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Board Activities and Meetings

View records of actions and decisions made by the ICANN Board from recent activities and meetings.

Preliminary Report | Meeting of the New gTLD Program Committee 26 March 2013

Note: On 10 April 2012, the Board established the New gTLD Program Committee, comprised of all voting members of the Board that are not conflicted with respect to the New gTLD Program. The Committee was granted all of the powers of the Board (subject to the limitations set forth by law, the Articles of incorporation, Bylaws or ICANN's Conflicts of Interest Policy) to exercise Board-level authority for any and all issues that may arise relating to the New gTLD Program. The full scope of the Committee's authority is set forth in its charter at http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/new-gTLD.

Formal Minutes are still to be approved by the New gTLD Program Committee. This has not been approved by the New gTLD Program Committee 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 Minutes, when approved at a future meeting.

NOTE ON ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED WITHIN PRELIMINARY REPORT – ON RATIONALES -- Where available, a draft Rationale for each of the Board's actions is presented under the associated Resolution. A draft Rationale is not final until approved with the minutes of the Board meeting.

A Special Meeting of the New gTLD Program Committee of the ICANN Board of Directors was held telephonically on 26 March 2013 at 13:00 UTC.

Committee Chairman Cherine Chalaby promptly called the meeting to order.

In addition to the Chair the following Directors participated in all or part of the meeting: Fadi Chehadé (President and CEO), Chris Disspain, Bill Graham, Olga Madruga-Forti, Erika Mann, George Sadowsky, Mike Silber, Judith Vazquez, and Kuo-Wei Wu. Gonzalo Navarro and Ray Plzak sent apologies.

Thomas Narten, IETF Liaison and Francisco da Silva, TLG Liaison, were in attendance as non-voting liaisons to the committee.

Heather Dryden, GAC Liaison, was in attendance as an invited observer.

ICANN Staff in attendance for all or part of the meeting: Akram Atallah, Chief Operating Officer; John Jeffrey, General Counsel and Secretary; Megan Bishop, Michelle Bright, Samantha Eisner, Dan Halloran, Karen Lentz, Amy Stathos, and Christine Willett.

This is a preliminary report the Meeting of the New gTLD Program Committee, which took place on 26 March 2013.

  1. Approval to Enter Agreement with IBM for Trademark Clearinghouse
  2. Protections for Names of IGOs
  3. "Closed" Generics
  4. Update on Registrar Accreditation Agreement Negotiations and the Registry Agreement
  5. Any Other Business

 

  1. Approval to Enter Agreement with IBM for Trademark Clearinghouse

    Due to a potential for conflict of interest, Thomas Narten was not present for the deliberation of this item.

    The Committee received an update on the development of the Trademark Clearinghouse as it has been divided into two functions, one to be performed by Deloitte and the other by IBM, which will perform the sunrise and claims work. The Committee also received some detail on the negotiated costs for the IBM work. Staff confirmed that an RFP had been issued prior to the selection of the Trademark Clearinghouse providers.

    The Committee then took the following action:

    Whereas, ICANN and IBM have negotiated in good faith the terms for a proposed statement of work for operation of the Sunrise and Trademark Claims services offered by the Trademark Clearinghouse.

    Whereas, the New gTLD Program Committee has reviewed the terms of the proposed Statement of Work for ICANN.

    Whereas, approval is required to commit ICANN funds in the amount of USD 4 million.

    Whereas, execution of the agreement enables continuation of the technical build out to support these services for the New gTLD Program.

    Resolved (2013.03.26.NG01), the New gTLD Program Committee authorizes the President and CEO to enter into the proposed agreement with IBM.

    Ten members of the Committee voted in favor of the Resolution. Two members of the Committee were unavailable to vote. The resolution carried.

    Rationale for Resolution 2013.03.26.NG01

    The Trademark Clearinghouse is an essential part of the rights protection mechanisms within the New gTLD Program. Successful operation of the Sunrise and Trademark Claims services is an important component of the services offered by the Clearinghouse in order to assist in protecting the rights of third parties. Authorizing the President and CEO to enter into the agreement reinforces ICANN's accountability in meeting the commitments it has made regarding the ongoing operation, availability and continuity of the Clearinghouse.

    Entering into this agreement will have a fiscal impact on ICANN in the amount of USD 4 million at a maximum. This has been anticipated and is consistent with the budget for the New gTLD Program. The approval of this agreement is not expected to have any impact on the security, stability or resiliency of the DNS.

  2. Protections for Names of IGOs

    The Committee received an update on the status of work regarding the establishment of protections of names of IGOs within the first round of the New gTLD Program, including a brief discussion of the advice from the GAC, issues relating to the protection of common acronyms that are also acronyms of IGOs, and the creation of a ongoing mechanisms that may need to be put in place to address the GAC advice. The Committee agreed that further briefing was necessary, and that it would have a broader discussion of this issue at its meeting during ICANN's Beijing meeting.

  3. "Closed" Generics

    The Committee briefly discussed the issue of "closed" generics and received an update on the work that was requested from staff on this issue, as well as the results of the public comment forum. The Committee agreed that further discussion on this topic would be necessary at its meeting during ICANN's Beijing meeting. The Committee also requested that this topic be on the agenda for the Public Forum in Beijing.

  4. Update on Registrar Accreditation Agreement Negotiations and the Registry Agreement

    The Committee received an update on the status of the RAA negotiations as well as the status of the Registry Agreement after ICANN posted a version for public comment on 5 February 2013. The President and CEO provided a brief summary of the public comments on the Registry Agreement. The Committee also briefly discussed the Board-approved amendment process as well as proposed changes to that process to respond to community concern.

  5. Any Other Business

    The Committee received a brief update from the President and CEO on the work towards a DNS summit in New York City on 23 April 2013, where the work of taskforces arising out of the CEO Roundtables will be progressed, and, if available and appropriate, a signing ceremony will take place regarding the new Registrant Rights and Responsibilities document within the RAA. The Committee also received a brief update on the status of the Public Interest Commitments documents that were submitted by applicants.

Published on 4 April 2013

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