<div dir="ltr"><h3>BRIEFING NOTE - Overall summary of the Paris meeting</h3>
<div class="content">
<p><strong><a href="http://par.icann.org/briefing-note">http://par.icann.org/briefing-note</a><br>
What was it?</strong></p>
<p>ICANN's 32nd international public meeting was one of three held
annually to conduct policy development and outreach. It was hosted by
ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and
Agifem, a non-profit organization made up of several French Internet
companies and organizations.</p>
<p>The meeting was opened by the Eric Besson, France's Minister of
State for forward planning, assessment of public policies, and
development of the digital economy.</p>
<p>1,672 people participated from 166 different countries, making this
ICANN's biggest ever meeting. The participants engaged in a wide range
of discussions about the Internet's domain name system and related
issues. </p>
<p>Further information about the meeting, including presentations and transcripts, is available at <a href="http://par.icann.org/" title="http://par.icann.org/">http://par.icann.org/</a>.</p>
<p>ICANN's next international public meeting will take place in Cairo, Egypt, beginning on 3rd November, 2008.<br>
<br><br>
<strong>What happened and what are the next steps? </strong></p>
<p>Many meetings, workshops, public forums and informal discussions
were held over six days by the different stakeholders of the ICANN
model:<br>
• business interests<br>
• civil society<br>
• governments and government agencies<br>
• Internet service providers<br>
• registrants<br>
• registrars<br>
• registries<br>
• the technical community</p>
<p>Several key issues and themes evolved over the course of the meeting. They are summarized below.</p>
<hr><br>
<br><br>
<strong>New gTLDs</strong><br>
<p>ICANN's Board of Directors took a significant step forward on the
introduction of new generic top-level domains (new gTLDS - extensions
to the domain name system in addition to, for example, .COM or .INFO).
The Board approved the policy recommendations on new gTLDs developed by
the GNSO, ICANN's policy development arm for the generic name space.
The Board directed ICANN staff to further develop and complete a
detailed implementation plan. </p>
<p>New generic top-level domains were a featured topic of conversation
during the meeting. The week began with a dedicated two-and-a-half-hour
interactive session where experts from different industries and sectors
around the world shared a diversity of views about the potential
changes to the Internet as the New gTLD Program is launched. The
workshop was presented with MARQUES, the Association of European
trademark owners, which represents trademark owners' interests before
EU and other international bodies.</p>
<p>ICANN staff updated the community on how new gTLDs may be
implemented, including a timeline and recent steps taken to address
potential disputes. Similar updates were presented to the various
stakeholders including the GNSO Council. </p>
<p>New gTLDs were also discussed at the Public Forum, later in the
week. During the meeting, a number of suggestions for new gTLDs also
emerged. The discussions on new gTLDs were the subject of worldwide and
widespread press coverage including by BBC, CNN, NBC, Les Echos,
Business Week, Le Monde, Liberation, The Times of London, the Financial
Times, and other media outlets all over the world. </p>
<p>More information is available on ICANN's new gTLDs page (<a href="http://www.icann.org/topics/new-gtld-program.htm">http://www.icann.org/topics/new-gtld-program.htm</a>). This web page includes a factsheet on the topic written in plain language and accessible to a general audience.<br>
<br><br>
<strong>Next steps:</strong><br>
The Board approved the policy recommendations on new gTLDs, drawn up by
the GNSO, and directed ICANN staff to further develop and complete a
detailed implementation plan. </p>
<p>Before the new gTLD introduction process is launched, the Board will
be given a final version of the implementation proposals of the
proposed process after a community review.</p>
<p><strong>More information:</strong><br>
More information can be found online at: <a href="http://www.icann.org/topics/new-gtld-program.htm">http://www.icann.org/topics/new-gtld-program.htm</a></p>
<hr><br>
<p><strong>IDNs and IDN Fast Track</strong><br></p>
<p>Much of the discussion about Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)
during the Paris meeting centered on the work of the IDNC Working Group
(IDNC WG). The IDNC WG was chartered by the Board at its November 2007
meeting. Its participants were appointed by the following supporting
organizations and advisory committees of ICANN: the Country Code Names
Supporting Organization (ccNSO), GNSO, Government Advisory Committee
(GAC), At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and Security and Stability
Advisory Committee (SSAC). </p>
<p>The group has been working on the issue of an accelerated
introduction of IDNs (the "fast track") where specific,
non-controversial country-code top-level domains in non-Latin scripts
could be approved and added to the Internet's root without having to
wait for the full approval process to be finalized. </p>
<p>The IDNC WG released its draft final report on the feasibility of
this approach for public comment two weeks prior to the Paris meeting.
