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ICANN POLICY UPDATE | Volume 10, Issue 5 — May 2010

PDF Version [174 KB]

http://www.icann.org/en/topics/policy/

CONTENTS:

Across ICANN

  1. This Month’s Policy Podcast
  2. Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

ccNSO

  1. ccNSO Welcomes Luxembourg as 105th Member
  2. IDNs, DNSSEC Lead the ccNSO Agenda in Brussels
  3. Pre-Registration Encouraged for ccNSO Brussels Meeting
  4. Other Issues Active in the ccNSO

GNSO

  1. Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy WG Aims to Deliver Initial Report in Brussels
  2. Registration Abuse Policies WG Could Modify Report to Reflect Community Comments
  3. Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery WG Hopes to Discuss Initial Report in Brussels
  4. GNSO Improvements: Work Teams Done in 2010?
  5. Other Issues Active in the GNSO

ASO

  1. Issues Active in the ASO

Joint Efforts

  1. Geographic Regions WG Still Seeks Community Input
  2. Issues Active in Combined Efforts

At-Large

  1. At-Large Community Expands to 123 At-Large Structures
  2. At-Large Survey Aims to Increase Participation and Engagement
  3. At-Large Contributes to Policy Input on WHOIS, .XXX, IDNs

SSAC

  1. Issues Active within the SSAC

Read ICANN News in Your Preferred Language

ICANN Policy Update is available in all six official languages of the United Nations. Policy Update is posted on ICANN’s website and available via online subscription. To receive the Update in your Inbox each month, visit the ICANN subscriptions page, enter your e-mail address, and select “Policy Update” to subscribe. This service is free of charge.

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. This Month’s Policy Podcast

What Does IPv6 Mean?

Leo Vegoda, Manager of Number Resources, explains what IPv4 and IPv6 are; when the Internet might run out of IPv4 addresses; and how moving to IPv6 could affect registries, registrars, businesses, and individuals.

Watch for a new episode of ICANN Start on the first of each calendar month. Each audio episode focuses on one issue and, through interviews with an expert, provides answers to foundational questions.

You’ll find the podcast on the ICANN web site, which also provides a written transcript of each episode. Many of Apple’s global iTunes stores carry the show; to check for it, search in the podcast section of iTunes for “ICANN Start.”


2. 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:

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


ccNSO

3. ccNSO Welcomes Luxembourg as 105th Member

At a Glance

The registry operator for Luxembourg (.lu) has become a member of the country code Name Supporting Organization (ccNSO).

Background

The approval of Luxembourg as a new member means that in 2010, the ccNSO is growing at an averaged rate of about one new member per month. Others joining in 2010 have included Papua New Guinea (.pg), Belize (.bz), Malaysia (.my), and Colombia (.co).

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat


4. IDNs, DNSSEC Lead the ccNSO Agenda in Brussels

At a Glance

The ccNSO will convene during the ICANN meeting to be held in Brussels, 20 – 25 June, 2010. The organization has published a first draft of its proposed meeting agenda.

Recent Developments

On 6 May, the ccNSO published its first draft agenda for the Brussels meeting. The agenda indicates that the meeting in Brussels will focus on reviewing the structure and work of the ccNSO, as well as ccTLD financial contributions and strategic issues. A special workshop regarding Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) ccTLDs will also be held, and the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) will present the results of a study on the cost of implementing DNSSEC. IANA representatives will update the ccNSO on securely signing the DNS root.

Next Steps

The agenda will receive minor revisions and improvements before the ccNSO considers it final.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat


5. Pre-Registration Encouraged for ccNSO Brussels Meeting

At a Glance

ccTLD managers who pre-register for the ICANN meeting in Brussels can take advantage of a separate ccNSO attendees list in order to network with their peers.

Recent Developments

ICANN expects that as many as 2,000 participants may register for the next international meeting, to be held in Brussels, Belgium, 20 – 25 June, 2010. The ccNSO Secretariat has generated a list of all attendees who have pre-registered for ccNSO activities.

Background

All ccNSO members are also managers or operators of country code Top Level Domains. As such, the members tend to be geographically dispersed, and thus welcome opportunities to meet with one another and share expertise. The ccNSO Secretariat has set up a filter so that anyone pre-registering for ICANN’s international meeting, indicating they will attend ccNSO activities, also appears on a separate ccNSO attendee’s list. The list is now available online so that ccTLD operators can plan whom they hope to meet with in Brussels.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat


6. Other Issues Active in the ccNSO


GNSO

7. Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy WG Aims to Deliver Initial Report in Brussels

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 and has established Working Groups to conduct these efforts.

