1) GNSO Council Votes February 21 on ICANN EPDP 'Final Report'
UPDATE February 21, 2019: GNSO Council Chair Keith Drazek granted the request for deferral of the vote on the EPDP Final Report to the March 4, 2019, GNSO Council meeting. Noting the GNSO's 10-day requirement for delivery of a final report before a GNSO Council vote (EPDP Final Report revisions continued through Feb 20), Drazek said the delay will "protect us from any claims of process violations." The request for deferral was made by the Business Constituency (BC) and supported by the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC). Drazek announced that there will be no further meetings of the EPDP team until after the GNSO Council vote on March 4th. Editor's note: as a result of Drazek's ruling, both Agenda Items 4 and 5 below were deferred to March 4, 2019.
Agenda Item 4: COUNCIL VOTE - Adoption of the Final Report (updated 'clean' pdf) on Expedited PDP on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data (40 minutes); voting threshold: Supermajority, ICANN Bylaws, Section 11.3(i)(xix): A "GNSO Supermajority" shall mean: (A) two-thirds (2/3) of the Council members of each House, or (B) three-fourths (3/4) of the Council members of one House and a majority of the Council members of the other House. See also the motion and documents for GNSO Council meeting 21 February 2019.
Agenda Item 5: COUNCIL DISCUSSION - Expedited PDP on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data - Phase 2 Work (15 minutes)
Final Proposed Agenda embed below:
2) ICANN EPDP Plenary Meetings scheduled for Feb 19 and Feb 20:
Last Chance, Last Dance email (Feb 18) from EPDP Chair with attachment (pdf) (EPDP Quiet Period Summary Of Comments And Recommended Actions).
Links: Latest version of the EPDP Final Report (Phase 1), the EPDP Initial Report (pdf) and public comments to the Initial Report; PCRT Public Comment Review Tool; GNSO Council EPDP page and updates; links to EPDP meeting transcripts and recordings are on the GNSO calendar. Other EPDP links: wiki; mail list; action items; Temp Spec; EPDP Charter (pdf); Data Elements Workbooks (pdf), packet (pdf) small team agreements, ICANN's legal memo on Controllership (pdf), Bird & Bird legal memos are here. EPDP legal mail list.
2) ICANN EPDP Plenary Meetings scheduled for Feb 19 and Feb 20:
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| Click on the graphic above to read or download the EPDP Final Report (updated) |
- EPDP meeting Tuesday Feb 19, 2019, at 14:00 UTC (9am EST) for 3 hours. Notes & action items.
- EPDP meeting Wednesday (agenda), Feb 20, 2019, 14:00 UTC (9am EST) 3 hours. See also EPDP mail list. EPDP Consensus Designations. Notes and action items here.
The EPDP Final Report was filed with the GNSO Council Feb 11, 2019, for the Council to begin its deliberations and Council vote no later than March 4, 2019. In the meantime revisions to the Final Report continue, with stakeholder groups or vested interest groups filing statements, such as this "Issues and Comments" (pdf) from the gTLD registries stakeholder group (RySG), and also the EPDP Chair distributed (via email) legal advice on Saturday, Feb 16. Editor's note: in short, it's a 'Hot Mess.' See EPDP mail list for more dysfunction. See also updates on last week's News Review for more EPDP news for the week ending Feb 16, 2019.
3) Other ICANN News
a. ICANN64 Prep Week | ICANN.org: the public is invited to register and attend ICANN64 Prep Week webinar sessions:
Register and submit any questions via this form by Friday, 22 February 2019. The webinars will be in English. Recordings and materials will be posted here. More information at the first link above.
b. Alert re: Published Reports of Attacks on the Domain Name System (DNS)--icann.org: ICANN announced Feb 15, 2019, it is aware of several recent public reports regarding malicious activity targeting the Domain Name System (DNS)--"We have no indication that any ICANN organization systems have been compromised, and we are working with relevant community members to investigate reports of attacks against top-level domains (TLDs)"--more information here.
c. Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP)--icann.org: The RDAP pilot discussion group and ICANN org are continuing discussions on RDAP implementation. ICANN org continues to work with the contracted parties to reach agreement on proposals for gTLD RDAP service level agreements (SLA) and registry reporting requirements. While RDAP delivers registration data similar to WHOIS, its implementation is expected to help standardize registration data access and query response formats. The Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data requires gTLD registry operators and registrars to implement a RDAP service within a 135-day period after notification from ICANN. More info at icann.org/rdap.
d. Privacy and Proxy Service Provider Accreditation Program--icann.org: ICANN org will implement the Privacy and Proxy Service Provider Accreditation Program at a pace that accounts for the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Team’s work on an access model for non-public generic top-level domain (gTLD) registration data. The EPDP Team is nearing completion of the first phase of its work. It is expected that EPDP Phase 2, during which the team will consider the possibility of developing an access model for non-public gTLD registration data, will begin shortly after submission of the EPDP Team’s Final Report to the GNSO Council. More information about the implementation review team (IRT) on privacy and proxy service provider accreditation is available on the implementation status page.
- Multistakeholder Strategy and Strategic Initiatives (MSSI) Webinar at 16:00 UTC on Wednesday, 27 February. Topics include:General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); ICANN Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2025; the latest update and progress on various ICANN Reviews; the next steps on WorkStream 2 recommendations.
- Contractual Compliance Update Webinar at 23:00 UTC on Wednesday, 27 February.
- Policy Update Webinar at 16:00 UTC on Thursday, 28 February.
- Finance/Operating Plan and Budget Planning Webinar at 23:00 UTC on Thursday, 28 February.
b. Alert re: Published Reports of Attacks on the Domain Name System (DNS)--icann.org: ICANN announced Feb 15, 2019, it is aware of several recent public reports regarding malicious activity targeting the Domain Name System (DNS)--"We have no indication that any ICANN organization systems have been compromised, and we are working with relevant community members to investigate reports of attacks against top-level domains (TLDs)"--more information here.
c. Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP)--icann.org: The RDAP pilot discussion group and ICANN org are continuing discussions on RDAP implementation. ICANN org continues to work with the contracted parties to reach agreement on proposals for gTLD RDAP service level agreements (SLA) and registry reporting requirements. While RDAP delivers registration data similar to WHOIS, its implementation is expected to help standardize registration data access and query response formats. The Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data requires gTLD registry operators and registrars to implement a RDAP service within a 135-day period after notification from ICANN. More info at icann.org/rdap.
d. Privacy and Proxy Service Provider Accreditation Program--icann.org: ICANN org will implement the Privacy and Proxy Service Provider Accreditation Program at a pace that accounts for the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) Team’s work on an access model for non-public generic top-level domain (gTLD) registration data. The EPDP Team is nearing completion of the first phase of its work. It is expected that EPDP Phase 2, during which the team will consider the possibility of developing an access model for non-public gTLD registration data, will begin shortly after submission of the EPDP Team’s Final Report to the GNSO Council. More information about the implementation review team (IRT) on privacy and proxy service provider accreditation is available on the implementation status page.
4) Names, Domains & Trademarks
a. GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY), Fourth Quarter And Fiscal Year 2018 Earnings Conference Call--GoDaddy management will host a conference call and webcast Wednesday, February 20, 2019, at 5:00 p.m. EST. To hear the call, dial (833) 286-5800 in the United States or (647) 689-4445 from international locations, with passcode 6529529. A live webcast of the call will also be available on GoDaddy's investor relations website at https://investors.godaddy.net. Following completion of the call, a recorded replay will be available on the investor relations website.
With over 18 million customers worldwide and more than 77 million domain names under management, GoDaddy is the world's largest domain name registrar.
