[ALAC-Announce] NGPC Adopts Resolution Accepting Nine Items of GAC Beijing Advice on New gTLDs

[At-Large Staff]

https://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-2-06jun13-en.htm
NGPC Adopts Resolution Accepting Nine Items of GAC Beijing Advice on New
gTLDs
6 June 2013
The ICANN Board New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) met on 4 June 2013 and
adopted a resolution accepting nine items of the GAC's Beijing advice with
respect to New gTLD applications. The Resolution addresses most though not
all of the GAC's non-Safeguard Advice and does not address any of the
Safeguard Advice in Annex 1 of the GAC Beijing Communiqué. As such, this
Resolution represents only the first of what will be a series of NGPC
decisions addressing the GAC's Beijing advice.

The NGPC took action to adopt the Scorecard attached to the Resolution as
Annex 1. The Scorecard does the following: 1) it lists the nine items of
non-Safeguard Advice addressed by the NGPC to date; 2) it indicates that the
NGPC accepts each of those items of advice; and 3) it describes how ICANN
will implement the advice. You can find the Resolution and Annex 1 Scorecard
here 
<https://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/resolutions-new-gtld-04jun1
3-en.htm>  as well as the letter on the NGPC's action from Steve Crocker,
Chair, ICANN Board of Directors to Heather Dryden, Chair, Governmental
Advisory Committee here
<https://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/crocker-to-dryden-06jun13-en.p
df>  [PDF, 2.68 MB].

The NGPC also addressed the following additional matters from the GAC
Beijing Communiqué:

1.    Written Briefing on the ability of an applicant to change its
applied-for string

In Section IV.1.d of the GAC Beijing Communiqué, the GAC requested a
"written briefing about the ability of an applicant to change the string
applied for in order to address concerns raised by a GAC Member and to
identify a mutually acceptable solution." In response to the GAC's request,
a written briefing on this matter is attached to the letter to Heather
Dryden as Appendix 2.
2.    Protections for Intergovernmental Organizations

In Section IV.1.g of the GAC Beijing Communiqué, the GAC reiterated its
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." The GAC also noted that it was "mindful of outstanding
implementation issues and commits to actively working with IGOs, the Board,
and ICANN Staff to find a workable and timely way forward." The NGPC
appreciates the GAC's willingness to collaborate to address the outstanding
implementation issues. So that we may move forward, the NGPC formally
requests that the GAC and a small number of NGPC members and ICANN staff
begin a dialogue on the issues raised by the GAC. The NGPC's formal request
was sent under separate cover and may be seen here
<https://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/crocker-to-dryden-2-06jun13-en
.pdf>  [PDF, 285 KB].

3.    Public Interest Commitments Specifications

In Section IV.5 of the GAC Beijing Communiqué, the GAC requested, "more
information on the Public Interest Commitments Specifications on the basis
of the questions listed in annex II." The NGPC's responses to these
questions are attached to the letter to Heather Dryden as Appendix 3.
Future Work of the NGPC
As noted above, the 4 June 2013 Resolution only addresses a portion of the
GAC's Beijing Advice. The NGPC has scheduled meetings on 11, 18 and 25 June
to address the remaining items of advice, most notably the Safeguards Advice
in Annex 1 of the GAC Beijing Communiqué.

The New gTLD evaluation and objection processes remain on track while the
NGPC continues its deliberations. The NGPC is prioritizing its work in order
to allow the greatest number of applications to move forward as soon as
possible. We will continue to provide updates on the NGPC's progress in
responding to the GAC Beijing Advice.

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Heidi Ullrich, Silvia Vivanco, Matt Ashtiani, Gisella Gruber, Nathalie
Peregrine and Julia Charvolen
ICANN Policy Staff in support of ALAC
E-mail: staff at atlarge.icann.org


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