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
   • ICANN Organization will deliver ODA by October 31, 2022.
   • ICANN Org expects Module 6 (terms and conditions) of the Applicant Guidebook to require the highest level of effort to update, followed by the addition of new material and Modules 4 (string contention procedures) and 5 (transition to delegation).
   • IDNs will be prioritized, and this increase in non-traditional and IDN gTLDs will accelerate Universal Acceptance adoption.
   • Closed generics
   • The Brand Registry Group conveyed strong interest in proceeding toward subsequent rounds of new gTLDs
   • Name Collision
     • Impact of AltRoots
     • NCAP Study 2 will provide advice for the next round of gTLD applicants (released Summer 2022)
   • In the CPH's meeting with the board, Samantha Demetriou asked the board, "How do we avoid ODPs in the future?"
2. DNS Abuse
   • Malicious Domains vs Compromised Domains
   • Gac concerns:
   • CcNSO perspective:
   • org/board:
     • DNSTICR originally for covid will now be used for the Ukraine crisis
     • DNS abuse trending down and ICANN Org investigating why
   • EC DNS abuse study, especially its broad definition of DNS abuse
     • In the public forum, Steve del Bianco asked about type 1 (malicious domains registered in batch used for c&c botnet attacks and spam) and what ICANN can do about it
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:
   • ACs 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 wants the GNSO to focus on 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 when they dislike ICANN actions
   • GNSO Council is considering its options to get its recommendations reviewed and implemented and want the board to develop and apply a target timeline
   • ICANN Org is hiring 37 staffers, which should shorten response times from ICANN Org; the pandemic has slowed things down
   • ICANN Staffers may feel under attack because some in the community are criticizing ICANN Org, but the community needs to be able to point out problems when there are issues in the system and to be able to talk about them.
   • ccNSO: ICANN Community needs to communicate informally with ICANN Board and each other to speed things up
5. GPI:
   • Avri Doria: Is it useful? I don’t know. But it was necessary, especially for the Board. It gives a language, tools, a methodology that is reproducible. We’ve got to see if it’s sufficient to the task. The determination has to come from the bottom up but a whole new set of procedures did not need to be generated. The GPI is like what the PDP does, but for the board. It is not mandatory in general, but at the moment it is necessary for the SSAD and SUBPRO.
   • 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 policymaking.
   • Gnso worried it’s an opportunity to relitigate
   • pilot to be applied to SSAD and SUBPRO
6. Prioritization Framework/Timeframe/How to clear the Board docket faster:
   • In the ICANN Board and CSG, the board indicated that Auction proceeds probably won’t be prioritized immediately
   • In SSAC's meeting with the board, SSAC Chair Rod Rasmussen asked, In light of the prioritization framework, what will ICANN Board do when SSAC recommendations align, are unique, or differ from other SO/AC advice. Maarten Botterman responded, the PF won’t resolve conflicts in advice.
   • ccNSO: ICANN Org should give status updates and answers more quickly
   • In the ccNSO's meeting with the board, Becky Burr commented, "The entire ICANN Community has said the ICANN Board needs to move more quickly. Prioritization will help clarify what should happen, but it won’t speed things up. We have to figure out how to do that. We hear you loud and clear on bottlenecks and logjams."
   • 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. Universal Acceptance:
   • In the public forum, Icann.org being in different scripts and languages at the second level and/or top level was discussed, as a CCWG issue
   • CcNSO is focused on IDNs and UA
   • UASG moving it forward: who will help us and how?
8. Internet Legislation vis-a-vis Geopolitics
   • The Discussion Forum on Geopolitical, Legislative, and Regulatory Developments will become a regular feature of ICANN meetings from now on
   • Very active Internet Governance schedule in 2022
   • There is a politicization of technical issues, such as protocols, wherein governments try to regulate people by legislating technical (Mark Datysgeld and Goran Marby)
   • Data Privacy
     • Werner Staub: Accountability and privacy feel opposed right now, and we’ve got to change that. Becky Burr: respectfully disagreed. "Bad actors have to be held accountable but access to data has to be regulated"
9. Alternative Roots
   • John Cain: If it is not using the signed version of the ICANN published root, it’s an alternate root; BlockChain does not equal AltRoot and there are many many great uses for blockchain technologies
   • Alan Greenberg: we need a hyper-root pointing to the alternative roots!
   • the NARALO and Public Forum sessions focused on the present and future of altroots
     • In the public forum, there was a discussion around whether ICANN could explore why people are turning to alternative roots (what are they missing from the DNS) and see if the ICANN community can apply those principles to the DNS

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