[council] GAC communique
Bruce Tonkin
Bruce.Tonkin at melbourneit.com.au
Thu Jun 29 23:06:04 UTC 2006
Hello All,
Attached is a copy of the GAC communique.
I have also attached a plain text version below.
Regards,
Bruce Tonkin
Governmental Advisory Committee
Marrakech, 28 June 2006
Final
GAC Communiqué - Marrakech
June 2006
I. INTRODUCTION
The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) of the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) met in Marrakech, during June 24-28,
2006.
The participating GAC Members comprised representatives from 41 members and
4 Observers.
The Governmental Advisory Committee expressed warm thanks to the
Government of Morocco and the organisers for hosting the meeting in Marrakech.
II. WHOIS and New gTLDs
The GAC Working Group on GNSO issues continued its focus on the development
of GAC Principles applicable to the WHOIS database and to the introduction of
new gTLDs, with the intention of sharing a stabilized draft with the community in
Sao Paulo and to enable the GAC to provide guidance to the ICANN Board.
Consistent with the GAC's commitment to providing information and advice on
the range of public policy aspects of WHOIS data, representatives from Consumer
Protection Agencies in three GAC members, OPTA in the Netherlands, MIC in
Japan, and the FTC in the U.S. who made presentations during an open session
with the GNSO outlining their respective perspectives and concerns regarding the
accuracy and timely access to WHOIS data.
Some of them and some GAC members also expressed concerns regarding the
implications for enforcement of laws of the recent GNSO Council decision on a
definition on the purpose of WHOIS data. Some GAC members expressed
concerns that formulation 2 would also not provide an appropriate definition for
the purposes of WHOIS.
The GAC appreciates the interpretation of the GNSO Council Chair that
formulation 1 does not imply that a decision has been taken to remove any data
from public access.
The GAC believes therefore that the final definition of the purpose of WHOIS data
needs to reflect the public policy concerns expressed by GAC members. The GAC
is intending to produce policy advice on the purpose and use of WHOIS in the
form of principles for the Sao Paulo meeting.
III. IDN
A joint ICANN and GAC Workshop outlined the challenges and issues in the area
of IDN. The various presentations emphasized the implementation and the public
policy issues concerning the IDN deployment.
The GAC appreciates the intention of ICANN's Presidential Advisory Committee
on IDN to perform a technical test of two approaches to the insertion of
Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) labels into the root zone of the DNS along
with a timeline. The GAC awaits the outcome of the technical tests which will
provide information to address policy issues.
The GAC also proposes that policy issues as outlined in the GNSO preliminary
issues report relating to IDN at the top level dated 28th May 2006 should be
identified, prioritized and addressed in cooperation with GNSO, ccNSO as well as
the broader ICANN community.
IV. IPv6
The GAC's Working Group on IPv6 held a joint session with the NRO Executive
Council and the ASO Chair, where they had a very fruitful exchange on the
proposed IPv6 allocation policy, followed by internal discussion within the
working group.
The GAC notes that the RIRs have completed their policy development process in
relation to the allocation of IPv6 addresses and welcomed the proposal under
consideration by the ASO. The GAC will endeavour to provide advice within the
proposed time frame.
Noting the ongoing development of IPv6 the GAC encourages ICANN to keep the
policy under review in the light of technical developments and evolution of
demand.
Noting the possibility that the request for advice from the GAC would be done
inter-sessionally between Marrakech and Sao Paulo, the GAC would like to
remind the Board that such timelines to respond continue to be a challenge.
V. Notice of Inquiry from the Department of Commerce and request for feedback
by the President's Strategy Committee
The GAC welcomed a presentation from the US government representative on the
Department of Commerce's Notice of Inquiry regarding the continued transition of
the technical coordination and management of the Internet domain name and
addressing system. The GAC expressed confidence that the decision on the MoU
between ICANN and the United States Department of Commerce will be taken in
the light of the WSIS principles. The GAC welcomed the report from the President's
Strategy Committee on the improvements to the inherent multi-stakeholder model of
ICANN. The GAC welcomes both initiatives to seek feedback on the evolution of
the ICANN multi-stakeholder model.
The GAC considers it important to engage in a further structured discussion on this
matter at the Sao Paulo meeting. The GAC recognizes that many of the issues put
forward in the above initiatives are part of the ongoing efforts of enhanced
cooperation within the ICANN context already being undertaken by ICANN Board
and GAC Joint Working Group.
VI. GAC EVOLUTION
GAC internal organization and work plan
Following its previous decisions, the GAC endorsed the document, which was
developed by GAC's Working Group on the future of the GAC, describing necessary
improvements in its working methods. The document will be posted on the GAC
website.
The GAC took a decision to synchronize its work program with ICANN's strategic
plan and activities of other constituencies. To implement this by Sao Paulo meeting
the GAC will introduce a bi-annual planning and will elaborate an annual work
program. The work program will reflect GAC priorities, outline objectives and define
delivery timeline.
ICANN Board and GAC cooperation
The GAC welcomes the work of the ICANN Board and GAC Joint Working Group,
which since the meeting in Wellington held two conference calls, and appreciates the
positive outcome of the meeting in Marrakech.
The GAC endorses the Communications Timeline document (attached), which
should improve the GAC's participation in ICANN's policy development processes
by earlier engagement with relevant ICANN constituencies, as well as secure timely
and precise routine communication.