The report provided a number of high-level recommendations and received
broad approval from the ccNSO and the GAC. </p>
<p>On the broader topic of IDNs, the Director of the IDN Program, Tina
Dam, gave updates to the Supporting Organizations and Advisory
Committees, describing progress on technical and other IDN
implementation issues. IDNs were discussed at the Public Forum, and a
progress update was also given on the final day of the meeting. </p>
<p>Of particular interest was how finalization of the IDNA protocol
revision would impact top-level IDN domains, in particular when and how
they will be introduced.<br>
<br><br>
<strong>Next steps:</strong><br>
The Board asked the IDNC WG final report to be posted for public
comment and asked staff to produce a detailed report on implementation
issues, following consultation with the community, in time for the next
meeting in Cairo in November 2008.</p>
<p><strong>More information:</strong><br>
More information can be found online at: <a href="http://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/idnc-charter.htm">http://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/idnc-charter.htm</a> and at <a href="http://icann.org/topics/idn">http://icann.org/topics/idn</a></p>
<hr><br>
<p><strong>Improving Institutional Confidence</strong><br></p>
<p>The Paris meeting saw the release of three documents from the
President's Strategy Committee (PSC) outlining a new "Improving
Institutional Confidence" public consultation.</p>
<p>This consultation's aim is for the community to discuss possible
changes to ICANN in the lead up to the completion of the JPA in
September 2009. This work has been led by the PSC whose role is to
provide advice to the Board.</p>
<p>The three documents – Improving Institutional Confidence in ICANN,
Transition Action Plan and Frequently Asked Questions – were used as
the basis for a two-hour discussion session. During a public meeting on
the issue, the PSC explained how the consultation would work and how
people could find out more information at each stage. The issue was
also given a dedicated timeslot in the Public Forum. </p>
<p>The documents are currently out for public comment (closing on 31 July).<br>
<br><br>
<strong>Next Steps: </strong><br>
The consultation process outlined in the Transition Action Plan will be
followed. The entire community is encouraged to read the documents and
send their comments in before 31 July. </p>
<p>The documents will then be revised and put out for additional
comment in September 2008 in preparation for further discussions at the
Cairo meeting in November. A final report by the PSC will be provided
to the Board in December.</p>
<p><strong>More information:</strong><br>
More information is available online at: <a href="http://icann.org/jpa/iic">http://icann.org/jpa/iic</a></p>
<hr><br>
<p><strong>Independent Reviews</strong><br></p>
<p>The independent review process requires each of ICANN's Supporting
Organizations and Advisory Committees to undergo review every few years
to make sure that the organization as a whole continues to serves the
needs of the global Internet community. </p>
<p>There are several independent reviews currently underway or soon to
be launched. The Board of Directors is also undergoing an independent
review in 2008. The Paris meeting saw a number of updates on the
current reviews.</p>
<p><strong>GNSO</strong><br>
The GNSO's review has been completed and it is now in the
implementation stage. The Board approved all but one of the
recommendations developed by a special Board working group to improve
the effectiveness of the GNSO's policy activities, structure,
operations and communications. Recommendations to be implemented
include:<br>
• use of a working group model for future policy development<br>
• a revised policy development process<br>
• enhancements to the different constituencies that make up the GNSO<br>
• improved communications. </p>
<p>The Board deferred its final decision on one recommendation -
restructuring the GNSO Council – and decided to give the GNSO one last
chance to submit a consensus recommendation on how to structure the
Council before it makes its final decision in the next few weeks. The
Board requested that the GNSO convene a small working group to submit a
consensus recommendation on Council restructuring no later than 25
July. The group is to include one member from each constituency, one of
the current Nominating Committee appointees, and one member from each
liaison-appointing advisory committee (if that advisory committee so
desires). </p>
<p>In a related development, the GNSO Council postponed a vote on a
top-level GNSO Improvements Implementation Plan and called for a 21-day
public comment forum on the document. That open public comment forum
closes on 18 July 2008.</p>
<p><strong>ALAC</strong><br>
Two public sessions and two informal sessions were held to discuss a
report from the ALAC's independent reviewers. The Board's ALAC review
working group held its first sessions. The draft report is currently
out for public comment.</p>
<p><strong>Board of Directors</strong><br>
The Boston Consulting Group was selected as the consultant to perform the independent review of the Board of Directors.</p>
<p><strong>Nominating Committee</strong><br>
A working group created by the Board Governance Committee is working on
recommendations following the independent evaluators' report on the
Nominating Committee.</p>
<p><strong>Others</strong><br>
The Board established three working groups to review future independent
review reports. They will cover: the Board, the DNS Root Server System
Advisory Committee (RSSAC), and the Security and Stability Advisory
Committee (SSAC).<br>
<br><br>
<strong>Next steps:</strong><br>
The reviews will continue to progress through each step in the review
process. Updates will be provided at the Cairo meeting in November. </p>
