17 June 2013

ICANN has announced today that it has signed an Accountability Framework with the country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) manager for .ME (Montenegro), the Ministry for Information Society and Telecommunications of Montenegro, on 13 May 2013.

The Accountability Framework program provides two mechanisms by which ccTLD managers can formalise their relationship with ICANN. The first is an Accountability Framework document that sets out the obligations of a ccTLD manager and ICANN. It also covers dispute resolution and termination and is designed for ccTLD managers requiring a formal document with ICANN.

The second mechanism is an Exchange of Letters between ICANN and the ccTLD manager designed for those for whom a statement of commitments is more appropriate.

Signed accountability framework and exchange of letters documents can be found at http://www.icann.org/en/cctlds/agreements.html.

14 June 2013 Forum Announcement: Comment Period Opens on Date: 14 June 2013 Categories/Tags: Policy Processes Purpose (Brief): The Generic Names Supporting Organization ("GNSO") Policy Development Process Working Group tasked with addressing the issue of protecting the identifiers of certain International Government Organizations ("IGOs") and International Non-Governmental Organizations ("INGOs") in all gTLDs has published its Initial Report for public comment. Public Comment Box Link: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/igo-ingo-initial-14jun13-en.htm

14 June 2013

The ICANN Board New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) met on 11 June 2013 to discuss the GAC Beijing advice regarding singular and plural versions of the same string as a New gTLD. The discussion followed the NGPC's decision on 4 June 2013 to accept the GAC's advice to consider this issue. The NGPC made considerable progress toward reaching consensus on a way forward and expects to reach a conclusion at its 25 June 2013 meeting.

The NGPC also considered how it might respond to the ALAC Statement on IDN Variants. Finally, it began in-depth discussion of the GAC's Safeguard Advice applicable to all strings.

The next two meetings of the NGPC on 18 and 25 June 2013 will focus on items within the GAC's Annex 1 Safeguard advice. Below please find an updated NGPC work plan:

Item Resp. Start Date Compl. Date Status 1. Publish GAC Communiqué to solicit input on how the New gTLD Board Committee should address GAC advice regarding safeguards applicable to broad categories of New gTLD strings Staff   23 April Complete 2. Public comment period on how NGPC should address GAC Advice re: Safeguards Public 23 April Comment 14 May; Reply 4 June Complete 3. Summarize and analyze public comments on GAC Advice re: Safeguards Staff 5 June 19 June In Progress 4. Meeting to review and consider staff proposals for addressing overarching Safeguard advice (Annex 1, 1-6) and Restricted & Exclusive Registry policies (Category 2) NGPC   18 June Not Started 5. Meeting to review and consider staff proposals on Category 1, Items 1-5, and Singular vs. Plural NGPC   25 June Not Started

The New gTLD evaluation and objection processes remains on track while the NGPC continues its deliberations. The NGPC is prioritizing its work in order to allow the greatest number of applications to move forward as soon as possible. We will continue to provide updates on the NGPC's progress in responding to the GAC Beijing Advice.

13 June 2013

Date: 27 June 2013
Time: 23:00 – 00:00 UTC (4:00pm – 5:00pm PDT)
Adobe Connect: http://icann.adobeconnect.com/idnvarianttld/
Teleconference Dial-in Information: coming soon…

You are invited to join the IDN Variant TLD Program webinar intended to provide a status update of the Program and current IDN Variant TLD Projects, as well as to address questions around the prerequisites for implementation of IDN Variant TLDs and upcoming community involvement.

Following a general overview of the IDN Variant TLD Program, the webinar will focus on describing Program's current projects and timeline, explaining why implementation of the IDN Root Label Generation Rules Procedure must be completed before the applied for IDN Variant TLDs can be considered and the role that writing system communities will play in this implementation phase.

The IDN Variant TLD Program team is looking forward to your participation.

