[Gnso-epdp-team] Chair Update - 18 May

Tue May 18 21:13:12 UTC 2021

Dear EPDP Team,

Following today's plenary call, and looking ahead to the finalization of our Initial Report for public comment, here are a few quick updates:

1.      Public Comment Period - During today's call, it was noted that the public comment period would be open for the traditional 40 days, and a question was posed whether this timeframe would account for the week of ICANN 71. If the group thinks it's needed, we could extend the public comment period by 5 days to accommodate the overlap. That said, with ICANN 71 taking place remotely with no travel and the scheduling not quite as intense as a traditional F2F public forum, there shouldn't be a significant impact on the community's ability to provide comments in a timely fashion. We have also requested an ICANN 71 session for an update to the community on our Initial Report.

2.      Minority Statements - During today's call, a question was raised about whether minority statements may be included in the Initial Report. After checking with our staff colleagues, it's my understanding that minority statements are reserved for inclusion in the Final Report, once a final consensus call has been made and individuals or groups elect to make a statement highlighting their disagreement with the Final Report's recommendations. Minority statements were not included in the EPDP Phase 1 and Phase 2 Initial Reports and I don't recall other instances from other PDPs where they were. Therefore, we will reserve any minority statements, if needed, for the Final Report. Alternatively, for groups who wish to provide additional input or share dissenting views, I would encourage those to be submitted as a public comment early in the public comment period.

3.      Timeline - Our delivery date of 31 May has been long-established, communicated and understood, so we will continue working toward that date for finalization and publication of the Initial Report. For any remaining items where consensus has not been reached by that date, we can put those out for public comment in the form of questions for community feedback. If we need an extra day or two for last-minute cleanup, that's ok, but I am not inclined to substantially extend the work of our group for publication of the Initial Report. Any meaningful extension would require a Project Change Request (PCR) submitted to Council, and there's no guarantee we'd receive the Council's support for an extension at this time. It turns out May 31 is an ICANN Org holiday, so our publication will be June 1.

4.      ICANN Org/Implementation - If you haven't already reviewed it, please refer to Brian Gutterman's 17 May email to the EPDP Team list covering ICANN Org's views on the range of implementation options for EPDP Phase 2A recommendations.

5.      GNSO Council Update - On Thursday this week, I will provide an update to the GNSO Council indicating our progress, timeline and general state of the group's discussions on legal/natural and feasibility of unique identifiers. I will note that our work today is focused primarily on voluntary guidance and not on new consensus policy recommendations.

6.      Thursday's Plenary - Unfortunately, both Brian and I are unavailable on Thursday to Chair the plenary call. Fortunately, you'll be in good hands with Philippe as Chair and our staff colleagues providing their consistently excellent support.

7.      Homework - Please refer to the agenda circulated by Staff to prepare for Thursday's plenary call, and focus specifically on the homework assigned. This is a critical time and it's very important everyone provides concrete suggestions and proposed text so we can finalize the Initial Report.

Thanks to all. We're making progress and I'm confident we will publish an Initial Report for public comment that generates meaningful feedback from the community.

Best,

Keith

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