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ICANN Policy Update statement of purpose

Send questions, comments and suggestions to: policy-staff@icann.org.

Policy Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees

Address Supporting Organization	ASO
Country Code Names Supporting Organization	ccNSO
Generic Names Supporting Organization	GNSO
At-Large Advisory Committee	ALAC
Governmental Advisory Committee	GAC
Root Server System Advisory Committee	RSSAC
Security and Stability Advisory Committee	SSAC

Across ICANN

1. Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

Numerous public comment periods are open on issues of interest to the ICANN community. Act now for the opportunity to share your views on such items as:

2010 – 2013 Strategic Plan. ICANN invites comments from the community on this draft of its plan for the next few years. What should be the high-level objectives? Comment by 21 January 2010.
Special Trademark Issues. The Special Trademarks Issues Working Team (STI) has published its recommendations for creating a Trademark Clearinghouse and Uniform Rapid Suspension Procedure to protect trademarks in the New gTLD Program. Comment on their report by 26 January 2010.
New gTLD Program: Draft Expressions of Interest/Pre-Registration Model. ICANN is soliciting comments on the Draft Expressions of Interest/Pre-Registrations Model for new generic top-level domains (new gTLDs). According to this draft model, entities interested in participating in the first round of the New gTLD Program would be required to submit basic information about the participating entity and requested top-level domain, also referred to as "string." Comment by 27 January 2010.
Discussion Draft: Affirmation Reviews. The Affirmation of Commitments (AoC), a document that went into effect 1 October 2009, contains specific provisions for periodic review of ICANN's key objectives. This paper proposes requirements and processes for implementing the reviews. Comments accepted through 31 January 2010.

More Information

For the full list of issues open for public comment, plus recently closed and archived public comment forums, visit the Public Comments page.

ccNSO

2. Malaysia and Colombia Join ccNSO

At a Glance

On 8 January, the country code Name Supporting Organization (ccNSO) accepted the membership applications of Malaysia (.my) and Colombia (.co).

Background

The ccNSO received the two membership applications at the end of 2009, and processed the applications after the New Year’s holiday. Malaysia joins as member 101, and Colombia brings the total members of the ccNSO up to 102.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat

3. “Wildcarding” Study Group Seeks Volunteers

At a Glance

The ccNSO Council approved the task description of an ad-hoc group that will study the use of “wildcards” or synthesized DNS responses.

Recent Developments

At ICANN’s meeting in Seoul, the ccTLD community discussed the use of wildcards or synthesized responses and their impact on the Domain Name System (DNS). In order to create a better understanding of the negative impact, and to learn why some ccTLDs allowing “wildcarding,” the ccNSO Council initiated a study group. They appointed Young Eum Lee and Ondrej Filip, both members of the ccNSO Council, as co-chairs of the group.

Next Steps

The study group now seeks volunteer participants. Once formed, the group will coordinate with SSAC and the Stability, Security and Resilience group of ICANN. The group will also liaise with the ccTLDs who are currently using redirection. After soliciting views, the group will report to the ccNSO Council and ccTLD community.

Background

Redirection turns up most often during web surfing. In this context it is the practice of responding to an HTML query for a non-existent domain with links to marketing web sites, when the proper response should return an error message. This is also known as a synthesized response. The Internet is more than web surfing, so redirection has further negative ramifications on DNS, email, and other protocols and processes.

At ICANN’s June 2009 international meeting in Sydney, the ICANN Board passed a resolution requesting that the ccNSO propose mechanisms to avoid the use of redirection and synthesized DNS responses by a ccTLD.

More Information

Staff Contact

Bart Boswinkel, Senior Policy Advisor, ccNSO

4. Public Comments Published about Proposed IDN Policies

At a Glance

The ccNSO received several public comments on a paper that proposed overall policies for the introduction of internationalized domain names (IDNs) into country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). A summary of the public comments has been published.

