Dear Councilors, Below, please find an explanatory note from ICANN org related to the Community gTLD Change Request process and the related public comment; the Report of Comments is now published. Please note, this topic is captured on the Consent Agenda in the Final Proposed Agenda circulated earlier by staff. Best, Steve Executive Summary Following the guidance from the GNSO Council in November 2017, the ICANN org and the Community gTLD Change Request Working Group collaborated to revise the draft procedure for ICANN to consider change requests to Specification 12 of Community generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) Registry Agreements requested by community gTLD registry operators. Subsequently, the ICANN org initiated a public comment proceeding from 14 February to 2 April 2018. Based on the results of the public comment proceeding, the ICANN org recommends continuing to treat this as a matter of implementation. We kindly request the GNSO Council’s review and confirmation. Background Community gTLD registry operators formed a working group in 2016 to develop a draft procedure by collaborating with the ICANN org and by seeking input from the RySG. The Applicant Guidebook and new gTLD Registry Agreement (RA) imply there should be a mechanism to allow modifications to Specification 12 of the RA, but the Applicant Guidebook also noted that the criteria for changes to community restrictions might be a policy matter. Therefore, the ICANN org encouraged the working group to consult with the GNSO Council to ensure this is a matter for implementation (which it did in September and October 2017). In November 2017, the GNSO Council provided guidance to publish the draft procedure for Public Comment after the working group addressed comments on the procedure from the ICANN org. From the Council’s guidance, “in the event that comments are received indicating the process is not consistent with existing policy the Council will reconsider the matter. Absent such comments the process will be understood as this being an implementation matter.” Summary of Public Comments ICANN received a total of seven comments during the public comment proceeding. Aside from one comment requesting additional background, all other commenters noted general support for the development of a procedure that allows ICANN to consider modifications, but not removal, of the community restrictions in Specification 12. Two of these commenters suggested edits or sought clarification on procedural clarifications and implementation details. The ICANN org confirms no comments were received that indicated the process is not consistent with existing policy. For additional details, please see the Report of Comments. Summary of Changes Made to the Draft Procedure The ICANN org and the working group discussed updates to the draft procedure based on the comments and are working to finalize the procedure to implement and post on ICANN.org. A number of these accepted changes were requests to clarify questions within Annex A (Community gTLD Change Request Form) and the timing of certain steps. Conclusion After consideration of comments received, the ICANN org and the Community gTLD Change Request Working Group concluded that comments did not indicate the procedure is in conflict with existing policy. Barring feedback to the contrary from the GNSO Council, the ICANN org concludes this can continue to be handled as an implementation matter. Following the guidance from the GNSO Council in November 2017, we kindly request the council’s review and confirmation. Steven Chan Policy Director, GNSO Support ICANN 12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300 Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536 steve.chan@icann.org mobile: +1.310.339.4410 office tel: +1.310.301.5800 office fax: +1.310.823.8649 Find out more about the GNSO by taking our interactive courses and visiting the GNSO Newcomer pages. Follow @GNSO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ICANN_GNSO Follow the GNSO on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/icanngnso/ http://gnso.icann.org/en/