Please join this webinar on Thursday, 27 June 2013 at 23:00 UTC (duration 1 hour). The meeting will be available through Adobe Connect and dial-in call. Participants will have the opportunity to offer comments and ask questions over the phone during the Q&A section. During the course of the webinar, these may be submitted using the chat function of Adobe Connect. If you cannot join the live session, the recording of the session will be made available shortly after the meeting at: http://www.icann.org/en/resources/idn/variant-tlds/presentations

6 June 2013

Today, ICANN's IDN Variant TLD Program moves forward with initiating the implementation of the IDN Root Zone LGR Procedure by publishing the Call for Subject Matter Experts for the IDN Root Zone LGR Integration Panel [PDF, 169 KB] and Call for Advisors to the IDN Root Zone LGR Panels [PDF, 164 KB].

The IDN Root Zone LGR implementation project will undertake work to develop the rules that identify the valid repertoire of code points for IDN TLDs, as well as the rules for identifying and possibly delegating any IDN variant TLDs. The work is carried out as specified in the "Procedure to Develop and Maintain the Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone in Respect of IDNA Labels" [PDF, 1.39 MB] (Procedure) and involves an Integration Panel, (to be staffed by paid experts), a set of Advisors to all Panels (formed of paid consultants, volunteers, or ICANN staff), and a set of Generation Panels (consisting of volunteers). The latter are subject to a separate call.

Successful development of the IDN Root Zone LGR depends on having Integration Panel members with the right skills to perform the substantive work. Therefore ICANN is soliciting the participation of subject matter experts to serve on the Integration Panel and advisors to the Integration and Generation Panels.

The Integration Panel will be comprised of a small number of technical experts in the following areas: DNS, IDNA, Unicode, and linguistics. The Call for Subject Matter Experts for the IDN Root Zone LGR Integration Panel [PDF, 169 KB] describes the details of expertise needed, as well as the expert selection process. The Call for Advisors to the IDN Root Zone LGR Panels [PDF, 164 KB] describes the desired expertise for advisors and their selection process. Interested experts are invited to submit their CV and an expression of interest statement demonstrating how they meet the qualifications for one or other of the subject matter or advisor expertise areas. Expressions of interest should be sent to idnvarianttlds@icann.org no later than 27 June 2013.

6 June 2013

The ICANN Board New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) met on 4 June 2013 and adopted a resolution accepting nine items of the GAC's Beijing advice with respect to New gTLD applications. The Resolution addresses most though not all of the GAC's non-Safeguard Advice and does not address any of the Safeguard Advice in Annex 1 of the GAC Beijing Communiqué. As such, this Resolution represents only the first of what will be a series of NGPC decisions addressing the GAC's Beijing advice.

The NGPC took action to adopt the Scorecard attached to the Resolution as Annex 1. The Scorecard does the following: 1) it lists the nine items of non-Safeguard Advice addressed by the NGPC to date; 2) it indicates that the NGPC accepts each of those items of advice; and 3) it describes how ICANN will implement the advice. You can find the Resolution and Annex 1 Scorecard here as well as the letter on the NGPC's action from Steve Crocker, Chair, ICANN Board of Directors to Heather Dryden, Chair, Governmental Advisory Committee here [PDF, 2.68 MB].

The NGPC also addressed the following additional matters from the GAC Beijing Communiqué:

1. Written Briefing on the ability of an applicant to change its applied-for string

   In Section IV.1.d of the GAC Beijing Communiqué, the GAC requested a "written briefing about the ability of an applicant to change the string applied for in order to address concerns raised by a GAC Member and to identify a mutually acceptable solution." In response to the GAC's request, a written briefing on this matter is attached to the letter to Heather Dryden as Appendix 2.

2. Protections for Intergovernmental Organizations

   In Section IV.1.g of the GAC Beijing Communiqué, the GAC reiterated its advice that "appropriate preventative initial protection for the IGO names and acronyms on the provided list be in place before any new gTLDs would launch." The GAC also noted that it was "mindful of outstanding implementation issues and commits to actively working with IGOs, the Board, and ICANN Staff to find a workable and timely way forward." The NGPC appreciates the GAC's willingness to collaborate to address the outstanding implementation issues. So that we may move forward, the NGPC formally requests that the GAC and a small number of NGPC members and ICANN staff begin a dialogue on the issues raised by the GAC. The NGPC's formal request was sent under separate cover and may be seen here [PDF, 285 KB].

3. Public Interest Commitments Specifications

   In Section IV.5 of the GAC Beijing Communiqué, the GAC requested, "more information on the Public Interest Commitments Specifications on the basis of the questions listed in annex II." The NGPC's responses to these questions are attached to the letter to Heather Dryden as Appendix 3.