Recent Developments

Most volunteers in the ICANN community know of the fast-track project to introduce internationalized domain names (IDNs) to country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). Perhaps fewer people realize that the fast-track effort is meant to be limited and temporary. Another group is contemplating recommendations for how IDN policy should work permanently.

This working group published a topic paper [PDF, 116K] for public comment. The public comment period closed on 4 December. The group has published a summary of the comments received, officially closing the public comment process.

Next Steps

The working group will now discuss the comments and incorporate them into a final topic paper. In parallel, the group will work on an initial policy proposal for the selection and introduction of IDN ccTLDs. The draft will be published for public consultation prior to ICANN’s Nairobi meeting in March.

More Information

Staff Contact

Bart Boswinkel, Senior Policy Advisor, ccNSO

5. ccNSO Adjusts Its Relationship with IANA

At a Glance

The ccNSO Council expanded its Tech Working Group’s mandate to include a formal liaison role with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

Recent Developments

In March 2009, the ccNSO Council closed its IANA Working Group. Over time and as a result of the sustained increase in IANA’s level of service to the ccTLD community, the Working Group’s activity had decreased. Working Group members reported [PDF, 56K] that maintaining the working group was no longer of value and that the ccNSO council should close the group.

The ccNSO Council closed the IANA Working Group; however, it also expressed a need to maintain formal communication with IANA. Thus, the ccNSO Council extended the mandate of its Tech Working Group, declaring:

“The Working Group shall liaise with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (‘IANA’) and

Monitor the ccTLD related services provided by IANA;
Make recommendations with regards to the provision of such services;
Provide information and input to the ccNSO and ccTLDs on matters of relevance to IANA and ccTLDs; and
Facilitate discussions on issues relating to IANA.”

Next Steps

The Tech Working Group will incorporate relations with IANA into the group’s existing duties and activities.

Background

The Tech WG was originally created to document operational and technical best practices, and to organize meetings where ccTLDs can share operational and technical information and experiences. Maintaining a liaison with IANA represents an expansion of the Tech group’s responsibilities.

The former ccNSO IANA Working Group was created in December 2004 with the objective to:

Monitor ccTLD-related services provided by IANA and, if desired by the WG, make recommendations for improvement of the services;
Facilitate discussions on issues relating to the IANA function which interest the ccTLD community;
Provide information and input to the ccNSO on matters of relevance to IANA and ccTLDs.

More Information

Staff Contact

Bart Boswinkel, Senior Policy Advisor, ccNSO

6. Schweiger Is New Chair of Incident Response Planning

At a Glance

The ccNSO Council has appointed Dr. Joerg Schweiger, board member of Denic, as the new Chair of the Incident Response Planning Working Group (IRP WG).

Recent Developments

Just after the ICANN international meeting in Seoul last October, Norm Ritchie stepped down as Chair of the IRP WG. A new chair had to be appointed. At the nomination of the working group members, the ccNSO Council appointed Dr. Joerg Schweiger, member of the executive board of Denic. (Denic manages the ccTLD, .DE.) Dr. Schweiger’s first action as the new Chair was to publish the working plan that was developed by the WG at the Seoul meeting.

Background

The Incident Response Planning WG was chartered in August 2009, to develop sustainable mechanisms for the engagement of (and interaction among) ccTLD registries and ICANN to mediate incidents that may impact the DNS.

Next Steps

With Dr. Schweiger now at the helm, the WG has resumed its activities and is preparing for the ICANN international meeting in Nairobi.

More Information

Staff Contact

Bart Boswinkel, Senior Policy Advisor

7. ccNSO Drafts Agenda for Meeting in Nairobi

At a Glance

The ccNSO has publicly posted its first-draft agenda for its activities at the upcoming meeting in Nairobi, Kenya.

