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The Verisign Domain Name Industry Brief - Q4 2019
by Fahd Batayneh March 11, 2020

March 11, 2020

https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?cmp=LK-DNIBQ42… Might be of interest to some. Fahd

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FW: Read a Recap of the ICANN67 Public Forum and More in Today's #ICANN67 Newsletter.
by Fahd Batayneh March 10, 2020

March 10, 2020

For those interested in ICANN67 and its proceedings, the below newsletter summarizes the key discussions and sessions that took place on Monday, and what to expect for today; Tuesday. Fahd Batayneh ICANN Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2020 at 1:01 PM Subject: [Ext] Read a Recap of the ICANN67 Public Forum and More in Today's #ICANN67 Newsletter. You don't want to miss this. [r20.rs6.net] ICANN67 7 – 12 March 2020 Virtual Community Forum #ICANN67 Tuesday Newsletter MEETING SCHEDULE [r20.rs6.net] TOP STORY Constituency Day at ICANN67 Today is Constituency Day! The constituencies and stakeholder groups of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) will have open meetings to advance their work and engage with community members. This complements the joint meetings between these groups and the ICANN Board. The joint meetings are open to the public. Read our "How to Participate in ICANN67 Virtual Sessions" Guide, Available in Three Languages. Click these links: English Guide [r20.rs6.net] - Spanish Guide [r20.rs6.net] - French Guide [r20.rs6.net] Today’s ICANN67 High Interest Sessions GNSO – EPDP Phase 2 Meeting (1 of 2) The Phase 2 of the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) is tasked with deliberation of items including a System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) to nonpublic registration data and other issues deferred from Phase 1. The Initial Report is currently out for Public Comment. At ICANN67, the EPDP will discuss Priority 2 items. GNSO – EPDP Phase 2 Meeting (1 of 2) [r20.rs6.net] Today from 9:00-11:00 RSSAC to Discuss Metrics Work Party Report The Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) will hold its monthly meeting today. The RSSAC will discuss current work items, including the final report from the Root Server System Metrics Work Party, and receive reports from incoming and outgoing RSSAC liaisons. The meeting is open to observers, and RSSAC Caucus members are especially welcome to attend. RSSAC Meeting [r20.rs6.net] Today from 9:00-10:30 GAC Discussion: WHOIS and Data Protection Policy This session will provide an update and discussion related to WHOIS and data protection policy. Despite a number of efforts to update WHOIS policy and design solutions that meet privacy needs while preserving access for legitimate purposes, the system has remained relatively unchanged since its inception. The implementation of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on 25 May 2018 has required changes to policies within the ICANN organization, contracted parties, and the ICANN community. In this session, GAC members will additionally assess the current Temporary Specification model being considered, also known as System for Standardized Access/Disclosure of nonpublic gTLD registration data (SSAD). GAC: WHOIS and Data Protection Policy [r20.rs6.net] Today from 11:00-12:00 Today’s ICANN67 Sessions All times EST/UTC-5 GNSO-EPDP Phase 2 Meeting (1 of 2) [r20.rs6.net] Time: 9:00 – 11:00 RSSAC Meeting [r20.rs6.net]Time: 9:00 – 10:30 LAC Space [r20.rs6.net] Time: 9:00-10:15 RSSAC Work Session 2 [r20.rs6.net] Time: 10:45 – 12:00 GAC: WHOIS and Data Protection Policy [r20.rs6.net] Time: 11:00 – 12:00 GNSO: New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP WG (2 of 3) [r20.rs6.net] Time: 12:00 – 13:30 At-Large Policy Session: DoH/DOT - Threats and Challenges [r20.rs6.net] Time: 13:00 – 14:30 Joint Meeting: ICANN Board and CSG [r20.rs6.net] Time: 13:00 – 14:30 GAC: Follow up Discussions on New gTLD Subsequent Procedures [r20.rs6.net] Time: 