News Review: ICANN63 Meeting Oct 20-25, ICANN's Tipping Point?

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-10-21 with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) ICANN63 Meeting, Barcelona, Spain, 20-25 Oct 2018,  2) Other ICANN news, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks, 4) ICYMI Internet Domain News: GDPR & Internet Freedom, 5) Most Read.

ICANN63 UPDATES

EPDP Team Meeting Thursday 25 Oct 2018 8:30 - 10:15 CEST agenda:

1. Data redaction (pdf)
2. Review updated timeline (pdf) to produce Initial Report 
3. Review Working methods going forward
4. Outstanding action items / charter questions

Public Forum 2 Thursday, Oct 25 13:30 - 16:45 CEST (starts 7:30am EDT)

EPDP Team Meeting Wednesday 24 October 2018 17.00 – 18.30 CEST agenda:
1. Small team #1 output – Review proposed responses to charter questions and preliminary recommendations (15 min)--see small team outputs #1, #2, #3 (pdf)
2. Small team #2 output – Review proposed responses to charter questions (15 min)
3. Small team #3 output – Review proposed preliminary recommendations (15 min)
4. Review updated timeline to produce Initial Report (pdf) (15 min)
5. Review working methods going forward (15 min)
6. AOB

Cross-Community Session: GDPR 9:45 - 12:00 CEST, Wed, Oct 24, 2018

Monday Oct 22: An Internet Root With One Million TLDs? Paul Foody at Public Forum I--see transcript (pdf), pp.50-54. Replay the Public Forum video further below.

ICANN CEO Goran Marby calls everyone "Brian" at the Public Forum I on Monday, attributes the "condition" to having "ICANN brain":

ICANN CEO Goran Marby at ICANN63 Public Forum I on Oct 22.

Sunday Oct 21: NCSG tells GAC it has been misled by ICANN org's UAM (Unified Access Model)--livestream 2:50:06 -- 3:15:27 video (video lacks 'voice sync' but is listenable).

Letter to ICANN from Registrar Tucows 21 Oct 2018 (pdf) strongly disputes AppDetex's claims (pdf), excerpt (highlighting added):

Also a similar letter from Registrar Blacknight (pdf): "... We believe, therefore, that the requests for data are not sincere but are designed to create a particular narrative to reinforce AppDetex and Facebook’s particular views ..." (emphasis added)

Original Post:
“Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push, in just the right place, it can be tipped.”--Malcolm Gladwell.

"... [EPDP] working group was due to make its interim recommendations by an ICANN meeting [ICANN63] in Barcelona in October, but the meeting approaches, there is no sign of consensus ... The current temporary policy was only possible because the ICANN board imposed it, in an unprecedented break from tradition. So, what will happen next? As is often the case with ICANN, the organization and its multi-stakeholder process is facing an existential crisis. Unable to solve this thorny policy issue for 20 years, ICANN’s latest group is unlikely to find consensus in the following days. ICANN has lost in the German courts and the European Data Protection Board (pdf) views with skepticism ICANN's claims that the interest of 'third parties' can justify continued collection and publication of WHOIS data ..."--Emily Taylor (EPDP RrSG member), ChathamHouse.org (emphasis added).

"... ICANN has consistently asserted that it is not a government regulator and it is readily apparent that it cannot be relied upon to fill that role. To the extent that ICANN has historically involved itself in pricing, it has been to increase pricing for the mutual benefit of itself and Verisign, at the expense of the American consumer [domain name registrants] ..."-- 18 Oct 2018 Letter (pdf) from Internet Commerce Association (ICA) to David Redl, NTIA, US Dept of Commerce re: Expiry of NTIA-Verisign Cooperative Agreement Nov 30, 2018 (pdf) (emphasis added).

Civil society groups blast ICANN Org’s push for a “Unified Access Model”--internetgovernance.org Oct 19, 2018: "... some participants in the [EPDP] group are becoming uneasy about ICANN CEO Goran Marby’s relentless promotion of a “Unified Access Model” [UAM]. They fear that the CEO’s “discussion papers” and calls for public comment are turning into a parallel policy development process that will pre-empt or circumvent the decisions made by the EPDP and other normal ICANN processes. Yesterday the Noncommercial Stakeholders Group (NCSG) published a blistering set of comments (pdf) on Marby’s UAM ..."

Editor's note: for further background read last week's News Review | Fadi, Akram & Donuts, ICANN Conflicts of Interest and "ICANN: incompetent, corrupt, unfit."

1) ICANN63 | Barcelona | 20th Annual General Meeting  20-25 Oct 2018.