Recent Developments and Next Steps

The IRTP Part B Working Group is revising its draft Initial Report and is developing recommendations on the questions its charter has directed it to address. The WG aims to have its Initial Report ready in time for discussion at the ICANN meeting in Brussels. 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. The IRTP Part B Working Group has been meeting bi-weekly.

More Information

Staff Contact

Marika Konings, Policy Director


8. Registration Abuse Policies WG Could Modify Report to Reflect Community Comments

At a Glance

Registries and registrars seem to lack uniform approaches for dealing with domain name registration abuse, and questions persist as to what actions "registration abuse" refers. The GNSO Council has launched a Registration Abuse Policies (RAP) Working Group to examine registration abuse policies.

Recent Developments

The Working Group has reconvened and is reviewing the comments received on its Initial Report, which it published in February. Based on its review and discussions, it will decide what modifications need to be made, if any, in order to finalize its report and submit it to the GNSO Council for its consideration.

The Initial Report makes recommendations related to cybersquatting, Whois access problems, malicious use of domain names, deceptive and/or offensive domain names, and numerous related issues. You can download the paper from ICANN’s web site [PDF, 1.8 MB].

Background

The RAP Working Group addresses issues outlined in its charter, such as: defining the difference between registration abuse and domain name abuse; the effectiveness of existing registration abuse policies; and which areas, if any, would be suitable for GNSO policy development to address. The group has generated a document that provides working definitions of types and categories of abuse, and cites the primary target for each abuse type.

In addition, a Uniformity of Contracts sub-team formed, and meets regularly to review existing abuse provisions in registrar and registry agreements and to discuss questions related to the uniformity of contracts. The sub-team examines issues such as, “Would there be benefits to having more uniformity in contracts?” and “How effective are existing provisions in dealing with registration abuse?”

Click here for further background.

More Information

Staff Contacts

Marika Konings, Policy Director, and Margie Milam, Senior Policy Counselor


9. Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery WG Hopes to Discuss Initial Report in Brussels

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 & Next Steps

The Working Group continues meeting weekly to discuss the questions outlined in its charter. The members surveyed themselves to assess their views on the various charter questions and determine where there was common ground and where there was further work to be done. The Working Group is now using the survey results to develop potential recommendations for consideration, and will start revising the draft Initial Report accordingly. The WG is aiming to publish its Initial Report in time for discussion at the ICANN meeting in Brussels.

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

Staff Contact

Marika Konings, Policy Director


10. GNSO Improvements: Work Teams Done in 2010?

Work Team implementation efforts gain momentum

At a Glance

Members of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) community are working 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.

The following update relates only the most recent developments regarding implementation of the GNSO Improvements. 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

At the Nairobi ICANN meeting, the GNSO Council extended the charters for the two GNSO Improvements Implementation Steering Committees and their Work Teams until the Latin America ICANN meeting, to be held this coming December (for details, see the minutes of the meeting). Several Work Teams are making significant progress on finalizing their recommendations for implementing many GNSO Improvements. At the request of the GNSO Council in Nairobi, they have re-examined their work plans and goals, and have agreed to specific timetables and benchmark objectives for completing their efforts by year-end.

1. Restructuring the GNSO Council. Further modifications to the Council’s new operational rules and procedures are still under consideration (including matters regarding voting abstentions and Councilor Statements of Interest).

2. Revising the PDP . This work team has now discussed all five stages of the potential new PDP framework, and prepared a draft report for review. The team is now focused on a number of other issues such as translation, timing, voting thresholds, decision-making methodology and transition plans. In addition, the team will discuss which changes to Annex A of the ICANN By-laws it will recommend in order to implement the new PDP.

3. Adopting a New Working Group Model. This WT is now reviewing the comments received in response to their initial draft of the “Working Group Guidelines,” and discussing how to update the guidelines accordingly. Once they finalize their guidelines, they will submit them to the GNSO’s Policy Process Steering Committee for review.

4. Improving Communications and Coordination with ICANN Structures. The GNSO Council approved the recommendations of the Communications Work Team on 21 April and the report was out for public comment from 23 April through 16 May. A summary of the comments is now available. ICANN Staff is laying the technical groundwork for implementing a variety of Council-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.

Status of Pending Constituency Proposals. In early March, the Cyber Cafe Association of India submitted a Notice of Intent to Form (NOIF) a new Public Internet Access/CyberCafe Ecosystem Constituency. Under the two-part application process for new constituency formation, the submission is an informal expression of interest that may be followed by a more formal petition and charter.

The formal proposal for a new Consumers Constituency, submitted last April, remains pending. The new constituency process continues to be available for any other parties who might be interested in developing proposals for new GNSO Constituencies.

