ICANN 73

Dates:	Prep Week: February 22-24, 2022 Community Forum: March 7-10, 2022
Location:	San Juan, Puerto Rico (UTC -4)
Venue:	Virtual
Website:	ICANN 73 (registration required)

ICANN 73 is the seventh ICANN Meeting to be held online only due to the COVID pandemic. The ICANN Board made the decision to convert the San Juan meeting to virtual in November 2021 At the same meeting, the board confirmed their intention to hold a hybrid in-person and online meeting for ICANN 74 in The Hague. The board cited numerous factors both, directly and indirectly, related to the pandemic. The meeting schedule will use the time zone of the intended host (UTC -4).

Board Actions

• The board agreed to defer the third Stability, Security, and Resiliency Review, pending implementation of the recommendations from SSR 2 and resolution of the proposed recommendations from the Third Accountability and Transparency Review.
• The board adopted the policy recommendations of the EPDP Temp Spec Phase 2A Final Report.
• The board took further action in the ongoing Independent Review Process regarding the .web applications of Afilias and other applicants, initiating an evaluation of possible disqualifying factors in those applications.

Topics

1. SUBPRO
   • IDNs will be prioritized (board)
   • Closed generics
   • Name collision
     • Impact of altroots
     • NCAP study with advice for next round of gTLD applicants will be released this summer
2. DNS Abuse
   • mal/compromise domains
   • Gac:
   • Ccnso:
   • org/board:
     • dnsticr originally for covid will now be used for Ukraine crisis: https://www.icann.org/en/announcements/details/icann-expands-dnsticr-to-monitor-terms-related-to-russia-ukraine-war-09-03-2022-en
     • spreadsheet about abuse trending down and they're investigating why
   • EC DNS abuse study
3. SSAD
   • discussion over whether it should go forward and if so, which parts: a ticketing format & let’s see with the pilot) and at what cost/does cost matter (board/GNSO council)
   • SSAC public meeting: discussion of SAC118: no, SSAD should not be implemented
4. COVID Fatigue affecting morale:
   • [AC]]s worry the board doesn’t value their advice and contributions, discussed at length in ssac, gac and alac meetings with board
   • Board is overwhelmed with the number of recommendations and want the gnso to give them actionable recommendations; frustrated by European Data Protection Board’s slow to no advice on what to do about data accuracy research; frustrated with govt reps legislating around ICANN policies that they don’t like
   • Gnso council considering its options to get its recommendations considered and implemented, want the board to apply a target timeline
   • icann is hiring, which should shorten response times from ICANN Org, the pandemic has slowed things down
   • Icann staff feel under attack because people are saying they are doing a bad job but we need to be able to critique/point out problems because there are issues in the system and we need to be able to talk about them. It’s probably not the staff, but there is an issue with the system
   • Biyi: we need to communicate informally to speed things up
   • Patricio: it’s true that ICANN legal is taking too long, and they need to answer because we need to communicate with them, escalate it within the org to help us, go to the top of icann legal or even goran
5. Gpi:
   • GPI offers Board a tool and methodology to formalize and systemize their reasoning when they determine whether an action is in the gpi
   • Anne Aikman-Scalese: the Board has a fiduciary duty to act in the Global Public Interest within the scope of its Mission. Otherwise there would be no reason for the ByLaws to contain provisions that allow it to override GAC Advice by a 60% vote or to override GNSO Policy advice by a 2/3 majority vote. The GPI goes beyond MSM policy making.
   • Gnso worried it’s an opportunity to relitigate
   • pilot to be applied to SSAD and SubPro
6. Prioritization/Timeframe/way to speed things up:
   • ccNSO: Give status updates and answer more quickly
   • ICANN Board: we oversee the org, so SO/AC members should email the board directly to expedite and resolve issues and get status updates for instance from ICANN Legal
7. UA:
   • CcNSO is focused on IDNs and UA
   • UASG moving it forward: who will help us and how?

Dates

• Application period for ICANN's Pandemic Internet Access Reimbursement Program started on January 24, 2022.
• Prep Week schedule released: February 7, 2022
• Community Forum schedule released: February 14, 2022
• ICANN Prep Week: February 22-24, 2022
• ICANN 73: March 7-10, 2022