Future Work of the NGPC

As noted above, the 4 June 2013 Resolution only addresses a portion of the GAC's Beijing Advice. The NGPC has scheduled meetings on 11, 18 and 25 June to address the remaining items of advice, most notably the Safeguards Advice in Annex 1 of the GAC Beijing Communiqué.

The New gTLD evaluation and objection processes remain on track while the NGPC continues its deliberations. The NGPC is prioritizing its work in order to allow the greatest number of applications to move forward as soon as possible. We will continue to provide updates on the NGPC's progress in responding to the GAC Beijing Advice.

6 June 2013

Webinar Details

Date: Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Time: 14:00-15:30 UTC

Adobe Connect: https://icann.adobeconnect.com/_a819976787/tmch/

You are invited to a webinar intended to address questions and provide a background around Internationalized Domain Names and the Trademark Clearinghouse processes, including the comments in Beijing about implementation of variant rules. As we have prioritized the applications so that the first new gTLDs will be IDNs, this is an opportunity to learn more about the TMCH and IDNs and provide more background to those interested on how things are working.

Please join this webinar on Wednesday, 19 June 2013 at 14:00 UTC (duration 90 minutes). The meeting will be run in an Adobe Connect room with a slide presentation.

Participants will have the opportunity to offer comments and ask questions during the Q&A section. During the course of the webinar, these may be submitted using the chat function of Adobe Connect. If you cannot join the live session, the recording of the session will be made available shortly after the meeting.

5 June 2013

ICANN is immediately seeking expressions of interest for leadership roles in the 2014 Nominating Committee (NomCom) - that of the 2014 NomCom Chair and Chair-Elect.

In October 2012 the ICANN Board resolved that "…the Board adopts the recommendation of the BGC and hereby appoints Yrjö Juhani Länsipuro as the 2013 NomCom Chair and Cheryl Langdon-Orr as the 2013 NomCom Chair-Elect." (See http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/resolutions-03oct12-en.htm#2.a)

In accordance with the Bylaws, "[i]t is anticipated that upon the conclusion of the term of the Chair-Elect, the Chair-Elect will be appointed by the Board to the position of Chair." See Article VII, section 3.4. Accordingly, while it anticipated that the 2013 NomCom Chair Elect will succeed to the role of 2014 NomCom Chair, the incumbent NomCom leaders, in discussion with the Board Governance Committee (BGC), agree that in support of continuous improvement in its accountability and transparency, the NomCom will be initiating a new practice this year to evaluate performance of the NomCom leadership. Specifically, the NomCom will be undertaking 360 degree reviews of its Chair and its Chair-Elect, which typically consists of input from an immediate circle of colleagues - top down, bottom up and peer-to-peer, and in this case will consist of interviewing other NomCom leadership, NomCom members, as well as designated NomCom staff. These 360 degree reviews will be conducted by an independent third party provider. The BGC will utilize the outcomes of these 360 degree reviews in their processes leading up to the Board's formal appointment of the 2014 NomCom Chair and Chair-Elect.

The NomCom Chair is responsible for organizing the NomCom in its activities to select certain ICANN Board members and individuals who will serve in key leadership positions within ICANN's supporting organizations (SOs) and advisory committees (ACs) in accordance with ICANN's Bylaws. The Chair is a non-voting member of the NomCom selected by ICANN's Board to serve until the conclusion of the next ICANN Annual Meeting.

The Chair-Elect is a position created within the Bylaws as an outcome of the independent review of the NomCom. The Chair-Elect position is not a replacement of the Advisor to the NomCom Chair, and is not intended to fill an advisory role. Rather, the Chair-Elect will receive the benefit of training while serving alongside the Chair, gaining skills and knowledge to be applied for the Chair-Elect's anticipated succession into the role of the Chair.

Candidates for Chair-Elect should possess the same skills as candidates for the Chair.

