ICANN 63

Dates:	October 20-16, 2018
Location:	Barcelona, Spain
Website:	ICANN 63

ICANN 63 was ICANN's Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2018 and was held from 20-26 October in Barcelona, Spain. This 7-day meeting focused on policy development and showcased ICANN's work for a broader global audience. ICANN celebrated its 20th anniversary with a ceremony and reception at this meeting.

At the end of ICANN 63, incoming members of the ICANN Board and other community leadership positions took their seats, and returning members had their terms renewed.

Sessions

ccNSO

The ccNSO Council adopted the recommendations in the Final Report of the Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability Work Stream 2. The ccNSO Council approved l’Agence de Developpement des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (ADETIC), the ccTLD operator of .td (Chad), as a new ccNSO member, bringing the number of ccNSO members to 169. he ccNSO Council established a study group to provide a comprehensive overview of the issues associated with the use of emoji as second-level domains as documented in SAC095.

GNSO

The Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms in All gTLDs Policy Development Process Working Group held two sessions on policy recommendations and operational fixes to the Uniform Rapid Suspension dispute resolution procedure, which allows trademark owners to obtain a suspension of a domain name registered and used in bad faith by a third party without legitimate rights to the name. Two other sessions reviewed results from surveys about Trademark Clearing House Sunrise and Trademark Claims. The EPDP Team finalized responses to charter questions about purposes for processing registration data and distinguishing between legal and natural persons. The New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Working Group focused on Work Track 5 (about geographical names) and streamlining the eventual implementation of new gTLD subsequent procedures. The GNSO Council opted to withdraw the motion of the IGO-INGO Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms PDP. THe GNSO Council voted to

1. confirm the charter of the Standing Committee on ICANN’s Budget and Operations,
2. terminate the RDS to Replace WHOIS Policy Development Process,
3. approve the implementation plan for the GNSO Policy Development Process 3.0 project,
4. reconfirm Julf Helsingius as GNSO Council Liaison to the Governmental Advisory Committee, and
5. approve the Recommendations Report to the ICANN Board from the reconvened Red Cross Names Policy Development Process Working Group.

ALAC

Maureen Hilyard became At-Large Advisory Committee Chair, replacing Alan Greenberg who stepped down after four years. The ALAC passed motions to approve an update to the ALAC Rules of Procedures, an update to the ALAC and Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Joint Statement from ICANN 60, a merger of several working groups into the Subcommittee on Outreach and Engagement, and a motion to relaunch a ratification vote on the ALAC Statement on the Proposed RDAP Profile. ALAC policy advice development focused on the European Union’s GDPR, new gTLD subsequent procedures, the KSK Rollover, and the EPDP on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data.

GAC

Nearly 200 ministers and senior officers from 124 delegations around the world attended the High Level Governmental Meeting, hosted by the Spanish government, on 22 October, the fourth held in conjunction with an ICANN Public Meeting. The attendees discussed technical, legal, and geopolitical challenges facing ICANN as well as opportunities for governments in ICANN post-IANA transition; cybercrime, data protection, and privacy; the Internet technological evolution; and global Internet policies. The GAC devoted substantial time in Barcelona to discuss GDPR issues and law enforcement, cybersecurity investigators, and those involved in protecting intellectual property rights. The GAC also emphasized the need for the ICANN Board to drive the Unified Access Model discussions. The GAC expressed its support for CCWG-Accountability Work Stream 2 recommendations: a commitment to improving diversity, a framework for interpreting human rights, and guidelines for standards of conduct in good faith for exercising the removal of individual ICANN Board directors.

RSSAC

The RSSAC elected Fred Baker of Internet Systems Consortium as its new co-chair, joining Brad Verd of Verisign, replacing Tripti Sinha of the University of Maryland.

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

Country code top-level domain

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

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.

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).

General Data Protection Regulation

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

Root Server System Advisory Committee. Advises the ICANN community and Board on matters relating to the operation, administration, security, and integrity of the Internet's Root Server System (ICANN Bylaws).