Preliminary Report | Meeting of the New gTLD Program Committee 18 June 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 Regular Meeting of the New gTLD Program Committee of the ICANN Board of Directors was held telephonically on 18 June 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: Chris Disspain, Bill Graham, Olga Madruga-Forti, Gonzalo Navarro, George Sadowsky, Mike Silber, Judith Vazquez, and Kuo-Wei Wu.

Fadi Chehadé, Erika Mann, and Ray Plzak sent apologies.

Thomas Narten, IETF Liaison and Francisco da Silva (TLG Liaison) were in attendance as a non-voting liaison to the Committee. Heather Dryden was in attendance as an observer to the Committee.

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; Cyrus Namazi; Erika Randall; Amy Stathos; and Christine Willett.

This is a preliminary report the Meeting of the New gTLD Program Committee, which took place on 18 June 2013.

  1. Consent Agenda
    1. Approval of Minutes of 8 May 2013 and 18 May 2013
  2. Main Agenda
    1. Discussion of Safeguard Advice Items Applying to All Strings
    2. Category 2 Advice (Restricted and Exclusive Registries)

 

  1. Consent Agenda

    The Chair introduced the consent agenda items. One member of the Committee suggested revisions to the Minutes of the 4 June 2012 meeting, and the Committee agreed to consider that revised set of Minutes at its next meeting. The Committee then took the following action:

    Resolved, the following resolutions in this Consent Agenda are approved:

    1. Approval of Minutes of 8 May 2013 and 18 May 2013

      Resolved (2013.06.18.NG01), the New gTLD Program Committee approves the minutes of the 8 May 2013 and 18 May 2013 Meetings of the New gTLD Program Committee.

    All members of the Committee in attendance approved Resolution 2013.06.18.NG01. The Resolution carried. Three members were not available to vote on the resolution.

  2. Main Agenda

    1. Discussion of Safeguard Advice Items Applying to All Strings

      The Committee and staff had a discussion regarding addressing the GAC's safeguard advice applicable to all strings. Staff provided an overview of its recommendation for addressing each of these items of safeguard advice, including areas where work is already underway to address these items. The Committee stressed the import of clear communication on how the advice is being addressed, to help support community understanding of the exact work or obligations that are being taken on. The Committee and staff also discussed how the acceptance of these pieces of advice could impact the New gTLD Registry Agreement.

      The Committee agreed that it would consider this item again at its next meeting, after staff considers the comments from the Committee.

    2. Category 2 Advice (Restricted and Exclusive Registries)

      The Committee and staff had a discussion regarding the continued work regarding restricted and exclusive registries and the need for more precise definitions as part of this work. The Committee continued to consider how it could address this portion of GAC advice, noting some concerns with the institution of bright line rules that could be susceptible to gaming. Committee members presented some alternative possibilities for definition of groupings of names. The Committee agreed that further discussion was necessary on this item. The Chair urged this matter to be ready for Committee consideration at its next meeting.

    The Chair called the meeting to a close.

Published on 27 June 2013