13:30 – 14:30 GNSO: Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms in gTLDs (2 of 4) [r20.rs6.net] Time: 13:30 – 15:15 GNSO-NCSG Open Meeting [r20.rs6.net] Time: 14:00 – 17:00 GNSO-BC Meeting [r20.rs6.net] Time: 15:15 – 17:00 GNSO-RySG Membership Meeting [r20.rs6.net] Time: 14:00 – 17:00 Joint Meeting: ICANN Board and GAC [r20.rs6.net] Time: 14:45 – 15:45 GAC: Plan for Communique Drafting [r20.rs6.net] Time: 16:00 – 17:00 LAC Strategy Council [r20.rs6.net] Time: 16:00 – 17:00 Joint Meeting: ICANN Board and SSAC [r20.rs6.net] Time: 16:00 – 17:00 Download the ICANN67 mobile app. Now available in app stores: Apple Store [r20.rs6.net] and Google Play [r20.rs6.net] MONDAY SESSION RECAPS Jamie Hedlund, David Conrad, David Olive, and Göran Marby discussing the Public Forum. RECAP: Public Forum 1 Agenda: Board Chair Maarten Botterman welcomed the virtual attendees. He highlighted that this Public Forum would be different from others as it is virtual and would be focused on the proposed sale of Public Interest Registry (PIR) from the Internet Society (ISOC) to Ethos Capital. Highlights: · Botterman explained that the Board and ICANN staff would not be addressing specific questions about the proposed PIR transaction in this Public Forum but would update the community in the future. · General Counsel & Secretary John Jeffrey then explained the general approval process that the ICANN Board and organization is following regarding the proposed acquisition of PIR. He also provided a historical overview of the proposed acquisition of PIR and also offered an explanation of ICANN’s role in reviewing a Change of Control and Entity Conversion for the proposed transfer of ownership of PIR from ISOC to Ethos Capital. · Board member Becky Burr was the facilitator for the first block of comments, followed by Board member León Sánchez who handled the second block before the Board Chair closed the session. · Numerous community participants made comments and raised questions, which went into the public record and can be found here [r20.rs6.net] Next Steps: · All the comments and questions went into the recording of the first Public Forum. · The facilitators stated that the Board and ICANN org will review all of the questions and comments made and will respond where and when appropriate. · Board Chair Maarten Botterman pointed to a survey [r20.rs6.net] at the end of the session in which attendees were asked to afford feedback on the session. · The next Public Forum will take place on 12 March at 14:00 UTC. See pictures from the Public Forum participants in Los Angeles on ICANN's Flickr platform. [r20.rs6.net] Did you take part in the Public Forum? Give us your thoughts on the content and format. Take this survey [r20.rs6.net] RECAP: NomCom Public Meeting Agenda: This session provided a high-level overview of the NomCom’s 2020 goals and objectives, the leadership positions the NomCom will be working to fill, statistics about the applications received, and the timeline for completion. The meeting was then opened up for discussion about some of the issues that might impact the NomCom’s work. Highlights: · The session started with an overview of the leadership positions that need to be filled by the 2020 NomCom. · The NomCom then provided statistics about the applications received, including the regional distribution and gender balance, followed by a review of the timeline for conducting the committee’s work. · NomCom members discussed alternative options for meeting and conducting the committee’s work in light of travel restrictions and difficulties caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Next Steps: The NomCom is now assessing the candidates that have applied for the various open positions, and is working with ICANN org to determine the best options for holding a face-to-face meeting, if feasible. RECAP: Africa Strategy 2021-2025 Realignment Session Agenda: The session focused on discussing the draft document for the Africa regional engagement strategy for Fiscal