Recent Developments

On 11 December 2009, the ccNSO posted a first draft agenda for its face-to-face meeting coming up in March. Potential sessions in Nairobi include Wildcards, DNSSEC Education of Registrars and a short session on marketing issues. Instead of formatting the agenda as a PDF, the latest agenda is posted in HTML. This new approach will allow direct linking to relevant documents in order to help participants prepare for future meetings.

Background

The ccNSO Meetings Programme Working Group developed much of the agenda based on feedback received after the previous meeting.

Next Steps

The agenda will be reviewed and updated more or less continuously until the March meeting.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat

8. ccNSO Prepares to Update Its Website

At a Glance

The ccNSO is considering ways to update and improve ccNSO.icann.org.

Recent Developments

The ccNSO has begun a review process aiming to make the ccNSO website more useful to members. The ccNSO Secretariat has started conducting interviews with members of the ccTLD community to gather feedback on what the community considers the strengths and weaknesses of the existing site.

Background

Recent growth in both the ccNSO’s membership and the number of issues that the organization deals with motivated the review. Most likely, the ccNSO website will need an update in order to meet new requirements and position the site for future growth.

Next Steps

Responses to the website user interviews will be compiled and analyzed. Based on the input, a team of volunteers will develop a plan for how to implement the most-requested changes.

More Information

Current ccNSO website

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat

9. Other Issues Active in the ccNSO

Delegation/Re-delegation of ccTLDs

GNSO

10. Inter-Registrar Transfer Policies WG Consults with Compliance Team

At a Glance

The Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) aims to provide a straightforward procedure for domain name holders to transfer their names from one ICANN-accredited registrar to another. The GNSO is reviewing and considering revisions to this policy.

Recent Developments

To help inform their deliberations, the IRTP Part B WG has also requested further information from ICANN’s compliance team on the rate and focus of complaints received in relation to IRTP issues.

Last October, the Working Group solicited public comment on the issues that the group addresses. The group is now reviewing the comments received and discussing how these relate to their issues.

Next Steps

Following this review, the Working Group will turn its attention to the Constituency / Stakeholder Group Statements it has received. For further information, please consult the IRTP Part B Working Group Workspace.

Background

The IRTP Part B Working Group addresses five issues relating to domain name transfers, specified in their Charter and recounted in the August 2009 issue of Policy Update. The IRTP Part B Working Group has been meeting bi-weekly.

More Information

Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy web page
IRTP Part B Public comment period (closed 5 October 2009)
IRTP Part B Issues Report [PDF, 256K]
PDP Recommendations [PDF, 124K]

Staff Contact

Marika Konings, Policy Director

11. Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery WG Presents Final Survey Findings

At a Glance

To what extent should registrants be able to reclaim their domain names after they expire? At issue is whether the current policies of registrars on the renewal, transfer and deletion of expired domain names are adequate.

Recent Developments

ICANN Staff finalized the results of a registrar survey [PDF, 88K] and presented them to the Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery Working Group on 5 January 2010. The survey reviewed current registrar practices regarding domain name expiration, renewal, and post-expiration recovery and found that there are substantial differences in approach between registrars.

Next Steps

The Working Group will continue meeting weekly to discuss the questions outlined in its charter. Working Group members will now review the survey results in further detail to determine how responses may potentially influence the WG’s responses to the charter questions.

Background

For a history of the ICANN community’s policy development activities related to Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery, please refer to the PEDNR Background page.

More Information

GNSO Issues Report on Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery [PDF, 416K]
Translations of the GNSO Issues Report on Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery
ICANN Staff response to GNSO request for clarifications
PEDNR Public Comment Period
Working Group presentation: Registrar Survey Final Results [PDF, 948K]

Staff Contact

Marika Konings, Policy Director

12. GNSO Improvements: New Council Seated; Now What?

Implementation efforts continue in five major areas.

At a Glance

Members of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) community are working hard to implement a comprehensive series of organizational changes designed to improve the effectiveness and accessibility of the organization. The GNSO Improvements fall into five main areas;

Restructuring the GNSO Council;
Revising the GNSO Policy Development Process (PDP);
Adopting a New Working Group Model for Policy Development;
Enhancing Constituencies; and
Improving Communication and Coordination With ICANN Structures.

