Draft Root Zone Evolution Review Committee (RZERC) Charter

Purpose: As part of the IANA stewardship transition implementation planning efforts, ICANN is seeking community input on the Draft Root Zone Evolution Review Committee (RZERC) Charter developed to reflect the recommendations contained in the proposals by the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) provided to the ICANN Board and transmitted to NTIA on 10 March 2016. (See Resolutions 2016.03.10.12-15 and 2016.03.10.16-19).

Current Status: The Draft RZERC Charter has been developed in collaboration with the Implementation Oversight Task Force (IOTF) and includes reviews by the CWG-Stewardship.

Next Steps: The Draft RZERC Charter is out for a 30-day public comment from 10 June – 10 July to allow any interested party to review and provide feedback. Once the RZERC Charter has been adopted, ICANN will take the steps necessary to form the committee, which will become operational upon the successful completion of the transition.

The Draft RZERC Charter reflects the recommendations contained in the proposals by the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) as provided to the ICANN Board and transmitted to NTIA on 10 March 2016.

The ICG proposal was developed through public processes, including multiple opportunities for public comment. The Draft RZERC Charter is one part of how ICANN is planning to implement the publicly-supported ICG proposal. The full scope of implementation planning efforts can be tracked at https://www.icann.org/stewardship-implementation.

The IANA Stewardship Transition

For almost two decades, ICANN has performed the IANA functions under a zero-dollar contract with the U.S. Government, implementing policies developed by the multistakeholder community. The U.S. Government always envisioned its role as steward of the IANA functions as temporary, and, in March 2014, announced its intention to transition that stewardship to the global multistakeholder community. This transition will not affect how the identifiers are coordinated nor will it affect the functionality of the Internet or our ability to access it. In fact, the transition is nothing more than the final step in an 18-year process to privatize the management of the IANA functions.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) asked ICANN to convene an inclusive, global discussion that involved the full range of stakeholders to collectively develop a proposal for the transition. NTIA stated that the transition proposal must have broad community support and meet the following criteria:

• Support and enhance the multistakeholder model;
• Maintain the security, stability, and resiliency of the Internet DNS;
• Meet the needs and expectations of the global customers and partners of the IANAservices; and,
• Maintain the openness of the Internet.

NTIA also specified that it would not accept a proposal that replaces NTIA's role with a government-led or intergovernmental organization solution.

Developing the Community Proposals

Two sets of recommendations comprise the package provided to the ICANN Board for theIANA Stewardship Transition. One set of recommendations involved the proposal from the direct operational customers of the IANA functions. This proposal was prepared by the IANAStewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG). The ICG, comprised of thirty individuals, representing the broad range of Internet stakeholder interests, were nominated by their respective communities. The ICG assembled input from three global multistakeholder communities with direct operational relationships with the IANA functions to develop a proposal to transition NTIA's stewardship of the IANA functions.

• Read the final ICG proposal here [PDF, 2.32 MB].

The other set of recommendations related to enhancing ICANN Accountability in relation to the IANA Stewardship Transition. this proposal was prepared by the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability), made up of members from ICANN's Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees, and over 200 participants, developed a separate proposal for enhancing ICANN's accountability in light of the changing historical relationship with the U.S. Government. Together with ICANN's existing structures, the group recommended mechanisms to ensure ICANN remains accountable to the global Internet community.

• Read the final CCWG-Accountability proposal here [PDF, 6.03 MB].

Delivering the Proposals

On March 10, 2016, the ICANN Board of Directors transmitted the IANA Stewardship Transition and Accountability Proposals to NTIA for its review and approval. NTIA has stated that the U.S. Government need to see adoption of any changes to ICANN's Bylaws before they can complete their anticipated 90-day review of the proposals.

Over the next several months, Congress will also carefully review the proposals. Once these reviews are completed and with NTIA approval, ICANN will implement the community-developed proposals.

For further information on the process, please see: https://www.icann.org/stewardship-accountability

• DRAFT Root Zone Evolution Review Committee Charter [PDF, 43 KB]
• IANA Stewardship Transition Implementation Website
• ICG Proposal [PDF, 2.32 MB]
• CCWG-Accountability Proposal [PDF, 6.03 MB]

Report and Supporting Documents

• Report [PDF, 403 KB]
• 08 August 2016 Revised RZERC Charter to address comments (Redline from 10 June version) [PDF, 32 KB]
• 08 August 2016 Revised RZERC Charter to address comments (Clean) [PDF, 50 KB]

• Report