Position Description

This position blends time management and negotiation skills with the practical aspects of conducting a world-wide search for individuals to fill various ICANN leadership positions. The NomCom Chair will be called on to schedule, organize and lead numerous in-person and telephonic meetings with a large committee of community members. The NomCom Chair is also responsible for managing the candidate identification and statement of interest process, with other committee members, and for managing the due diligence to be performed on nominated candidates, in cooperation with ICANN's General Counsel and any retained outside firm(s). Throughout all NomCom activities, the Chair is responsible for ensuring that all NomCom operating rules and procedures are followed, and that all required documentation and reports are prepared in a timely fashion and provided to the proper parties as necessary.

Skills and Experience

To properly serve as the NomCom Chair, the selected individual must have:

1. adequate time available to undertake the role;
2. excellent communication and negotiation skills to manage a committee of 20-21 members;
3. a clear understanding of the duties and responsibilities of each position for which the NomCom is selecting candidates;
4. experience on or with a Board of Directors of organizations with similar scale, scope and diversity as ICANN;
5. strong organization and leadership skills;
6. ability to remain unbiased;
7. no conflicts of interest, and
8. a thorough understanding of, and satisfy, all criteria set forth in ICANN Bylaws relating to the NomCom (see http://www.icann.org/general/bylaws.htm#VII).

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

1. Plans and schedules NomCom meetings as required, including ensuring posting schedules for public review. Please see attached for a Listing of the NomCom activities.
2. Appoints non-voting Associate Chair if so desired.
3. Reports to ICANN Board and the community on status of the NomCom.
4. Prepares and publishes the NomCom report.
5. Ensures that NomCom operating rules and procedures are followed.
6. Manages NomCom Selection Process, including:
   1. Approves outreach/advertising methods for attracting candidates.
   2. Conducts outreach with ICANN Constituencies, ACs and SOs (with Chairs of those groups), ICANN Board, and others.
   3. With other committee members, reviews and evaluates candidate Statements of Interest (SOIs) and references submitted during NomCom process
   4. Coordinates due diligence on nominated candidates in cooperation with ICANN's General Counsel and any outside firm(s) retained to perform due diligence activities.
7. Approves posting of NomCom announcements and schedules on ICANN website.
8. Ensures NomCom records are properly established, maintained and archived.

Eligibility Exclusion

No person who is an employee of or is a paid consultant to ICANN (including the Ombudsman) shall simultaneously serve as a member of the NomCom, including the post of Chair or Chair-Elect.

Expenses

All reasonable travel expenses and administrative costs incurred as a result of performing the duties as NomCom Chair or Chair-Elect in accordance with ICANN's policies will be reimbursed by ICANN upon the Chair or Chair-Elect's submission to ICANN of valid receipts and invoices.

Expressions of Interest

Expressions of Interest, which will be maintained as confidential, should be sent to NomComChair2014@icann.org no later than 30 June 2013.

For more information about the NomCom see http://nomcom.icann.org/

3 June 2013 Forum Announcement: Comment Period Opens on Date: 3 June 2013 Categories/Tags:

• Contracted Party Agreements
• Legal/Regulatory
• Top-Level Domains

Purpose (Brief): ICANN is posting today for public comment a proposed agreement for renewal of the Registry Agreement for .BIZ. This proposal is a result of discussions between ICANN and Neustar, Inc., and will be considered by the ICANN Board after public comment. Public Comment Box Link: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/biz-renewal-03jun13-en.htm

3 June 2013 Forum Announcement: Comment Period Opens on Date: 3 June 2013 Categories/Tags:

• Contracted Party Agreements
• Legal/Regulatory
• Top-Level Domains

Purpose (Brief):

ICANN is posting today for public comment a proposed agreement for renewal of the Registry Agreement for .INFO. This proposal is a result of discussions between ICANN and Afilias Limited, and will be considered by the ICANN Board after public comment.

Public Comment Box Link: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/info-renewal-03jun13-en.htm

3 June 2013

In order to participate, please RSVP via email to the GNSO Secretariat (gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org) to receive the call details.

Whether you plan to participate in the upcoming ICANN meeting in Durban remotely or in person, you're invited to a quick reminder of the background and current status of each major policy issue currently under discussion in ICANN.

