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Final Proposed Agenda 2024-08-08

Final Proposed Agenda 2024-08-08

Owned by Terri Agnew
Last updated: Mar 04, 2025 by Aleksey KhapchenkoVersion comment

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/GJWfBg.  

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, 08 August 2024 at 21:00 UTC: https://tinyurl.com/3wxk2kd2   

14:00 Los Angeles; 17:00 Washington DC; 22:00 London; 23:00 Paris; 00:00 Moscow (Friday); 07:00 Melbourne (Friday) 

GNSO Council Meeting Remote Participation: https://icann.zoom.us/j/92283565389?pwd=QnlHK1JSbzdiSFFZSjRjamxMTkNGdz09

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 12 June 2024 were posted on 01 July 2024

Minutes of the GNSO Council Meeting on 18 July 2024 were posted on 02 August 2024

 

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)

  • GNSO Review of the GAC Communiqué


Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - GNSO Liaison to the GAC Replacement (10 minutes)

The GNSO Liaison to the GAC role was first piloted in FY15-16 (1 July 2014 to 30 June 2016) as part of a broader initiative of the GAC-GNSO Consultation Group to facilitate early engagement of the GAC in GNSO policy development activities.

Due to the success of the pilot, the GNSO Liaison to the GAC is now a permanent role and an integral part of communications between the GAC and GNSO. The term of the liaison role is two years, and the term limit is two consecutive two-year terms. As the current liaison’s term will expire at the 2024 Annual General Meeting (ICANN81), the GNSO Council will now appoint a new liaison to assume the role at ICANN81.

Following a review of candidates by the Standing Selection Committee (SSC), the SSC is recommending Sebastien Ducos be appointed as the new GNSO Liaison to the GAC.

Here, the Council will vote to confirm Sebastien Ducos as the GNSO Liaison to the GAC. 

4.1 - Introduction of Topic (Greg DiBiase, GNSO Chair)

4.2 - Council Vote (Voting threshold: Simple Majority)

4.3 - Next Steps


Item 5: COUNCIL VOTE - Adoption of the SPIRT Charter (15 minutes)

The GNSO Council enlisted a Drafting Team to develop a draft charter for the SPIRT, which is a standing implementation review team recommended in the New gLTD Subsequent Procedures Final Report.

When issues arise after ICANN Board adoption of the Applicant Guidebook and during the course of the New gTLD Program that need to be addressed, the Standing Predictability Implementation Review Team (“SPIRT”) will utilize the Predictability Framework, which is an output of the implementation effort developed by ICANN org, in coordination with the Subsequent Procedures (“SubPro”) Implementation Review Team (“IRT”); the Predictability Framework and the SPIRT Charter should be mutually coherent. Moreover, the GNSO Council is responsible for the oversight of the SPIRT.

In developing the draft charter, the Drafting Team considered elements such as scope, formation, the operating principles and decision-making of the SPIRT, et.al. The New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Final Report included an annex that provides detailed guidance on how the SPIRT should operate, which served as a basis for the drafting of the charter.

On 12 June 2024, the GNSO Council received an update on the draft charter, focusing on the sections that differed from the implementation guidance in Annex E of the New gTLD SubPro Final Report, including specific language. Subsequently, the Drafting Team completed its work and is submitting a final version of the draft charter to the GNSO Council.

Here, the Council will vote on the SPIRT Charter.

5.1 - Introduction of Topic (Anne Aikman-Scalese, GNSO Council Liaison) 

5.2 - Council Vote (Voting threshold: Simple Majority)

5.3 - Next Steps


Item 6: COUNCIL VOTE - Accuracy Scoping Team (10 minutes)

The Registration Data Accuracy (RDA) Scoping Team was initiated by the GNSO Council in July 2021 per the formation instructions. 

The Scoping Team completed Assignment #1 (enforcement and reporting) and Assignment #2 (measurement of accuracy) and submitted its write up to the Council on 5 September 2022. In its write up, the Scoping Team suggested moving forward with two proposals that would not require access to registration data, namely a registrar survey (recommendation #1) and a possible registrar audit (recommendation #2) that may help further inform the team’s work on measuring the effectiveness of current accuracy requirements and determining if further policy work may be needed. 

On 19 October 2023, ICANN org provided an update on Registration Data Accuracy efforts, in which it noted limitations and concerns with proceeding with the Scoping Team’s recommendation #1 (voluntary registrar survey) and registrar audit (recommendation #2). The Council voted to extend the deferral of the Accuracy Scoping Team’s recommendations by another six months during its meeting on 15 February 2024. 

Following discussion during the meetings in June and July, the Council discussed the limitations noted by ICANN org and determined there would be limited value in proceeding with the Scoping Team’s two recommendations (#1 and #2). The Council also discussed the limited value in restarting the Scoping Team at this time due to limitations in access to data for the purpose of assessing accuracy.

Given the importance of this issue within the ICANN community, the Council will continue to discuss how to best proceed on this topic.  


Here, the Council will vote to reject the Scoping Team’s recommendations #1 (voluntary registrar survey) and #2 (registrar audit).

6.1 - Introduction of Topic (Greg DiBiase, GNSO Chair) 

6.2 - Council Vote (Voting threshold: Simple Majority)

6.3 - Next Steps


Item 7: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Accuracy of Registration Data (20 minutes) 

Following the ICANN80 GNSO Council Wrap-Up session, the GNSO Council Chair asked Councilors to consider the following questions: 

  1. Evaluation of Proposed Alternatives: In its write-up, ICANN noted limitations in processing data for the purpose of assessing accuracy and proposed two alternatives (analyzing historical audit data and engagement with Contracted Parties on ccTLD practices – see detail below). Is pursuing these alternatives worthwhile? If not, are there other alternatives for obtaining data Council should consider?
  2. Consideration of Scoping Team Restart: Given the limitations with respect to access to data, would there be value in restarting the Scoping Team at this time?
  3. Advancing the Topic: If restarting the Scoping Team at this time is not deemed advisable, what other ideas do you have to advance this topic given its importance to the ICANN community? 

