Minutes | Meeting of the Technical Committee of the Board (BTC) | 23 February 2023

Board Member and Liaison Attendees: Avri Doria (Chair), Harald Alvestrand, Alan Barrett, Edmon Chung, James Galvin, Wes Hardaker, Christian Kaufmann, and Patricio Poblete

ICANN Organization Attendees: Adiel Akplogan (Vice President for Technical Engagement), Ashwin Rangan (SVP, Engineering & Chief Information Officer), Daniel Halloran (Deputy General Counsel and Chief Data Protection Officer), Jennifer Bryce (Project Manager), Franco Carrasco (Board Operations Specialist), Kinga Kowalcyzk (Administrative Assistant), Matt Larson (VP, Research), Steve Conte (Sr Director, IROS Operations), Carlos Reyes (Director, Policy and Strategy), and Sarah Zagha (Counsel) .

Invited Guests: Suzanne Woolf and Matthew Thomas (Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) Working Party (WP) chairs) – only present for agenda item no. 1

The following is a summary of discussions, actions taken, and actions identified:

1. BTC Update Session with the Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) DG Admin – The Committee received an update on the NCAP work from Matt Thomas, the NCAP DG Admin co-chair. He noted that Study 2 is progressing well, and that the Discussion Group has drafted preliminary responses and answers to the Board questions regarding Study 2. He also noted that the remaining work is focused on finalizing the complete Study 2 report, which will combine the studies on .CORP, .HOME, and.MAIL with the Board questions, and will provide findings and overall recommendations. The co-Chair closed by stating that the Study 2 report continues to be on target to go out for public comment during the first half of 2023.

2. Approval of Pending Committee Meeting's Report – The Committee was informed that the 13 January 2023 Preliminary Report of the Committee Meeting (with members of ICANN org's SubPro team) would be circulated shortly via email for review and approval.

   • Action item:

     • The Committee to review and approve the 13 January 2023 Committee Meeting Preliminary Report circulated via email.

3. Action Items Review – The Chair established the agenda for the meeting. Nine agenda items were discussed:

   • Action Item #1: The deep dive presentation of the Initial Draft of Study 2 for the Committee to be scheduled for the first quarter of 2023 is currently on hold, as the report is not yet ready for public comment.
   • Action Item #2: The Chair to work with volunteers Alan Barrett, Wes Hardaker, and Harald Alvestrand on continuing the discussion and possible revisions of the Committee Charter is currently an ongoing action item. There has been progress made on this action item, and it will be discussed during the 23 February 2023 Committee meeting.
   • Action Item #3: The Committee to review its Work Plan for 2023, which includes alignment with a revised Charter if needed, and send ICANN org any comments for adjustment, if applicable, is currently an open action item. This action item is subject to the completion of the Action Item #2.
   • Action Item #4: The Chair to work with volunteers Edmon Chung, Jim Galvin, and Wes Hardaker on outlining the topics associated with the Discussion on Blockchain Based Naming Service recurring agenda item, which will be used to set the agenda of future Committee meetings, is currently an open action item. The Chair noted this discussion could take place during the next Board workshop.
   • Action Item #5: Preparation of the Board Paper and Resolution for the community to approve RSSAC057 is an ongoing action item. It is pending review from ICANN org and will be discussed at the next Committee meeting.
   • Action Item #6: The Committee's review and approval of the edited Preliminary Report for the 23 November 2023 meeting has been completed.
   • Action Item #7: A poll to determine the Committee's availability for the deep dive presentation on SubPro has been completed. The deep dive took place on 13 January 2023. The Committee's review of the SubPro ODA (with attention to areas where technical issues may arise) has also been completed.
   • Action Item #8: The scheduling by Board Ops of a 45-minute discussion with a researcher from University of San Diego on the use of domain name in malware, particularly blockchain domain name, is currently an open action item.

   • Action Item #9: Board Ops to check if the Committee has any involvement in the process for nominating and approving the SSAC Chair is currently an open action item.

4. BTC Charter Review – The Chair led the review of the Committee''s Charter. The Chair and other Committee members previously made comments and some proposed changes to the Charter, which were presented to the Committee. The Committee discussed each comment and proposed change, asked clarifying questions, and ultimately finalized its proposed revisions to the Committee Charter. The draft revisions included designating a Committee member to stand in for the Chair should the Chair not be available. The Chair noted three distinct questions for the Governance Committee of the Board (BGC) that arose out of this discussion regarding voting, succession planning, and the annual review of the performance of the Committee.

   • Action items:

     • The Chair to address three BTC Charter-related questions with the BGC and revert back to the Committee.

     • The Committee to vote on the revised BTC Charter once finalized, and send to the BGC for approval.

5. RSSAC057 Implementation: Board Paper/Resolution Review – It was noted that this item will be discussed during the next Committee meeting.

6. Priority Project Updates – The Committee received an update on the following projects:

   • SAC113 Implementation Update: ICANN org noted that the SAC113 implementation process as proposed is now documented and the public comment period is still open.
   • Domain Name System Security Facilitation Initiative Technical Study Group (DSFI-TSG) Report - Implementation Update: ICANN org members reported that a finished feasibility assessment phase is completed. It was noted that the next step will be for ICANN org to engage with relevant stakeholders on the result of the feasibility assessment to gain external input.

   • Root Server System Governance Working Group (RSS GWG) 037/038 Implementation: It was reported that the GWG held a workshop in Washington, D.C. during the first week of December 2022. The output of the workshop was a series of principles to guide the development of their model. It was noted that in January 2023, the GWG completed a series of questionnaires to assess the level of support for each principle. The chair, Brad Verd, and members of ICANN org then aggregated the data and presented that aggregation to the GWG, which the GWG is still reviewing. It was noted that another GWG workshop will take place in April 2023.

7. Updates from Technical Liaisons – The Committee received an update from the following Board Technical Liaisons:

   • SSAC (James Galvin): The Committee was notified that the SSAC is currently preparing for its joint meeting with the Board, which will take place during ICANN76. Furthermore, on 01 March 2023, a webinar concerning updates to the NCAP Study 2 will take place during ICANN76's Prep Week.
   • RSSAC (Wes Hardaker): The Committee was given a summary of the two currently active work parties: RSSAC001 (which concerns expectations of the RSOs from a policy perspective) and RSSAC002 (which concerns the measurement system for the RSOs). It was noted that both work parties are coming to a conclusion. Finally, the Committee was informed that the RSSAC is working to find a way to present the technical aspects of the RSS works in a manner that is understandable by broader, less technical audiences.

   • IETF (Harald Alvestrand): The Committee was informed that a proposal to add .ALT to the Special-Use Domain Name Registry is coming up for IETF last call. If approved, this top-level label will be usable as the final (rightmost) label to signify that the name is not rooted in the global DNS, and that it should not be resolved using the DNS protocol.

8. Any Other Business

   • Review/Discussion of the SubPro Technical Deep Dive – The Committee recapped the Committee's joint discussion with members of ICANN org's SubPro team, which took place on 13 January 2023.

The Chair called the meeting to a close.