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The GNSO Role in Internet Governance

Presented by: Chuck Gomes

Date: 13 May 2010

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Introduction

Thank you for the kind invitation to participate in the RIGF.

Personal Information– VP, Policy & Compliance, VeriSign, Inc.

– Chair, ICANN GNSO Council

– Involved in Internet domain name policy work since 1996

What is the GNSO?– Generic Names Supporting Organization

– One of three policy development bodies in ICANN

– Responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board policies relating to generic top-level domains

– Consists of 4 stakeholder groups:– Non-commercial users

– Commercial users

– Registrars

– Registries

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Presentation Objectives

Brief gTLD history

Historical role of the GNSO in Internet Governance

The GNSO role in Internet Governance today & going forward– What do GNSO policy development efforts have to do with global

Internet governance?

What is the GNSO doing to bridge the digital divide?

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25-year snapshot of gTLDs

15 March 1985 - 1st .com name registered (symbolics.com)

6 August 1991 - Debut of the world wide web

13 September 1995 - Network Solutions started charging for registering .com, .net & .org domain names.

18 September 1998 – The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was incorporated.

11 March 1999 – Separation of gTLD registry & registrar functions

16 November 2000 – 7 new gTLDs approved by ICANN

August 2004 ff – 7 additional gTLDs were approved by ICANN

2010 – The process to introduce more gTLDs is being finalized.

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Early Internet governance issues for gTLDs

First two major governance issues– Cybersquatting

– Competition

Examples of GNSO policies that contribute to Internet Governance– Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), 24 October 1999

– Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy, 25 April 2003

– Whois Data Reminder Policy, 16 June 2003

– Procedure for Potential Conflicts between Whois Requirements & Privacy Laws, 10 May 2006

– Recommendations on the Introduction of New gTLDs, 26 June 2008

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Current Internet Governance related GNSO policy work

Whois Studies

Registration Abuse

IDN Variants & 1 or 2 character IDN TLDs with the Country Code Name Supporting Organization (ccNSO)

Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy Improvements

Internationalized Registration Data with the ICANN Security & Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) & the ccNSO

New gTLD Applicant Support

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GNSO policy development challenges

General Challenges

Bottom-up policy development is slow.

Volunteers must commit a lot of time.

Finding representatives from all impacted groups is difficult.

Competing interests make it hard to reach consensus.

Implementation of some policies can be time consuming

Examples of Policy Challenges

Whois

New gTLDs

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What is the GNSO doing to bridge the digital divide?

Introduction of new gTLDs including IDN gTLDs

Internationalization of Registration Data

New gTLD Applicant Support

GNSO Improvement Recommendations– GBSO Website improvements including translation of key documents

– Increased outreach efforts to inform & involve new stakeholders from all over the world

– Improved coordination and communication with other ICANN organizations such as the Governmental Advisory Committee, the ccNSO & the At-Large community.

– Open working group model

– Training for potential leaders & participants

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Conclusion

The GNSO is just one element of Internet Governance.

ICANN is just one element of Internet Governance.

The IGF has proven to be an outstanding way for all stakeholders to collaborate on Internet Governance issues and especially provides a place to discuss issues outside of the missions of ICANN & the GNSO.

The GNSO open working group model is open for any of you who are interested in and/or impacted by gTLD policy development.

The GNSO is privileged to have Andrei Kolesnikov, Director of the Coordination center for the .RU TLD, serving on the GNSO Council and various GNSO working groups and I hope others will follow his lead.

Throughout these two days and following this meeting, I will be happy to answer any questions and listen to your comments about the GNSO.

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Thank You