October 2020 Volume 2 | October 2020 Your October 2020 EURALO Newsletter The latest news from the European At-Large Regional Organization (EURALO) Visit our Website EURALO News Natalia Filina, EURALO Secretariat Dear EURALO community, On behalf of the EURALO Board, I would like to open this newsletter with a short message to our community: First of all, I want to thank all of you in the year of real challenges when the health issues, material and mental aspects created for all of us a lot of difficulties, but you trying to find time to participate in discussions, create new forms of interaction within community, and help EURALO to implement our plans to expand the presence and influence At-Large in Europe. We have good news: We are growing. There are 38 At-Large structures, 64 individual members and 5 observers in EURALO. And our plans to attract new members are slowly being implemented - the presence of our members as speakers, experts and moderators at regional and global events becomes the best way to draw attention to opportunities to join EURALO and At-Large. We are grateful for the active support of the GSE and At-Large team. Together, our actions in the European region are consolidated. The two main events this Autumn - ICANN69 and IGF2020 - are taking place in Europe, even if virtually, and give us a chance to lend a European perspective in the discussion of ICANN and IG areas. Please participate, stay in touch and take care of yourself! ICANN69 Virtual Annual General Meeting The ICANN69 Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was to be held in Hamburg, Germany, started as the third virtual meeting on 5 October with preparation week. If you missed the ICANN At-Large webinars and QA sessions, you may find the records here. The upcoming ICANN69 SO/AC week (Community Days) provides the opportunity for extensive discussions on policy and advice issues. The virtual meeting will take place from 13 – 15 October 2020. All of you are kindly invited to attend the meeting and support the community's ongoing policy advice and development work, despite being unable to meet in person. ICANN69 Plenary Week will take place from 19 - 22 October 2020 and include plenary sessions, Board/Community meetings and social networking. You must be registered for ICANN69 to participate (69.schedule.icann.org). ICANN69 sessions will be held during regular working hours in Hamburg, Germany (CEST/UTC+2). Session Participation links will be published 24 hours in advance of the session. Please check the schedule before your session for the latest information. ICANN69 Policy Outlook Report is Now Available Read the ICANN69 Policy Outlook Report provides a high-level overview of the planned work and activities of the Supporting Organizations, Advisory Committees, and the Empowered Community at ICANN69. What to expect from the At-Large ICANN69 sessions? How to support the ICANN69 At-large Social Media campaign and help us to spread the information? Full agenda of ICANN69 At-Large meetings Please join the competition utilizing the hashtag #ALAC69. The winner of the competition will be announced during the At-Large Wrap Up session on Thursday, 22 October. Use Zoom Virtual Backgrounds during ICANN69 and Facebook Profile Frames. Sign up to promote At-Large sessions @ ICANN69 using this form. Using the hashtag #AskAtLarge during ICANN69, your questions may be answered by other community members and leaders. You are also encouraged to explore and share the At-Large Policy Sessions @ ICANN Meetings and At-Large and DNS Abuse pages on the At-Large website. ICANN Update The ICANN69 Online Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held from 17-22 October, and features one Prep Week of webinars to brief the community (5-8 October), one week of SOAC Internal work (13-15 October), and one Plenary Week (19-22 October). To see the full schedule of ALAC/At-Large activities, please visit this page. In September, ICANN: Released the ICANN69 Prep week schedule. Launched the Pandemic Internet Access Program Pilot for ICANN69. Last date to apply was 2 October. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Naming Function Review Team (IFRT) organised a webinar to announce the final stages of completing its Initial Report. The webinar recording can be viewed through this link. Issued a call for Community Groups to Nominate NextGen@ICANN Mentors and Selection Committee Members by 15 October. ALAC Update The most recent ALAC monthly meeting was held on September 22 and was chaired by ALAC Chair, Maureen Hilyard and featured guest speaker and ICANN CEO/President Göran Marby. An ALAC statement on the Final Report on the Phase 2 of the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data and addendum led to a robust discussion between ICANN President and CEO Göran Marby and ALAC members during the September ALAC meeting. In addition, the meeting focused on: Monthly ALAC Policy Development Activities. Review of ALS Membership Applications from Organizations and Individuals Reports and Discussions with the At-Large Plus Group leaders Discussion with Leon Sanchez - ICANN Board Vice-Chair. Post-ATLAS III At-Large Priority Activities / 2020: Review and Development of Recommendations for ALAC. Initial discussion of At-Large at ICANN69 and At-Large Planning Committee for ICANN69 ALS mobilization update Prior to ICANN69, there was a call for nominations for the ALAC chair. Maureen Hilyard was the only ALAC member who was nominated, and accepted the nomination on 18 September 2020. In accordance with ALAC Rules of Procedure 16.3, Hilyard has been re-appointed as the ALAC Chair by acclamation. Hilyard’s