Preliminary Report of Special Board Meeting 22 April 2010

[Formal Minutes are still to be approved by the ICANN Board]

Note: This has not been approved by the Board and does not constitute minutes but does provide a preliminary attempt setting forth the unapproved reporting of the resolutions from that meeting. Details on voting and abstentions will be provided in the Board's Minutes, when approved by the board at a future meeting.

A Special Meeting of the ICANN Board of Directors was held via teleconference 22 April 2010 @ 11.00 UTC. Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush promptly called the meeting to order.

In addition to Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush the following Directors participated in all or part of the meeting: Raimundo Beca, Rod Beckstrom (President and CEO), Dennis Jennings (Vice Chairman), Harald Tveit Alvestrand, Steve Crocker, Gonzalo Navarro, Rita Rodin Johnston, Raymond A. Plzak, Rajasekhar Ramaraj, George Sadowsky, Mike Silber, Jean-Jacques Subrenat, Bruce Tonkin, and Katim Touray.

The following Board Liaisons participated in all or part of the meeting: Janis Karklins, GAC Liaison; Ram Mohan, SSAC Liaison; Thomas Narten, IETF Liaison; Jonne Soininen, TLG Liaison; and Vanda Scartezini, ALAC Liaison.

This is a preliminary report of the approved resolutions resulting from the Special Meeting of the ICANN Board of Directors, which took place on 22 April 2010.

  1. Consent Agenda Resolution:

      Resolved, the following resolutions in this Consent Agenda are hereby approved:

    1. .INFO Contract Amendment re One & Two Character Names

      Whereas, Afilias has submitted a request pursuant to ICANN's Registry Services Evaluation Policy to amend the.INFO Registry Agreements to allocate one and two-character domain names via a phased allocation process.

      Whereas, the proposed release of single and two-character domain names in.INFO would be consistent with the recommendations of the GNSO Reserved Names Working Group and other approvals to permit the release of one and two-character domain names.

      Whereas, ICANN has evaluated the proposed amendment to the.INFO Registry Agreement as new registry services pursuant to the Registry Services Evaluation Policy and has posted amendments for public comment and Board approval ( http://www.icann.org/registries/rsep/ ).

      It is hereby RESOLVED (2010.04.22.01) that the.INFO amendment is approved, and the CEO and General Counsel are authorized to take such actions as appropriate to implement the amendments.

    2. Redelegation – Tanzania (.TZ)

      Whereas, TZ is the ISO 3166-1 two-letter country-code designated for the United Republic of Tanzania,

      Whereas, ICANN has received a request for redelegation of.TZ to Tanzania Network Information Centre Limited;

      Whereas, ICANN has reviewed the request, and has determined that the proposed redelegation would be in the interests of the local and global Internet communities.

      It is hereby RESOLVED (2010.04.22.02), that the proposed redelegation of the.TZ domain to Tanzania Network Information Centre Limited is approved.

    3. Approval of Recommendation from Compensation Committee regarding Paul Twomey's At Risk Component of Compensation as Senior President

      Whereas, on 30 September 2009, the ICANN Board granted to ICANN's CEO "the authority vested under the Consultant Services Agreement for setting milestones, evaluating performance against those milestones, and making payment to Argo Pacific for the Senior President, Dr. Paul Twomey's performance bonus, as the President and CEO reasonably determined, in his discretion."

      Whereas, the CEO has developed a proposal for payment to Argo Pacific for Senior President Dr. Paul Twomey's performance bonus for services provided under the Consultant Services Agreement.

      Resolved , (2010.04.22.03), the Board hereby adopts and ratifies the proposal for payment to Argo Pacific for the Senior President Dr. Paul Twomey's performance bonus under the Consultant Services Agreement between ICANN and Argo Pacific.

    4. Renewal of DotPro Registry Agreement

      Whereas, the Current Agreement is due to expire on 27 May 2010;

      Whereas, ICANN staff conducted good-faith negotiations with Registry Services Corporation, operator of the.PRO gTLD, for the renewal of their Registry Agreement;

      Whereas, on 9 March 2010, ICANN announced that negotiations with Registry Services Corporation had been successfully completed, and posted the Agreement for public comment http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-09mar10-en.htm ;

      Whereas, the Board carefully considered the Agreement and finds that its approval would be beneficial for the whole Internet community;

      It is hereby RESOLVED , (2010.04.22.04), that the.PRO Registry Agreement is approved, and the CEO is authorized to take such actions as appropriate to implement the Agreement.

    Resolutions 2010.04.22.01; 2010.04.22.02; 2010.04.22.03; and 2010.04.22.04 were approved in a single vote approving the consent agenda items. All Board Members present unanimously approved these resolutions.

