Full Return to Domain Policy, Internal ICANN Issues Expected at Hyderabad Meeting
Some internal ICANN community and domain name policy issues are expected to dominate the organization's meeting in Hyderabad, India, as the recently implemented Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition recedes in ICANN's rear-view mirror, stakeholders said in interviews. The IANA oversight handoff, which occurred Oct. 1 (see 1610030042), had been the main focus or an underlying influence at every ICANN meeting since NTIA announced the transition in March 2014, stakeholders said. The Hyderabad meeting isn't going to result in final resolution of ICANN's outstanding organizational and policy issues, but it will help the community better focus on its future, they said. The meeting is to run from Thursday through Nov. 9.
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Several noted the importance of the event being ICANN's first gathering since that IANA switchover, given that issue's importance to the community. That most elements of the transition were completed last month means the tone and substance of the Hyderabad conclave should be different, though that won't become clear until the meeting gets underway, said Blacknight CEO Michele Neylon. “I think there's a general sense of relief” the handoff has occurred, as so much of the ICANN community's work over the past 20 years has focused on getting the organization to a point where the oversight change could happen, he said.
A residual focus in Hyderabad will remain on the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability's (CCWG-Accountability) work on a second round of changes to the organization's accountability mechanisms, Neylon and others said. CCWG-Accountability is to convene throughout the Hyderabad event. The group is continuing to work on ICANN board transparency, staff accountability and the organization's jurisdiction, but it's “moving in the right direction” on all of those issues, said Phil Corwin, principal of e-commerce and IP law consultancy Virtualaw. CCWG-Accountability expects to complete work on the second set of accountability recommendations by the middle of 2017, Corwin said.
Some internal items could be contentious at the gathering. Stakeholders pointed to an ongoing dispute between the Governmental Advisory Committee, the Generic Names Supporting Organization and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) over protections for IGO acronyms in generic top-level domains (gTLDs). GNSO's IGO Curative Rights Process (ICRP) Working Group is nearing completion of a set of policy recommendations aimed at resolving the dispute, said Corwin, who co-chairs the working group.
Chairman Thomas Schneider and some other GAC members recently suggested the dispute could lead some governments to return to “the old threat that 'if you don't play by our rules, we'll go to the ITU'” to address concerns, Neylon said. Schneider said during a conference call last week between the ICANN board and GNSO that stakeholders should be “considering what happens if many governments consider that this system does not work. They go to other institutions. If we are not able to defend public interest in this institution, we need to go elsewhere, and this is exactly what is happening currently at the ITU Standardization Assembly.” Internet governance stakeholders have said they're watching the WTSA meeting for clues about the future trajectory of ITU internet policymaking. WTSA is to run through Thursday (see 1610250054).
Corwin said he believes the dispute can be defused in Hyderabad, as the ICRP Working Group is set to present its draft recommendations during. The suggestions would be aimed at unblocking IGO acronyms from sale while also giving the IGOs access to ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and Uniform Rapid Suspension mechanisms. The guidelines are designed to “enhance relief to the IGOs, and once everyone understands that, it will calm things down,” Corwin said. He said the issue has been “hanging out there” for two years, with GAC and GNSO members becoming frustrated that the ICANN board “hasn't stepped up.”
Three major domain name policy development processes are expected to remain a focus in Hyderabad, Corwin and others said. The New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP is continuing to review possible revisions to gTLD program procedures before any future rounds of gTLD rollouts, said Donuts Executive Vice President Jon Nevett. The Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms in All gTLDs PDP is continuing to examine the efficacy of the current RPMs, while the Next Generation gTLD Registration Directory Service (RDS) PDP is working to update or replace its existing WHOIS domain registration data framework. None of the PDPs are expected to reach a milestone in their work during the gathering, but their discussions will generate interest among many, Corwin said.
Nevett said he will be closely following discussions in Hyderabad on ICANN's budget and ICANN's plans for using the proceeds of its auctions of new gTLDs. “We as a community are beginning to take a closer look at ICANN's budget” now that the IANA transition has completed, Nevett said. “We need to right-size the level of spending" at ICANN, so "I'm hoping that becomes a focus” for the organization, he said. “We need to rein that in." Shane Tews, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communications and Technology Policy, said she will be following GAC's Public Safety Working Group and discussions on domain name system abuse.