Councilors – Please be aware of the following resolution was adopted by the ICANN Board during its meeting in Copenhagen (below). I will work with Marika, Mary and the Vice Chairs to develop a draft motion that conforms to our existing PDP Amendment/Modification procedures, and plan to introduce this in time for our next meeting on 20 APR. We have already notified the chair of the previous PDP (Thomas Rickert) that his services may be required again, and he has tentatively agreed to help in this regard. Stay tuned for updates… Thank you, J. ------------------ James Bladel GNSO Chair Protections for Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement Identifiers in gTLDs Whereas, at ICANN57 in Hyderabad the Board proposed that the GAC and the GNSO engage in a facilitated, good faith discussion to attempt to resolve outstanding inconsistencies between GAC public policy advice and GNSO consensus policy recommendations regarding second-level protections in all gTLDs for the identifiers (names and acronyms) of International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs). This includes certain identifiers of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (referred to as "Scope 2 Identifiers" in the Policy Development Process (PDP) Working Group Final Report on the Protection of IGO and INGO Identifiers in All gTLDs<https://gnso.icann.org/en/issues/igo-ingo-final-10nov13-en.pdf> [PDF, 644 KB]). Whereas, the Board acknowledged that any outcome of any dialogue between the affected parties would be conditioned on, and would be reviewed according to, the GAC's and the GNSO's own internal processes. Whereas, representatives from the GAC and the GNSO engaged in a facilitated discussion at ICANN58 in Copenhagen concerning protections for International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement identifiers (Recommendation 5) in Section 3.1. of the PDP Working Group's Final Report. Whereas, the starting place for the facilitated discussion was a problem statement and briefing materials reviewed by the affected parties (https://community.icann.org/x/hIPRAw). Whereas, during the facilitated discussion, the interested parties discussed the following matters: (1) The GAC's rationale for seeking permanent protections for the identifiers of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and its respective components (including the 190 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Movement's two international organizations – the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies), is grounded in the protections of the designations "Red Cross", "Red Crescent", "Red Lion and Sun", and "Red Crystal" under the laws in force in multiple national jurisdictions; and the global public policy considerations in the protections of the identifiers of the respective Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations from forms of misuse in the domain name system, including from fraud and embezzlement in times of humanitarian crises. (2) The list of names of the National Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies submitted for protection is finite and comprises the names of the 190 National Societies recognized within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – the Movement – both in English and in each National Society's official national language(s) and script(s). The number of National Societies (see the official list of National Societies at http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/ExcelExport/NS_Directory.pdf [PDF, 657 KB]) is limited and only subject to increase further to the future recognition within the Movement of new National Societies (a development that remains subject to a strict process and to strict conditions defined in the Statutes of the Movement). In accordance with the Fundamental Principle of Unity, there can only be one National Red Cross, Red Crescent or Red Crystal Society in any one country. The National Societies' names submitted for protection in the DNS include the official names of the 190 National Societies recognized within the Movement, as well as where these are distinct, their usual names. (3) The respective Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations should preserve the ability to register their names should they require to do so, and there are no other legitimate uses for these names. Whereas, the participants in the facilitated discussion took note that, following the completion of the GNSO PDP, the GAC provided additional guidance as to the specific International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement identifiers for which protections were being sought (https://gacweb.icann.org/download/attachments/28278854/Final%20Communique%20-%20Singapore%202014.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1397225538000&api=v2[PDF, 145 KB]). Whereas, the GAC issued advice to the ICANN Board in the Copenhagen Communique<https://gacweb.icann.org/display/gacweb/Governmental+Advisory+Committee?preview=/27132037/44663670/GAC%20ICANN%2058%20Communique.pdf>[PDF, 190 KB] to "request the GNSO without delay to re-examine its 2013 recommendations pertaining to the protections of Red Cross and Red Crescent names and identifiers (defined as 'Scope 2' names in the GNSO process) which were inconsistent with GAC Advice." Whereas, the Board has considered the outputs from the facilitated discussion and the GAC's advice in the context of ICANN's mission and ICANN's commitment to carry out its mission in conformity with relevant principles of international law and international conventions and applicable local law, as expressed in ICANN's Bylaws. Resolved (2017.03.16.13), the Board requests that the GNSO initiate its process for Amendments or Modifications of Approved Policies, as described in Section 16 of the GNSO PDP Manual, to consider amending Recommendation 5 in Section 3.1. of the PDP Working Group Final Report, as follows: (1) The full names of the 190 Red Cross National Societies and the full names of the International Committee of the Red Cross and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are to be placed into Specification 5 of the Base gTLD Registry Agreement, with an exception procedure to be created for cases where the relevant Red Cross Red Crescent Movement organization wishes to apply for their protected string at the second level; (2) In placing the specified identifiers into Specification 5 of the Base gTLD Registry Agreement, this should apply to an exact match of the full name of the relevant National Society recognized by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (in English and the official languages of its state of origin), the full names International Committee of the Red Cross and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (in the six official United Nations languages) and a defined limited set of variations of these names; and (3) In considering the Board's request, the Council is requested to duly take into account these factors and the public policy advice to reserve the finite list of names of the Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, as recognized within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, in all gTLDs. Resolved (2017.03.16.14), the Board thanks Dr. Bruce Tonkin for facilitating the GAC-GNSO discussions on this topic, and thanks the GAC and the GNSO representatives who participated in the facilitated discussions for their good faith participation and willingness to work toward a reconciliation of the matter. https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/resolutions-2017-03-16-en#2.e...