To understand the GNSO's new structure and organization, please see the discussion and diagrams on the GNSO Improvements webpage. For the reasons and history motivating the improvements, see the Background page.

Recent Developments

1. Restructuring the GNSO Council. The Council newly seated on 28 October in Seoul, has successfully conducted three formal meetings under its new framework. Further modifications to the Council’s operational rules and procedures are still under consideration and will likely be discussed by Council members prior to the Nairobi meeting.

2. Revising the PDP . At its 17 December meeting, the Council rejected the idea of a face-to-face work team meeting to discuss PDP reform. Council members have encouraged community work team members to continue using remote meeting and teleconference tools to develop PDP reform proposals as soon as possible.

3. Adopting a New Working Group Model . The work team responsible for this effort has combined the two documents it developed ("Working Group Implementation and Charter Drafting Guidelines" and "Working Group Operating Model Guidebook") into one, titled “Working Group Guidelines.” The work team expects to publish the guidelines for public comment shortly.

4. Improving Communications and Coordination with ICANN Structures. The Communications work team is finalizing its latest report recommendations for the Council. Council members may vote on those ideas at the Nairobi Council meeting in early March. ICANN Staff is laying the technical groundwork for implementing approved enhancements to the GNSO website.

5. Enhancing Constituencies. The effort to create a level playing field for all the GNSO community’s formal Stakeholder Groups and Constituencies continues in three substantial areas: development of consistent operational guidelines and best practices; re-confirmation of existing constituency bodies; and support for proposals for potential new constituencies.

Several Proposed GNSO Constituencies Not Approved By Board; Consumers Petition Remains Under Consideration. ICANN Board members conducted substantial discussions in Seoul regarding the proposals for four new GNSO Constituencies and took formal action at their 9 December 2009 special meeting. The Board decided to not approve the proposals for the new CyberSafety, City TLDs and IDNgTLD constituencies (but left open the option for those communities to revise their proposals and resubmit them). The proposal for a new Consumers Constituency remains pending. The process also remains available for other interested parties to develop proposals for new GNSO Constituencies and to submit them to the Board.

Existing GNSO Constituency “Reconfirmation” Efforts To Resume. Last year, the ICANN Board determined that if new GNSO Constituencies were going to be subject to a certification process, then it was appropriate for existing GNSO Constituencies to be regularly evaluated as well. The Board approved the concept of reconfirming the charters and operational mechanisms of each Constituency every three years.

The initial Constituency reconfirmation process took a back seat as the Board focused on evaluation and approval of the new GNSO Stakeholder Group structures and on Bylaws changes necessary for seating the new GNSO Council. Now that the Board has resolved those issues, it has set a timetable of March 2010 for formal resubmission of revised reconfirmation proposals by the existing GNSO Constituencies and has directed the ICANN Staff to assist constituency leaders in developing those submissions.

Council Approves Community Toolkit Recommendations. At its 17 December meeting, the GNSO Council accepted the recommendations [PDF, 108K] of the GNSO’s Constituency and Stakeholder Group Operations Work Team for ICANN staff to develop a toolkit of primarily administrative services to be made available to all GNSO Constituencies and Stakeholder Groups. The Staff has been directed by the Council to conduct the appropriate development work to make those services a reality as soon as feasible. Meanwhile, the Constituency and Stakeholder Group Work Team is finalizing recommendations regarding a set of participation rules and operating procedures by which all constituencies and stakeholder groups should abide. When completed, those recommendations will be shared with the GNSO’s Operations Steering Committee and eventually passed on to the GNSO Council for review.