Years 2021-2025, before being finalized and agreed upon by the ICANN African Strategy Working Group (ASWG). Highlights: · Attracting around 74 participants, the session started with an announcement for improving the resources in the region, with two new ICANN org staff members added to the team in charge of technical engagement for Africa. · Chair of the ICANN ASWG provided an overview of the ASWG’s approach in developing an engagement strategy for the region in line with ICANN’s Strategic Plan 2021-2025. · During the session, it was stressed that while regional engagement strategies may vary in terms of priorities and demand of each region, they should be uniform and aligned towards fulfilling the goals outlined in the ICANN Strategic Plan 2021-2025. · The session received feedback, input, and questions on the content of the draft document. · Discussions focused on lessons learnt from the previous regional strategy and best practices moving forward, to help shape the next phase of the new strategy. Some development areas mentioned in the new strategy were capacity building, research, and academic outreach. Next Steps: · The ASWG, with the support of the Africa GSE Team, will incorporate input and comments received from the community during the ICANN67 session and publish the draft strategy document for public comment by the end of March 2020 to seek input from the ICANN community on the draft strategy document. · Comments submitted during the public comment will be discussed and assessed by the ASWG. Relevant comments will be added when developing the final strategy document. RECAP: UA: Technology and Email Address Internationalization Agenda: The Universal Acceptance (UA) Technology Working Group (WG) used this session to provide a summary of its ongoing work and the ICANN organization’s internal UA readiness. The UA Email Address Internationalization (EAI) WG focused on current projects and best practices for email account names. Highlights: · The Technology WG discussed the finalization of its Statement of Work (SOW) to review programming languages and their frameworks. · The Technology WG went over the finalization of its UA training for Java developers with the goal of developing UA-compliant Java applications. · The Technology WG provided an overview of its UA readiness report which will provide a framework for verifying the UA readiness of software applications. · ICANN org delivered an update on its progress towards ensuring its custom systems are UA ready, including UA readiness in internal IT design guidelines and procurement. · The EAI WG began its session discussing ongoing work: review of the UA Conformance Scoping document, Statement of Work (SOW) for reviewing degree of EAI support in email technology and services, and EAI Deployment Tutorial. · The EAI WG provided an overview of its best practices document for mailbox accounts. Items that are pending discussion include: the management of special characters, the use of Normalized Form, and the benefits and disadvantages of associating a UTF-8 mailbox name to an ASCII mailbox. Next Steps: · The Technology WG will finalize its UA readiness report and publish after ICANN67. It also aims to complete Java developer training in mid-April. · ICANN org will publish its UA case study in the coming weeks. · The EAI WG will finalize its EAI Deployment Tutorial and make translations available. RECAP: GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP Working Group (Session 1 of 3) Agenda: The Generic Names Supporting Organization New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process Working Group held its first of three working sessions to review and refine draft recommendations for its Final Report. The working group is focusing these sessions on topics that are of particular interest to members of the Governmental Advisory Committee. Highlights: · In this session, the working group discussed the topic of “closed generic” TLDs, specifically different perspectives on whether the working group