Final Proposed Agenda 2025-03-12
- Terri Agnew
- Aleksey Khapchenko
GNSO Council Agenda 12 March 2025
Please note that all documents referenced in the agenda have been gathered on a Wiki page for convenience and easier access: https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/vqefBg
This agenda was established according to the GNSO Operating Procedures v3.5, updated on 15 March 2023.
For convenience:
An excerpt of the ICANN Bylaws defining the voting thresholds is provided in Appendix 1 at the end of this agenda.
An excerpt from the Council Operating Procedures defining the absentee voting procedures is provided in Appendix 2 at the end of this agenda.
GNSO Council meeting on Thursday, 12 March 2025 at 20:15 UTC: Event Time Announcer - GNSO Council Meeting
13:15 Los Angeles; 16:15 Washington DC; 20:15 London; 21:15 Paris; 23:15 Moscow; 07:15 Melbourne (Friday)
GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: [Published 24 hours prior to meeting]: https://icann82.sched.com/event/1vpbt/gnso-council-meeting
Councilors should notify the GNSO Secretariat in advance if they will not be able to attend and/or need a dial out call.
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Item 1: Administrative Matters (5 minutes)
1.1 - Roll Call
1.2 - Updates to Statements of Interest
1.3 - Review / Amend Agenda
1.4 - Note the status of minutes for the previous Council meetings per the GNSO Operating Procedures:
Minutes of the GNSO Council Meeting on 09 January 2025 were posted on 26 January 2025.
Minutes of the GNSO Council Meeting on 13 February 2025 were posted on 03 March 2025
Item 2: Opening Remarks / Review of Projects & Action List (0 minutes)
2.1 - Review focus areas and provide updates on specific key themes / topics, to include review of Projects List and Action Item List.
Item 3: Consent Agenda (5 minutes)
Confirm the GNSO Standing Committee on Continuous Improvement (SCCI) Leadership Team
Acknowledgment of the appointment of Greg DiBiase to seat 13 on the ICANN Board.
Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Final Report from the Transfer Policy Review (“TPR”) Policy Development Process (“PDP”) Working Group (15 minutes)
On 18 February 2021, the GNSO Council initiated a PDP to review the Transfer Policy, the policy that governs the process of transferring a domain name from one registrar to another. This PDP is tasked to determine if changes to the policy are needed to improve the ease, security, and efficacy of inter-registrar and inter-registrant transfers.
The Transfer Policy Review (TPR) working group began meeting in May 2021, and while it initially divided its work into three distinct groups/phases, the working group ultimately agreed that the topics within its charter needed to be considered together due to overlapping dependencies. Accordingly, the working group worked toward a comprehensive Initial Report, which it published on 1 August 2024. The Initial Report covers all topics in the working group’s charter, including inter-registrar transfers, change of registrant, the Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy, ICANN-approved transfers, and others.
The TPR Working Group introduced a new format to its Initial and Final Report, where it endeavors to indicate the “Policy Impact Level” of each policy recommendation. The Policy Impact Indicator is a new feature to help the reader understand the degree of change being proposed by the Working Group, i.e., how much does this recommendation differ from the current Transfer Policy?
Here, the Council will vote on the Final Report from the TPR PDP Working Group.
4.1 - Introduction of Topic (Osvaldo Novoa, GNSO Council Liaison to the TPR PDP)
4.2 - Council Vote (voting threshold: supermajority)
4.3 - Next Steps
Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Next Steps for Registration Data Accuracy (25 minutes)
During the Council’s July 2024 meeting, the Council agreed that restarting the Scoping Team at this time is not recommended. However, during the August meeting, some Councilors suggested potentially convening a small team to discuss how to make progress on this topic. Council Leadership distributed a proposal of how to solicit additional feedback from ICANN org and GNSO groups with directed questions, in order to receive information from which the Council can decide how to handle the important topic of accuracy. Following full Council review and feedback, the Council distributed these questions to Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees. The Council received feedback from the following groups: ALAC, BC, GAC, IPC, ISPCP, NCSG, RrSG, and RySG.
Separately, Council Leadership sent a communication re: RDS-WHOIS2 Recommendation CC.1 from 2020. This recommendation deals with the accuracy of RDS data, particularly names suspended due to inaccurate data. The recommendation essentially recommends that registrars note in the RDS record that the name is suspended due to incorrect data and also recommends the name should not be “unsuspended” until the data is corrected. As this recommendation also falls under the topic of accuracy, Leadership noted that folding Recommendation CC.1 into the broader discussion of accuracy (when that takes place) may make sense.
Here the Council will discuss the feedback received and determine next steps for making progress on registration data accuracy now that feedback has been received.
5.1 - Introduction of Topic (Greg DiBiase, GNSO Chair)
5.2 - Council Discussion
5.3 - Next Steps
Item 6: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - EPDP Phase 1 on the Temporary Specification - Implementation Question re: Billing Contact (20 minutes)
During the ICANN81 GNSO Council Wrap-Up, Thomas Rickert provided an update regarding the implementation of EPDP Temp Spec Phase 1 recommendations. Thomas is the current GNSO Council Liaison to the EPDP Temp Spec Phase 1 Implementation Review Team (IRT). Thomas noted that the IRT expressed the view that the absence of a reference to billing contact data was a drafting error, and the EPDP Team intended for the collection of billing contact data to be optional and not mandatory.
The Registration Data Policy was published on 21 February 2024, and the policy has an effective date of 21 August 2025. The EPDP Phase 1 policy recommendations do not reference billing contact data, and the Registration Data Policy also makes no reference to billing contact data.
