ICANN 82

Event
Process	ICANN
Date	Mar. 8, 2025 – Mar. 13, 2025
Region	NA
Country	United States of America
City	Seattle
Venue	Hyatt Regency Seattle Hotel
Websites	meetings.icann.org/en/meetings/icann82
← ICANN 81 ICANN 83 →

ICANN 82 was ICANN's 26th Community Forum. It took place in Seattle, Washington, United States, at the Hyatt Regency Seattle, from March 8 to 13, 2025

The meeting agenda was shaped around the adoption of ICANN's FY26–30 Strategic Plan, preparations for the next round of new gTLDs, implementation of Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) policy, the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) pilot, DNS abuse-related work, and internal governance and ethics initiatives including a new Community Participant Code of Conduct concerning Statements of Interest.

Meeting Information

Ahead of the meeting, a dedicated "Prep Week" (February 24-25, 2025) provided policy-heavy briefings, including:

• ICANN Board engagement with the community, used to preview key strategic topics the Board wanted to explore with SO/ACs in Seattle (including strategic planning and reviews).
• Internationalized Domain Names updates, covering implementation status of IDN work across gTLDs and ccTLDs, in coordination with the EPDP on IDNs and related implementation review work.
• Current state of Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) and a Contractual Compliance update, giving registries, registrars, and other stakeholders a status check on RDAP deployment and compliance priorities in advance of ICANN 82 policy discussions on registration data.
• A Finance and Planning update and an ICANN Five-Year Strategic Plan Update webinar that walked participants through the revised draft FY26–30 Strategic Plan and next steps toward Board adoption.
• A New gTLD Program: Next Round Implementation Status Update session describing the implementation workplan, major tracks, and risk areas leading up to the launch of the next application round.

Board, Strategy, and Reviews

Adoption of the FY26–30 Strategic Plan

The FY26–30 Strategic Plan was a central governance item tied to ICANN 82. In February 2025, the Board Strategic Planning Committee published a revised draft strategic plan reflecting public comment input and signalled that it would recommend adoption at ICANN 82. The revision refined strategic objectives and initiatives based on community feedback gathered in 2024.

During Prep Week, the "ICANN Five-Year Strategic Plan Update" briefing walked the community through the revised draft, summarizing changes made after public comment and highlighting how the new plan would guide the Operating and Financial Plans for FY26–30. In Seattle, strategic planning was also discussed in bilateral Board–community sessions and in cross-community discussions of priorities and workload.

At its regular meeting on March 13, 2025 in Seattle, the ICANN Board formally adopted the ICANN Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2026–2030. The resolutions directed the President and CEO to implement the plan and to conduct annual evaluations of its continued relevance, fulfilling ICANN's Bylaws requirement to adopt a five-year strategic plan for each planning cycle.

A later Board blog on ICANN 82 and its preceding workshop framed the adoption of the Strategic Plan as one of the key outcomes of the week and stressed its role in guiding ICANN's work on security, stability, and the multistakeholder model over the next five years.

Community Participant Code of Conduct Concerning SOIs

ICANN 82 hosted a community dialogue on the draft ICANN Community Participant Code of Conduct Concerning Statements of Interest (SOIs). The session brought together panelists from across the community to discuss how a new disclosure-focused code would be enforced in practice, including:

• the level of uniformity needed in SOI processes across SO/ACs to avoid confusion;
• the extent to which group chairs and leadership should be empowered to enforce disclosure and manage participants in breach;
• clarifying what constitutes an "interest" requiring disclosure; and
• ensuring the Code was not implicitly targeted at specific types of participants (such as certain business or attorney–client relationships).

The Board later described ICANN 82 as the main opportunity for live community feedback on enforcement and implementation before updating the draft Code for a subsequent public comment and eventual adoption as part of a broader ICANN Community Ethics Policy.

Reviews

The future of Specific Reviews and related review mechanisms was another cross-cutting topic. At ICANN 82, the Board consulted with community groups such as the GNSO Council, NCSG, CPH, CSG, RySG, ccNSO, ALAC, and SSAC on how to streamline and update ICANN's review framework. These discussions were later cited in Board resolutions that used ICANN 82 feedback to justify a more consolidated approach to reviews and to focus community and organizational resources on a single effort to update review mechanisms, rather than continuing existing cycles unchanged.

GNSO

The GNSO's workload at ICANN 82 was dominated by transfer policy reform, IDN policy implementation, registration data, continuous improvement of GNSO processes, and preparing for the next round of new gTLDs.

Transfer Policy Review PDP

The Transfer Policy Review Policy Development Process (PDP) reached a key decision point at ICANN 82. By February 2025, the Transfer Policy Review PDP Working Group had delivered its Final Report to the GNSO Council, following public comment on its Initial Report. The report proposed comprehensive changes to the Transfer Policy, including:

• new processes to improve security and user experience for inter-registrar and inter-registrant transfers;
• refined requirements for gaining and losing registrars;
• treatment of change-of-registrant events; and
• updates to the Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy (TDRP).