Permanent Stakeholder Group Charters. The development of permanent Stakeholder Group charters for the GNSO’s non-contract party communities should see increased activity in the next month. When the Board approved the four new GNSO Stakeholder Group structures last year, it acknowledged that the charters for the Commercial Stakeholder Group and the Non Commercial Stakeholder Group were transitional/temporary and that permanent charters were to be developed by the community over the coming year. Based on community discussions in Seoul, the Staff will be developing opportunities for dialogue and further community discussion of these important matters.

Next Steps

The GNSO’s various implementation Work Teams will continue to develop recommendations for implementing the GNSO restructuring goals approved by the Board. Existing GNSO Constituencies will continue their reconfirmation discussions and it is hoped that recommendations from the GNSO Constituency Operations Work team will combine with that process. Formal dialogue on permanent CSG and NCSG charters will also likely begin soon.

ICANN Staff has also fielded several queries about potential new GNSO Constituencies and is available to work with all interested parties on developing proposals. The Board may further discuss the proposal for a new Consumers Constituency at its February special meeting.

More Information

Staff Contact

Robert Hoggarth, Senior Policy Director

13. Other Issues Active in the GNSO

ASO

14. Can Differing Proposals for Recovered IPv4 Addresses Merge into One Global Policy?

At a Glance

Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) are discussing a proposed global policy for handling IPv4 address space returned from the RIRs to IANA. According to the proposal, IANA would act as a repository of returned address space and, once the free pool of IANA IPv4 address space has been depleted, allocate such space to the RIRs in smaller blocks than it currently does.

Recent Developments

The RIRs discussed the proposal at their most recent meetings. APNIC and LACNIC have adopted the proposal, which has also passed final call in AfriNIC. In ARIN, the proposal has been modified. The modified version has passed final call and formal adoption is expected soon. RIPE was awaiting the outcome in ARIN before acting on the proposal. The main question now is whether the different versions adopted lend themselves to reconciliation as a single global policy.

Next Steps

If proposals are adopted by all RIRs, the Number Resource Organization Executive Committee and the Address Supporting Organization Address Council (ASO AC) will review the proposal texts, consolidate if appropriate, and then forward the consolidated policy to the ICANN Board for ratification and implementation by IANA.

Background

IPv4 is the Internet Protocol addressing system used to allocate unique IP address numbers in 32-bit format. With the massive growth of the Internet user population, the pool of such unique numbers (approximately 4.3 billion) is being depleted and a 128-bit numbering system (IPv6) will need to take its place.

The proposed global policy has two distinct phases; 1) IANA only receives returned IPv4 address space from the RIRs and 2) IANA continues to receive returned IPv4 address space and also reallocates such space to the RIRs. This proposal is connected to a recently adopted global policy for allocating the remaining IPv4 address space. When that global policy takes effect, it also triggers phase two in the proposal.

More Information

Background Report (updated 4 December 2009)
Global Policy Proposal for Handling Recovered IPv4

Staff Contact

Olof Nordling, Director Services Relations

15. RIRs Close to Approving Transition to 32-Bit ASN

At a Glance

Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) are discussing a proposed global policy for Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs). The proposal would change the date for a full transition from 16-bit to 32-bit ASNs from the beginning of 2010 to the beginning of 2011, in order to allow more time for necessary upgrades of the systems involved.

Recent Developments

The proposal has been introduced and has passed final call in all RIRs (AfriNIC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC and RIPE). It has been formally adopted in RIPE and APNIC. Formal adoption in the remaining RIRs is imminent.

Next Steps

When all RIRs have adopted the proposal, the Number Resource Organization Executive Committee and the Address Supporting Organization Address Council (ASO AC) will review the proposal and then forward it to the ICANN Board for ratification and implementation by IANA.

Background

Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) are identifiers used for transit of IP traffic. ASNs were originally 16 bits in length, but a transition to 32-bit ASNs is under way to meet increasing demand. In line with the adopted Global Policy currently in force for ASNs, 16-bit and 32-bit ASNs exist in parallel, but all will be regarded as 32 bits long beginning in 2010. The proposal defers that date to the beginning of 2011.