one-year term will begin at the end of ICANN69 and conclude during ICANN72. The At-Large Leadership Team (ALT) was also nominated. The nominating committee this month conducted the final interviews and reviews of the list of candidates and finalised the final list of selected candidates this month. The final list of seven selected candidates for the leadership position can be viewed here. The two ALAC selectees are Pari Esfandiari (Europe) and Gregory Shatan (North America). In addition, ALAC ratified the 2020 ALAC Representatives to the Nominating Committee. The following individuals will serve as 2020 ALAC Delegates to the Nominating Committee from their regions for a period of one year, beginning at the end of ICANN69: Hadia Elminiawi - ALAC Delegate to the NomCom from the African Region Amrita Choudhury - ALAC Delegate to the NomCom from theAsia, Australasia and the Pacific Islands Region Bastiaan Goslings - ALAC Delegate to the NomCom from the European Region Vanda Scartezini - ALAC Delegate to the NomCom from theLatin America and Caribbean Region Glenn McKnight - ALAC Delegate to the NomCom from theNorth American Region At-Large Review Implementation The At-Large Review Implementation Working Group submitted a Final Implementation Report to the OEC on 30 June 2020, detailing the completion of implementation of the recommendations arising out of the second At-Large Review and documenting that two recommendations are not yet fully implemented. On 10 September 2020, the Board approved a resolution which accepted the Final Implementation Report, including: Resolved (2020.09.10.08), the Board accepts the At-Large2 Review final implementation report of the second At-Large Review issued by the At-Large Review Implementation Working Group, which marks the completion of this organizational review in accordance with Bylaws Article 4 Section 4.4. The Board encourages the At-Large Advisory Committee to continue monitoring the impact of the implementation of the recommendations from the second Review of the ALAC as part of its continuous improvement process. Additionally, the Board made the following request: Resolved (2020.09.10.10), the Board requests the At-Large Advisory Committee to provide the OEC with a written or oral progress update on the two remaining issues "Member Engagement and Criteria" and "Absence of consistent performance metrics" by 31 December 2020. In the event that implementation is not completed by 31 December 2020, the ALAC shall continue to provide such updates to the OEC on a six-monthly basis until such time that the implementation efforts conclude. ALAC / At-Large Policy Comments & Advice All of EURALO and the At-Large Community are invited to contribute to ICANN Public Comment proceedings. For more information, please visit the At-Large Policy Advice Development Page or contact At-Large Staff. Have your say! To contribute to ALAC public comment, please comment on the wiki space or volunteer as penholder, and join the weekly At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) meetings. The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) submitted (15) statements since the last EURALO Newsletter: GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Draft Final Report The At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) held several single-issue teleconferences about the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) PDP earlier in 2020 in preparation for the Public Comment proceeding. A small team, led by ALAC Member Justine Chew, organized these sessions and gave weekly presentations to the CPWG on the topic. In September 2020, the ALAC submitted a statement on the GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Draft Final Report, the culmination of months of volunteer work in developing At-Large scorecards on SubPro topics, creating a survey on geographic names, and analyzing feedback from the community of Internet end users. Addendum to the ALAC Statement on the EPDP (August 2020) Although the ALAC and the BC, IPC, GAC and the SSAC each took a somewhat different approach to addressing their positions in respect to the report, the ALAC is in general agreement with the positions taken in the GAC, SSAC and BC/IPC statements. In particular, the ALAC appreciates the in-depth and insightful analysis provided by the GAC, SSAC and BC/IPC. Improving ICANN's Multistakeholder Model Effectiveness: Next Steps The At-Large community is pleased to follow up on its prior ALAC statements regarding ICANN’s Multistakeholder Model (see: 13 June 2019, 14 October 2019, February 2020) with this ALAC statement on Enhancing the Effectiveness of ICANN’s Multistakeholder Model - Next Steps. The ALAC made recommendations on priority issues, moving out of silos, restoring recruitment and demographics, reviewing previous responses, identifying gaps, pandemic related issues and evaluation of success with respect to the latest Public Comment on the topic. Final Report of the Cross-Community Working Group (CCWG) on New gTLD Auction Proceeds The ALAC appointed five Members to the CCWG and these Members, alongside several participants from At-Large, were very active contributors to the work of the CCWG. The ALAC believes that all of its concerns have been addressed and therefore was pleased to accept and ratify the Final Report of the new gTLD Auction Proceeds Cross Community Working Group. Third Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT3) Final Report The ALAC strongly supports the limited and focused number of recommendations proposed by the ATRT3 report, reflecting the pending implementation of proposals from previous review teams. In moving