[ALAC] Fwd: NGPC Progress on Addressing GAC Beijing Advice on New gTLDs

[Carlton Samuels]

Grist for our Q&A mill....

-Carlton

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Carlton A Samuels
Mobile: 876-818-1799
*Strategy, Planning, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround*
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 [image: ICANN] <http://www.icann.org/> News Alert

http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-2-03jul13-en.htm
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NGPC Progress on Addressing GAC Beijing Advice on New gTLDs

3 July 2013

On 2 July 2013, the the ICANN Board New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) had
its seventh meeting to discuss the GAC Beijing advice on New gTLDs. The
Committee took the following actions:

   1.

   *Initial Protections for IGO Protections*

   In the Beijing Communiqué, the GAC reiterated previous advice that
   "appropriate preventative initial protection for the IGO names and acronyms
   on the provided list be in place before any new gTLDs would launch." In
   response to a number of issues raised by the Board, the GAC noted in the
   Beijing Communiqué that it is "mindful of outstanding implementation
   issues" and that it is committed to "actively working with IGOs, the Board,
   and ICANN Staff to find a workable and timely way forward. In a 6 June 2013
   response letter to the GAC on the IGO GAC Advice, the ICANN Board Chairman
   proposed that a small number of NGPC members and ICANN staff begin a
   dialogue with the GAC on these issues

   At its 2 July 2013 meeting, the NGPC passed a resolution confirming that
   the New gTLD Registry Agreement will require operators to provide
   appropriate preventative initial protection for the IGO identifiers. These
   protections will remain in place while the GAC, NGPC, ICANN Staff and
   community continue to actively work through outstanding implementation
   issues. More specifically, registry operators will implement temporary
   protections for the IGO names and acronyms on the "IGO List dated
   22/03/2013" until the first meeting of the NGPC following the ICANN 47
   Meeting in Durban. The Resolution provides temporary protections for IGOs
   while respecting the ongoing work on implementation issues. The IGO List is
   attached to the Resolution as Annex 1.

   If the NGPC and GAC do not reach an agreement on outstanding
   implementation issues for protecting IGO names and acronyms by the first
   meeting of the NGPC following the ICANN 47 meeting in Durban, and subject
   to any matters that arise during the discussions, registry operators will
   be required to protect only the IGO names (and not the acronyms) identified
   on the GAC's IGO List.
    2.

   *Category 1 Advice*

   In the Beijing Communiqué, the GAC proposed Category 1 safeguard advice,
   which includes recommended restrictions and consumer protections for
   sensitive strings and regulated markets. The Category 1 Safeguard Advice is
   divided into three main sections. The first section provides five (5) items
   of advice that apply to "strings that are linked to regulated or
   professional sectors." The Beijing Communiqué identified a list of strings
   to which this advice applies. The second section provides three (3)
   additional pieces of advice that should apply to a limited subset of the
   strings noted in the GAC's list that are "associated with market sectors
   which have clear and/or or regulated entry requirements (such as:
   financial, gambling, professional services, environmental, health and
   fitness, corporate identifiers, and charity) in multiple jurisdictions…."
   The third section includes an additional requirement for applicants for the
   following strings: .fail, .gripe, .sucks and .wtf.

   On 23 April 2013, ICANN initiated a public comment forum to solicit
   input on how the NGPC should address GAC advice regarding safeguards
   applicable to broad categories of new gTLD strings
   http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/gac-safeguard-advice-23apr13-en.htm.
   The public comment forum closed on 4 June 2013. While many commenters
   voiced support for the Category 1 safeguard advice, many others submitting
   opposing comments. One overarching theme from the public comments was the
   need for additional clarity on the scope and intent of the Category 1
   Safeguard Advice.

   After considering the community comments, the NGPC decided to begin a
   dialogue with the GAC during the ICANN Meeting in Durban to clarify the
   scope of the requirements provided in the Category 1 Safeguard Advice. The
   dialogue with the GAC on Category 1 will also include discussion of GAC's
   Category 2.1 Safeguard Advice regarding "Restricted Access" since that
   advice applies to the strings listed under Category 1. Pending the dialogue
   with the GAC, staff will defer moving forward with the contracting process
   for applicants who have applied for TLD strings listed in the GAC's
   Category 1 Safeguard Advice.
    3.

   *New gTLD Registry Agreement*

   Finally, the NGPC considered the revised New gTLD Registry Agreement
   that will be entered into between ICANN and successful new gTLD applicants.
   The revised agreement is the result of several months of negotiations,
   formal community feedback (most recently during public comment forums
   initiated on 5 February 2013 on 29 April 2013), and meetings with various
   stakeholders and communities. The revisions include feedback from the ICANN
   community at the ICANN 46 Meeting on 7-11 April 2013 in Beijing as well as
   GAC advice issued in its Beijing Communiqué.

   After considering the comments received from the community, the NGPC
   determined that the revised New gTLD Registry Agreement included
   significant improvements in response to the concerns raised by the
   community. The Committee also noted that in response to the GAC's Beijing
   Communiqué, revisions were made to Specification 11 to implement the
   non-Category 1 safeguard advice (i.e., safeguards applicable to all strings
   and Category 2 safeguards). The revisions to Specification 11 incorporate
   standardized language to address the safeguard advice. Applicant-specific
   PICs will be included on a case-by-case basis to the extent not superseded
   by or inconsistent with the standard PICs included to address the GAC's
   Beijing Communiqué.

   The NGPC approved the form of the New gTLD Registry Agreement and
   authorized ICANN staff to take all necessary steps to implement it and to
   move forward with implementation of the New gTLD Program. The Agreement is
   attached to the Resolution as Annex 1; the complete Summary of Changes to
   the New gTLD Registry Agreement is attached to the Resolution as Annex 2; a
   redline of the current agreement as compared to the previous version dated
   29 April 2013 is attached to the Resolution as Annex 3; and the Summary and
   Analysis of Public Comments is available at
   http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/report-comments-base-agreement-01jul13-en.pdf[PDF,
338 KB].

   All of the resolutions adopted at the 2 July 2013 NGPC meeting are
   posted at
   http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/resolutions-new-gtld-02jul13-en.htm.
   A table summarizing NGPC Consideration of the GAC's Beijing Advice appears
   below:


   http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-2-03jul13-en.htm#summary