[NCUC-DISCUSS] Registry Voluntary Commitments - Board seems Consultation in Dec 23 and into 2024

[Kathy Kleiman]

Hi All (and apologies for double posting):

If you are interested in Registry Voluntary Commitments (formerly known 
as "public interest commitments"), there is new movement in this area.  
Here's part of the posting that just went up: 
https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/consultation-preview-public-interest-commitmentsregistry-voluntary-commitments-21-11-2023-en 


I'd be interested to know who wants to follow this topic...

Best, Kathy

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Consultation Preview: Public Interest Commitments/Registry Voluntary
  Commitments

21 November 2023
By Alan Barrett <https://www.icann.org/#> and Becky Burr 
<https://www.icann.org/#>
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 
<https://www.icann.org/en/board-activities-and-meetings/materials/approved-resolutions-regular-meeting-of-the-icann-board-26-10-2023-en#section2.e> 
a subset of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development 
Process recommendations at ICANN78 in October 2023, as shown in the 
October 2023 Scorecard 
<https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/scorecard-subpro-pdp-board-action-26oct23-en.pdf>. 
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 
<https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/scorecard-subpro-pdp-board-action-16mar23-en.pdf#page=27> 
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 
<https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-en/#article1>. 
In adopting the aforementioned recommendations, the Board cited the 
Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council's second Clarifying 
Statement 
<https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/policy/2023/correspondence/gnso-council-small-team-et-al-to-gnso-council-et-al-05oct23-en.pdf> 
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.

----

Rapid timeline at the link above.

Best, Kathy
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ncuc.org/pipermail/ncuc-discuss/attachments/20231122/d1013f46/attachment.htm>