Dear All, As requested during the last meeting, please find below an overview of the currently active GNSO PDP and non-PDP Working Group. For further details on each of the PDP WGs, please see also the monthly one-pagers that are provided to the GAC which are focused on identifying upcoming engagement opportunities (see https://gacweb.icann.org/display/gacweb/GAC+Early+Engagement+Policy+Document s). For additional information about the other activities, please see http://gnso.icann.org/en/group-activities/active. Please let me know should you have any questions. Best regards, Marika Overview of Active GNSO Working Groups 1. Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues (PPSAI) Policy Development Process A number of high priority topics were identified by the ICANN community for the RAA negotiations. One of these was the accreditation of providers of privacy and proxy services for domain name registrations. A privacy service is one in which a domain name is registered in the registrant¹s name, but other contact details displayed in the publicly-accessible Whois gTLD registration data directory are those given by the privacy service provider and not those of the registrant. A proxy service is one in which the registered name holder licenses use of the domain to the customer who actually uses the domain, and the contact information displayed in the Whois system is that of the registered name holder. The Whois system is a form of Internet data directory service, utilizing a protocol that permits public lookup of a domain name, including certain contact and technical information about the registrant and the domain. The topic of privacy and proxy services accreditation was not addressed in the 2013 RAA negotiations. As such this PDP will examine the issues related to the provision and accreditation of privacy and proxy services, with a view toward assisting ICANN with developing an accreditation program for such services (see PDP WG Charter for further details - https://community.icann.org/x/pCifAg). Status: WG commended in November 2013. Input has been requested to help inform its deliberations from all SO/ACs. 2. Translation and Transliteration of Contact Information Policy Development Process This PDP WG is expected to make recommendations to the GNSO Council on whether it is desirable to translate or transliterate contact information. In this context "contact information" is a subset of Domain Name Registration Data and thus the information that enables someone using a Domain Name Registration Data Directory Service (such as WHOIS) to contact the domain name registration holder. It usually includes the name, organization, and postal address of the registered name holder, technical contact, as well as administrative contact. Translation is defined as the translation of a text into another language and transliteration is the writing of a word using the closest corresponding letters of a different alphabet. Status: WG commenced in December 2013. Input has been requested to help inform its deliberations from all SO/ACs. 3. Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) Part D Policy Development Process The Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) Part D PDP Working Group is chartered by the GNSO Council to answer six questions in relation to the IRTP: 1) whether reporting requirements for registries and dispute providers should be developed; 2) whether to amend the Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy on how to handle disputes when multiple transfers have occurred; 3) whether dispute options for registrants should be developed; 4) whether registrars should be required to make information on transfer dispute resolution options available to registrants; 5) whether additional penalties for IRTP breaches should be introduced, and; 6) whether the universal adoption and implementation of EPP AuthInfo codes has eliminated the need for FOAs. Status: The Working Group is expected to publish its Initial Report for public comment prior to the ICANN meeting in Singapore. Input was requested at the early stages of the WG¹s deliberations to help inform its deliberations from all SO/ACs. 4. Amending the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) procedure to enable access to them by protected International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) Preliminary Issue Report At its meeting on 20 November 2013, the GNSO Council unanimously adopted all the consensus recommendations made by the GNSO¹s Policy Development Process (PDP) Working Group on the Protection of International Organization Names in All gTLDs (IGO-INGO WG). One of these recommendations was for the GNSO Council to request an Issue Report, to assist in determining whether a PDP should be initiated in order to explore possible amendments to the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) procedure, to enable access to and use of such curative rights protection mechanisms by protected International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs). The GNSO Council also adopted the IGO-INGO WG consensus recommendations for varied protections at the top and/or second level for certain specified names and acronyms of IGOs and INGOs (including certain emblems and names of the Red Cross movement and the International Olympic Committee). Status: Preliminary Issue Report is expected to be published for public comment by the end of February 2014. 5. Policy & Implementation Non-PDP Working Group Mainly as a result of discussions stemming from implementation related issues of the new gTLD program, there is increased focus on which topics call for policy and which call for implementation work, including which processes should be used, at what time and how diverging opinions should be acted upon. Following several discussions by the GNSO Council on this topic, the GNSO Council formed a Working Group which has been tasked to provide concrete recommendations on how to address some of these issues from a GNSO perspective. The WG started its deliberations in August and has been tasked to provide the GNSO Council with recommendations on: 1. A set of principles that would underpin any GNSO policy and implementation related discussions, taking into account existing GNSO Operating Procedures. 2. A process for developing gTLD policy, perhaps in the form of "Policy Guidance", including criteria for when it would be appropriate to use such a process (for developing policy other than "Consensus Policy") instead of a GNSO Policy Development Process; 3. A framework for implementation related discussions associated with GNSO Policy Recommendations; 4. Criteria to be used to determine when an action should be addressed by a policy process and when it should be considered implementation, and; 5. Further guidance on how GNSO Implementation Review Teams, as defined in the PDP Manual, are expected to function and operate. Status: The WG started its deliberations in August 2013 and aims to publish an Initial Report for public comment by October 2014. Input was requested to help inform its deliberations from all SO/ACs. 6. Cross Community Working Groups Non-PDP Drafting Team The ICANN community has recognized that there may periodically be issues that cut across and are of interest to more than one of ICANN¹s Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees. Cross-community working groups have been created previously, including the Joint DNS Security & Stability Analysis Working Group (DSSA) involving At Large, ccNSO, GNSO, NRO, and SSAC, and the Joint IDN Working Group (JIG) involving the ccNSO and GNSO. Many ICANN community members have highlighted the need for a set of principles that would guide the formation and working processes of these cross-community working groups. This CWG Drafting Team, co-chaired by the GNSO and ccNSO, is a renewed effort to develop a charter for a WG tasked to develop a framework of operating principles that would allow for the effective and efficient functioning of future CWGs. Status: the DT is expected to submit the charter for consideration by the GNSO and ccNSO Council in Sinapore. Following adoption of the charter, a call for volunteers will be circulated to the community for participation. 7. Data & Metrics for Policy Making Non-PDP Working Group This effort allows for a review in how the community can collaborate with contracted parties and other reporting service providers in the sharing of complaint and abuse data that may also further educate Registrants and Internet users in submission of complaints to the appropriate party. It will also investigate how metrics can benefit the policy development process and improve fact-based decision-making. Status: The GNSO Council adopted the charter for the working group in January 2014 and a call for volunteers has been launched (open to anyone interested to join).