Existing GNSO Constituency “Reconfirmation” Efforts to Resume. Last year, the ICANN Board approved the concept of reconfirming the charters and operational mechanisms of each Constituency every three years. It set a timetable of March 2010 for formal resubmission of revised reconfirmation proposals by the existing GNSO Constituencies. Due to the need for existing constituencies to address other substantive policy priorities and the opportunity to combine the reconfirmation work with GNSO Work Team efforts designed to develop consistent operational guidelines among all constituencies, the Board has now twice extended the reconfirmation timetable. Given the recent progress of those Work Team efforts, after consultation with several constituency community leaders, the Staff will recommend that the Board extend the timetable for this important effort one final time to the Cartagena ICANN meeting.

Staff Developing Community Toolkit Roll-out. At its 17 December meeting, the GNSO Council accepted the recommendations [PDF, 108 KB] 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 Council directed the Staff to conduct the appropriate development work to make those services a reality as soon as feasible. The Staff hopes to have a plan for GNSO Council review and approval by the Brussels meeting this June, to coincide with the start of the new ICANN fiscal year.

Participation Rules and Operating Procedures in Focus . The Constituency and Stakeholder Group Work Team is close to 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 for review and evaluation – likely before the Brussels meeting. The OSC will eventually pass on recommendations in this area to the GNSO Council for review.

Permanent Stakeholder Group Charters to Regain Focus. The GNSO’s non-contract party communities continue their development of permanent Stakeholder Group charters. When the Board approved the four new GNSO Stakeholder Group structures in 2009, it acknowledged that the charters were transitional and that the community should develop permanent charters. Current activities and discussions suggest that those efforts are on track to conclude by the end of 2010.

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. It has become important that recommendations from the GNSO Constituency Operations Work team combine with that process. Formal dialogue on permanent NCSG and CSG charters will also continue and start, respectively.

ICANN Staff continues to field queries about potential new GNSO Constituencies, and (consistent with the existing By-Laws) is available to work with all interested parties on developing proposals.

More Information

Staff Contact

Robert Hoggarth, Senior Policy Director


11. Other Issues Active in the GNSO


ASO

12. Issues Active in the ASO


Joint Efforts

13. Geographic Regions Review WG Still Seeks Community Input

Survey Available for Community Feedback

At a Glance

The Geographic Regions Review Working Group is working to evaluate whether participation and representation in ICANN remains fair and geographically diverse, despite shifts in geopolitics. The Working Group published its Initial Report for community review and comment, and is developing its Interim Report.

Recent Developments

As they develop their Interim Report, Working Group members are now trying to gather community input on how the ICANN Geographic Regions Framework may be affecting the work of the various communities in ICANN.

The Working Group has developed a brief survey to help develop a better picture of the level of community understanding and awareness of the Geographic Regions Framework and the impact it has on operations and policy work in various ICANN organizations and regions.

The survey is being made available in the six official UN languages plus Portuguese (see https://www.bigpulse.com/p9044/register). The survey remains open for responses through Tuesday, 1 June 2010. The results, which the Working Group hopes to share during the ICANN meeting in Brussels, will help inform and direct the preparation of the Interim Report.

The Interim Report will build on the Working Group’s Initial Report and focus on some of the critical issues that it will ultimately address in its Final Report. The Interim Report will focus on three specific areas: (1) Confirm the foundation elements set forth in the Initial Report; (2) Review the underlying objectives of ICANN’s geographic regions framework; and (3) Identify specific matters to be addressed in the Final Report.

Next Steps

Using its new survey, the Working Group hopes to spur additional community input about ICANN’s Geographic Regions Framework and its impact in the ICANN ecosystem. The Working Group’s Interim Report is now being prepared for publication before the international ICANN meeting in Brussels, Belgium this June. The ultimate Final Report that will include the working group’s recommendations (if any) is now expected late this year. Planning for a special community session in Brussels to review the Geographic Regions Framework and gather additional community input is also under discussion.

Background

The Working Group completed its Initial Report in late July 2009 and published the document in all six UN languages for community review and comment. The 35-day public comment period closed in early September 2009, but community participation in the comment forum was minimal. The group is now looking to develop its Interim Report.

Click here for further background.

More Information

Staff Contact

Robert Hoggarth, Senior Policy Director


14. Other Issues Active in Combined Efforts


At-Large

15. At-Large Community Expands to 123 At-Large Structures

At a Glance

At-Large Structures, found all over the world, help represent and inform individual Internet users’ participation in ICANN. Three new organizations representing individual Internet users have recently been accredited to the At-Large community as At-Large Structures ("ALSes"), bringing the total number of ALSes to 123.