should recommend allowing, limiting, or prohibiting these TLDs in subsequent application rounds. The current version of the working group’s draft outputs on this topic is available here [r20.rs6.net] Next Steps: · The working group’s next session will take place on Tuesday, 10 March at 12:00 UTC-5. · The working group discussion will be moving on to other subjects, beginning with Public Interest Commitments. · The agenda is available here [r20.rs6.net] Click here [r20.rs6.net] to review our Expected Standards of Behavior when participating in ICANN Meetings. Click here [r20.rs6.net]to view the ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy. BY THE NUMBERS: REMOTE SESSION PARTICIPATION The numbers below do not include Board or org participants, but include community participants who joined for all or some part of the session. Public Forum 1 [r20.rs6.net] Participants: 708 At-Large Leadership and Policy Sessions [r20.rs6.net] Participants: 277 GAC Opening Plenary & Update on Current Issues [r20.rs6.net] Participants: 259 Top Five Geolocations for All Sessions United States Canada China Brazil India Have a concern for the ICANN Ombudsman? Contact the office. Email the ICANN Complaints Officer or submit a complaint here [r20.rs6.net] ICANN67: BEHIND THE SCENES Maria Vilardo, Sabrina Mosquera, and Christina Rodriguez from ICANN Language Services Language Services: A Bridge for Collaboration Language Services at ICANN is essential to our global community. Christina Rodriguez, the Senior Director of Language Services says, “We provide a bridge for people to meet, the tools for them to communicate. Facilitating multilingual access is truly aligning with our multistakeholder model. “ The Virtual Community Forum format has created unique challenges to providing simultaneous interpretation and real-time translation, but our Language Services team is hard at work facilitating the community’s work as much as possible under the circumstances. Here are some statistics about what they are providing at ICANN67: · Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in Spanish and French. · 12 Interpreters are working with the Language Services team in LA. · 69 Sessions will be transcribed in English. · Sessions which are usually supported with all 6 UN Languages will have the English transcript translated into all the languages. · 40 Sessions will have transcriptions in languages other than English. · 34 Sessions will have simultaneous interpretation. · 28 Sessions will be supported with real-time transcription (RTT), also known as scribing. Thank you, in many languages, to the ICANN community for your flexibility and patience. #ICANN67 ON SOCIAL MEDIA How Are You Taking Part in ICANN67? We love that the community is embracing ICANN's campaign of posting pictures of your remote locations as a way to connect with other ICANN67 participants. Keeping posting! Don't forget to use the #ICANN67 hashtag and tell us what city you are participating from. Check out some of the remote locations below! See other remote community pictures posted to Flickr. [r20.rs6.net] Use #ICANN67 on Twitter and Instagram Follow ICANN on Instagram: instagram.com/ICANNorg [r20.rs6.net] EXPLORE ICANN LEARN: NEW: ICANN Learn Course DNS Fundamentals ICANN Learn [r20.rs6.net] ICANN’s online capacity-development platform, now hosts a course on DNS Fundamentals, an introduction to different components of the Domain Name System (DNS). The course has been developed by experts across ICANN org and explores DNS processes such as DNS delegations, DNS resolution, and caching, as well as DNS security risks. Register now for this free course here [r20.rs6.net] [r20.rs6.net] [r20.rs6.net] Twitter English [r20.rs6.net] Twitter Arabic [r20.rs6.net] Twitter Russian [r20.rs6.net] Twitter Spanish [r20.rs6.net] Twitter Portuguese [r20.rs6.net] Twitter French [r20.rs6.net] Facebook [r20.rs6.net] YouTube [r20.rs6.net] Flickr [r20.rs6.net] LinkedIn [r20.rs6.net] Instagram [r20.rs6.net] Youku weChat [r20.rs6.net] Weibo