GoDaddy Inc. (godaddy.com) also announced that Ray Winborne, GoDaddy Chief Financial Officer, and Andrew Low Ah Kee, GoDaddy Chief Revenue Officer, will present at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco on Monday, February 25, 2019 at 12:00 pm PST. (3:00 pm EST). The live audio webcast will also be available on GoDaddy investor relations website investors.godaddy.net. Following the presentation an audio replay will also be available on the investor relations website.
b. Feb 15, 2019: Verisign $VRSN Annual report (pdf) provides a comprehensive overview of the company for the past year (2018).
c. Tucows $TCX: until Monday, February 18, shareholders, analysts and prospective investors can submit questions to Tucows’ management at ir@tucows.com. Management will post responses to questions of general interest to http://www.tucows.com/investors/financials/ on Tuesday, February 26 at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET. "All questions will receive a response, however, questions of a more specific nature may be responded to directly."
5) ICYMI Internet Domain News
Dr Paul Vixie in the irishtimes.com:“GDPR is in my opinion a well-structured law. Some thought went into making sure that it had teeth ... I think it’s interesting right now [that] the first generation of knee-jerk reaction to GDPR among the American tech companies is to try to evade the intent of the law.”
Germany's antitrust and competition regulator FCO ordered Facebook to stop combining WhatsApp and Instagram data without consent in Germany; Facebook says it will appeal decision--bbc.com. See also Bundeskartellamt prohibits Facebook from combining user data from different sources--bundeskartellamt.de.
The Wired Guide to Your Personal Data (And Who Is Using It)--wired.com.
India: websites and services continue being blocked without explanations--newindianexpress.com.
Russia reportedly plans to test a kill switch that disconnects the country from the internet and implement a web traffic filtering system like China's Great Firewall, but also a fully working country-wide intranet. See also: Sovereign Runet: What Does it Mean? (pdf)
6) Most Read this past week (ending Feb 16) on DomainMondo.com:
-- John Poole, Editor • Domain Mondo
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| $GDDY |
GoDaddy Inc. (godaddy.com) also announced that Ray Winborne, GoDaddy Chief Financial Officer, and Andrew Low Ah Kee, GoDaddy Chief Revenue Officer, will present at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco on Monday, February 25, 2019 at 12:00 pm PST. (3:00 pm EST). The live audio webcast will also be available on GoDaddy investor relations website investors.godaddy.net. Following the presentation an audio replay will also be available on the investor relations website.
b. Feb 15, 2019: Verisign $VRSN Annual report (pdf) provides a comprehensive overview of the company for the past year (2018).
c. Tucows $TCX: until Monday, February 18, shareholders, analysts and prospective investors can submit questions to Tucows’ management at ir@tucows.com. Management will post responses to questions of general interest to http://www.tucows.com/investors/financials/ on Tuesday, February 26 at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET. "All questions will receive a response, however, questions of a more specific nature may be responded to directly."
5) ICYMI Internet Domain News
Germany's antitrust and competition regulator FCO ordered Facebook to stop combining WhatsApp and Instagram data without consent in Germany; Facebook says it will appeal decision--bbc.com. See also Bundeskartellamt prohibits Facebook from combining user data from different sources--bundeskartellamt.de.
The Wired Guide to Your Personal Data (And Who Is Using It)--wired.com.
India: websites and services continue being blocked without explanations--newindianexpress.com.
Russia reportedly plans to test a kill switch that disconnects the country from the internet and implement a web traffic filtering system like China's Great Firewall, but also a fully working country-wide intranet. See also: Sovereign Runet: What Does it Mean? (pdf)
6) Most Read this past week (ending Feb 16) on DomainMondo.com:
1. News Review | EPDP (Draft) Final Report to ICANN GNSO Council Feb 11
2. Tech Review: 1) Why Apple Is Losing In India, 2) Amazon $AMZN Alarm?
3. Tech Review: 1) What Will Replace Facebook? 2) Jeff Bezos in 1999 (video)
4. Cisco $CSCO Q2 FY19 Earnings LIVE Webcast, Feb 13, 4:30pm EST
2. Tech Review: 1) Why Apple Is Losing In India, 2) Amazon $AMZN Alarm?
3. Tech Review: 1) What Will Replace Facebook? 2) Jeff Bezos in 1999 (video)
4. Cisco $CSCO Q2 FY19 Earnings LIVE Webcast, Feb 13, 4:30pm EST
-- John Poole, Editor • Domain Mondo