forward, the ALAC advises the ICANN Board to: (1) Swiftly implement ATRT3 recommendation to evolve both specific and organizational reviews as per Section 8 of the final report; (2) Fully endorse the recommendation to enhance current methods of Prioritization and Rationalization of Activities, Policies, and Recommendations (as per Section 10 of the report); (3) Share the ATRT3 Review Team’s approach to the review process and methodology behind it, aiming to ensure that all elements contributing to achieving strategic objectives and their subcomponents are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based (SMART) and that all reporting on these refers to well specified metrics, to be reviewed on a regular or timely basis (as per Section 9 of the report). ALAC Statement on the EPDP (July 2020) A vast amount of work has been done, but the ALAC believes that if and when the SSAD is deployed, the probability of its meeting the goals needed by the communities whose efforts we support will be low. Therefore, in order for the ALAC to support the EPDP Final Report, the ALAC noted the following GNSO Council outcomes would be required: GNSO Council would agree that any Evolution Standing Committee recommendation on additional SSAD decision use-cases (that are in full accordance with the EPDP Policy Recommendation 9.3) will be treated as Implementation and not require further policy deliberations. Legal vs Natural, Accuracy, WHOIS Accuracy Reporting System and Anonymized contact email will be fully addressed with full participation in all aspects of discussions by the ICANN Advisory Committees that wish to participate. If these issues are deemed to be policy, they must be addressed by a group empowered to make policy recommendations, led by a qualified, non-conflicted chair. The GAC, ALAC and SSAC must be involved in setting the mandate or charter of such groups. The target for completion of all work should be no later than April 2021. The GNSO Council would agree that ratifying the Evolution Standing Committee recommendations will only require a GNSO Majority as currently called for in the GNSO Policy Manual. The GNSO Council would acknowledge that deliberations during implementation setting of prices for the SSAD must involve the future potential users of the SSAD and not only look at cost recovery but the actual ability and willingness of SSAD users to pay the prices being set. LACRALO Statement on the Regional Strategic Plan FY2021-2025 The LACRALO statement was in response to the ICANN Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Regional Strategic Plan for FY2021-2025. As all LACRALO countries fall under the LAC Regional Plan, a diverse drafting team from the region provided feedback on strategy topics such as security, ICANN governance, unique identifiers system, geopolitics, and financials. Note: Ratified by the LACRALO Leadership Team and the ALAC. ccNSO PDP3: Initial Proposals for the ccTLD Retirement Process: Initial Proposals for the ccTLD Retirement Process As a whole, the ALAC supports the ccNSO PDP3. From an end user perspective, the ALAC suggested two points to be considered: 1) As a user of the Internet, the removal of a TLD will mean less likelihood for confusion as usually a ccTLD would be removed to make way for a new one. This enhances Trust in the domain name identifiers; 2) As a domain name registrant, the retirement of the ccTLD could pose a problem when correspondents are accustomed to use the "old" address using the obsolete ccTLD. Some companies have built a brand around the "old" ccTLD. Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) Study 1: Proposed Final Report The ALAC strongly supports the SSAC in proceeding with Studies 2 and 3, and it also strongly urges the ICANN Board and ICANN Org/OCTO to take the necessary action to facilitate the conduct and funding of the NCAP Studies 2 and 3 in a manner agreeable by the SSAC. Draft PTI FY21-24 Strategic Plan The ALAC supports the five strategic objectives of the Draft PTI Strategic Plan, and strategies to achieve those objectives. The ALAC particularly supported the following elements: Awareness of PTI's mandate and remit, alignment of ICANN and PTI’s Strategic and Financial Plans, and input into the development of ICANN policies. AFRALO Statement on ICANN Africa Regional Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2025 The AFRALO statement was in response to the ICANN Africa Regional Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2025. As all AFRALO countries fall under the Africa Regional Plan, a drafting team from the region provided feedback on strategy topics such as security, ICANN governance, unique identifiers system, geopolitics, and financials. Note: Ratified by the AFRALO Leadership Team and the ALAC. Addendum to the Initial Report of the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data Team – Phase 2 The ALAC commented on the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data Team – Phase 2, via a comprehensive Public Comment Google form. The ALAC provided feedback on related issues such as display of information, legal versus natural persons, privacy, et al. For all recommendations not listed in the ALAC statement, the ALAC noted that they they “Support as written”. Phase 1 Initial Report of the Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms in All gTLDs Policy Development Process The ALAC commented on the Phase 1 Initial Report, via a comprehensive Public Comment Google form. The ALAC provided feedback on related issues such as URS recommendations, TMCH preliminary recommendations, sunrise recommendations, et al. Revised Community Travel