More Information

Background Report (posted 4 December 2009)

Staff Contact

Olof Nordling, Director Services Relations

Joint Efforts

16. Issues Active in Combined Efforts

At-Large

17. Opportunity to Appoint a Board Member Enlivens At-Large Discussions

At a Glance

ICANN’s Board voted on 27 August 2009 that the At-Large community should, in principle, be able to appoint a voting member of the ICANN Board. Since then, At-Large has been discussing the process to be used, including the selection criteria and candidate requirements.

Recent Developments

As part of a grassroots process, members of At-Large around the world have been interacting online and by telephone for several months, discussing how to select their representative to the Board. Recently, the At-Large Advisory Committee (“ALAC”) requested that a small group develop the initial draft of a White Paper that reviews the discussions to date on:

The terms of appointment
Director qualifications
The creation of a list of candidates
The electorate and the voting process.

The paper should also offer recommendations, and propose a timeline of the process.

Next Steps

This ALAC and At-Large Community White Paper will be provided to the wider community for review. Comments received will be incorporated into a revision of the document, which will be sent to the Board’s Structural Improvements Committee in February.

More Information

The process is being developed via a publicly accessible wiki

Staff Contact

Matthias Langenegger, At-Large Regional Affairs Manager

18. Community Expands to 120 At-Large Structures

At a Glance

Two organizations representing individual Internet users have been newly accredited to the At-Large community as At-Large Structures ("ALSes"), bringing the total number of ALSes to 120.

Recent Developments

The At-Large Advisory Committee ("ALAC") has certified Pakistan ICT Policy Monitor and the Internet Society Pakistan Chapter with a 14-0 vote and no abstentions. The certification involved a process of due diligence carried out by ICANN Staff, and regional advice provided by the Asia-Australasia and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO). Pakistan ICT Policy Monitor and Internet Society Pakistan Chapter are certified as ALSes of APRALO.

Background

Pakistan ICT Policy Monitor, based in Lahore, Pakistan, currently has a membership of 265 multi-stakeholder member organizations and individuals, including representatives of civil society, government, the private sector and international observers.

Based in Karachi, Pakistan, the Internet Society of Pakistan Chapter consists of an extensive member network of ISP Associations, Internet users, universities, and public organizations which support debate on the Internet.

More Information

Staff Contact

Matthias Langenegger, At-Large Regional Affairs Manager

SSAC

19. Issues Active with the SSAC

The Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) is considering several security related issues, including the Report of the Root Scaling Study Team, display and usage of Internationalized registration data (Whois data), orphaned domain names, and domain name history. These and other topics may be the addressed in future SSAC Reports or Advisories. See the SSAC web site for more information about SSAC activities.

Staff Contact

Julie Hedlund, Director, SSAC Support

update-jan10-en.pdf [179 KB]

ICANN POLICY UPDATE | Volume 10, Issue 1 — January 2010

1. Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

2. Malaysia and Colombia Join ccNSO

3. “Wildcarding” Study Group Seeks Volunteers

4. Public Comments Published about Proposed IDN Policies

5. ccNSO Adjusts Its Relationship with IANA

6. Schweiger Is New Chair of Incident Response Planning

7. ccNSO Drafts Agenda for Meeting in Nairobi

8. ccNSO Prepares to Update Its Website

9. Other Issues Active in the ccNSO

10. Inter-Registrar Transfer Policies WG Consults with Compliance Team

11. Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery WG Presents Final Survey Findings

12. GNSO Improvements: New Council Seated; Now What?

13. Other Issues Active in the GNSO

14. Can Differing Proposals for Recovered IPv4 Addresses Merge into One Global Policy?

15. RIRs Close to Approving Transition to 32-Bit ASN

16. Issues Active in Combined Efforts

17. Opportunity to Appoint a Board Member Enlivens At-Large Discussions

18. Community Expands to 120 At-Large Structures

19. Issues Active with the SSAC

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