  2. Main Board Meeting Resolutions
    1. President's Report

      The Board received a report from the President and CEO on staff activity since the Board's meeting in March in Nairobi, including compliance activity.

    2. Delegation of IDN ccTLDs

      The Board discussed the proposed resolutions regarding delegation of four IDN ccTLDs, and received an update from staff regarding the process for handling delegation requests.

      The Board then took the following actions:

      1. Delegation of the.рф ("R.F.") domain representing the Russian Federation to Coordination Center for TLD RU

        Whereas, the Russian Federation is a country currently listed in the ISO 3166-1 standard;

        Whereas, рф (xn--p1ai )("R.F.") is a string that has been deemed to appropriately represent the Russian Federation through the IDN Fast Track process.

        Whereas, ICANN has received a request for delegation of .рф to Coordination Center for TLD RU.

        Whereas, ICANN has reviewed the request, and has determined that the proposed delegation would be in the interests of the local and global Internet communities.

        It is hereby RESOLVED (2010.04.22.05), that the proposed delegation of the.рф domain to Coordination Center for TLD RU as a country-code top-level domain is approved.

      2. All Board members in attendance unanimously approved of this resolution.

      3. Delegation of the السعودية. ("Al-Saudiah") domain representing Saudi Arabia in Arabic to the Communications and Information Technology Commission

        Whereas, Saudi Arabia is a country currently listed in the ISO 3166-1 standard;

        Whereas, السعودية (xn--mgberp4a5d4ar )("al-Saudiah") is a string that has been deemed to appropriately represent Saudi Arabia through the IDN Fast Track process.

        Whereas, ICANN has received a request for delegation of السعودية. to the Communications and Information Technology Commission.

        Whereas, ICANN has reviewed the request, and has determined that the proposed delegation would be in the interests of the local and global Internet communities.

        It is hereby RESOLVED (2010.04.22.06), that the proposed delegation of the السعودية. domain to the Communications and Information Technology Commission is approved.

      4. Three Board members abstained from voting on this resolution. All other Board members in attendance approved of this resolution. The resolution carried.

      5. Delegation of the امارات. ("Emarat") domain representing the United Arab Emirates to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority

        Whereas, the United Arab Emirates is a country currently listed in the ISO 3166-1 standard;

        Whereas, امارات (xn--mgbaam7a8h ) ("Emarat") is a string that has been deemed to appropriately represent the United Arab Emirates through the IDN Fast Track process.

        Whereas, ICANN has received a request for delegation of امارات. to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.

        Whereas, ICANN has reviewed the request, and has determined that the proposed delegation would be in the interests of the local and global Internet communities.

        It is hereby RESOLVED (2010.04.22.07), that the proposed delegation of the امارات. domain to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority is approved.

      6. All Board members in attendance unanimously approved of this resolution.

      7. Delegation of the مصر. ("Misr") domain representing Egypt to the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority

        The Board again discussed the request for delegation of this IDN ccTLD.

        The Board then took the following action:

        Whereas, Egypt is a country currently listed in the ISO 3166-1 standard;

        Whereas,
        مصر (xn--wgbh1c)("Misr") is a string that has been deemed to appropriately represent Egypt through the IDN Fast Track process.

        Whereas, ICANN has received a request for delegation of
        مصر. to the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority.

        Whereas, ICANN has reviewed the request, and has determined that the proposed delegation would be in the interests of the local and global Internet communities.

        It is hereby RESOLVED (2010.04.22.08), that the proposed delegation of the
        مصر. domain to the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority is approved.

      8. Three Board members abstained from voting on this resolution. All other Board members in attendance approved of this resolution. The resolution carried.

    3. Latin American Meeting Location

      The Board received an update from ICANN Management regarding the recommendation to proceed with the 2010 meeting in Latin America in Cartagena, Colombia and the work underway to formalize a process for meeting attendance.

      The Board then took the following action:

      Whereas, ICANN intends to hold its third Meeting for 2010 in the Latin America region as per its policy;

      Whereas.CO Internet S.A.S. was one of the entities that submitted a viable proposal to serve as host for the ICANN 2010 Latin America Meeting;

      Whereas, staff has completed a thorough review of the.CO Internet S.A.S proposal and finds it acceptable;

      Whereas, the Board Finance Committee recommended and the Board of Directors have approved a budget of US$2.126M for the ICANN 2010 Latin America Meeting;

      It is hereby RESOLVED , (2010.04.22.09), that the Board accepts the.CO Internet S.A.S. proposal and approves that the ICANN 2010 Latin America Meeting shall be held in Cartagena, Colombia from 5-10 December 2010, with a budget not to exceed US$2.126M, and that the Cartagena Meeting designated as the 2010 Annual Meeting.