The ICANN Policy Staff will provide a briefing on Thursday 27 June at 12.00 UTC and Thursday 27 June at 19.00 UTC, summarizing policy issues across the different ICANN Supporting Organizations, namely the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) and Address Supporting Organization (ASO). Among other topics, updates will be provided on:

• Protection of IGO/INGO names in gTLDs PDP
• 'Thick' Whois Policy Development Process
• Locking of a Domain Name subject to UDRP Proceedings PDP
• 10th Anniversary of the ccNSO
• IDN ccPDP
• Joint DNS Security and Stability Analysis Working Group
• Update on RSSAC Reorganization

The two sessions are duplicates, scheduled to accommodate different time zones. Each session, scheduled to run for 90 minutes, will be conducted in English only. The meeting will be run in Adobe Connect with a slide presentation along with a dial-in conference bridge for audio.

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of each session. During the course of the webinar, questions may be submitted using the chat function of Adobe Connect. If you are not able to participate in either of the live sessions, the recording of the session will be made available shortly after the meeting. The policy staff is always available to answer any questions that you email to policy-staff@icann.org.

In order to participate, please RSVP via email to the GNSO Secretariat (gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org) to receive the call details. Please indicate which call you would like to join, Thursday at 12.00 UTC or Thursday at 19.00 UTC (to convert those times into your local time, see: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedform.html). We will send you an e-mail reminder before the event with log-in and dial-in details. Please DO NOT RSVP to any other ICANN staff members e-mail address.

31 May 2013

ICANN has authorized the bulk transfer of gTLD domain names from three registrars: C I Host, Inc., Central Registrar, Inc. DBA Domainmonger.com, Power Brand Center Corp. to Astutium Limited due to compliance actions taken by ICANN that resulted in the de-accreditation of registrars C I Host, Central Registrar and Power Brand Center.

ICANN has also authorized the bulk transfer of gTLD names from Dotted Ventures, Inc. to Astutium due to the termination of its Registrar Accreditation Agreement.

The affected gTLD registries have processed the bulk transfers. Former registrant-customers of C I Host, Central Registrar, Power Brand Center, and Dotted Ventures should receive notices from Astutium advising of the transfer. Customer questions about the transfer should be directed to Astutium, using the contact details provided below. Additional information about these bulk transfers is provided below.

FAQs

Q. Why were these transfers authorized by ICANN?

A. The registrar accreditation agreements (RAAs) of C I Host, Central Registrar, and Power Brand Center were terminated for failure by the registrars to comply with their respective RAAs. C I Host's RAA terminated on 1 March 2013 and the termination notice is posted at http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/serad-to-bullock-01mar13-en.pdf [PDF, 176 KB]. Central Registrar's RAA terminated on 13 March 2013 and the termination notice is posted at http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/serad-to-linford-11feb13-en.pdf [PDF, 272 KB]. Power Brand Center's RAA terminated on 1 April 2013 and the termination notice is posted at http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/serad-to-castro-28feb13-en.pdf [PDF, 264 KB].

Dotted Ventures' RAA was voluntarily terminated by Dotted Ventures on 27 March 2013.

As a result, these registrars are no longer permitted to register or manage gTLD registrations.  ICANN authorized bulk transfers pursuant to the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy to ensure that the registrant-customers of these registrars would not be harmed by their registrars' discontinued ability to manage the registrations.

Q. How was the gaining registrar selected?

A. ICANN followed its De-Accredited Registrar Transition Procedure (see http://www.icann.org/en/processes/registrars/de-accredited-registrar-transition-procedure-01oct08.pdf [PDF, 119 KB]) to identify a gaining registrar for the gTLD names formerly managed by the de-accredited registrars. Through this competitive process, Astutium was selected.

Q. Will Astutium attempt to contact the affected registrants? What should customers of the de-accredited registrars do now?

A. Former customers of these registrars should receive a notice of the transfer and instructions for continued management of their names from Astutium. Affected customers who do not receive notices from Astutium should contact Astutium by submitting a "support ticket" at https://www.astutium.com/submitticket.php or by using the contact information provided at http://www.internic.net/registrars/registrar-1471.html.

Q. Do registrants have to pay a fee for the bulk transfer?

A. No, there is no cost to registrants for the bulk transfer. Unlike a normal inter-registrar transfer, the registration terms will not be extended by a year. Accordingly, it is important to contact Astutium if your registration will expire soon in order to maintain your registration.

