All, FYI. Jonathan From: Jonathan Robinson [mailto:jonathan.robinson@ipracon.com] Sent: 19 August 2014 09:39 To: Ram Mohan (rmohan@afilias.info) Subject: Interaction between the ICANN Board's IDN Variant Working Group and the GNSO Importance: High Dear Ram, I write to follow up on the meeting in London between the ICANN Board's IDN Variant Working Group and a number of GNSO Council and community members. I'd like to thank you and the other Board members for taking the time to meet with them to discuss the progress of ICANN's IDN Variant Program. We believe the discussion was helpful to all of us, and appreciate the updates that ICANN staff has been providing to the GNSO regarding ongoing work on the Program. I'd like to follow up on a specific observation that had been shared by a few GNSO community members in Singapore and London, regarding a perceived need for policy input into the Program by individuals with experience and expertise in ICANN policy development. Our discussions in Singapore and now in London have served to clarify that the current work being done in the Program (and specifically in P2.2) is largely technical in nature. In addition, I understand that ICANN's call last summer for advisors and experts to assist the Label Generation Rule-set (LGR) panels provided that the LGR panels might call on advisors (including ICANN staff) as the need arises. I note further that an advisor has already been appointed to the Integration Panel and that ICANN has announced that any additional advisors to be appointed will be at the request of the panels, in accordance with the LGR Procedure. As the Program progresses, and particularly in the near future as the panels conclude their work, some GNSO community members have noted that should the need for policy expertise arise at any point there are individuals within the GNSO who will be willing to volunteer to assist. In this regard the GNSO Council will be happy to serve as a contact point for any such requests. Separately, I note that a suggestion was made at the London meeting for interested GNSO community members to "self-organize" to review the original New gTLD IDN WG recommendations, with a view toward assisting Program staff with preparation for P7. It is my hope as GNSO Chair that these suggestions, along with ICANN staff continuing to provide their regular update to the GNSO on the Program, will allow the GNSO community to be of assistance to the important work of the Program and, in particular, if and when any policy questions are encountered. Thank you again for your time. I look forward to continuing our discussion and to facilitating any appropriate involvement of interested members of the GNSO community in the current and future work of the IDN Variant Program. Best regards, Jonathan Robinson GNSO Council Chair