Support Guidelines The ALAC noted that At-Large is unique within the ICANN community in that virtually all volunteers in At-Large activities, including those involving travel, do so as true volunteers. Without ICANN travel support, the number of active At-Large participants at ICANN meetings would be few in number. The ALAC specifically commented on wire transfer and foreign exchange fees/losses, visa reimbursement, travel insurance, ICANN arranged travel, room guarantees, forced overnight delays, early check-in and late check-out, as they pertain to the successful participation of the community during ICANN meetings. Joint AFRALO-APRALO Statement on Middle East and Adjoining Countries (MEAC) Strategy 2021-2025 The AFRALO and APRALO joint statement was the first joint RALO statement within the At-Large Community, in response to the ICANN MEAC Strategy 2021-2025. The countries that fall under the MEAC Strategy within AFRALO and APRALO provided feedback on strategy topics as security, ICANN's governance, unique identifier systems, and geopolitics. Note: Ratified by the AFRALO & APRALO Leadership Teams and the ALAC. See: At-Large Website Policy Comments & Advice See: Executive Summaries: ALAC Policy Comments & Advice See: Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) See: At-Large Operations, Finance and Budget Working Group (OFB-WG) At-Large Capacity Building Working Group (CBWG) Update Joanna Kulesza, ALAC Vice Chair for Outreach The At-Large Capacity Building Working Group (CBWG) organized several webinars after ICANN68 on the following topics: New gTLD Rounds and Subsequent Procedures, DNS over HTTPS (DoH) and DNS over TLS (DoT) led by ALAC Member Holly Raiche, and Giving Better Presentations Online: Forming Old Habits in the New Reality, led by ALAC Vice Chair Jonathan Zuck. Resources for the webinars are available on the CBWG workspace. In preparation for ICANN69, At-Large held two prep webinars as a part of ICANN69 Prep Week. On Monday, 5 October, an At-Large ICANN69 Introduction webinar was held, followed by an At-Large Social Media webinar on Wednesday, 7 October. The CBWG focuses on capacity building activities within At-Large, providing education and engagement opportunities between Community members, leadership, staff and subject-matter experts. You can help! Join the At-Large Capacity Building WG by expressing your interest to staff@atlarge.icann.org, and join the CBWG mailing list. EURALO Expertise EURALO General Assembly, Berlin, 2019 Please note that we have very convenient tool: The spreadsheet of expertise of EURALO ALS representatives and individuals. This is a great opportunity to indicate your expertise in different fields and professional areas connected to ICANN interests. All EURALO ALS representatives and members have this link via email. We kindly remind you that EURALO Monthly meeting is open to all the European ALS members and individuals each month. You will get an overview of what is happening in Europe and EURALO, and more broadly in At-Large / ICANN. See the September 2020 EURALO Monthly meeting. Save the Date! The next EURALO monthly call is scheduled for 16 December 2020. EURALO ALS Updates ISOC BULGARIA Few months ago ISOC Bulgaria applied for a small grant under the Beyond the Net Small Grants Program of the ISOC Foundation. The goal was to tackle disinformation, related to COVID-19, which is widely spreading in Bulgaria. The organization wanted to provide factual information, and thanks to one of the active participants, a teacher in journalism and mass communications, this happened. He published a number of articles on our newly established Facebook page, and also interviewed key doctors, officials and experts, who shared scientific information in a very user-friendly way. The new ISOC Bulgaria Facebook page in a little bit more than 2 months has 821 people, who like it, and 1,180, who are following it. The Zoom calls were advertised, and thus reached between 35,1K and 89,1K views. The total number of people reached through the small ad campaign was 979,477. This is about 25% of all Facebook users in the country. There is also some positive feedback about the articles Bulgarian Chapter published on the blog. 14th European Summer School on Internet Governance (EuroSSIG) Report written by EuroSSIG Fellows Nadia Tjahja and Gül From the 19th of July till the 25th of July 2020, the 14th European Summer School on Internet Governance (EuroSSIG) was organised in Meissen’s Evangelische Akademie. A well-chosen location where one can find inner peace and forget about time in a historical environment. A group of 16 fellows and several faculty members dedicated a week of their summer to become familiar and gain knowledge about Internet Governance. Due to COVID-19 measures the group only consisted of fellows residing in European including nationalities from Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Africa. Almost all of the fellows represented a different culture during the week in Meissen and had different professions and perspectives that enriched the Summer School. On the first college day of the Summer School we started with a presentation from our host, Prof. Wolfgang Kleinwächter, on the history of the Internet and Internet governance. By commencing with the Internet Governance topic from the very early days, it clarified why certain developments took place and how a “technical problem with a political background became a political problem with a technical background”. Additionally, on the first day we had presentations about the IGF and ICANN models, which were presented by IGF MAG Chair Anriette Esterhuysen and Chair of the ICANN