During the Council’s July meeting, the Council agreed that restarting the Scoping Team at this time is not recommended. Councilors requested additional time to discuss additional alternatives with how to proceed on the topic of accuracy and will be asked to present proposals. 

Here, the Council will discuss the feedback received from Councilors’ groups.

7.1 - Introduction of Topic (Greg DiBiase, GNSO Chair)

7.2 - Council Discussion

7.3 - Next Steps


Item 8: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Small Team Plus on Singulars/Plurals (15 minutes)

In March 2023, the ICANN Board approved the majority of the recommendations contained in the Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent PDP, but also placed some recommendations into a pending status. The Council convened a small team that worked collaboratively with the ICANN Board to resolve all pending recommendations. While the majority of the pending recommendations were able to be adopted by the ICANN Board, recommendations across six Topics were non adopted by the ICANN Board. 

The Council tasked the Small Team Plus with developing Supplemental Recommendations on five of the six Topics, i.e., Registry Voluntary Commitments / Public Interest Commitments, Applicant Support, Terms and Conditions, String Similarity Evaluations, and Limited Challenge/Appeal Mechanisms. Based on the expected implementation as it relates to the Continued Operations Instrument (COI), the Small Team Plus determined it was unnecessary to develop a Supplemental Recommendation for Topic 22: Registrant Protections. The Small Team Plus developed Supplemental Recommendations for all five topics and shared them with the Council. Because of information received just prior to Council consideration in April 2024, the Council elected to defer consideration of the Supplemental Recommendation related to String Similarity Evaluations, or more specifically, singular/plurals. The new information received was a strawperson developed by ICANN org, which provided a potential path forward for singular/plurals. The Council determined that the strawperson was promising enough to task the Small Team Plus with considering whether strawperson, or and amended version, could be agreed upon. The Small Team Plus has been working to develop Supplemental Recommendations, which is inclusive of the concepts in the staff strawperson.

Here, the Council will receive an update on the Supplemental Recommendations in regards to Singulars/Plurals.

8.1 - Introduction of Topic (Paul McGrady, Small Team Plus ) 

8.2 - Council Discussion

8.3 - Next Steps


Item 9: COUNCIL UPDATE - Transfer Policy Review PDP - Initial Report Format (10 minutes)

At its meeting on 18 February 2021, the GNSO Council unanimously adopted a motion to initiate a

Policy Development Process (PDP) to review the Transfer Policy and 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 PDP WG has published its consolidated Initial Report, and is now seeking public comments. Because the Initial Report covers many topics and includes many policy recommendations, the Working Group has updated the format of its Initial Report in an effort to make it more digestible to readers (including, eventually, the GNSO Council and ICANN Board). 

Here, the Council will receive an overview of the format update.

9.1 - Introduction of Topic (Roger Carney, Transfer Policy Review WG Chair)

9.2 - Council Discussion

9.3 - Next Steps


Item 10: COUNCIL UPDATE - Intellectual Property Constituency Request for Reconsideration (10 minutes)

On 22 November 2023, the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) filed a Request for Reconsideration  of the ICANN Board Resolutions 2023.10.26.11 and 2023.10.26.122, regarding (i) the actions and inactions that led to (a) the ICANN Board’s public comment of 6 December 2018 on the Initial Report of the Cross-Community Working Group on New gTLD Auction Proceeds (CCWG-AP), (b) the organization of the public comment phase on the Proposed Final Report of the New gTLD Auction Proceeds Cross Community Working Group, (c) the ICANN Board Resolutions 2022.06.12.13 to 2022.06.12.16 , and (ii) the actions and inactions involving the implementation of the ICANN Grant Giving Program.

During its meeting at ICANN80, a few GNSO Councilors volunteered to draft a letter to the Board regarding the Request for Reconsideration. Here, the Council will hear an update on the draft letter and discuss potential next steps for the Council, if any.

10.1 - Introduction of Topic (Greg DiBiase, GNSO Chair)

10.2 - Council Discussion

10.3 - Next Steps


Item 11: Any Other Business (20 minutes)

11.1 - Independent Review Process - Implementation Oversight Team 

11.2 - ICANN’s Draft Five Year Strategic Plan

11.3 - Continuous Improvement Program - Community Coordination Group (CIP-CCG) Phase 3 Update

11.4 - Publication of Preliminary Issues Report on Latin Script Diacritics

11.5 - ICANN Board Seeks Input on Applicant Support Program Use of Auction Proceeds - blog post

11.6 - Board Letter & RrSG Input Letter re: Urgent Request

11.7 - Queries regarding IDN EPDP

 _______________________________

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 21:00 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 14:00 

San José, Costa Rica (CST) UTC-6  15:00 

New York/Washington DC, USA (EDT) UTC-4 17:00

Buenos Aires, Argentina (ART) UTC-3 18:00

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (WAT) UTC+1 22:00

Paris, France (CEST) UTC+2  23:00

Moscow, Russia (MSK) UTC+3 00:00 (Friday) 

Singapore (SGT) UTC+8  05:00 (Friday)

Melbourne, Australia (AEST) UTC+10 07:00 (Friday)

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For other places see http://www.timeanddate.com and https://tinyurl.com/3wxk2kd2