      Three Board members abstained from voting on this resolution. All other Board members in attendance approved of this resolution. The resolution carried.

    4. Affirmation of Commitments
      1. (A) Meeting Our Commitments under AOC

        The Board received an update from the CEO regarding the actions taken by ICANN to improve compliance with the Affirmation of Commitments, and the strong commitment to accountability and transparency within the organization, including having a senior staff member dedicated, full time, to accountability and transparency work.

      2. Board oversight of performance of Affirmation of Commitments: Supporting & Facilitating Reviews

        The Board discussed the need to create a working group of the Board to monitor the Board's responsibility to make sure the reviews are done properly and support the independent review teams.

      3. Transparency & Accountability Review Update

        The Board received an update from the GAC Liaison regarding the status of work of the Transparency & Accountability Review Team.

    5. Proposed Implementation Plan for Synchronized ccTLD IDNs

      The Board discussed the resolutions proposed by the Equivalent Strings Working Group regarding CNNIC and TWNIC's requests for simultaneous delegation of IDN ccTLDs, and the clarification of terms that occurred after the Board's resolution in Nairobi directing the work on this issue. The Board also discussed the need for future engagement and discussion of the broader issues that were raised through this work.

      The Board then took the following actions:

      1. CNNIC Request for (Simplified and Traditional Chinese) IDN ccTLDs

        Whereas, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) has requested the simultaneous delegation of .中国 (xn--fiqs8S) and .中國 (xn--fiqz9S);

        Whereas, CNNIC has met the existing Fast Track requirements and rules for String Evaluation of the requested IDN ccTLDs, including the DNS security and stability evaluation;

        Whereas, an issue has arisen around the delegation and management of domains that reflect parallel uses of "Simplified" and "Traditional" character-renderings and orthographies for the Chinese language communities, and thus CNNIC is requesting delegation of this pair of IDN ccTLDs;

        Whereas, CNNIC has a significant depth of experience with the registration of strings containing variants as domain names at second and lower levels under principles discussed in RFC 4713 (< http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4713.txt > - Registration and Administration Recommendations for Chinese Domain Names - October 2006), with the delegation and management of domains that are expected to reflect parallel uses of "Simplified" and "Traditional" character-renderings and orthographies for Chinese, and can point to good management experience and good user experience with this methodology, and have stated that they have the necessary competence and experience to operate the pair of IDN ccTLDs in a stable manner;

        Whereas, there is general and wide community support for the notion of simultaneously delegating this particular requested pair of IDN ccTLDs to meet the well understood needs of users of Chinese, namely that users accessing a domain expect that the traditional and simplified Chinese names have been assigned to the same registrant, and that such delegations would solve a significant problem for the user communities;

        Whereas, public comment makes it clear that the methodology for operation and management of IDN ccTLDs based on such parallel strings can only be achieved today through operational and administrative procedures, as there are no DNS protocol mechanisms yet that provide the desired behavior, which procedures must be handled by the local IDN ccTLD manager;

        Whereas, the delegation of these IDN ccTLDs would be an extension to the current published IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process;

        Whereas, the ICANN Board on 12 March 2010 resolved on a set of "Principles for Handling Synchronized IDN ccTLDs for the specific requests related to the Fast Track Process";

        Whereas, after public comment and general consultation with the technical community, it became apparent that some of the ideas expressed and words used in the Principles were found to be confusing and imprecise – e.g. "Equivalent" and "Synchronized" IDN ccTLDs – and that this terminology made it difficult to evaluate important aspects of the Proposed Implementation Plan for Synchronized IDN ccTLDs ;

        Whereas, the methodology to be taken by the IDN ccTLD manager to handle these particular instances of parallel IDN ccTLDs is, in the short-term, the only option available, but there are serious limits to where such an approach is viable in practice, so that it cannot be viewed as a general solution, and that consequently, long-term development work should be pursued;

        Whereas, significant analysis and possibly development work should continue on both policy-based and technical elements of a solution for the introduction on a more general basis of strings containing variants as TLDs;

        Therefore, it is RESOLVED, (2010.04.22.10), that CNNIC be notified that the .中国 (xn--fiqs8S) and .中國 (xn--fiqz9S) IDN ccTLD request has completed the Fast Track String Evaluation and that they may enter the String Delegation step in the Fast Track Process, using the standard IANA ccTLD delegation function, and that delegation is contingent on completion of the IANA process criteria and publication of CNNIC's detailed Implementation Plan to be finalized in consultation with ICANN.

