I post this in my capacity as a WG member, not a co-chair. The Board and GAC just discussed the issue of IGOs and this WG. The relevant portion of the transcript is below. I have been clear in the past that the issue of IGO access to curative rights processes is a very high level one within ICANN, and that the failure of this WG to reach consensus on a compromise approach that can at least be adopted by GNSO Council risks the matter being resolved in another manner other than that of the PDP WG.
MANAL ISMAIL: THANKS, GORAN. AND AGAIN, I THANK -- I THANK ICANN PEOPLE FOR THE CONSTRUCTIVE DISCUSSION, AND ALSO I THANK MY GAC COLLEAGUES FOR SHOWING FLEXIBILITY AND WILLING TO FIND A CONSTRUCTIVE WAY FORWARD, WHICH WAS REALLY HELPFUL AT THE END OF THE SESSION; TO FIND AN AGREED WAY FORWARD. AND WE'LL KEEP FOLLOWING UP WITH ICANN ORG ON THIS, OF COURSE.
SO WITH THIS, WE CAN NOW MOVE TO GAC QUESTIONS. AND AGAIN, MAYBE WE CAN TAKE THEM IN REVERSE ORDER AS WELL. SO WE CAN START WITH THE IGO PROTECTIONS, BECAUSE THIS IS JUST ONE QUESTION. AND THEN WE GO TO THE GDPR. I SEE NODDING, SO... SO HERE, IN A LETTER OF 22nd DECEMBER TO DONUTS, 2017 TO DONUTS, INCORPORATION, CONCERNING EUCLID UNIVERSITY THE BOARD VICE CHAIR AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE GLOBAL DOMAINS DIVISION NOTED THAT THE PROTECTIONS FOR IGO ACRONYMS REMAINS A TOPIC OF DISCUSSION BETWEEN THE GNSO AND THE GAC AND IS BEING FACILITATED BY FORMER ICANN BOARD MEMBER BRUCE TONKIN. SO CAN THE BOARD CONFIRM THAT THE FACILITATED PROCESS IN THIS REGARD HAS NOT PROGRESSED SINCE THEN, SINCE ICANN58, AND INDICATE WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS? THANK YOU.
CHRIS DISSPAIN: THANK YOU, MANAL.
MANAL ISMAIL: YES, PLEASE.
CHRIS DISSPAIN: CHRIS DISSPAIN. THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION. YES, IT HAS PROGRESSED.
THE SITUATION IS THAT THE FACILITATOR -- THE FACILITATION THAT BRUCE TONKIN DID LED TO AN UNDERSTANDING THAT ICANN ORG WOULD LOOK INTO CREATING WHAT WE'RE SHORTHANDING AS A WATCH LIST WHICH WOULD ENABLE IGOs TO BE INFORMED IN THE EVENT THAT SOMETHING THAT WAS AN ACRONYM OF THEIR NAME WOULD BE -- HAD BEEN REGISTERED. THAT -- THAT'S -- ICANN ORG ARE WORKING ON THAT AND ON FIGURING OUT HOW TO DO THAT. IN PARALLEL TO THAT, THE GNSO WAS RUNNING A CURATIVE RIGHTS MECHANISMS PDP, AND WE HAD DECIDED THAT -- WE ALL AGREED, REALLY, THAT THE CURATIVE RIGHTS PDP NEEDED TO BE COMPLETED BEFORE, SO THAT WE COULD EFFECTIVE LAUNCH EVERYTHING AT THE SAME TIME. SO THAT YOU COULD RELEASE -- UNRESERVE THE ACRONYMS, RELEASE THEM, AND THEN THE WATCH LIST WOULD PROVIDE IGOs WITH NOTIFICATION, AND THEN THEY WOULD HAVE THE CURATIVE RIGHTS TO FALL BACK ON SHOULD THEY NEED THEM. THE BOARD LEARNED TODAY THAT THERE MAY BE SOME ISSUES WITH THE -- WITH GNSO POLICY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS. IT APPEARS TO HAVE HIT A BIT OF A PROBLEM IN REACHING CONSENSUS, AND IT MAY BE THAT THAT PDP, IN FACT, WILL FAIL TO REACH CONSENSUS, IN WHICH CASE, IF I UNDERSTAND IT CORRECTLY, WE WOULD NEED TO FIND A SOLUTION, ANOTHER -- ANOTHER WAY. JUST -- AT THE MEETING WE JUST HELD WHICH WAS WITH THE CONTRACTED PARTIES HOUSE, WE AGREED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THE -- WITH THE CONTRACTED PARTIES HOUSE, OR, RATHER, WITH THE REGISTRARS; SEE IF WE COULD FIND A WAY OF SHORE CUTTING THE SYSTEM TO A WAY OF A CURATIVE RIGHTS MECHANISM SO WE CAN MOVE FORWARD ON THIS. SO THINGS ARE MOVING. THEY'RE JUST MOVING SLOWLY....TO FINISH OFF, JUST TO SAY THAT WE -- WE GOT SOME INFORMATION TODAY, WHICH I'VE NOW TOLD YOU, AND WE ARE SEEING IF WE CAN FIND A WAY AROUND THAT. AND BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY THAT I'M AS KEEN TO SORT THIS OUT AND GET RID OF IT AS YOU ALL ARE. THANK YOU.
WIPO: THANK YOU, CHAIR. I JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW ON WHAT CHRIS SAID BY WAY OF THANKING CHRIS AND OTHERS INVOLVED FOR MOVING THIS PROCESS ALONG. WE'VE BEEN PLEASED TO SEE THAT IN TERMS OF THE FULL-NAME PROTECTION, WE BELIEVE WE'VE MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS. AND WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF WORK TO GO TO NARROW THE GAP, AND WE'RE HOPING THAT WE CAN RELY ON ICANN FOR A LITTLE BIT OF ASSISTANCE IN THAT RESPECT.
SO I JUST, AGAIN, WANTED TO RECORD THAT WE'RE PLEASED TO SEE THAT MOVING IN A GOOD DIRECTION. AND THEN JUST TO ALSO PICK UP ON WHAT CHRIS SAID, WE HAVE HAD NOT ONLY SERIOUS CONCERNS WITH THE INTERIM REPORT OF THIS GNSO WORKING GROUP, WHICH HAS SIGNALED THAT IT WOULD COME OUT WITH RECOMMENDATIONS WHICH SQUARELY CONFLICT WITH GAC ADVICE, BUT ALSO IN THE PROCESS BREAKDOWN IN THE WORKING GROUP ITSELF. AND OBVIOUSLY THAT'S AN AREA WHERE I THINK WE'RE ALL LOOKING TO SEE WHAT UNFOLDS. THANK YOU. (Emphasis added) Philip S. Corwin Policy Counsel VeriSign, Inc. 12061 Bluemont Way Reston, VA 20190 703-948-4648/Direct 571-342-7489/Cell "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey