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Consultation Preview: Public Interest Commitments/Registry Voluntary Commitments

21 November 2023
By
Alan Barrett

Alan Barrett

ICANN Board Member

Alan Barrett holds a B.Sc.Eng. and M.Sc.Eng. from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (then called the University of Natal), Durban, South Africa. Alan was involved in setting up the first Internet connection for South African universities in 1990/1991. In 1993, he was a co-founder of the first commercial ISP in South Africa, then called TICSA, later Internet Africa and UUNET South Africa, where he remained until 1999. Alan then joined a small Internet firewall company, CEQURUX Technologies, where he remained until the company went out of business in 2007. After that, he worked as a software consultant. In 2015, Alan was appointed as CEO of AFRINIC, where he remained until 2019. Alan was a co-author of the 1997 proposal to create AFRINIC, serving on a steering committee tasked with creating AFRINIC, and was elected to the first AFRINIC Board in 2004, where he served until 2009. He was appointed by the AFRINIC Board to the Number Resource Organization Number Council (NRO NC) / Address Supporting Organization Address Council (ASO AC), from 2004 to 2014. During part of the IANA stewardship transition, from 2015 to 2016, he served in the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG), as an appointee of the NRO. Alan was selected by the ASO to serve on the ICANN Board in 2021. His term will expire at the Annual General Meeting in 2024.

 and
Becky Burr

Becky Burr

ICANN Board Member

J. Beckwith (“Becky”) Burr is a partner at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis, LLP, a Washington, DC law firm. Her practice focuses on data protection, data governance, and cyber security. Prior to joining the firm, Becky was Neustar’s Deputy General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer. In that capacity, she was responsible for implementing the company’s “privacy by design” program, and ensuring that the company maintained state-of-the-art privacy and data security to protect customer and consumer information. As an expert on Internet governance issues, Ms. Burr also provided policy and legal advice related to the company’s provision of Internet domain name registry services. Becky joined Neustar in 2012 from the Washington, DC office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, where she was a partner in the Communications, Privacy and Internet Law Practice Group and the Financial Institutions Practice Group. Her practice was both regulatory and transactional, focused on e-commerce, information technology, intellectual property licensing, and international regulation of communications and information technology. She was recognized as a Nationwide Leader in the Privacy and Data Security field in the 2007- 2012 editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers in Business (Global 2011-2012) and selected by her peers for inclusion in the 2007- 2012 editions of The Best Lawyers in America, in the area of information technology law. Prior to joining WilmerHale, Becky served as the Associate Administrator and Director of International Affairs and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), where she was responsible for the privacy and Internet governance work streams described in the Clinton Administration’s Framework for Global Electronic Commerce. She also served as an Attorney Advisor at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 1995 – 1997, where she participated in developing the FTC’s approach to competition, consumer protection, and privacy/data protection in the digital marketplace. Becky’s history with ICANN dates back to 1997 when she headed NTIA’s Office of International Affairs and participated in the U.S. Government (USG) team that produced the so-called “Green Paper” and “White Paper” on privatization of the domain name system. As head of NTIA’s Office of International Affairs, Becky was responsible for recognizing ICANN on behalf of the USG in 1998, and for negotiating the original Registry Agreement and Registrar Accreditation Agreement. She served as the U.S. representative to the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) in ICANN’s early years and, after leaving the USG in late 2000, represented registries, registry operators, and registrars in their dealings with ICANN as a lawyer in private practice. In that capacity, Becky represented individual sponsored and new gTLD applicants, as well as the Registrar Stakeholder Group in negotiating the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement. From 2006 through 2016, Becky served on the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) Council, first as a Nominating Committee (NomCom) appointee, and more recently as the representative of .US. Becky received a BA from Yale (1977), and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center (1987). She was selected by GNSO to serve on the Board commencing at the Annual General Meeting in 2016. She will begin her second term at the Annual General Meeting 2019.

The ICANN Board directed the ICANN organization (org) to initiate a community consultation on Public Interest Commitments and Registry Voluntary Commitments (PICs/RVCs). To complete the consultation expeditiously and avoid impact on the timeline to open the next round of applications for new gTLDs, we are sharing the next steps, so the community knows what to expect.

Background

The ICANN Board adopted a subset of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process recommendations at ICANN78 in October 2023, as shown in the October 2023 Scorecard. These recommendations envision that applicants will be permitted—and in some cases, required—to enter into Registry Agreements containing public interest commitments with ICANN. In some cases, these commitments, whether they are PICs or RVCs, may implicate the contents within the applicants' proposed gTLDs.

PICs, specifically the mandatory PICs and safeguard PICs, are the product of Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Advice concerning new gTLDs from the 2012 round and are uniform across the relevant Registry Agreements. RVCs, which are comparable to the voluntary PICs from the 2012 round, may vary widely and permit applicants to respond to Public Comments, objections, GAC early warnings, GAC Advice, and other comments from the GAC.

The Board previously raised concerns about potential challenges related to ICANN's ability to enter into and enforce PICs/RVCs in accordance with its mission, due to limitations in the Bylaws Section 1.1. In adopting the aforementioned recommendations, the Board cited the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council's second Clarifying Statement to the effect that ICANN and the applicant both must agree that a proffered commitment is clear, detailed, mutually understood, and sufficiently objective and measurable so as to be enforceable, as a practicable matter and under ICANN Bylaws.