      2. All Board members in attendance unanimously approved of this resolution.

      3. TWNIC Request for (Simplified and Traditional Chinese) IDN ccTLDs

        Whereas, the Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC) has requested the simultaneous delegation of .台灣 (xn--kpry57d) and .台湾 (xn--kprw13d);

        Whereas, TWNIC has met the existing Fast Track requirements and rules for String Evaluation of the requested IDN ccTLDs, including the DNS security and stability evaluation;

        Whereas, an issue has arisen around the delegation and management of domains that reflect parallel uses of "Simplified" and "Traditional" character-renderings and orthographies for the Chinese language communities, and thus TWNIC is requesting delegation of this pair of IDN ccTLDs;

        Whereas, TWNIC has a significant depth of experience with the registration of strings containing variants as domain names at second and lower levels under principles discussed in RFC 4713 (< http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4713.txt > - Registration and Administration Recommendations for Chinese Domain Names - October 2006), with the delegation and management of domains that are expected to reflect parallel uses of "Simplified" and "Traditional" character-renderings and orthographies for Chinese, and can point to good management experience and good user experience with this methodology, and have stated that they have the necessary competence and experience to operate the pair of IDN ccTLDs in a stable manner;

        Whereas, there is general and wide community support for the notion of simultaneously delegating this particular requested pair of IDN ccTLDs to meet the well understood needs of users of Chinese, namely that users accessing a domain expect that the traditional and simplified Chinese names have been assigned to the same registrant, and that such delegations would solve a significant problem for the user communities;

        Whereas, public comment makes it clear that the methodology for operation and management of IDN ccTLDs based on such parallel strings can only be achieved today through operational and administrative procedures, as there are no DNS protocol mechanisms yet that provide the desired behavior, which procedures must be handled by the local IDN ccTLD manager;

        Whereas, the delegation of these IDN ccTLDs would be an extension to the current published IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process;

        Whereas, the ICANN Board on 12 March 2010 resolved on a set of "Principles for Handling Synchronized IDN ccTLDs for the specific requests related to the Fast Track Process";

        Whereas, after public comment and general consultation with the technical community, it became apparent that some of the ideas expressed and words used in the Principles were found to be confusing and imprecise – e.g. "Equivalent" and "Synchronized" IDN ccTLDs – and that this terminology made it difficult to evaluate important aspects of the Proposed Implementation Plan for Synchronized IDN ccTLDs;

        Whereas, the methodology to be taken by the IDN ccTLD manager to handle these particular instances of parallel IDN ccTLDs is, in the short-term, the only option available, but there are serious limits to where such an approach is viable in practice, so that it cannot be viewed as a general solution, and that consequently, long-term development work should be pursued;

        Whereas, significant analysis and possibly development work should continue on both policy-based and technical elements of a solution for the introduction on a more general basis of strings containing variants as TLDs;

        Therefore, it is RESOLVED , (2010.04.22.11), that TWNIC be notified that .台灣 (xn--kpry57d) and .台湾 (xn--kprw13d) IDN ccTLD request has completed the Fast Track String Evaluation and that they may enter the String Delegation step in the Fast Track Process, using the standard IANA ccTLD delegation function, and that delegation is contingent on completion of the IANA process criteria and publication of TWNIC's detailed Implementation Plan to be finalized in consultation with ICANN.

      4. All Board members in attendance unanimously approved of this resolution.

        A third proposed resolution regarding Board involvement in future work in this area was withdrawn from Board consideration.

    6. DNS Cert

      The Board received a short update from ICANN Management on status of work relating to DNS Cert and clarifying that ICANN is not trying to take the lead on this initiative, and the need for continued clarification of this point in the community.

    7. New gTLDs
      1. Reporting performance against new Project Plan

        The Board received an update from ICANN Management regarding the status of work on the New gTLD program, including a number of deliverables anticipated in advance of the Brussels meeting and discussed the proposed timing of publication of version 4 of the Draft Applicant Guidebook in advance of the Brussels meeting. The Board also received an update on operational readiness plans for the launch of the New gTLD program and the procurement process followed to date. The Board discussed the status of root zone scaling work and the need for an answer in May.

      2. Status of Vertical Integration, IP Issues and Communications Plan

      3. The Board received a brief update from ICANN Management on these issues.

    8. May Retreat

      Due to time constraints, the Chair indicated that this matter would be addressed online.

    9. UDRP

      Due to time constraints, the Chair noted that there was more work to be done relating to the issue of exploring contractual relationships with providers, and no further discussion was had.

    10. Executive Session The Board conducted an executive session, without staff present, in confidence.