ICANN Board passed some resolutions last night on the last day of the ICANN Meeting in Singapore:

1.  ICANN re-delegate the .VG country-code top-level domain to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of the British Virgin Islands.

You might remember there was a “dispute within AdamsNames Ltd., the listed technical contact for .VG which is currently responsible for operating the name servers for the registry. The dispute raised concerns over the stability of the domain as well as over the pricing for registration of second-level domains under .VG.”

2. ICANN delegated the .ZM country-code top-level domain to the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority

3.  On the Collision issue the ICANN Board made several resolutions including getting a final report on collision from the author of the report by May 2014

Recommendation 1: ICANN should work with the wider Internet community, including at least the IAB and the IETF, to identify (1) what strings are appropriate to reserve for private namespace use and (2) what type of private namespace use is appropriate (i.e., at the domain top-level only or at any additional lower level).

 

Recommendation 2: ICANN should explicitly consider the following questions regarding trial delegation and clearly articulate what choices have been made and why as part of its decision as to whether or not to delegate any TLD on a trial basis:

 

• Purpose of the trial: What type of trial is to be conducted? What data are to be collected?
• Operation of the trial: Should ICANN (or a designated agent) operate the trial or should the applicant operate it?
• Emergency Rollback: What are the emergency rollback decision and execution procedures for any delegation in the root, and have the root zone partners exercised these capabilities?
• Termination of the trial: What are the criteria for terminating the trial (both normal and emergency criteria)? What is to be done with the data collected? Who makes the decision on what the next step in the delegation process is?

 

Recommendation 3: ICANN should explicitly consider under what circumstances un-delegation of a TLD is the appropriate mitigation for a security or stability issue. In the case where a TLD has an established namespace, ICANN should clearly identify why the risk and harm of the TLD remaining in the root zone is greater than the risk and harm of removing a viable and in-use namespace from the DNS. Finally, ICANN should work in consultation with the community, in particular the root zone management partners, to create additional processes or update existing processes to accommodate the potential need for rapid reversal of the delegation of a TLD.

 

Given previous experiences, it is likely that in a timeframe of 6 to 18 months the advice could materialize in the form of a Request for Comments (RFC).

 

With respect to Recommendations 2 and 3, ICANN is working with the community to develop a framework to address name collisions, which includes the specific measures identified in SAC062, in the mitigation strategy for name collision risks.

The development of this framework is a follow-up action called for in the New gTLD Collision Occurrence Management Plan adopted by the NGPC on 7 October 2013. ICANN commissioned JAS Global Advisors LLC (“JAS”) to produce the follow-up study, and to produce recommendations to be implemented by all new gTLD registries.

The JAS study provides a set of recommendations that describe a comprehensive approach to reducing current and future DNS namespace collisions, including the measures recommended by the SSAC in SAC062.

Currently, the recommendations in the JAS study are published for public comment.

After the close of the public comment period, JAS will produce a final version of the study, taking into account public comments. The final JAS report is expected to be presented to the Board for consideration in May 2014. At that time, the Board will consider the fiscal impacts of the recommendations.”

4.  More Studies.

ICANN President and CEO, or his designee, is hereby directed to immediately:

        Secure one or more qualified survey firm to conduct a global consumer survey to gather baseline measurements in the areas of consumer trust and consumer choice.The Board authorizes the contracting for and disbursement of payments of up to [AMOUNT REDACTED FOR NEGOTIATION PURPOSES] to conduct this global survey to establish the baseline and to conduct subsequent follow-up surveys. The survey should ensure coverage in each of the five ICANN Geographic regions, and where relevant ensure a mix of developed and developing countries in each region.

• Secure one or more qualified economic firm to conduct an economic study to take into account the impact of new gTLDs on competition in the DNS ecosystem, including consideration of relevant pricing data.    The economic study should take into account the wholesale and retail prices (including aftermarket prices) for ccTLD and gTLD domain names now and at a later point; take into account TLD startup and launch phases as well as ongoing operations; and include an analysis of the findings in light of the competitive conditions of the domain name sector. The contract terms should require strict confidentiality and use of data only in aggregate form, as well as other safeguards to protect against misuse of the data collected. The Board authorizes the contracting for and disbursement of payments of up to [AMOUNT REDACTED FOR NEGOTIATION PURPOSES] to conduct this economic study to establish a baseline against which subsequent follow-on surveys will be measured, and to conduct the subsequent follow-on surveys.

5.

Whereas, to support and enhance the multistakeholder model of Internet policymaking and governance, on 14 March 2014 the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced its intent to transition its stewardship of key Internet technical coordination functions to the global multistakeholder community.

As the first step, NTIA asked ICANN to convene global stakeholders to develop a proposal to transition the current role played by NTIA in the technical coordination of the Internet’s domain name system (DNS).

Whereas, ICANN has now launched global multistakeholder community discussions to begin the work called for in the NTIA announcement, starting with numerous sessions held during ICANN‘s 49th Public Meeting in Singapore. These discussions will be used to develop the mechanism for stewardship transition with respect to the DNS technical coordination functions, and the transition of AOC accountability.

Whereas, with the launch of the global multistakeholder community discussions, the need for and purpose of the Globalization Advisory Groups has been minimized.

Resolved (2014.03.27.27), the Board hereby dissolves the Globalization Advisory Groups addressing AoC, policy structures, legal structure, the root server system, and the IANA multistakeholder accountability, and directs that the work contemplated to be undertaken by these Globalization Advisory Groups be considered as part of the recently initiated global multistakeholder community discussions that will help develop the mechanism for stewardship transition with respect to the DNS technical coordination or IANA functions, and help develop the mechanism for the transition of AOC accountability.

Resolved (2014.03.27.28), the Board hereby dissolves the Globalization Advisory Group addressing Internet governance, as the Board anticipates that the work contemplated to be undertaken by this Globalization Advisory Group will be incorporated into the work being undertaken by the Cross-Community Working Group on Internet Governance.