• #ICANN63  |  Time in Barcelona: 

• ICANN63 Full Schedule [times shown are local Barcelona CEST (UTC+2)]

ICANN63 Highlights:
Saturday Oct 20

• GNSO - EPDP Team F2F Meeting (1 of 4)  8:30 - 18:30, Sat, Oct 20

Sunday Oct 21

• GAC: WHOIS & GDPR & Report of EPDP Progress 10:45 - 11:30, Sun, Oct 21

• GAC: WHOIS & GDPR with IPC and NCSG  11:30 - 12:15, Sun, Oct 21

Editor's note: GNSO Council meeting agenda for Sunday, October 21, at 13:55 to 14:10 contains the following item: Update on RPM PDP Complaint/RPM Co-Chairs--link is to GNSO mail list item from RPM co-chairs Phil Corwin and Kathy Kleiman--the other RPM co-chair is Brian Beckham:

"... as members of the ICANN community are not presently aware that this situation exists, and as a 15-minute session cannot be expected to lay out the facts in a completely clear and comprehensive fashion, we wonder what follow-up explanation will be provided to the community as well as interested media if follow-up questions are subsequently raised. We look forward to Sunday’s discussion so that the Council and community can start to learn as much as possible from this situation and take responsive steps ..."

• GNSO - EPDP Team F2F Meeting (2 of 4)  17:00 - 18:30, Sun, Oct 21

Monday Oct 22

• GNSO - new gTLD Auction Proceeds - Initial Report 13:30 - 15:00, Mon, Oct 22

• High-Interest Topic: EPDP Draft Report 15:15 - 16:45, Mon, Oct 22 [slides (pdf) and
  Purpose "A" Workbook (pdf)].

• Public Forum 1 17:00 - 18:30, Mon, Oct 22

Tuesday Oct 23

• Joint Meeting: ICANN Board and NCSG 9:45 - 10:45, Tue, Oct 23, 2018

• UASG Report to the ICANN Community 13:30 - 15:00, Tue, Oct 23

• GNSO - NCSG Open Meeting (1/2) 15:15 - 16:45, Tue, Oct 23

• GNSO - NCSG Open Meeting (2/2) 17:00 - 18:30, Tue, Oct 23

Wednesday Oct 24

• Cross-Community Session: GDPR 9:45 - 12:00, Wed, Oct 24

• ICANN GDD: RDS/WHOIS Update 13:30 - 15:00, Wed, Oct 24

• Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) 15:15 - 16:45, Wed, Oct 24

• GNSO - EPDP Team F2F Meeting (3 of 4) 17:00 - 18:30, Wed, Oct 24

Thursday Oct 25

• GNSO - EPDP Team F2F Meeting (4 of 4) 8:30 - 10:15, Thu, Oct 25

• Public Forum 2 13:30 - 16:45, Thu, Oct 25

• GNSO Council Wrap-Up 17:00 - 18:30, Thu, Oct 25

Editor's note: readers will note I have made no other mention of the RPM working group (RPM WG) other than the Sunday GNSO agenda item above. The RPM WG has been working on the URS (UDRP to come in a later phase), which only applies to new gTLDs and a few other gTLDs but not .COM. Registrants are fortunate that among the active members of the RPM working group are  EFF's Mitch Stoltz, as well as Harvard Law Professor Rebecca Tushnet who posted to the RPM mail list Oct 19:

"URS levels of support for public comments ... I don't think the staff categorizations have worked. If the ultimate point is to get feedback on potential fixes that have been raised, and we don't want to spend a lot more time on this, then I would say we may need to pass on the proposals as non-consensus proposals for community feedback. As Greg Shatan [IPC] did, I supported proposals for comment that I am presently unlikely to support for adoption; based on other comments, I suspect many of us did so--which means that any staff-prepared summary of objections received is also going to be unrepresentative of the full range of arguments against a particular proposal unless we spend a lot more time on it. One specific thing: the charter asks if the URS is fit for purpose. If you agree that the charge allows the answer "no," then one recommendation for a fix is "make it the UDRP," if you think the game isn't worth the candle. That proposal is thus clearly within scope."

ICANN Meeting & Media Resources:

• Remote Participation (Adobe Connect links on each scheduled session's webpage, e.g., at links above.)

• High-Level Government Meeting at ICANN63 Oct 22

• ICANN pre- and post-meeting reports | ICANN.org

• GNSO Policy Briefing ICANN63 Edition (pdf) and here.