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FW: ICANN Launches Dr. Tarek Kamel Award and Opens Nomination for ICANN Community Excellence Award
by Fahd Batayneh March 10, 2020

March 10, 2020

Colleagues, please see below. Would anyone want to nominate someone from the community? Fahd Date: Monday, January 27, 2020 at 8:40 PM Subject: ICANN News Alert -- ICANN Launches Dr. Tarek Kamel Award and Opens Nomination for ICANN Community Excellence Award ICANN Launches Dr. Tarek Kamel Award and Opens Nomination for ICANN Community Excellence Award 27 January 2020 LOS ANGELES - 27 January 2020 – Today, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced a new award, the Dr. Tarek Kamel Award for Capacity Building. This award recognizes ICANN community members for significant efforts in developing capacity in areas related to ICANN's mission. Dr. Tarek Kamel Award for Capacity Building The award is established in honor of the late Dr. Tarek Kamel, an Internet pioneer known for his contributions to global Internet governance. At the time of his passing, Kamel was ICANN's Senior Advisor to the President and Senior Vice President for Government and Intergovernmental Organization Engagement. This annual award will be presented to one individual during ICANN's Annual General Meeting, held in the fourth quarter each year. The ideal recipient will have: Contributed significantly to national, regional, or global capacity-development programs related to ICANN's mission. Developed capacity-building programs that positively influenced the multistakeholder and diversified participation at ICANN. Details about the award selection process will be available in May 2020. Nomination Opens for ICANN Community Excellence Award The Multistakeholder Ethos Award has been renamed the ICANN Community Excellence Award. ICANN is accepting nominations for this year's award, which will be presented at ICANN68 Kuala Lumpur in June 2020. The ICANN Community Excellence Award recognizes community members who have significantly invested in consensus-based solutions and have contributed substantively to the ICANN multistakeholder model. The ideal recipient(s) will have: Participated in the ICANN community for a minimum of five years. Served in multiple ICANN working groups or committees. Collaborated significantly with more than one Supporting Organization (SO) or Advisory Committee (AC). Candidates will be evaluated by a panel of ICANN community members appointed by the SO/AC chairs using a merit-based point system, using three criteria: Demonstrates an ability to work across community lines with both familiar and unfamiliar ICANN stakeholders with the aim of building consensus. Facilitates dialogue and open discussion in a fair and collegial manner through the spirit of collaboration, showing empathy and demonstrating a sincere desire to engage with people from other backgrounds, cultures, and interests. Demonstrates additional support for the ICANN multistakeholder model and its overall effectiveness through volunteer service via working groups or committees. Please submit nominations via this nomination form. Include detailed information outlining why the nominee meets the award criteria. Any additional information in support of nominations and questions about the award process may be submitted to excellenceaward2020(a)icann.org. For more information, please consult the ICANN Community Wiki About ICANN ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world. # # #

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[Blog] The History of the URL
by Fahd Batayneh March 8, 2020

March 8, 2020

https://blog.cloudflare.com/the-history-of-the-url/ A very long yet interesting blog on the history of the URL. Fahd

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[Reminder] Draft ICANN Engagement Strategy Document Out for Public Comments
by Fahd Batayneh March 4, 2020

March 4, 2020

Friends and Colleagues, A gentle reminder on this. The link to the public comments page is as follows >> https://www.icann.org/public-comments/meac-strategy-2020-02-18-en. This remains open until 3 April 2020 at 23.59 UTC. We look forward to your contribution. Thank you, Baher, Seher, and Fahd Date: Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at 9:40 AM Subject: Draft ICANN Engagement Strategy Document Out for Public Comments Friends and Colleagues, As you know, a group of community members from the Middle East came together last October to start work on a new engagement strategy for ICANN in the Middle East. The SWG worked extremely hard over the course of 4 months to develop a draft strategy document that is in line with ICANN’s 2021-2025 Strategic Plan. I am pleased to share with you that the draft strategy document has gone out for public comments, and remains so until 3 April 2020 at 23.59 UTC. We encourage you to share your input and feedback on the draft strategy document. The link to the public comments page is as follows >> https://www.icann.org/public-comments/meac-strategy-2020-02-18-en. We look forward to your contribution. Thank you, Baher, Seher, and Fahd

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FW: IGF 2020 Call for Proposals
by Fahd Batayneh March 3, 2020

March 3, 2020

For those interested on the Global IGF 2020 in Poland. Fahd Date: Monday, March 2, 2020 at 11:17 PM Subject: [IGFmaglist] IGF 2020 Call for proposals Dear All, The IGF2020 call for workshop proposals is now open : https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2020-call-for-workshop… and as according to the timeline so are the calls for: Day Zero events: https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2020-call-for-pre-even… IGF Village Booths: https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2020-village Open Forums : https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2020-call-for-open-for… Remote Hubs: https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2020-remote-hubs Travel Support: https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/supporting-participation-a… Expression of interest to participate in the Music Night: https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/expression-of-interest-to-… The deadline for all calls is 15 April at 23:59 UTC. We would be grateful if you could please circulate these calls amongst your constituents. Best regards Chengetai