Q. Why do former C I Host, Central Registrar, Power Brand Center, and Dotted Ventures customers need to contact Astutium?

A. None of the de-accredited registrars participated in the bulk transfers and therefore did not forward billing information to Astutium. Accordingly, all registrants must provide updated billing information or transfer their names to other registrars.

Q. What if affected registrants want to select a different registrar?

A. Registrants will continue to be able to transfer their registrations to other registrars under the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (see http://www.icann.org/en/transfers/). Note that Astutium may deny transfers for the first 60 days following the bulk transfer, at its discretion. This 60-day period is permissible under the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy and is intended to help protect registrants. The registrant may need to renew names that will expire during the first 60 days following the transfer to Astutium by using the details provided above.

Q. How will C I Host, Central Registrar, Power Brand Center, and Dotted Ventures customers know if a message purportedly from Astutium is legitimate?

A. The message from Astutium should direct you to its website hosted at http://www.astutium.com/ or refer you to other contact information provided above. For general advice about avoiding phishing email messages, you may also wish to refer to the materials prepared by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (see http://www.antiphishing.org/resources/overview/avoid-phishing-scams).

31 May 2013

The 2013 Nominating Committee application period closed on Wednesday, 15 May 2013 at 23:59 UTC.

At the deadline, the NomCom had received 110 Statements of Interest, more than in any one year after 2003, when there were also 110. This year, there are 12 candidates from Africa, 30 are from Asia/Australia/Pacific Islands, 32 are from Europe, 18 are from Latin America/Caribbean Islands and 18 are from North America. 27 candidates are female, 83 are male.

Candidates have expressed primary interest in serving as follows: 78 on the ICANN Board, 24 on the GNSO Council, 14 on the ccNSO Council, and 30 on the ALAC. Some candidates have asked to be considered for more than one position.

The 2013 Nominating Committee (NomCom) has the task to select qualified candidates for the following key positions within ICANN:

• Three members of the Board of Directors of ICANN
• Three members of the At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) (one each from the Africa, Asia/Australia/Pacific Islands and Latin America/Caribbean Islands regions)
• Two members of the Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)
• One member of the Council of the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)

Individuals selected by the NomCom will have a unique opportunity to work with accomplished colleagues from around the globe, address intriguing technical coordination problems and related policy development challenges with diverse functional, cultural, and geographic dimensions, and gain valuable insights and experience from working across these boundaries of knowledge, responsibility and perspective.

The 2013 NomCom began its work in October 2012 after the ICANN Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada, and has since then organized outreach events in multiple locations in addition to individual outreach activities performed by its members globally. The NomCom holds frequent conference calls to plan and follow-up its work.

More information regarding the Nominating Committee can be found at http://nomcom.icann.org/. Selections will be announced in early September 2013. Successful candidates will take up their positions following ICANN's Annual General Meeting in November 2013.

Candidate questions or comments may also be emailed to nomcom2013@icann.org.

28 May 2013

ICANN's mission and core values call to preserve and enhance the operational stability, reliability, security, and global interoperability of the Internet. In pursuing these goals and following the direction of its Board of Directors as well as the advice of the Security and Stability Advisory Committee, ICANN is announcing two studies regarding: 1) the use of non-delegated TLDs and 2) potential risks related to dotless domain names.

On 31 January 2013, ICANN security team received the SAC 057: SSAC Advisory on Internal Name Certificates. On 18 May, the ICANN Board directed staff to commission a study on the use of TLDs that are not currently delegated at the root level of the public DNS in enterprises.

Today, ICANN is announcing that a study has been commissioned on the potential security impacts of the applied-for new-gTLD strings in relation to namespace collisions with non-delegated TLDs that may be in use in private namespaces including their use in X.509 digital certificates. As part of this study, the expert study team will develop a framework for assessing the risk level and classify the risk level for the strings as identified in the study. The report will also provide options for ICANN as to how to mitigate the various risks and will describe the pros and cons of the options.

