Advisory Committee

An Advisory Committee (AC) of ICANN is a formal advisory body, composed of representatives from the internet community with expertise in a particular issue, or policy area. These Committees were established based on provisions set forth by Article XI of the ICANN Bylaws. Advisory Committees are not authorized to take action on behalf of ICANN. Their primary responsibility is to report findings and recommendations to the ICANN Board. The role of the Advisory Committees and the scope of their advice is described in Article 12 of the ICANN Bylaws.

Process

Advice is processed through the Action Request Register (ARR), a centralized system for tracking and managing recommendations given to the board. There are five phases, from an acknowledgment of the advice to closure.

1. Receive & Acknowledge

   After advice is submitted to the ICANN Board, ICANN Organization logs it in the ARR and acknowledges receipt to the Advisory Committee.

2. Understand

   ICANN Org then reviews the advice and drafts a short summary of the perceived actionable item for the ICANN Board and/or org. This draft statement is sent to the Advisory Committee to confirm that it agrees with the understanding or provide feedback.

3. Evaluate & Consider

   Once the AC has agreed with the statement, ICANN org assesses what action is required, evaluates its feasibility, and develops preliminary implementation recommendations for Board consideration. Then the AC needs to confirm whether it agrees with the implementation recommendations.

4. Implement

   ICANN org develops an implementation plan and shares it with the Advisory Committee and Board. ICANN org then executes the plan and reports on the progress

5. Close

   Regardless of the outcome of ICANN org’s evaluation and implementation, ICANN org communicates the end result to the AC for feedback on the resolution of the advice. If the AC does not agree with the end result or a resolution is not possible, ICANN org informs the Board of the potential impasse.

Specific Advisory Committees

ICANN has the following Advisory Committees:

• Governmental Advisory Committee - Provides advice to ICANN regarding government issues, policies, laws, regulations, and international agreements.
• Security and Stability Advisory Committee - Provides advice to ICANN on internet security, particularly regarding the internet naming address and allocation system.
• Root Server System Advisory Committee - Its main responsibility is to examine the security aspects of the root name serves of the Domain Name System (DNS) and advise ICANN regarding the issues affecting it, such as its operational requirements.
• At-Large Advisory Committee - Provides advice regarding the activities of ICANN that have a direct impact on the interests of individual Internet users.

Each Advisory Committee has its own procedural rules, quorum, chairman, and members. The chairman and members of the specific committees do not receive any compensation, however, the ICANN Board will reimburse the necessary expenses spent by the committee members while performing their obligations in connection with ICANN activities. Members serve in a committee until a successor is appointed, he or she resigns from duty or is no longer qualified to serve as a member.