ICANN59 Johannesburg Meeting Minutes

Spain declared its willingness to host the next High Level Governmental Meeting (HLGM) to take place in Barcelona during ICANN63 in October 2018. The GAC expressed its sincere gratitude to Spain for this welcome declaration.

A call for nominations was made for the positions of GAC Chair (the current Chair having given notice of his intention to step down after the ICANN 60 meeting) and up to five Vice Chairs (in accordance with the annual elections provided for in the GAC Operating Principles). Nominations must be made by 13 September 2017.
ICANN GAC support staff would conduct the election process, which would be overseen by the outgoing GAC Chair. It was agreed to trial an online voting system for these elections.

The GAC agreed to adopt on an interim basis the principles and procedures for participation in the Empowered Community, and to use these as a guide until the ICANN 60 meeting. A small steering group would be formed to develop longer-term arrangements for consideration and agreement at the ICANN 60 meeting.

With regard to proposed amendments to the Fundamental Bylaw on Reconsideration Requests, the GAC participated in the Community Forum through the GAC Chair (as the GAC representative in the Empowered Community Administration) and through individual members who sought clarification of several points.

The GAC agreed that it would consider the proposed amendment and attempt to reach a consensus position as a Decisional Participant within the timeframe specified in the Bylaws (that is, by 21 July 2017); and that the draft principles and procedures proposed in the briefing document prepared by the ACIG GAC Secretariat would be used as interim principles for this instance only, pending further consideration at the next GAC face to face meeting.

The GAC was briefed by one of the Co-Chairs of the CCWG-Accountability Work Stream 2 (Thomas Rickert) on the current work of the CCWG and its sub-groups and the relevant timelines. GAC members expressed a range of views on the scope of work of the sub- group on jurisdiction and how this has been addressed at the sub-group and plenary levels.

This remains an issue of concern to some, but not all, GAC members.

The GAC was briefed by ICANN staff on the current situation. The Board’s response to the GAC’s Copenhagen Communiqué, including that it “has directed the CEO to engage with concerned governments to listen to their views and concerns and further explain the Board’s decision-making process,” was noted. At the face-to-face meeting with the Board, the ICANN CEO said that he was happy to help facilitate a “task force” (however titled), to include interested GAC members and the GAC Chair, to develop better communications with governments on this issue.

Other issues briefed on by the PSWG included: Privacy and Proxy Services Implementation Review Team; and impact of the GDPR and RDS issues (see 2.d above). It was agreed that consolidated experts input to the public comment process on WHOIS Conflicts with Privacy Law would be agreed by GAC by e-mail procedure by 7 July 2017.

The new ICANN Consumer Safeguards Director, Bryan Schilling, met briefly with the GAC and outlined his role.

The GAC Working Group on Under-Served Regions: The Working Group continues to collaborate with ICANN’s Government Engagement (GE) and other departments to organise capacity development sessions. The most recent events include:

• The second regional workshop in Fiji on 28 and 29 April 2017, targeting Pacific island countries.
• The USRWG and PSWG Capacity Development Workshop for African GAC Members, Law Enforcement and Consumer Protection Agencies on 23 and 24 June 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
• A round table dialogue on ICANN’s GAC capacity development initiatives during the WSIS forum in June 2017, in Geneva.

The Working Group is working with the GE and Development and Public Responsibility (DPRD) Teams to establish an evaluation framework to continuously evaluate GAC capacity development activities.

The GAC is looking forward to continued support from the ICANN org for the activities of the working group to support participation from underserved regions in GAC and ICANN policy processes. The working group has developed a tentative calendar of future capacity development initiatives for the next 2 years.

The working group will continue to collaborate with the ccNSO and Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) to complete the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document on delegation and redelegation of ccTLDs.

The GAC Human Rights and International Law Working Group received an update from the rapporteur of the Cross-Community Working Group - Accountability Workstream 2 sub-group on Human Rights regarding the current status and next steps for finalizing the Framework of Interpretation for ICANN's Bylaw core value to respect internationally recognized human rights as required by applicable law. The Co-Chairs of the HRILWG reported on their contact with the UN Working Group on Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights with regard to their potential applicability to ICANN.

The GAC met with the Chair and other members of the ccNSO Council. An update was provided on the ccNSO PDP on a retirement and review mechanism for ccTLDs. A Working Group on the retirement issue has been established and GAC members were most welcome.

An update was also provided on the now-concluded Cross Community Working Group on Use of Country and Territory Names as Top Level Domains. It was noted that both GAC and ccNSO have an interest in ongoing involvement with further work on geographic names; and in support for the GAC Working Group on Underserved Regions with regard to ccTLD issues.

The GAC Working Group to Examine the Protection of Geographic Names in any Future Expansion of gTLDs participated in the webinars organised by the GNSO on 25 April 2017 in relation to the use of geographic names at the top level. The Working Group met during ICANN 59 and considered the “strawperson” document prepared by the Co-Chairs of the Working Group on Subsequent Procedures for New gTLDs based on input received during the webinars. This document was used as the basis for interactions in the Cross-Community Discussion on Geographic Names at the Top- Level organized during ICANN59.

