Topics of interest raised at the Public Forum:
• Sexual harassment issues were raised starting with a speaker who said she had been to only two ICANN meetings, and both times had been sexually harassed.
• The new gTLDs lobbyists tried again (unsuccessfully) to get a commitment from the ICANN Board that would allow them to hijack the ICANN auction proceeds for new gTLDs' marketing purposes. (The issue of use of auction proceeds will be the subject of a lengthy process--an upcoming post on Domain Mondo will have more details.)
• A domain name registrant pressed the ICANN Board about its past decisions and statements--e.g., "adding a 1000 new gTLDs per year for a 1000 years to the internet root"--and ICANN Board members replied, somewhat sheepishly, that the entire new gTLDs program is under scrutiny and review based upon experience with the first round.
The next meeting of ICANN, ICANN56, will be in Helsinki, Finland, 27-30 June--it will be a "working meeting"--no public forum, no welcome session.
ICANN Global Domains Division President Akram Atallah enjoying Wednesday night's Gala:
Thank you to our host, ANRT, for a fabulous evening in Marrakech! #ICANN55 pic.twitter.com/eM9whwi9lH— Akram Atallah (@AkramAtallah) March 9, 2016
For a complete review of ICANN55, Domain Mondo recommends reading the Centr Report, which covers the ccNSO, GNSO and GAC sessions by topic and theme, with a special focus on the CCWG-Accountability:
See also on Domain Mondo: ICANN Board Transmits IANA Transition Plan, What Happens Next?
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