On 23 February 2012, the SSAC published the SAC 053: SSAC Report on Dotless Domains. A domain name that consists of a single label is referred to as a "dotless domain name". Use of dotless names could provide potential innovations to the domain name industry and new gTLD applicants, but their use also raises usability, functionality, security and stability concerns as described in the SSAC report. On 23 June 2012, the ICANN Board directed staff to consult with the relevant communities regarding implementation of the recommendations in SAC 053 and to provide a briefing paper for the Board, detailing the issues and options available to mitigate such issues. During the period of August to September 2012, a public comment period was held regarding the SAC 053 report. The public comment period made clear that dotless domain names are a subject of active discussion in the ICANN community, that no clear conclusion could be drawn, and that a greater effort to identify and explore solutions to the concerns raised before implementing SAC 053 recommendations could be useful.

Today, ICANN is announcing that it has commissioned a study on the potential risks related to dotless domain names based on SAC 053 report. The study report will identify and describe the potential risks that dotless names raise with particular focus on those related to security and stability. The report will also provide options for ICANN as to how to mitigate the various risks and will describe the pros and cons of the options.

In both cases ICANN intends to deliver the study teams findings before the ICANN 47th meeting in Durban, South Africa.

22 May 2013

The ICANN Board New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) held a discussion in Amsterdam on 18 May 2013 regarding how and when it could address the Beijing GAC advice. The NGPC structured the discussion around the attached GAC Advice Framework [PDF, 52 KB]. The Framework organizes the individual advice items into discrete groupings to allow the NGPC to prioritize its work. The NGPC's goal is to carefully consider GAC advice and community input and to make decisions that will allow the greatest number of new gTLD applications to move forward as soon as possible.

As mentioned in our last update, the NGPC is developing a scorecard for the advice, marking items as a "1A," "1B" and "2." In Amsterdam, the NGPC made progress on identifying the potential "1As," i.e., those items for which the NGPC has a tentative position that appears to be consistent with the GAC's advice. Final scoring of the items will not be possible until the applicant responses to the GAC Advice are summarized and reviewed. The NGPC anticipates that it will discuss these items further during its next meeting tentatively scheduled for early June.

The NGPC also began discussing the GAC Advice on Safeguards. Currently there is an open Public Comment Forum seeking input on how the NGPC should address the GAC's Safeguard Advice. The Public Comment Forum closes on 4 June 2013. As shown in the attached, the NGPC is evaluating the safeguard advice grouped as follows:

• Safeguard Advice Applicable to all strings
• Category 1 Safeguard Advice: Consumer Protection, Sensitive Strings, and Regulated Markets
• Category 2 Safeguard Advice: Restricted Registration Policies (Restricted Access and Exclusive Access)

Over the next few weeks, the NGPC will hold a series of calls to discuss applicant responses to the GAC advice, the Safeguard advice and related public comment, and other matters including responding to the GAC's advice on singular and plural strings, its questions in Annex 2, and its requests for briefing papers.

The New gTLD evaluation and objection processes remains on track while the NGPC continues its deliberations. As mentioned above, the NGPC is prioritizing its work in order to allow the greatest number of applications to move forward as soon as possible. We will continue to provide updates on the NGPC's progress in responding to the GAC Beijing advice.

14 May 2013

ICANN filed its Form 990 for the fiscal year ending 30 June 2012 with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on 14 May 2013 in compliance with the extended due date of 15 May 2013. The Form 990 is the United States return for organizations exempt from income taxes under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code. ICANN continues to provide accountability and transparency regarding its financial results and the filed Form 990 is available on the "Financial Information for ICANN" page of the ICANN.org site and is also included in this announcement.

ICANN's FY12 Form 990 is now posted [PDF, 800 KB] and is available to the community. The Community is invited to review ICANN's Form 990 and to provide commentaries and/or questions.

10 May 2013 Forum Announcement: Comment Period Opens on Date: 10 May 2013 Categories/Tags:

• Operations-Finances
• ICANN Board/Bylaws

Purpose (Brief): ICANN's annual operating plan and budget describes the planned activities and required resources for the fiscal year ending 2014. These activities are based on ICANN's strategic objectives, fiscal year priorities and community input. The posting period will commence on 10-May-2013 and conclude on 31-May-2013. During this period, the multiple stakeholders of the Internet community will have the opportunity to make inquiries and provide feedback on the various aspects of the proposed budget and implementation of ICANN resources for the coming fiscal year. Public Comment Box Link: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/op-budget-fy14-10may13-en.htm

10 May 2013

The ICANN Board New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) wishes to share with the ICANN community its progress in consideration of the GAC advice and what steps are still to be taken. The NGPC met on 8 May to consider a Plan for responding to the Governmental Advisory Committee's advice on New gTLDs, transmitted to the Board through its 11 April Beijing Communiqué. The Plan is in two parts: Part 1 shown below consists of actions for soliciting input from Applicants and from the Community.

