closed Fundamental Bylaws Amendments on IANA-Related Reviews and CSC Charter Update

Outcome

The comments on the Fundamental Bylaws Amendments on IANA-Related Reviews and CSC Charter Updates show broad ICANN community support for the changes as proposed. The comments did not evidence any specific items that require updating as a result of Public Comment, though there are some operational items for continued awareness. These include: attention to scheduling of future Periodic IANA Naming Function Reviews and CSC Effectiveness reviews to avoid overlap; ensuring that review teams remain effective in achieving their work; remaining watchful that the CSC is a high-performing group and initiating a CSC Effectiveness Review sooner if there are signs of degradation in performance; and future consideration of modifications or enhancements to the role of alternates if needed in the future.

The contributions show valuable engagement on ICANN’s governing documents and continued support for the ICANN community’s role in oversight of ICANN’s performance of the IANA naming function.

What We Received Input On

We are seeking input on proposed Fundamental Bylaws Amendments to implement recommendations of the second IANA Naming Function Review (IFR) and the most recent Customer Standing Committee (CSC) Effectiveness Review. The proposed Bylaws amendments address:

• Updating the cadence of the IFRs to every five years from the delivery of the final report, as opposed to timing the five-year cycle from the initiation of the IFR (Article 18, Section 18.2).
• Updating the cadence of the CSC Effectiveness Review to every five years, as opposed to the current two-year review cycle (Article 17, Section 17.3).
• Updating the CSC membership to allow for the appointment of alternate members and liaisons (Article 17, Section 17.2).

Input is also being sought on proposed update to the CSC’s Charter. The CSC Charter requires updating to define how alternates participate within the CSC. As those updates were being developed, updates to streamline the CSC Charter and reduce duplication with the ICANN Bylaws were also identified. Changes to the Charter must be considered through Public Comment before being presented to the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) and Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Councils for ratification.

These IFR and CSC items are being presented together for the community to streamline the Fundamental Bylaws Amendment Processes. Both topics relate to how the community oversees ICANN in its performance of the IANA functions. To the extent possible, ICANN will move these items together through the process to avoid duplication of effort and processes.

Background

The CSC and the IFR are two important elements that were introduced into the ICANN Bylaws in 2016 as part of the IANA Stewardship Transition. They are different, though related, ways that the community oversees how ICANN is performing the IANA functions (which are performed by ICANN’s affiliate, Public Technical Identifiers, under contract with ICANN). The IFR (Article 18) and CSC (Article 17) portions of the Bylaws are part of ICANN’s Fundamental Bylaws.

The Bylaws specify the cadence for the periodic IFR, which is currently set at every five years as measured from the convening of the previous IFR. The Second IFR team completed its work in 2025 and recommended that the cadence of these IFRs should be moved to every five years measured from the delivery of the prior IFR’s report to the ICANN Board. The Board adopted this recommendation in September 2025. The recommendation allows each IFR team to take the time necessary to conduct its work, as well as time for its recommendations to be considered and implemented, prior to convening the next review. The impact is measurable: The second IFR team was convened on 10 September 2023 and delivered its final report on 4 September 2025. Under the current Bylaws, the next periodic IFR must be convened by 9 September 2028, less than three years from the time the second IFR team submitted its report. Under the proposed update, the next IFR would be required to convene by 3 September 2030.

The Bylaws also specify the cadence for the CSC’s Effectiveness Review, which is currently set for every three years. The most recent CSC Effectiveness Review issued a recommendation that the review should occur every five years instead. The CSC Effectiveness Review also recommended that groups appointing members or liaisons to the CSC be allowed to name alternates. As the membership of the CSC is also specified in the ICANN Bylaws, the Bylaws must be updated to implement each of these recommendations from the CSC Effectiveness Review. In addition, the CSC’s Charter must be updated to allow for the participation of alternates, and ICANN organization (org) staff worked closely with representatives from the ccNSO Council and the GNSO Registries Stakeholder Group to validate the proposed Charter updates before presenting them for Public Comment. While the Charter was under review, a few areas of potential duplication with the Bylaws were identified, and staff validated the proposed streamlined text for the Charter that could also be presented for Public Comment.

Supporting Information