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Volume 11: An Update on IANA Stewardship Discussions

2 November 2015
By Samantha Dickinson

In addition to the U.N. six languages, this content is also available in

Following ICANN54, the IANA Stewardship Transition is now a step closer

The ICG and CCWG-Accountability met in Dublin during ICANN54 to continue work on their proposals in wake of the feedback received during the two public comment periods that ended in September. The ICG was successful in completing its Consolidated IANA Stewardship Proposal and is now awaiting the finalization of the CCWG-Accountability’s Work Stream 1 Recommendations. When CCWG-Accountability finalizes its Work Stream 1 recommendations, and the CWG-Stewardship confirms that the recommendations meet its requirements, the ICG can consider its proposal complete and begin the process of submitting it to the NTIA.

Consolidated IANA Stewardship Proposal

Taking into account an analysis of the public comments received during the public comment period that ended on 8 September 2015, and after a number of working sessions during ICANN54 in Dublin, the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) has announced that it has finalized its proposal. However, before the ICG sends the proposal to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) via the ICANN Board, it will first confirm with the Cross Community Working Group to Develop an IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal on Naming Related Functions (CWG-Stewardship) that its accountability requirements have been met by Work Stream 1 recommendations currently being finalized by the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability).The ICG has decided to keep its mailing lists active until 30 September 2016 to enable the community to continue to contact them, if needed. It is also seeking feedback from the three IANA operational communities (names, numbers and protocol parameters) to see if they would like ICG to play a role during the implementation of the IANA Stewardship Transition. The ICG will not hold any more face-to-face meetings and will only hold conference calls on an as-needed basis.

There are still some implementation details to be finalized for the transition, including the issue of the IANA trademark and intellectual property rights (IPR). The CWG-Stewardship will work with the two other operational communities to find a solution to the IPR issue that meets the needs of all three communities.

CCWG-Accountability Work Stream 1 Recommendations

Following the 12 September end of the public comment period for the 2nd Draft Proposal on Work Stream 1 Recommendations, the CCWG-Accountability held a face-to-face meeting, 25-26 September, in Los Angeles, and a number of working sessions in Dublin during ICANN54. As a result of its work to incorporate the feedback from the community, including feedback from the ICANN Board, the CCWG-Accountability made a number of adjustments and refinements to its draft recommendations. As a result of the adjustments, the CCWG-Accountability has decided to send the revised recommendations for a third public comment period.

The third comment period will have a two-stage approach so the community can begin reviewing the materials as soon as possible. This is to enable the report on Work Stream 1 recommendations to be finalized and sent to the ICANN Board by mid January 2016, ensuring there are minimal effects on the timeline of the IANA Stewardship Transition.

Key dates

15 Nov 2015

A high-level overview of Work Stream 1 Recommendations and a summary of changes from the 2nd Draft Proposal to be:

  1. Released for a 35-day public comment period
  2. Sent to the CCWG-Accountability’s Chartering Organizations for their feedback

30 Nov 2015

Full third draft report on Work Stream 1 Recommendations released for 20 days of consultation

Early Jan 2016

Amended report submitted to Chartering Organizations

Mid Jan 2016

Potential face-to-face meeting for Chartering Organizations, if needed, to decide whether to support the report

Mid Jan 2016

CCWG-Accountability to submit final report to the ICANN Board, enabling the ICG to also submit its final report

For more information on the amendments that the CCWG-Accountability decided to pursue in Dublin, see the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability ICANN54 co-Chairs' Statement.

IANA Stewardship Transition in the news

27 Oct 2015

Governments v. ICANN: The Last Battle Before the IANA Transition, Council on Foreign Relations [EN]

23 Oct 2015

ICANN and IANA: Making the right – not a rash – decision, American Enterprise Institute [EN]

13 Oct 2015

Perché 40 mila ore di lavoro non sono bastate a trovare un accordo sul futuro di Internet senza la guida USA, CheFuturo! [IT]

29 Sep 2015

IANA-Aufgabe durch USA weiter unter Zeitdruck: Auf Messers Schneide, Heise [DE]

You can play a role in IANA’s future…

Anyone can participate in discussions about the future of IANA's stewardship and ICANN accountability. For information on joining CCWG-Accountability, contact accountability-staff@icann.org.

Compiled on behalf of ICANN by Samantha Dickinson | 2 November 2015

Authors

Samantha Dickinson