GAC members participated in the cross-community sessions on use of geographic names as top-level domains. While the opportunity was welcomed, the GAC considered that this issue requires greater engagement by all relevant stakeholder groups on a cross-community basis and that a GNSO PDP framework alone may not provide this.

The GAC noted that the current arrangements reflected in the Applicant Guidebook have a history and rationale that should be analysed and taken into account in any further policy review work. Relevant GAC advice in this regard includes:

• GAC Principles and Guidelines for the Delegation and Administration of Country Code Top Level Domains (2005), paragraphs 4.1.1, 4.1.2 and 8.3.
• GAC Principles Regarding New gTLDs (2007), sections 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 , 2.7 and 2.8.
• GAC Nairobi Communiqué (2010): Application of 2007 Principles.
• GAC Durban Communiqué (2013): Future application of 2007 Principles.
• GAC Helsinki Communiqué (2016): 3-letter codes.

The GAC Working Group on Geographic Names also met – see below.

The GAC Public Safety Working Group (PSWG) briefed the GAC on recent progress on the Domain Name System (DNS) abuse mitigation and Registration Directory Service (RDS) work streams.

Regarding DNS abuse mitigation, the GAC met the new ICANN Consumer Safeguards Director and offered its support for his role and work, including the envisioned Ad Hoc Community Group on Consumer Safeguards. Presentations on the Domain Abuse Activity Reporting Project (DAAR) and the intermediate report on abuse of the DNS prepared for the CCT Review Team provided useful data to assess measures to prevent abuse. Building on intersessional exchanges with the ICANN Board and ICANN CEO, the PSWG will participate in initiatives including the DAAR Project, the Identifier Technology Health Index and the DNS Marketplace Health Index, with the aim to define systematic public reporting by ICANN on DNS abuse and related mitigation efforts.

Regarding Registration Directory Service (RDS), the GAC was briefed on progress of the Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation IRT and the RDS Review Team.

The GAC met with the ICANN Board and discussed the following issues:

• 2-character country and territory codes at the second level: See Agenda Item 3.
• The Board’s response to GAC advice on IGO protections: See Agenda Item 6. 
• Recent dialogue between the GAC, the GAC Public Safety Working Group and the ICANN CEO on mitigating domain name abuse: GAC and PSWG members thanked the CEO for the dialogue and looked forward to further regular exchanges if possible.
• Improvements to ICANN document handling: The CEO acknowledged that there were problems with lack of consistent document labelling/tracking including in the ICANN website. ICANN was working on a new document management system as part of a major project.
• Receiving Board responses to GAC advice earlier: The Board would try to avoid conveying their responses just before an ICANN meeting.
• Changes in Board and ICANN Organisation procedures for processing GAC advice: This is in place at the Board level. The CEO said that ICANN organisation was looking at ways to support fact-based discussions in the GAC, including addressing concerns of individual countries.
• Options for GAC adding value to the annual GDD Summit: The CEO said that ICANN organisation facilitates the summits but does not set the agenda, and that some cross-community dialogue, or at least exchange of information, should be possible.
• Opportunities for the GAC to contribute to ICANN work on the interaction between the European Union General Data Protection Regulation and Registration Directory Services

The GAC met with the Chair and members of the GNSO Council. The key issues raised were:

• The reconvened PDP Working Group which was considering the recommendations on Red Cross Red Crescent protections. GAC members conveyed their interest in participating when further details are available.

• Protection of IGO identifiers: No immediate next steps were shared, other than the near-finalisation of the PDP on IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms.

• GAC involvement in PDPs: The key points from new gTLD Policies (see Agenda Item 16) were discussed with regard to the Subsequent Procedures PDP. GAC members noted a suggestion to alert agencies dealing with intellectual property issues to the work of the PDP on Rights Protection Mechanisms.

• Quick Look Mechanism (QLM): There was discussion on whether the QLM is “necessary but not sufficient” for identification of public policy issues and facilitation of GNSO-GAC dialogue.

The GAC Working Group to Examine GAC’s Participation in the NomCom reviewed the draft document “GAC Criteria for NomCom.” The working group will contribute with the revision of the text during the next months in order to present a new version during ICANN60.

The BGRI-WG and the GAC met, adopted GAC-Board post-communiqué exchanges as a standard operating procedure, and agreed on a set of activities that the BGRI-WG should start working on next.

The GAC noted that work was underway to renew the existing contract with ACIG to provide an independent secretariat service to the GAC. Further pledges were sought and encouraged as a matter of urgency. In addition, the GAC would work on mid-term solutions with a view to finding sustainable funding arrangements.

Switzerland noted that it was now possible to pay to the funding association in accordance with units of 1,000 Euro; urged members who have expressed interest to arrange payment or contact the association (via the Swiss GAC representative) with any queries; and provided the following summary of the funding situation as 28 June 2017:

[TBC]