The GAC welcomes ICANN's outreach program and commits itself to participate in
its implementation.
The ICANN Board and GAC Joint Working Group in the run-up to Sao Paulo
meeting will work on synchronization of GAC priorities with ICANN's strategic
plan, will address issues related to evolution of GAC and the ICANN framework,
will engage in discussion on a permanent solution for the GAC secretariat and will
support internal GAC discussion on contingency planning.
VII. OTHER MATTERS
Handover of the GAC Secretariat
The GAC took note of the handover of the GAC Secretariat from the European
Commission to the Government of India with effect from 1st July 2006.
GAC Election 2006
The GAC nomination and election process for the position of the Chair and Vice-
Chairs is now open with the intention that a new Chair shall be installed by the first
meeting of the GAC in 2007.
****
The GAC warmly thanks all those among the ICANN community who have
contributed to the dialogue with GAC in Marrakech.
The next GAC meeting will be during the period of the ICANN meeting in Sao
Paulo, Brazil, December 2006.
Marrakech, 28 June 2006
Encl.
Communications Timeline document between the ICANN Board and the GAC
Final
Communication timelines between the ICANN Board and the GAC
Communication on Strategic and Policy Issues
It is in the interest of the global Internet community that all ICANN constituencies
especially the supporting organizations and advisory committees provide their input
into policy development and decision making processes continuously, effectively,
constructively and in a timely manner.
The environment of ICANN demands that the principle stated above in the first
paragraph be considered in the communication processes of all parties involved.
To maximize the results of cooperation and in order to harmonize the timing of the
release of the advisory opinion of the GAC with decision making by the ICANN
Board, it is necessary to implement an "early warning mechanism". This mechanism
will provide an early indication of future challenges. The goal is to make GAC aware,
very early in any policy development process (PDP) or proposal process, that such
work is underway and that it could yield a proposal to the Board that would require
public policy advice.
GAC should identify issues where there may be public policy concerns as early as
possible and bring them to the attention of other ICANN constituencies.
Early in the policy development process, the Board of ICANN as well as Supporting
Organizations, Advisory Committees and ICANN Staff may ask the GAC for advice
on related public-policy issues. ICANN and other constituencies may provide initial
input (by distributing background information prepared by the staff or by supporting
organizations and President's advisory committees) to the GAC in terms of the
public-policy questions and impact areas as they perceive them. The GAC, in its
deliberations, may take these considerations into account. In order to support the
policy development process it may be useful to consider a creation of an ad hoc cross-
constituency working group, which would explore options around specific policy
issues.
A recent example of a timely indication of a future challenge was the statement of the
President and CEO of ICANN, Dr. Paul Twomey, during the Wellington ICANN
Board and GAC meeting. Dr. Twomey reminded the GAC of the possible public
policy issues related to the introduction of IDNs. It is expected that during the
Marrakesh meeting (June 2006) the GAC will discuss possible areas of public policy
issues related to IDNs and aim to identify a work program with clearly defined
deadlines in relation to IDNs for its work in 2007. In earlier years, an "early warning"
was issued concerning IPv6 addressing allocation policy.
The policy development process usually takes time. The GAC should be able to
follow the evolution of ideas related to these policies and provide its input when
necessary during the policy development process. That requires the capacity for GAC
to monitor issues on a long-term basis. Government(s) particularly interested in a
given PDP and following closely its development, is/are encouraged to provide input
in the work of the GAC on the given issue.
In a more advanced stage of a PDP, when a 21 day1 public notice is issued by ICANN
to its various constituencies for comments on policy being considered for adoption by
the Board, it has been noted that for a number of governments and for a variety of
reasons, including inter-agency coordination within national governments, insufficient
resources devoted to the GAC, limited secretarial support in synthesizing different
input from the governments, etc., this 21 day public notice has not been found to be
sufficient. Therefore, earlier indications from the Board about public policy
considerations of those issues that will soon be considered for adoption could be
considered helpful in securing timely responses from the GAC.
Timely and Precise Routine Communication
Taking into account GAC's limited resources as well as the specificities of
governments' consultation and decision-making processes, communication between
the ICANN Board and the GAC should be timely. It should become a rule that to the
extent possible all communications should be made at least 30 days before the
ICANN meeting. GAC will make any effort to respond to timely communications but
will alert ICANN Board if it is not in a position to give a response at the meeting and
will give an indicative timescale.
It is also important to ensure precision in communication to ensure it is
understandable to a multilingual and multicultural audience. Clarity in communication
will help both the GAC and the Board and should be considered not only as a time
saver, but also as a confidence building measure on sometimes sensitive issues.
GAC is entitled to receive communications on a timely basis, as is the ICANN Board
or respective Supporting Organizations (depending on the respective process).
Streamlining the decision-making procedures, with full respect to due process, should
be aimed at preventing delays in the development of advisory opinions.
27/06/2006
1 ICANN Bylaws Article III, Section 6. 1. a
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Marrakech-Communique-1.9 Final.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 117980 bytes
Desc: Marrakech-Communique-1.9 Final.pdf
URL: <http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/council/attachments/20060630/acac2706/Marrakech-Communique-1.9Final.pdf>
More information about the council
mailing list