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--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Dear Councilors,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>On behalf of Russ Weinstein and the Global Domains Division, please find the note below regarding a blog they just published regarding operational improvements to the Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP) process.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Best,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Steve<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='border:none;padding:0in'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>To the GNSO Council,</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px'><span style='color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>We wanted to reach out to let you know that today we’ve published a blog post (</span><span style='color:black'><a href="https://www.icann.org/news/blog/coming-soon-operational-improvements-to-the-rsep-process"><span style='color:#954F72'>https://www.icann.org/news/blog/coming-soon-operational-improvements-to-the-rsep-process</span></a>)<span class=apple-converted-space> </span></span><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> informing the ICANN community about upcoming operational improvements to the RSEP process. At the GDD Summit in 2016, registry operators raised concerns about the lack of predictability and duration of the process. Since then, we’ve worked with a discussion group from the RySG to better understand the challenges and to collaborate to identify a handful of ways to improve efficiency and predictability in the process without impacting the Policy. We encourage you to read the blog post for additional details and we look forward to launching these changes in the next couple of months.</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px'><span style='color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Regards,</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Russ Weinstein</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Sr. Director, Registry and Registrar Services & Engagement</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: auto;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>ICANN</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Steven Chan</span></b><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"MS Mincho"'>
</span></b><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Policy Director, GNSO Support<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>ICANN<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"MS Mincho"'>
</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Mobile: +1.310.339.4410<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Office Telephone: +1.310.301.5800<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Office Fax: +1.310.823.8649<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Find out more about the GNSO by taking our <a href="https://learn.icann.org/"><span style='color:#0563C1'>interactive courses</span></a> and visiting the <a href="http://gnso.icann.org/sites/gnso.icann.org/files/gnso/presentations/policy-efforts.htm#newcomers"><span style='color:#0563C1'>GNSO Newcomer pages</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Follow @GNSO on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/ICANN_GNSO"><span style='color:#0563C1'>https://twitter.com/ICANN_GNSO</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Follow the GNSO on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/icanngnso/"><span style='color:#0563C1'>https://www.facebook.com/icanngnso/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><a href="http://gnso.icann.org/en/"><span style='color:#0563C1'>http://gnso.icann.org/en/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>