Recent Developments

The At-Large Advisory Committee ("ALAC") has certified Connexion al Desarollo de El Salvador, Nurses Across the Borders, and Wikimedia Switzerland. The certification process involved a process of due diligence carried out by ICANN Staff and regional advice provided by, respectively, the Latin American and Caribbean Islands Regional At-Large Organizations (LACRALO), the African Regional At-Large Organization (AFRALO) and the European Regional At-Large Organization (EURALO) .

Connexion al Desarollo de El Salvador , based in San Salvador, El Salvador, currently has 33 multi-stakeholder members including journalists, Information Communication Technology (ICT) rights activists and academics. The organization promotes the use and application of ICT, contributing to the reduction of poverty and facilitating business development. It will be an ALS within LACRALO.

Nurses Across the Borders, based in Lagos, Nigeria, includes among its objectives the enhancement and encouragement of public participation in supporting governments and non-governmental agencies in the provision of adequate health care delivery services and development of infrastructures . This organization will be an ALS within AFRALO.

Wikimedia Switzerland, based in Zurich, Switzerland, is an association that seeks to advance the dissemination of free knowledge within Switzerland. It currently has over 80 individual members. It will be an ALS within EURALO.

More Information

Staff Contact

Matthias Langenegger, At-Large Secretariat


16. At-Large Community Survey Aims to Increase Participation and Engagement

At a Glance

The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and the At-Large regional officers have prepared a global survey for all 123 At-Large Structures within the At-Large community. The information gained from this survey is expected to help the ALAC and At-Large Staff provide better support to increase participation and engagement within the At-Large community.

Recent Developments

The 2010 At-Large Structure (ALS) Survey, open 7 – 23 May 2010, aims to get to know the ALSes better so the ALAC and At-Large staff can improve their support in order to increase engagement and participation.

The survey, available in English, Spanish and French, is divided into three sections: 1) ALS Survey 2010, 2) ccNSO-ALS Survey, and 3) Survey on ICANN’s Geographic Regions. The information sought includes the current contact information for all ALS representatives and their alternates; to discover what policy areas the ALS Membership is most interested in; and to learn how they prefer to communicate with members of the At-Large community and ICANN At-Large Staff. Additionally, the survey will assist in learning more about the types of At-Large engagement the ALSes are interested in, including the preferred working group format, and whether their Membership is interested in representing the At-Large community at local and regional meetings and contributing to the implementation of the At-Large Improvements project.

Ron Sherwood, ccNSO liaison to the ALAC and Rudi Vansnick, ALAC liaison to the ccNSO, prepared the questions of the ALS-ccTLD survey. The survey is expected to help to identify the relationship between ccTLDs and ALSes, in part by identifying which ALSes are presently involved in local ccTLD activities.

The purpose of the third section, the community survey from the Review of ICANN Geographic Regions cross-community work group, is to assess the current applications and impacts of ICANN's Geographic Regions framework.

Next Steps

A working group consisting of regional leaders will analyze the results of the survey and provide a report to the ALAC.

More Information

Staff Contact

Heidi Ullrich, Senior Director for At-Large


17. ALAC Contributes to Policy Input on WHOIS, .XXX, IDNs

At a Glance

The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) continues providing input representing the individual Internet user community on a diverse range of issues, including Whois and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs).

Recent Developments

The ALAC provided input into public consultations, or Advisories to the Board of ICANN, on the following subjects in April:

More Information

Staff Contact

Matthias Langenegger, At-Large Regional Affairs Manager


SSAC

18. Issues Active within the SSAC

The Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) continues to study issues related to scaling the root level of the Domain Name System, and is studying aspects of the Terms of Reference developed for the Root Scaling Study, to determine which questions have been addressed and which may require additional work. (For additional details, see the SSAC Activities Report.)

As noted in the Activity Report, members of the committee are actively engaged in community-wide Supporting Organization/Advisory Committee working groups studying SSAC recommendations from 2009 reports. In particular, members are:

Also, an SSAC Work Party continues studying the prevalence of orphaned records in TLDs. Orphaned records are resource records that remain even though their parent domain name no longer exists.

In addition, the SSAC initiated a 2010 survey of IPv6 capabilities in commercial firewalls that began in March 2010. The SSAC is working with ICSA Laboratories to reach appropriate contacts among ICSA's members. If you are a business user of commercial firewalls, we encourage you to participate in the survey.

These and other topics may be 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; Dave Piscitello, Senior Security Technologist; Steve Sheng, Senior Technical Analyst

update-may10-en.pdf  [174 KB]

Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."