In the interest of transparency, Thomas requested that all Councilors consult with their respective groups to ensure that others are properly informed and agree with the interpretation raised by the IRT. Accordingly, Councilors were asked to consult with their groups. The Council discussed this topic during its meeting on 19 December 2024 and asked for additional background information on the topic.
During its February meeting, the Council considered the questions below:
Does the Council confirm billing contact was in scope for the EPDP on the Temp Spec - Phase 1 Team?
Does the Council confirm:
the collection of billing contacts by registrars should continue to be required as per current RAA requirements because EPDP Phase 1, by being silent on this, did not mean to change this requirement, OR
the collection of billing contacts by registrars should become optional because EPDP Phase 1, by being silent on this, meant to change the RAA requirement?
The Council discussed potential options during its February 2025 meeting and continued discussing options during its GNSO Working Session at ICANN82.
Here, the Council will continue discussing how to resolve the question of Billing Contact.
6.1 - Introduction of Topic (Greg DiBiase, GNSO Chair)
6.2 - Council Discussion
6.3 - Next Steps
Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION: Update on Trilateral Meeting on Urgent Requests (20 minutes)
ICANN org convened an Implementation Review Team to assist ICANN in implementing the EPDP on the Temporary Specification Phase 1 Final Report, which began meeting in May 2019. ICANN org published the draft Registration Data Policy for public comment on 24 August 2022. Several commenters expressed dissatisfaction with the implementation of Recommendation 18, specifically around the issue of the response timeline for urgent requests. The relevant portion of Recommendation 18 reads, “A separate timeline of [less than X business days] will considered for the response to ‘Urgent’ Reasonable Disclosure Requests, those Requests for which evidence is supplied to show an immediate need for disclosure [time frame to be finalized and criteria set for Urgent requests during implementation].”
On 3 June 2024, the Board wrote to the GNSO Council, noting concerns with the proposed urgent request timeline of business days as not fit for purpose, as truly urgent requests should be responded to within minutes or hours rather than business days. Recognizing this, the Board also noted there is no universal mechanism for registrars to authenticate law enforcement entities. The GNSO Council responded on 29 August 2024, agreeing with the Board’s concerns and suggesting a trilateral meeting between the Board, GNSO Council, and GAC to discuss a potential path forward in light of the concerns.
On 15 October 2024, the GAC wrote to the Board, recommending, “[f]or the work on authentication, we would support the establishment of a joint PSWG/CPH task force. For the work on the response time for authenticated requests, we invite the Board and the GNSO Council to identify an expedited procedure for addressing this workstream. We strongly suggest resuming the work of the IRT, which was halted last summer.”
A trilateral meeting was held on 4 November 2024 and the Board, GAC, and GNSO Council discussed next steps, including potentially resuming discussions with the IRT. The Council discussed this issue in detail during its meeting on 19 December 2024 and responded to the GAC on 15 January 2025. A second trilateral meeting was held on 12 February 2025.
Here, the Council will hear an update from that trilateral meeting and discuss next steps.
7.1 - Introduction of Topic (Greg DiBiase, GNSO Chair)
7.2 - Council Discussion
7.3 - Next Steps
Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION: Outcomes of Strategic Planning Session (15 minutes)
Beginning in 2018, the GNSO Council has held an annual Strategic Planning Session (SPS). The SPS is the Council’s dedicated meeting designed to (i) understand and review the GNSO’s portfolio of work for the coming year, (ii) align on the GNSO’s work priorities for the coming year, (iii) consider whether the GNSO Council has the correct resources and tools to conduct its work as manager of the PDP efficiently, effectively, and comprehensively, and (iv) discuss how to best prepare for emerging and upcoming challenges the Council could face in the coming year and beyond. This year’s SPS was held in Washington, D.C. on 14-15 January 2025.
Here, the Council will review the outcomes of the SPS and discuss next steps.
8.1 - Introduction of Topic (Greg DiBiase, GNSO Chair)
8.2 - Council Discussion
8.3 - Next Steps
Item 9: Any Other Business (15 minutes)
9.1 - GNSO Chair Election Timeline Announcement
9.2 - Update from the GNSO Informal Internet Governance Tracking Group
9.3 - Accuracy Scoping Deferral Expiration
9.4 - Open Mic
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Appendix 1: GNSO Council Voting Thresholds (ICANN Bylaws, Article 11, Section 11.3(i))
See https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-en/#article11 .
Appendix 2: GNSO Council Absentee Voting Procedures (GNSO Operating Procedures, Section 4.4)
See https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/file/field-file-attach/op-procedures-15mar23-en.pdf
References for Coordinated Universal Time of 20:15 UTC
Local time between March and November in the NORTHERN hemisphere
See https://www.timeanddate.com/time/change/ for Dates for Daylight Saving Time and Clock Changes
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California, USA (PDT) UTC-7 13:15
San José, Costa Rica (CST) UTC-6 14:15
New York/Washington DC, USA (EDT) UTC-4 16:15
Buenos Aires, Argentina (ART) UTC-3 17:15
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (WAT) UTC+1 21:15
Paris, France (CEST) UTC+1 21:15
Moscow, Russia (MSK) UTC+3 23:15
Singapore (SGT) UTC+8 04:15 (Friday)
Melbourne, Australia (AEST) UTC+11 07:15 (Friday)
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For other places see http://www.timeanddate.com and Event Time Announcer - GNSO Council Meeting