  Item Resp. Start Date Compl. Date Status 1 Publish GAC Communiqué and notify applicants of 21-day GAC Advice Response Period Staff   18 April Complete 2 Applicants 21-day response period to GAC Advice Applicants 19 April 10 May In progress 3 Publish GAC Communiqué to solicit input on how the New gTLD Board Committee should address GAC advice regarding safeguards applicable to broad categories of New gTLD strings Staff   23 April Complete 4 Public comment period on how Board should address GAC Advice re: Safeguards Public 23 April Comment:
May 14
Reply:
4 June In Progress 5 Collect and summarize applicant responses to GAC Advice Staff 11 May 31 May Not Started 6 Summarize and analyze public comments on how Board should address GAC Advice re: Safeguards Staff 5 June 12 June Not Started 7 Review and consider Applicant responses to GAC Advice and Public Comments on how Board should respond to GAC Advice re: Safeguards New gTLD Program Committee 13 June 20 June Not Started

Part 2 consists of actions for responding to each advice given by the GAC. In so doing, the NGPC is developing a GAC scorecard similar to the one used during the GAC and the Board meetings in Brussels on 28 February and 1 March 2011.

Each GAC scorecard item will be noted with a "1A", "1B", or "2":

• "1A" indicates that the NGPC's proposed position is consistent with GAC advice as described in the Scorecard.
• "1B" indicates that the NGPC's proposed position is consistent with GAC advice as described in the Scorecard in principle, with some revisions to be made.
• "2" indicates that the NGPC's current position is not consistent with GAC advice as described in the Scorecard, and further discussion with the GAC is required following relevant procedures in the ICANN Bylaws.

Part 2 of the Plan is not yet finalized and, with respect to some of the advice, cannot be finalized until after the review of the Public Comments due to be completed on 20 June.

The NGPC will next meet in Amsterdam on 18 May and will provide a further update following that meeting.

10 May 2013 Forum Announcement: Comment Period Opens on Date: 10 May 2013 Categories/Tags:

• Top Level Domains
• Policy Processes
• Contracted Party Agreements

Purpose (Brief): ICANN is opening a Public Comment Period for the proposed Whois Information Status Policy. Members of the Internet Community are asked to provide feedback on the proposed document. The proposed Policy is based on a recommendation from the Generic Names Supporting Organization Council related to the display of statuses in the Whois output by registry operators and registrars. Public Comment Box Link: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/wisp-10may13-en.htm

3 May 2013

ICANN is actively seeking locations for its three public meetings to be held 8-12 February 2015 in Africa, 21-25 June 2015 in Latin America/Caribbean Islands, and 18-22 October 2015 in Europe. Those in the geographic regions are invited to submit recommendations for specific locations to hold the events. These recommended venues, along with others in the region that meet the selection criteria, will be considered. The final location for the ICANN Meetings will then be selected through the evaluation of both community-recommended and ICANN-identified locations.

Interested parties are encouraged to review the Meeting Selection Criteria, which will be used to guide the evaluation of both community-recommended and ICANN-identified meeting locations. Elements such as cost of the meeting for ICANN and the community, convenience to international airports, availability of sufficient hotel guest rooms in or near the venue, meeting facilities, network infrastructure, personal safety of meeting participants, and total level of financial support will be considered by ICANN in making its final selection of a meeting site.

Those interested in submitting a recommendation for a location to host the Meeting, or a proposal for host-level financial support in the region, are encouraged to submit the online Meeting Location Recommendation Form.

Meeting No. Official Dates Geographic Region (?) Submission Deadline No. 52 8-12 February 2015 AF 5 July 2013 No. 53 21-25 June 2015 LAC 5 July 2013 No. 54 18-22 October 2015 EUR 5 July 2013