Dear Anne,
Thanks for your mail and do permit me to respond inline marked in BOLD letterings.
HI Lawrence. I note there are a number of comments in the SPIRT Issue Consideration document that is linked in your memo. There is also
a suggestion from one member that the draft document be "cleaned up" with agreed edits being accepted. This would be helpful before it is considered by Council as a recommendation for Council deliberations.
The document linked defines the process through which a SPIRT member can present an issue before the leadership team (LT)
for consideration and where the SPiRT LT finds merit in the request, passes it on to the GNSO Council via the liaison through the standard or expedited process presented to council at our last meeting.
Hence the document you referenced is for the process that defines how SPiRT members bring issues before SPiRT leadership which is different from the process I presented, as that defines how the council approves that the SPiRT goes ahead to work with staff
at applying the predictability test on issues being brought before the SPiRT. The task now before the GNSO Council is to adopt the standard and expedited process as mechanisms through which instructions/directives of Council could help SPiRT deal with issues
in a timely manner (especially as the issue brought before the Council by SPIRT would need a determination by ICANN staff if it is relevant change to the current round or not).
As I understand it, what the SPIRT team is trying to address is to develop a mechanism for the SPIRT to raise an issue at Council e.g in the case of a disagreement between the SPIRT and ICANN staff on
a change to the program. Is that correct? Not Quite, before the SPIRT can engage with ICANN org to discuss an issue
requiring some change to the new gTLD program in the upcoming round, the consent of the GNSO Council would be required, thus the process currently under adoption. The defined process is to allow the SPiRT start the necessary discussion that may evolve into
a disagreement between ICANN staff and SPiRT where any of both parties are not aligned.
Regarding the submission form to be used to identify the issue, my recollection regarding the Charter is that the SPIRT is required to raise an issue with Council if it considers that a policy change
is required. This document would provide a means for SPIRT to raise an issue for Council's attention even where the SPIRT believes there is no policy issue involved, right? This
is Correct And it says that if the issue is "time-sensitive", SPIRT can use a "no response" time limit to proceed if no objection is raised on the Council list? Do you view that as consistent
with the SPIRT Charter? YES, this is consistent with the SPiRT charter. Any Type 2 or Type 3 change by the SPiRT would
require a directive from the GNSO Council that the SPiRT interface with ICANN staff to evaluate the issue(s) and apply the Predictability test to determine if a change is required, weather it results in a policy change or not. Secondly it is only when the
issue is properly evaluated that a determination can be made if it would result in a policy change or not.
Again the current proposal presented to council is the process to trigger the necessary discussion between SPiRT and ICANN staff to make this determination.
Is there a cleaner version of the "SPIRT Issue Consideration" document for Council to discuss at this time? Have the comments been resolved or are you asking Council to discuss the comments in the linked
document? The SPiRT team members are in the process of finalizing their proposal based on inputs in the linked document,
while we await the opportunity as council to contribute to that process, Council at this point should:
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Approve the procedure leading to the expedited process and standardized process of bringing before the Council issues from the SPiRT and communicating council’s approval back to the SPiRT.
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Make a decision to allow staff provide council a draft of a procedural document outlining how the council should proceed and respond to issues raised by the SPiRT in order to have same approved in time before the Next Round application process kicks off.
Looking forward to more background information during the Council meeting.
Apologies for my late response to your mail, Anne.
Thank you,
Anne
LOR
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From: Anne ICANN <anneicanngnso@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2026 1:38:53 AM
To: Lawrence O. Olawale-Roberts <lawrence@microboss.org>
Cc: Justine Chew <justine.chew.icann@gmail.com>; GNSO-Secs <gnso-secs@icann.org>; council@icann.org <council@icann.org>
Subject: Re: [council] Re: Council Process for Response to SPIRT Request.
HI Lawrence. I note there are a number of comments in the SPIRT Issue Consideration document that is linked in your memo. There is also a suggestion from one member that the draft document be "cleaned up" with agreed edits being accepted.
This would be helpful before it is considered by Council as a recommendation for Council deliberations.
As I understand it, what the SPIRT team is trying to address is to develop a mechanism for the SPIRT to raise an issue at Council e.g in the case of a disagreement between the SPIRT and ICANN staff on a change to the program. Is that correct?
Regarding the submission form to be used to identify the issue, my recollection regarding the Charter is that the SPIRT is required to raise an issue with Council if it considers that a policy change is required. This document would provide a means for
SPIRT to raise an issue for Council's attention even where the SPIRT believes there is no policy issue involved, right? And it says that if the issue is "time-sensitive", SPIRT can use a "no response" time limit to proceed if no objection is raised on the
Council list? Do you view that as consistent with the SPIRT Charter?
Is there a cleaner version of the "SPIRT Issue Consideration" document for Council to discuss at this time? Have the comments been resolved or are you asking Council to discuss the comments in the linked document?
Looking forward to more background information during the Council meeting.
Thank you,
Anne
Anne Aikman-Scalese
GNSO Councilor
NomCom Non-Voting 2022-2026
On Tue, Apr 7, 2026 at 6:41 AM Lawrence O. Olawale-Roberts via council <
council@icann.org> wrote:
Dear Justine and All,
I would presume that a time-sensitive request would be one where mitigation required would span a number of days to 3-4 months if not more.
The goal here is to mandate an instruction from Council to the SPIRT Team in liaising with ICANN staff to proffer alternatives to a change on a process impacting the New gTLD Round - The standard process to secure a Council request to act alone may take 2-3
months (where Councilors seek a deferral in the process), hence any action that may require attention within a 3-6 month timeline should be classified as time-sensitive.
The edits to read GNSO Chair and Types of Changes are accepted and effected.
LOR.
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Dear Lawrence,
Thanks for the summary document. I have a question and 2 comments:-
1. Do we have an indication of what is considered "time-sensitive" or not?
2. Consider amending "GNSO Council Chair" to "GNSO Chair" as referenced in the Bylaws Section 11.3(g)
3. Consider amending "Types of Change Request" to "Types of Changes" just to avoid confusion with Application Change Request
Kind regards,
Justine
On Tue, 7 Apr 2026 at 04:24, Lawrence O. Olawale-Roberts via council <
council@icann.org> wrote:
Dear Council Colleagues,
On the council agenda for our upcoming meeting is an agenda item under AOB to resolve the Council Process for Response
to SPIRT Requests. Seeing that the time for this segment is packed I elected to provide a brief summary on our request to Council via the attached document.
I am open to reviewing ideas or answering any questions you may have before our meeting.
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