-best-practices-28sep11-en.pdf

● Uniformity of Contracts to Address Registration Abuse Final Issue Report 2012: https://gnso.icann.org/en/issues/registration-abuse/uofc-final-issue-report-20sep12-en.pdf(Final Issue Report, but not sufficient support to initiate a PDP at the time) 

● DNS Abuse Small Team Report 2022: https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/policy/2022/correspondence/dns-abuse-small-team-to-gnso-council-07oct22-en.pdf

● ICANN Contract Amendments 2024: https://www.icann.org/en/contracted-parties/registry-operators/global-amendments/2024-global-amendments

● DNS Abuse Small Team Report 2025: ○ https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/policy/2025/draft/dns-abuse-small-team-report-04aug25-en.pdf

Vote Results

NCSG Statement

Motion to Accept the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) Standing Committee Findings Report

Submitted by: Susan Payne

Seconded by: Prudence Malinki

Whereas,

1. Following the review of the System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) Operational Design Assessment (ODA) and subsequent conversations between the ICANN Board and the GNSO Council, the ICANN Board decided to proceed with a “proof of concept” approach to help inform a decision on how to proceed with the EPDP Phase 2 Final Report recommendations for an SSAD.
2. During a Special Meeting on 27 February 2023, the ICANN Board passed a resolution directing ICANN org to develop and launch a new ticketing system to handle requests for access to generic top-level domain (gTLD) nonpublic registration data.
3. On 28 November 2023, ICANN org launched the RDRS as a two-year pilot program to gather usage and demand data intended to inform the ICANN Board’s decision on next steps.
4. Specifically, the Board acknowledged the main purpose of the RDRS is to collect data about system usage, which would be used inform future discussions between the GNSO Council and the ICANN Board on the pending Recommendations 1–18 of the Final Report of the GNSO Expedited Policy Development Process on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data Phase 2.
5. On 21 September 2023 the GNSO Council passed a motion to adopt the Charter for a Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) Standing Committee.
6. The Standing Committee was tasked to review the data that will be produced by ICANN org on a monthly basis following the launch of the RDRS. The Scoping Team is expected to analyze the data and consider:
   1. Assignment #1: Trends that can be identified over a month-by-month period;
   2. Assignment #2: Possible technical updates that should be considered to RDRS and/or related messaging and promotion (recognizing that the RDRS will only be running for a two-year period and limited resources may be available to implement such updates);
   3. Assignment #3: Specific lessons learned that should be factored into the consideration of how to proceed with the SSAD recommendations;
   4. Assignment #4: Suggestions to the Council for a proposed recommendation(s) to the ICANN Board in relation to the consideration of the SSAD recommendations.
7. During ICANN81, the RDRS SC agreed to start drafting its findings report. The RDRS SC deemed that after one year the pilot had yielded enough data for the RDRS SC to start formulating recommendations to help inform policy discussion related to EPDP Phase2/SSAD.
8. On 19 August 2025, RDRS Standing Committee Findings Report was published for Public Comment and included six recommendations and lessons learned from the RDRS pilot that may inform future discussions between the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council and the ICANN Board on the pending System for Standardized Access Disclosure (SSAD) consensus policy recommendations.
9. Following its review of the public comments received, the Standing Committee updated its Findings Report and shared the updated version with the GNSO Council on 20 November 2025.

Resolved, 

1. The GNSO Council accepts the RDRS SC Findings Report as helpful empirical input to inform future deliberations within the GNSO regarding the next steps on the EPDP Phase 2 SSAD Recommendations. For the avoidance of doubt, the Standing Committee’s Findings Report and the recommendations therein do not constitute GNSO policy recommendations.
2. The GNSO Council would like to thank the RDRS Standing Committee for its work on this report, and, in particular, thank you to Sebastien Ducos and John McElwaine who diligently served as the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee.

Vote Results