Policy Process Steering Committee

The Policy Process Steering Committee (PPSC) was established to review and recommend changes for GNSO policy-making processes. The main goal of PPSC was to develop recommendations for the process changes required by the GNSO Improvements Report and acknowledged by the Board. The PPSC consisted of two teams, the Policy Development Process Work Team and the Working Group Work Team. The PPSC was terminated when the GNSO adopted the resolution 20110428-2 at its meeting held on 28 April 2011, although the Policy Development Process Work Team is still active.

The PPSC was also assigned with the task of combining the results into a proposal, consisting of suggested bylaws changes for PDP process and guidelines for the working groups. The PPSC also used to consider whether any of its activities that needed recommendations need to be addressed with the formation of a new special team.

Other duties assigned to the PPSC by the GNSO Council were to provide guidelines to shape proper interaction between GNSO volunteers and the [ICANN]] staff, as well as duties related to establishing GNSO-related drafting team guidelines.

PPSC Work Teams

The PPSC had two working teams, the first team known as the WG team was assigned with the job of developing a proposal for the sake of a new Working Group Model whereas the other team was known as the policy development process team or the PDP Team. The PPSC served as a coordinating body for these two teams.

Policy Development Process Work Team: Also known as the PDP-WT, this team was responsible for recommending changes to the Council and the community on the basis of an open community WG approach. It was responsible of reviewing the PDP in the Bylaws.

Working Group Work Team: Also known as the WG-WT, it was responsible mostly to provide the necessary recommendations related to the methods and processes that were involved in the new WG model. The WG-WT also had to provide suggestion for transition to the new model.

Membership

The PPSC was comprised of the following members:

• 1 representative from each constituency (did not need to be a GNSO Council member)
• GNSO council chair or vice chair
• 1 Nominating Committee appointee to the GNSO

Also included as appointed representatives/observers were liaisons from the GAC and ALAC.

Prior to being disbanded, the members of the PPSC were:

• Business Constituency: Mike Rodenbaugh, alternate: Zahid Jamil
• Intellectual Property Interests Constituency: J. Scott Evans (alternate Chair), alternate: Ute Decker
• ISP Constituency: Greg Ruth, alternate: Tony Harris
• Non-Commercial Users Constituency: Konstantinos Komaitis, alternate: Gabriel Piniero
• Registry Constituency: Jeff Neuman (Chair), alternate: Catherine Sigmar
• Registrar Constituency: Tim Ruiz, alternate: Tom Keller
• NCA: Avri Doria, alternate: Olga Cavalli
• GNSO Council (vice-)chair: Avri Doria, alternate: Chuck Gomes

• GAC liaison: Bertrand de la Chappelle
• ALAC liaison: Alan Greenberg, alternate: Cheryl Langdon-Orr

Decision making of PPSC

The decision making process of PPSC if not determined by the PPSC members, were taken by using "full consensus of the members" process.

Important Decision making process points:

1. PPSC recognizes that determining a “Rough Consensus”; where all point of views are discussed till the chair decides all possible perspectives have been covered, is an important issue that must be handled by the working Group WT.
2. PPSC WT must strive to reach at a unanimous decision but it also realizes that this may not always be possible.
3. All the Work Team rules are subject to change by the PPSC that can be according to the PPSC’s evaluation of Working Group Work Team’s recommendations.

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).

Policy Development Process

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).

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.