Board Maarten Botterman. After the introduction more technical topics were discussed like the internet infrastructure and how the network of networks (internet) functions. All the information from standards till ccTLD’s, and from IANA till IETF, the faculty succeeded in successfully confusing us (inside joke). But Peter Koch (DENIC) also succeeded in fixing it! Because not every faculty member could attend the Summer School in person, due to COVID-19 measures, EuroSSIG arranged video calls throughout the week to provide use with the opportunity to engage with the expertise of international faculty members. The video calls were moderated by physically present faculty members who could also jump in, raise questions, and provide more information about the topic. This was done mostly by Thomas Schneider (Ambassador, Swiss Government) for the topics on policy and by Peter Koch (DENIC) for the more technical topics. The variety of having online and offline faculty was well organised. The faculty members who joined us in Meissen were very open and willing to elaborate on discussions with us besides sessions during breakfast, lunch, dinner and social activities. Although we had a busy and intensive academic programme, we also had the opportunity to explore the culture of Meissen together by visiting and exploring unique phenomena of the city. We enjoyed a concert in the Dom and its exhibitions and had the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful sunset at a local restaurant. Halfway through the week, we had a BBQ and bonfire night in which we sat together and had a mental break from a strong start of the week. During the bonfire night, participants and faculty were encouraged to bring instruments and perform as they desired and many chose to share songs and traditions from their countries, ranging from lullaby’s to poetry. On the last evening, we hiked up into the hills to go to a vineyard. We received a tasting and tour experience in which our guide shared with us the unique history and flavours of Meissen, followed by a dinner with an exceptional performance. After the performance, we gathered outside for our final drinks and tried to find Comet Neowise. Altogether, a wonderful programme that brought together academic rigour and social integration. EuroSSIG chose to conduct an in-person meeting in a time of crisis to bring together young people and faculty from across Europe and beyond to set new standards of education that complimented old and new traditions in a new normal of face masks and distance. While we had to adjust to this new form of social understanding, we worked together to meet the regulations which allowed us to have a fun and safe experience. The EuroSSIG environment brought together such a varied background of participants where we were able to grow really close and inspire each other. Since our trip, we have continued our education together by signing up to additional courses, attending conferences and continuing discussions online. We are also collaborating in each other's projects and organisations to share our experiences and perspectives. New friendships are made and gatherings are organised as well along the fellows. We’re excited to continue sharing our experiences and also are more confident in pursuing and exploring new topics in the field. Many thanks to Wolfgang Kleinwächter, Sandra Hoferichter, Rainer Rodewald, and all faculty and supporters for pursuing this wonderful opportunity and standing by us to ensure the continuation of our studies and investing in our futures. Virtual IEFT 108 meeting, 27 July 2020 to 31 July 2020 Report written by Matthias M. Hudobnik I had the great pleasure being selected for the Fee Waiver Program of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to attend the virtual IETF108 meeting. As a newcomer, it was an important experience with tremendous new technical insights and a major contrast to my previous various participations in e.g. ICANN, RIPE, and IGF events. This engagement unquestionably helped me to understand the bigger picture and the various complexities in regulating cyberspace as well as a spicy taste of the differences and similarities of the various very important fora in the Internet ecosystem (now, I can say that I almost participated at least once in all of the weighty ones ;-)). Furthermore, I understood the very important entitlement of the IETF, their procedures but especially the mission of this technical community, which is trying to make the Internet work better by producing relevant technical Request for Comments (RFC)’s to determine the way how people design, use, and manage the Internet as a whole. I attended the following sessions: Newcomers' webinar before IETF 108 IETF 108 Technical Deep Dive on DNS Privacy Enhancements and Assessments Research Group Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance Domain Name System Operations The whole meeting was maintained through the Meetecho platform. Ultimately, the main debate was about finding a solution regarding encrypted DNS servers for DoH or DoT, which is not yet standardized. Finally, as a member of the At-Large Advisory Committee, I tried to strengthen the connection between the IETF and Internet Governance community to build further connections and synergies. Stay Connected! EURALO Website | Workspace | Facebook EURALO Newsletter, October 2020, Volume 2 ICANN | 12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536 Unsubscribe euro-discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org Update Profile | About our service provider Sent by staff@atlarge.icann.org powered by Try email marketing for free today!