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ICANN67 Virtual Meeting
by Fahd Batayneh March 1, 2020

March 1, 2020

Friends and Colleagues, As you may know, ICANN67 will be held as a virtual meeting on 7-12 March 2020. The meeting will be held according to Cancun, Mexico time zone (UTC-5.00). The agenda for the meeting can be found here >> https://67.schedule.icann.org/meetings?classes[]=Groups%3A%3AMeetings%3A%3A…. We will not be having any regional sessions dedicated to our region; the Middle East. However, we intend to hold 2 sessions right after ICANN67: Webinar on the MEAC Regional Strategy ICANN67 Online Readout Session for the Middle East We anticipate both sessions to be held sometime in March after ICANN67. We invite you and encourage you to attend sessions of interest. If interested, you are strongly encouraged to register online at https://events.icann.org/icann67-cancun/reg. Once registered, you can receive daily newsletters of the key sessions and discussions held. We look forward to seeing you online. Thank you, Baher, Seher, and Fahd

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FW: [WebDebate] The UN beyond the West: How do countries from the Global South make their mark?
by Fahd Batayneh Feb. 29, 2020

Feb. 29, 2020

The below webinar by the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP) might be of interest to some. It takes place on Tuesday 3 March at 12.00 UTC. Fahd From: DiploFoundation <diplo(a)diplomacy.edu> Reply-To: DiploFoundation <diplo(a)diplomacy.edu> Date: Monday, February 24, 2020 at 1:59 PM To: Fahd Batayneh <fahd.batayneh(a)icann.org> Subject: [Ext] [WebDebate] The UN beyond the West: How do countries from the Global South make their mark? Is this email not displaying correctly? View this email in your browser [diplomacy.us5.list-manage.com] [WebDebate] The UN beyond the West: How do countries from the Global South make their mark? Dear Colleagues, We invite you to join us on Tuesday, 3rd March, at 12:00 UTC (13:00 CET) for our next WebDebate, when we will focus on the impact that countries from the Global South have had on the United Nations. As 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, we continue our theme of exploring key topics related to the past, present, and future of the organisation. Since the inception of the UN, membership of the organisation has grown steadily. In particular, the membership of states from the Global South has impacted the structure and functioning of the organisation. In this WebDebate we explore specific diplomatic approaches led by countries from the Global South, shifts within the UN system, calls for UN reform, and the impact that countries from the Global South have had on the organisation. Register for the event Our Speakers Amb. Asoke Mukerji’s diplomatic career spans 37 years, from 1978-2015. As India’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN in New York (2013-2015), he oversaw India’s negotiations on the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, focusing on prioritising the use of technology for achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Dr Eugenio Vargas Garcia is senior adviser on Peace and Security at the Office of the President of the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly. He leads on matters pertaining to the 4th Committee, the Security Council, peacekeeping, cybersecurity, and as GRULAC liaison. About our WebDebates The WebDebates on the future of diplomacy are live streamed on the first Tuesday of every month. They are organised by Diplo within the framework of the International Forum on Diplomatic Training (IFDT). Diplo's WebDebates Team

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DNSSEC Whitepaper
by Fahd Batayneh Feb. 28, 2020

Feb. 28, 2020

https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/octo-006-en.pdf The above introductory paper on DNSSEC might be of interest to some. Fahd Batayneh ICANN

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ICANN67 Virtual Public Meeting FAQ
by Fahd Batayneh Feb. 26, 2020

Feb. 26, 2020

https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/icann67-faq-2020-02-24-en These FAQs might be of interest to those who intend to attend ICANN67. Some key highlights: ICANN67 will run using the Mexico time zone of UTC-5.00. The agenda will include key sessions; i.e. it will be a redacted version of the original ICANN67 physical meeting agenda. The redacted version of the agenda is being worked out with the SO/AC leaders, and will be published very soon. Thank you, Fahd Batayneh ICANN

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