At ICANN 82, no additional WG sessions were held; instead, the focus was on GNSO Council deliberations and a vote on the Final Report's policy recommendations during the Council's public meeting on March 12, 2025.

EPDP on IDNs

The EPDP on IDNs had completed its substantive work by the time of ICANN 82. Phase 1 recommendations on top-level IDN variants had already been largely adopted by the ICANN Board, and Phase 2 recommendations on second-level variant management had been approved by the GNSO Council and transmitted to the Board in late 2024.

For ICANN 82:

• the ICANN Board was expected to take action on the Phase 2 policy recommendations during the meeting, following an open Board-managed proceeding that closed on 3 February 2025; and
• an Implementation Review Team (IRT) operating as a sub-track of the SubPro IRT held working sessions in Seattle to coordinate implementation of the Phase 1 recommendations in parallel with work toward the next new gTLD round.

IDN updates in Prep Week and cross-community sessions connected this work to broader questions of IDN deployment across scripts, including coordination with ccTLD IDN policy and Universal Acceptance efforts.

RDRS and EPDP Temp Spec Phase 2 (SSAD)

The Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) and the underlying EPDP on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data – Phase 2 (SSAD) also reached a critical analysis phase at ICANN 82. The RDRS pilot, launched in 2023 as an implementation of the Board-requested "Whois Disclosure System", had been collecting metrics on registration data disclosure requests for over a year.

In Seattle:

• the RDRS Standing Committee (SC) held a working session on March 12, 2025 to continue drafting its report to the GNSO Council; and
• the SC evaluated whether the volume, nature, and outcomes of RDRS requests provided sufficient evidence to justify moving forward with, modifying, or re-scoping the SSAD-related policy recommendations.

The RDRS SC considered whether one year of pilot data was enough to make robust recommendations and planned to finalise its report for Council consideration after ICANN 82, shaping subsequent Board–Council discussions on the future of SSAD and registration data access mechanisms.

Latin Script Diacritics PDP

ICANN 82 was the first ICANN Public Meeting at which the new Latin Script Diacritics PDP Working Group held an in-person working session. The PDP was chartered to examine policy gaps around Latin-script gTLDs that differ only by diacritics (such as "é", "ç", and similar marks) and to consider whether such labels should be treated as variants that must be operated by the same registry or under coordinated rules.

The working session in Seattle focused on:

• clarifying the scope of issues identified in the Final Issue Report;
• initial discussion of possible policy models for handling Latin script diacritic labels; and
• planning for broader community input and public comment opportunities.

GNSO Continuous Improvement and Internal Processes

The newly established Standing Committee on Continuous Improvement (SCCI) also met at ICANN 82. The SCCI, created as a permanent committee in November 2024, was tasked with carrying forward structural and procedural refinements to the GNSO's policy development processes based on the earlier CCOICI (Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement) pilot.

In Seattle, the SCCI began developing preliminary recommendations for a Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) Framework and other projects, such as follow-up work on Policy & Implementation and PDP3.0 guidance. Its open session at ICANN 82 allowed GNSO participants to review early thinking on how continuous-improvement work would be integrated into GNSO operations over the longer term.

The broader GNSO schedule at ICANN 82 included:

• three GNSO Council Working Sessions to prioritize upcoming projects and align timelines;
• multiple joint sessions with the GAC, the ICANN Board, the Contracted Parties, and other parts of the community on DNS abuse, registration data policy implementation, and new gTLD Next Round preparations; and
• the GNSO Council public meeting and wrap-up sessions consolidating outcomes and action items from the week.

New gTLD Program: Next Round implementation

While the SubPro PDP itself had concluded earlier, implementation of its recommendations and design of the next round of new gTLDs were prominent cross-community topics at ICANN 82. A pre-meeting Next Round Implementation Status Update documented:

• the main workstreams for the program (including Applicant Support, Program Development, Systems & Tools, and Operational Readiness);
• a tentative sequence of milestones leading to the launch of the round; and
• outstanding policy-implementation questions requiring community input or clarification.

In Seattle, this work surfaced in:

• the Prep Week implementation briefing;
• GNSO Council discussions on workload and prioritization;
• At-Large and GAC sessions examining public interest, applicant support, and geographic diversity in the upcoming round; and
• Board–community conversations on launch timing and risk management.

ccNSO

The ccNSO used ICANN 82 to advance work on financial contributions, policy scoping, DNS Abuse, and Universal Acceptance, and to engage with other community groups and the Board.

