Hello everyone, During the 04 April call when the Sub Team was reviewing the URS High Level Technical Requirements, a few questions were proposed targeting the ICANN GDD. Staff contacted the GDD colleagues and received the following responses. Hope it is helpful. Best Regards, Ariel Ariel Xinyue Liang Policy Analyst | Washington, DC Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 1. Registry Requirement 8: Have ICANN received ERSR Waiver requests from Registry Operators? Has this provision been implemented? Registry Requirement 8: Following the activation of a URS Lock or, if applicable, URS Suspension on a domain name, if the Registry Operator in its good faith belief concludes that the activation of URS Suspension on the domain name is likely to create a present or imminent security incident to the TLD or the DNS (e.g. indirect effects on a significant number of domain names related to possible child hosts that would result in resolution issues after activating the URS Suspension), the Registry Operator MAY submit an “Expedited Registry Security Request” to ICANN requesting that ICANN grant the Registry Operator a waiver from compliance with these Technical Requirements in order to deactivate the URS Lock or URS Suspension on the domain name (“ERSR Waiver”). ICANN will promptly engage all parties related to the ERSR Waiver on a case by case basis to reach a final resolution to the concerns that led to the Registry Operator’s ERSR Waiver request. GDD Response: Yes, Registry Operators have requested ERSR waivers via ICANN’s Naming Services portal. After an ERSR request is submitted, the Security Response Team reviews and considers the ERSR in collaboration with the affected registry. While the details are confidential, in most cases ICANN org has granted a waiver from compliance with a specific provision of the Registry Agreement for the time period necessary to respond to the incident. For more information on the steps that are taken, please see: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/ersr-2012-02-25-en 1. Registry-Registrar Agreement: Have Registry Operators modified their Registry-Registrar Agreement to reflect these two requirements? The Registry Operator MUST specify in the Registry-Registrar Agreement for the Registry Operator’s TLD that the Registrar MUST accept and process payments for the renewal of a domain name by a URS Complainant in cases where the URS Complainant prevailed. The Registry Operator MUST specify in the Registry-Registrar Agreement for the Registry Operator’s TLD that the Registrar MUST NOT renew a domain name to a URS Complainant who prevailed for longer than one year (if allowed by the maximum validity period of the TLD). GDD Response: Per the new gTLD Registry Agreement Specification 7, Registry Operators must comply with the URS mechanism. ICANN does not require ROs to provide their RRA to ICANN. When there is an RRA amendment, the RO is required to obtain ICANN approval for the amendments. For more information on the Procedure, see: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/rra-amendment-procedure-2015-04-06-en. The ROs submit the RRA amendment approval request via ICANN’s Naming Services portal. [Staff note]: While ICANN GDD does not know 100% whether ROs have included in their RRA those two requirements (as ICANN does not require ROs to provide their RRAs), but since ROs must comply with the URS mechanisms, and the two requirements are explicitly stated in the URS High Level Technical Requirements, it is a high likelihood that ROs have included in their RRAs these requirements. 1. Registrar Requirement 2: Could GDD provide clarification on how they interpret this provision? Registrar Requirement 2: Registrar MUST follow the normal domain name lifecycle for a URS Locked domain name. If the domain name registrant elects to renew, elected to auto-renew or restore the domain name registration, Registrar MAY accept such renewal and/or restoration (if the Registry Operator implements RGP). GDD Response: The Registrar may accept the registrant’s renewal and/or restoration of the locked domain name. * If registrant elected to renew – during Auto-Renew Grace Period * If registrant elected to auto-renew – before domain name expires * If registrant elected to restore the domain name registration – during the Redemption Grace Period (RGP) For more information on the domain name lifecycle, please see: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/gtld-lifecycle-2012-02-25-en & Registry Requirement 9 in the URS High Level Technical Requirements for Registries and Registrars:https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/urs/tech-requirements-17oct13-en.pd...