International Governmental Organization-International Non-Governmental Organization Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms PDP Working Group

International Governmental Organization-International Non-Governmental Organization Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms PDP Working Group
Status:	Active
Issue Areas:	Domain Name Registrant Data
Date Established:
Charter:	[ WG Charter]
Workspace:	[ Community Wiki]

In June 2014, the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council began the Policy Development Process (PDP) to assess how the GNSO Council protects names and acronyms for International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs). This PDP looks specifically at second-level DNS; in the scheme of the example domain name example.com, the word example would be the second-level DNS.

The issue first came about when ICANN staff put together a spreadsheet of domain name registrations of acronyms matching IGO and INGO acronyms and realized that there existed a “threat of monetization” and a number of the domain name registrations that were not the actual organizations. The IGOs and INGOs’ acronyms considered included the African Union (AU), European Union (EU), Andean Community (CAN), International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC), Asian Productivity Organization (APO), and United Nations organizations, among others. The staff reviewed 192 names and acronyms total.

The existing rights protection mechanisms at this time came from ICANN’s New gTLd Program launched in January 2012. These mechanisms included objection procedures to new gTLD applications and the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) for second level registrations in approved new gTLDs, which were modeled after the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Temporary top- and second-level DNS protections also existed for certain organizations like the Red Cross and International Olympic Committee; they were meant to stay in place until the GNSO Council could form permanent solutions based on policy recommendations from the GNSO and advice from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC).

Policy Development Process

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).

Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy

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).