Preliminary Report | New gTLD Program Committee 10 January 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 Meeting of the New gTLD Program Committee of the ICANN Board of Directors was held on 10 January 2013 at 16:00 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, Gonzalo Navarro, Ray Plzak, George Sadowsky, Mike Silber, Judith Vazquez and Kuo-Wei Wu.

Francisco da Silva, TLG Liaison, was in attendance as non-voting liaisons to the committee.

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

Thomas Narten, IETF Liaison sent apologies.

This is a preliminary report the Meeting of the New gTLD Program Committee, which took place on 10 January 2013.

  1. Main Agenda:
    1. Reporting Structure
    2. Maturing the DNS Industry
    3. Enforcing Applicant Commitments
    4. Closed Generic Strings
    5. Consumer Choice Review

 

  1. Main Agenda:

    1. Reporting Structure

      No resolution taken. The New gTLD Program Committee engaged in a discussion with staff about a proposed regular reporting structure to the Committee on the status of the New gTLD Program, including reporting against key milestones. The Committee and ICANN executives agreed that there was some basis for modification of the reporting, and agreed that as much information as is appropriate will be provided to the community at the scheduled webinars, or other means where all applicants will have access to the information. The Committee also discussed the need for a regular meeting schedule.

      The Committee was then provided with an update on the status of the initial evaluation work.

    2. Maturing the DNS Industry

      No resolution taken. The President and CEO provided the New gTLD Program Committee with a report on his efforts relating to his discussions with various DNS Industry leaders, including the forthcoming CEO Roundtables.

    3. Enforcing Applicant Commitments

      No resolution taken. The New gTLD Program Committee discussed the planning underway to address the GAC's advice on enforcing applicant commitments through the registry agreements. It was noted that staff discussed potential mechanisms to address this advice, how the GAC advice could be met and possible responses to the GAC regarding the status. The Committed noted that it wanted to discuss this topic further at its workshop in Los Angeles.

    4. Closed Generic Strings

      No resolution taken. The New gTLD Program Committee discussed the issue of closed generic strings, receiving a report from staff regarding the distinction between the Code of Conduct that addresses non-discriminatory access that registries are required to offer to registrars, and the concerns raised in the community about who is allowed to register in a TLD. The Committed noted that it wanted to discuss this topic further at its workshop in Los Angeles.

    5. Consumer Choice Review

      No resolution taken. The New gTLD Program Committee began a discussion noting that it is necessary to begin preparations for the review required under the Affirmation of Commitments after the introduction of new gTLDs.

  2. The Chair called the meeting to a close.

Published 22 January 2013