<p><strong>More information:</strong><br>
More information including links to each of the reviews and public comments pages can be found online at: <a href="http://www.icann.org/reviews/">http://www.icann.org/reviews/</a></p>
<hr><br>
<p><strong>Registrar Accreditation Agreement</strong><br></p>
<p>More progress was made on improvements to protections for
registrants provided through the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA
– the contract ICANN holds with companies that register domain names on
behalf of registrants).</p>
<p>15 revised changes and amendments were published in a report
currently out for public comment (the comment period closes 4 August
2008). The amendments were outlined in meetings with individual
Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees, as well as a
dedicated one-and-a-half-hour public workshop. RAA amendments also had
a specific timeslot for discussion during the Public Forum, and were
further outlined at the final day's report session.</p>
<p>There are four categories of amendment to the RAA:</p>
<p>• Enforcement tools, including graduated sanctions, liability and audit provisions<br>
• Protections for registrants, including possible improvements to data
escrow and the ability to make resellers comply with RAA obligations<br>
• A more stable registrar marketplace, including training for registrar operators<br>
• Modernizing the agreement, bringing it up to date with changes in the use and reuse of domain names<br>
<br><br>
<strong>Next steps:</strong><br>
The amendments will be revised following input during the public
comment period and then shared with the Board, who will determine the
next steps. </p>
<p><strong>More information:</strong><br>
More information can be found online at: <a href="http://www.icann.org/topics/raa/">http://www.icann.org/topics/raa/</a></p>
<hr><br>
<p><strong>Meetings Review</strong><br></p>
<p>A paper covering possible changes to ICANN meetings themselves was
put to the community in a number of different sessions, including
several Supporting Organization and Advisory Committee meetings, the
opening day public forum, mid-week Public Forum, and the closing-day
reports session.<br>
There were two main recommendations in the paper: </p>
<p>• that ICANN move from three to two meetings a year; and<br>
• that one of those meetings be held in a "hub" city.</p>
<p>There was a broad range of views and discussion on both points, as
well as discussion of the change to the Paris schedule which saw the
meeting end a day earlier on Thursday, rather than on Friday.<br>
<br><br>
<strong>Next steps:</strong><br>
The meetings paper is out for public comment until 10 July and will be revised following feedback from the community.</p>
<p><strong>More information:</strong><br>
More information can be found online at:<br>
<a href="http://www.icann.org/public_comment/#meeting-consultation-2008">http://www.icann.org/public_comment/#meeting-consultation-2008</a></p>
<hr><br>
<p><strong>IPv6</strong><br></p>
<p>A number of information sessions on the new Internet Protocol were
held in order to the make community more aware of support issues and to
outline ways forward.</p>
<p>The ALAC, ccNSO, Registry and Registrar constituencies were also
addressed by experts on this topic during their own meetings. Business
leaders were given an overview as part of the Business Access Agenda.
IPv6 was also discussed during the Public Forum.</p>
<p>The GAC heard from several individuals and organizations, including
the OECD and the Names Resource Organization, about current trends and
the challenges to IPv6 deployment worldwide.<br>
More information:</p>
<p>A factsheet written in plain and clear language has been produced:
"IPv6 – The Internet's vital expansion - October 2007". It explains the
protocol upgrade to a non-technical audience and is available here: <a href="http://www.icann.org/announcements/factsheet-ipv6-26oct07.pdf">http://www.icann.org/announcements/factsheet-ipv6-26oct07.pdf </a></p>
<hr><br>
<p><strong>Business Access Agenda</strong><br></p>
<p>For the first time, a specific agenda and series of targeted
meetings and discussions were held for business leaders in an effort to
engage business more effectively within ICANN's processes.<br>
The agenda included briefings on the most significant topics facing
ICANN at the moment, including new gTLDs, IDNs and IPv6, and a meeting
with the Board of Directors. It was organized in cooperation with the
E-Business, IT and Telecoms Commission of the International Chamber of
Commerce. </p>
<hr><br>
<p><strong>Other issues</strong><br></p>
<p>• The Board approved a recommendation by the GNSO to tackle "domain tasting".<br>
• The FY09 ICANN operating plan and budget of $57.1m were adopted by the Board.<br>
• Approval was given to a plan by PIR (the Public Interest Registry) to add the security protocol DNSSEC to the .org registry.<br>
• An "At Large Summit" was approved to enable representatives of
Internet user groups (At-Large Structures) to meet together within the
next year, most likely at the Mexico City meeting in March 2009.<br>
• The SSAC published a number of new reports and survey results relating to security and stability of the Internet. (<a href="http://www.icann.org/committees/security/">http://www.icann.org/committees/security/</a>)<br>
• A number of policy development processes were started or advanced at
the GNSO including Fast Flux and inter-registrar transfers.<br>
• The GAC reiterated its strong support for a number of studies into
the use and abuse of Whois data, and asked for clarification from the
Board on whether studies would depend on the outcome of the GNSO
Council's decision. The GNSO Council created a working group to review
recommendations for Whois studies.</p>
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