To this end, the Board directed ICANN org to facilitate a community consultation to ensure that the framework for implementing these recommendations is consistent with the ICANN Bylaws. Another purpose is to ensure that the ICANN Board, org, and community are aligned in how these recommendations can be implemented, considering the Board concerns and the need for these commitments to be enforceable under the ICANN Bylaws and as a practicable matter, as noted in the GNSO Council's second Clarifying Statement.

The community consultation is expected to inform the development of the Applicant Guidebook for the New gTLD Program: Next Round.

What To Expect

The consultation process will have three key components: 1) community review of and feedback on a proposed implementation framework; 2) a community webinar to provide an overview of the proposed framework and an opportunity for initial community questions; and 3) a plenary session on PICs/RVCs at ICANN79 in March 2024. The time frame is set out below.

Time Frame

Event

On or before 05 December 2023

ICANN org to reach out to community groups, requesting that each group:

  1. Reviews and provides feedback on a framework document that proposes a path for implementing these commitments in the Next Round; and
  2. Submits written input to questions related to the framework document.

On 18 December 2023 19:00–20:00 UTC

Webinar on the PICs/RVCs community consultation.

On or before 23 February 2024

Community groups to submit written input to support an ICANN79 plenary session.

At ICANN79

02–07 March 2024

Plenary session to review community input received and assess whether there is alignment on implementation approach.

On 31 March 2024

Final deadline for community groups to submit written input.

April 2024

ICANN org to produce a summary of the input received and propose next steps regarding implementation.

We are looking forward to working with the community throughout this consultation process.

Becky Burr and Alan Barrett, Co-Chairs, ICANN Board SubPro Caucus

Authors

Alan Barrett

Alan Barrett

ICANN Board Member
Alan Barrett

Alan Barrett

ICANN Board Member

Alan Barrett holds a B.Sc.Eng. and M.Sc.Eng. from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (then called the University of Natal), Durban, South Africa. Alan was involved in setting up the first Internet connection for South African universities in 1990/1991. In 1993, he was a co-founder of the first commercial ISP in South Africa, then called TICSA, later Internet Africa and UUNET South Africa, where he remained until 1999. Alan then joined a small Internet firewall company, CEQURUX Technologies, where he remained until the company went out of business in 2007. After that, he worked as a software consultant. In 2015, Alan was appointed as CEO of AFRINIC, where he remained until 2019. Alan was a co-author of the 1997 proposal to create AFRINIC, serving on a steering committee tasked with creating AFRINIC, and was elected to the first AFRINIC Board in 2004, where he served until 2009. He was appointed by the AFRINIC Board to the Number Resource Organization Number Council (NRO NC) / Address Supporting Organization Address Council (ASO AC), from 2004 to 2014. During part of the IANA stewardship transition, from 2015 to 2016, he served in the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG), as an appointee of the NRO. Alan was selected by the ASO to serve on the ICANN Board in 2021. His term will expire at the Annual General Meeting in 2024.

Becky Burr

Becky Burr

ICANN Board Member
Becky Burr

Becky Burr

ICANN Board Member

J. Beckwith (“Becky”) Burr is a partner at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis, LLP, a Washington, DC law firm. Her practice focuses on data protection, data governance, and cyber security. Prior to joining the firm, Becky was Neustar’s Deputy General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer. In that capacity, she was responsible for implementing the company’s “privacy by design” program, and ensuring that the company maintained state-of-the-art privacy and data security to protect customer and consumer information. As an expert on Internet governance issues, Ms. Burr also provided policy and legal advice related to the company’s provision of Internet domain name registry services. Becky joined Neustar in 2012 from the Washington, DC office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, where she was a partner in the Communications, Privacy and Internet Law Practice Group and the Financial Institutions Practice Group. Her practice was both regulatory and transactional, focused on e-commerce, information technology, intellectual property licensing, and international regulation of communications and information technology. She was recognized as a Nationwide Leader in the Privacy and Data Security field in the 2007- 2012 editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers in Business (Global 2011-2012) and selected by her peers for inclusion in the 2007- 2012 editions of The Best Lawyers in America, in the area of information technology law. Prior to joining WilmerHale, Becky served as the Associate Administrator and Director of International Affairs and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), where she was responsible for the privacy and Internet governance work streams described in the Clinton Administration’s Framework for Global Electronic Commerce. She also served as an Attorney Advisor at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 1995 – 1997, where she participated in developing the FTC’s approach to competition, consumer protection, and privacy/data protection in the digital marketplace. Becky’s history with ICANN dates back to 1997 when she headed NTIA’s Office of International Affairs and participated in the U.S. Government (USG) team that produced the so-called “Green Paper” and “White Paper” on privatization of the domain name system. As head of NTIA’s Office of International Affairs, Becky was responsible for recognizing ICANN on behalf of the USG in 1998, and for negotiating the original Registry Agreement and Registrar Accreditation Agreement. She served as the U.S. representative to the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) in ICANN’s early years and, after leaving the USG in late 2000, represented registries, registry operators, and registrars in their dealings with ICANN as a lawyer in private practice. In that capacity, Becky represented individual sponsored and new gTLD applicants, as well as the Registrar Stakeholder Group in negotiating the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement. From 2006 through 2016, Becky served on the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) Council, first as a Nominating Committee (NomCom) appointee, and more recently as the representative of .US. Becky received a BA from Yale (1977), and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center (1987). She was selected by GNSO to serve on the Board commencing at the Annual General Meeting in 2016. She will begin her second term at the Annual General Meeting 2019.

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