The GNSO Council was asked
this week by the board to work with the Government Advisory Committee to
provide policy advice in response to a December 13 letter from Intergovernmental
Organizations legal counsel seeking provision for a targeted exclusion of third
party registrations of the names and acronyms of IGOs both at the top and
second level, at least during ICANN’s first application round of new gTLDs.
The timing of the
application process does not allow adequate time for the GNSO Council to address
this matter.
It is an issue, though,
that needs to be addressed for future rounds, at both the first and second
levels. But, as the legal counsel
represent Intergovernmental Organizations, the focus first needs to rightly be
on them working with the GAC to provide advice to the Board. The Board can, as is explicit in the organizational
design of ICANN, then ask the GNSO Council to deal with the policy
implications.
In the near term, the
Council will re-visit a motion on providing top tier considerations for the IOC
and Red Cross to meet the deadline of the first round of the new gTLDs.