• On Twitter: Samantha Dickinson @sgdickinson 

• ICANN Meeting Sessions on Livestream.com

• ICANNnews | YouTube.com

• GAC Advice Process (pdf) [Feb2018].

2) Other ICANN News

a. The ICANN GNSO EPDP Working Group has a busy week at ICANN63 with four face-to-face (F2F) meetings and a special high interest topic Monday session (links to all above). Links to all EPDP meetings' transcripts and recordings are on the GNSO calendar. Other EPDP links: wiki, mail list, action items, Temp Spec, EPDP Charter (pdf), GNSO's EPDP page and updates. Info on last week's Oct 16 meeting on last week's News Review. 

GDPR & EPDP related:

• Comments of the NCSG (pdf) (Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group) re: ICANN org's Unified Access Model.
• 17 Oct 2018 Letter (pdf) embed below, from NCSG (Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group), Dr. Farzaneh Badiei, and Dr. Stephanie Perrin to ICANN Board of Directors re: "ICANN org violates data protection laws and principles to advance the interests of certain parts of the community"  [Domain Name Registrants Data Protection (GDPR)]:

• ICANN Board's response 20 Oct 2018 (pdf) to the above embed letter from NCSG re: "ICANN org violates data protection laws and principles to advance the interests of certain parts of the community." 
• Governmental Advisory Committee’s (GAC) Initial Comments (pdf) on the Draft Framework for a Possible Unified Access Model (UAM) for Continued Access to Full WHOIS Data.
• 16 Oct 2018 Letter from ICANN Compliance (pdf) to "Independent Compliance Working Party" re: GDPR etc.
• ICANN Registry Request Service | Proposal 2018067 | .cloud | Complying with Local Law (Domain Name Registration Validation) 18 Oct 2018 rsep-2018067-cloud-request-18oct18-en.pdf (pdf).
• First Semiannual Report To Congress (pdf) on NTIA’s ICANN Activities (FY2018) excerpt: "... In addition to the EPDP, NTIA is also pursuing avenues for specifically addressing the development and implementation of a unified access mechanism to permit access to non-public WHOIS information ..."
• The FY19 ICANN Board Activities & Priorities: ".... European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ... Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) - We are closely monitoring these discussions, with two Board members serving as liaisons to the EPDP. We acknowledge the progress that has been made so far and look forward to the group reaching timely consensus on a new policy to replace the Temporary Specification ..."

b. EBERO: Request for Proposal: EBERO Services | ICANN.org--EBERO in ICANNspeak is "Emergency Back-End Registry Operator" services--"For a complete overview and timeline for the RFP, please click here (pdf) ... Indications of interest must be emailed to: EBEROServices-rfp @ icann.org by 23:59 UTC on 05 November 2018. Complete proposals must be electronically submitted by 16:00 UTC on 3 December 2018 using the ICANN org sourcing (RFP) tool, access to which will be granted after receipt of an indication of interest to the email address above." More info at link above.

c. ICANN Revised Community Travel Support Guidelines--Travel the World on "ICANN's dime."

d. New gTLD .AMAZON: objecting correspondence (pdf), more info here (pdf).

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. New Domains: A Wide-Open Playing Field for Cybercrime--DarkReading.com.

b. Intellectual Property And Public Disclosure--jdsupra.com: all companies, particularly startups, should adequately protect any IP before there are any public disclosures.

c. Google's Google+ Branding and Domain Name #FAIL--MorganLinton.com.

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

• GDPR: GDPR DPAs have been deluged with complaints about violations and queries. European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) Giovanni Buttarelli: "I expect first GDPR fines for some cases by the end of the year."

At the crossroads: China, Europe & the US offer different 'internet freedom' models | TheDrum.com: "Europe, the crucible for democracy and capitalism, seems more aware than the US and China of the need to set the boundaries for how institutions and businesses can use the data of its citizens. With GDPR, there is an explicit recognition that power needs to be given back to the citizen to offer checks and balances against a non-transparent world of internet disruption that has recently shown the limitations of self-regulation."

• US: Telling Congress How to Protect Consumer Data Privacy--eff.org.

• EGYPT: Facebook drove Egypt's revolution. Now it's being used as a weapon to oppress women--wired.co.uk: Egyptian law enforcement is using the country's new law against “fake news” to imprison women who share their sexual harassment experiences on social platforms.

5) Most Read Posts this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

1. News Review | Fadi, Akram & Donuts, ICANN Conflicts of Interest

2. BlackRock’s Rick Rieder: Technology Stocks Are Not Overvalued (video)

3. Tech Review: When Amazon $AMZN Comes For Your Startup (video)

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

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