ICANN 45

Dates:	October 14-18, 2012
Location:	Toronto
Host:	CIRA
Venue:	The Westin Harbour Castle
Website:	toronto45.icann.org

ICANN 45 was held in Toronto, Canada, between October 14th and 18th, 2012. It was hosted by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, the organization that manages Canada's .ca domain name registry as well as implements policies which support Canada's Internet community.

Topics of discussion centered around the roles of the Security, Stability, and Resiliency of the DNS Review Team (SSR RT) and Whois Policy Review Team (Whois RT), as well as reviews of ATRT implementation, and new gTLD issues including application processes, information about second rounds, and impacts on stakeholders and constituencies. Also discussed were rights protection issues, including URS updates and Trademark Clearinghouse updates, operating plans and budgets, DNS abuse and data protection, GNSO issues, and strategic planning ideas for 2013-2016.

Major Events

Fadi Chehadé's Opening Speech

The event began with an overview from ICANN's new CEO, Fadi Chehadé, where he outlined his plans, organizational changes, and the organization's strengths and weaknesses. He noted that "ICANN cannot continue operating like a start-up", that the organization needed to stop managing defensively, and that progress must be seen on long-standing problems such as Whois. He also unveiled a new ICANN online portal, MyICANN. He said in an interview that he would become personally involved in the discussion on the Registrar Accreditation Agreement and the Trademark Clearinghouse.

In an open letter to the community, Chehadé shared a 12-point plan which can be seen here of what he hopes to accomplish between ICANN 45 in Toronto and ICANN 46 in Beijing 2013. Among others issues to be addressed, Chehadé lists the following as top priorities:

1. "Operational excellence" under his new leadership as ICANN's "highest priority";
2. ICANN's delivery "on every aspect of the new gTLD program launch next year" through the creation of a new gTLD servies department and the implementation of Trademark Clearing House;
3. A community effort to resolve longstanding issues of the Whois debate;
4. A plan to "reach consensus on a solid and enforceable Registrar Accreditation Agreement that is fair and balanced."

The Trade-mark Clearinghouse (TMCH) has been developed by ICANN as a rights protection mechanism that will be used for gLTD registrations. It has been envisioned as a “one-stop-shop” for trade-mark data and as such will have several important functions, specifically: to perform verification of trade-marks, to maintain a database of this information, and to support rights protection mechanisms of new gTLDs. On June 1st, 2012, ICANN announced that they would be working with Deloitte and IBM (which in turn subcontracted IPClearingHouse) to provide the TMCH services in support of the new gTLDs.

Trademark Clearinghouse

Trademark Clearinghouse(TMCH) was developed by ICANN as a rights protection program used for new gTLD registrations. Discussions at ICANN 45 centered around implementation details; information about new each registration will be checked against TMCH for infringement, and when flagged, both registrant and affected party will be informed so that appropriate action can be taken. Decisions on criteria for checking the registrations were not determined at the meeting, though it is known that both registrars and registries must take note of the check before new TLDs can launch.

Deloitte and IBM were chosen by ICANN to implement Trademark Clearinghouse, and a presentation given by a member of Deloitte covered the following points:

1. One has to be a mark holder or an agent of a mark holder to be eligible for registration with TCMH, with appropriate proof necessary.
2. Domain names applied for must be identical to the trademark, with the exception of certain special characters that can be spelled out in text, omitted, or replaced by a hyphen.
3. Disputes will be resolved through notices to registrants and mark holders when there are discrepancies in applications. Discrepancies and disputes can come about when applicants do not agree with verifications, third parties don't agree with verifications, or third parties have additional information that will impact a valid trademark record.

Sessions

October 13

• GNSO working session, open to all
• Possible Supporting Organisations (SO) and Advisory Committee (AC) Meetings

October 14

• Newcomer sessions, open to all
• GNSO working session, open to all
• ALAC and Regional Leadership Working Session
• GAC Working Group Sessions

October 15 - Welcome Ceremony and Public Workshops

• Formal opening of the meeting
• Public Workshops
• Joint SO Meetings

October 16 - Stakeholder Day / Constituency Day

• GNSO Stakeholder Group and Constituency Meetings
• ALAC Policy Discussions
• GAC Meetings
• Joint SO/AC Meeting
• ccNSO Meetings
• Music Night

October 17 - Workshop Day

• GNSO Council Meeting
• Various Workshops
• Reviews
• ccNSO Meetings
• Gala Event

October 18 - Public Forum

• Morning Workshops
• Reports
• Public Forum
• Board Wrap-up/Toronto Review
• ICANN 45 Wrap Up Cocktail

Sponsors

Platinum: Verisign, CIRA

Gold: Afilias, .org, Neustar, Conac, CNNIC, Beanfield Metroconnect

Silver: Iron Mountain, DotAfrica, InterNet X, Community.asia, .sx, .quebec, .pw, AFNIC, HiChina, ENom, Donuts, CentralNic, Ascio, ARI Registry Services

Bronze: Uniregistry, RU-CENTER

External Links

• ICANN45 Website

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).

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).

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