Key elements of the ccNSO Members Meeting and related sessions included:

• Financial Contributions (FIN2 Working Group): FIN2 discussions in Seattle examined possible models for ccTLD financial contributions to ICANN, building on survey work and earlier consultations. The emphasis was on fairness, predictability, and voluntary arrangements appropriate to the diversity of ccTLD environments.
• Policy Gap Analysis Working Group (PGA): The PGA updated the community on its mapping of potential policy gaps within the ccNSO's remit, identifying areas where ccNSO policy mechanisms are absent or unclear and where coordination with other SO/ACs might be needed. ICANN 82 sessions were used to socialize preliminary findings and gather feedback from ccTLD managers and other stakeholders.
• DNS Abuse and Data Accuracy: A ccNSO DNS Abuse-focused session explored how ccTLDs are approaching DNS abuse mitigation and data accuracy, including how ccTLD practices intersect with GNSO-driven initiatives such as RDRS and broader ICANN work on DNS abuse data and reporting.
• Universal Acceptance (UA): ccNSO-linked UA work considered blockers to UA readiness in ccTLD environments and practical steps toward ensuring that IDNs and long or non-ASCII TLDs function correctly in local applications and services.

The ccNSO also held joint sessions with the GAC (for example, to discuss PGA findings and ccTLD-relevant public-policy issues) and with ccNSO-appointed Board members to exchange views on resourcing, roles, and expectations. The ccNSO Council meeting at ICANN 82 addressed internal governance topics and leadership matters in light of the evolving workload.

ALAC and RALOs

At ICANN 82, the At-Large community combined policy plenaries, operational discussions, and regional activities to frame end-user perspectives on key agenda items such as the next new gTLD round, DNS abuse, and ICANN's review and improvement programmes.

Policy Plenaries and Sessions

Two major At-Large policy plenaries in Seattle focused on:

• core Internet values and their evolution in ICANN's multistakeholder model, examining how principles such as openness, interoperability, and user trust are reflected in current decision-making and how they may be challenged by new technical and policy developments; and
• the promise and risks of the next round of new gTLDs, highlighting opportunities for greater geographic and linguistic diversity, but also end-user concerns about confusion, abuse, and affordability.

In addition, a dedicated policy session concentrated on:

• the relationship between the next round of new gTLDs and end-user expectations;
• registration data issues and their implications for privacy and security; and
• DNS Abuse trends and how they impact Internet users at the edge.

Registration Data Accuracy Assignment and Small Team

In the wake of the Scoping Team’s suspension, the GNSO Council looked for new ways to structure work on registration data accuracy that would take into account evolving legislation (such as the EU NIS2 Directive) and new empirical inputs (including INFERMAL and other DNS Abuse research). An “Accuracy Assignment” was launched to collect, organize, and summarize inputs from across the community and from ICANN org.

In May 2025 the Council created a Registration Data Accuracy Small Team to review the results of that assignment and recommend to the Council whether, and how, to move forward, including whether a new policy initiative or PDP Working Group on data accuracy should be launched.

North America, according to the ICANN Geographic Regions (ICANN Geographic Regions).

Internationalized Domain Name

Generic Top-level Domain

Country code top-level domain. Determined by "ISO 3166-1: Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 1: Country codes".

Expedited Policy Development Process

Internationalized Domain Name

Registration Data Access Protocol. Uniform patterns to construct HTTP URLs that may be used to retrieve registration information from registries and Domain Name Registries using "RESTful" web access patterns (RFC 7482).

Generic Top-level Domain

Statement of Interest

Generic Names Supporting Organization. Develops and recommends to the Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains and other responsibilities set forth in the Bylaws (ICANN Bylaws).

Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group. Represents the full range of non-commercial entities of the Internet (ICANN Bylaws). Not to be confused with the At-Large Advisory Committee.

Contracted Parties House. Includes the Registries Stakeholder Group and the Registrars Stakeholder Group (ICANN Bylaws).

Commercial Stakeholder Group. Represents the full range of large and small commercial entities of the Internet, including the Business Constituency, Intellectual Property Constituency and the Internet Service Providers and Connectivity Providers Constituency (ICANN Bylaws).

Country Code Names Supporting Organization. Develops and recommends to the Board global policies relating to country-code top-level domains (ICANN Bylaws).

At-Large Advisory Committee. Considers and provides advice on the activities of ICANN related to the interests of individual Internet users (ICANN Bylaws). Not to be confused with the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group.

Security and Stability Advisory Committee. Advises the ICANN community and Board on matters relating to the security and integrity of the Internet's naming and address allocation systems (ICANN Bylaws).

Policy Development Process

Country code top-level domain. Determined by "ISO 3166-1: Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 1: Country codes".

Governmental Advisory Committee. Considers and provides advice on the activities of ICANN as they relate to concerns of governments, particularly matters where there may be an interaction between ICANN's policies and various laws and international agreements or where they may affect public policy issues (ICANN Bylaws).

American Standard Code for Information Interchange

Top-Level Domain

Europe, according to the ICANN Geographic Regions (ICANN Geographic Regions).