The ICANN71 Virtual Policy Forum (https://71.schedule.icann.org) came to a close on June 17. The event was held online just like the three previous ones and included as many as 61 sessions, with 1,169 people from 147 countries attending.
The first day of the conference was devoted to policies, technical issues and cybersecurity. The Opening Plenary of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) identified priority topics related to Subsequent Rounds of New gTLDs: RDAP and WHOIS, data protection, DNS abuse mitigation, and Intergovernmental Organizations (IGO) Rights Protection Mechanisms.
DNS security was one of the most important topics being discussed at the GAC meetings as well as the DNSSEC and Security Workshop.
Those at the GAC meeting noted that DNS abuse poses an end-to-end threat not only to consumers and users, but also to the overall stability and resiliency of the DNS infrastructure. To address this threat, the community needs to create a single contact entity, determine the way to process requests and formulate uniform standards of evidence. Because the problem is huge and registries and registrars have limited capacity to address it, there is a need to establish a common intermediary to help stakeholders save time and connect.
People attending the DNSSEC and Security Workshop discussed the statistics of the use of DNSSEC, DANE and RPKI, the main problems in the DNSSEC specification, the level of automation implemented in DNSSEC technologies as well as other issues.
The second day of ICANN71 was given over to the principles and models of internet governance, as well as to the problems with the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR).
The Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) took responsibility for compliance with governance principles and rules, and supported the mandate given to the community and the ccNSO Council. Online ccNSO Members Meeting participants talked about the updated ccNSO rules, which will have an impact on the respective roles and responsibilities of the Council and ccNSO membership, and prepared the foundation for further work on the new rules, which will be presented at ICANN72.
The General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) was highlighted as a major subject at the GAC session where government representatives discussed various legal issues. In particular, they considered the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data, Relational Databases (RDS), and differential treatment of individuals and legal entities in the context of the GDPR. These and many other aspects of GDPR implementation are still far from being resolved, but the GAC believes registrants need to be identifiable from the information they provide and it should be possible to contact them under the GDPR.
Another important topic addressed during the second day of ICANN71 was ICANN's Multistakeholder Model within the Internet Governance Ecosystem. Community members are concerned that, despite its many advantages, this model cannot withstand the challenges of today. In particular, it takes a long time to reach consensus or make decisions, and this leads to ICANN's inability to respond promptly enough to external pressures affecting its mandate.
During the third day of ICANN’s 71st meeting, participants covered recent news, initiatives and performance results.
At the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) session, an initiative was presented to create a working group to address IDN homograph attacks. The new working group is to develop new regulatory solutions for countering homoglyph attacks while building on the work already done by the community to develop various methodological recommendations.
At the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) session, working group members presented the interim results of the process to develop a mechanism for reviewing decisions concerning the delegation, transfer, cancellation and termination of ccTLDs and IDNs.
Members of the Customer Standing Committee (CSC) and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) met with gTLD and ccTLD registry operators to share the latest developments regarding CSC and IANA naming function, as well as their future plans.
The final day of the virtual forum involved a discussion dedicated to ICANN’s main spheres of activity as well as the future of its public meetings.
A Plenary Meeting focused on Reputation Block Lists (RBLs). The experts noted that RBLs are an important tool for preventing DNS abuse, and elaborated on how best they could work and identify any suspicious behavior.
Members of the ccNSO Strategic and Operational Planning Standing Committee met with GNSO representatives to discuss ICANN's main fields of activity and initiatives, and identified common priorities.
The last session concerned the Post-Pandemic Future of ICANN Public Meetings. The corporation recognized that COVID-19 has changed the way events are held; so, before deciding on the format for ICANN72, the participants gathered to discuss their preferences and to make recommendations on how to comply with safety requirements. The survey showed that most community members would prefer to continue face-to-face meetings while complying with any COVID-19 mitigation protocols and safety precautions. ICANN CEO Göran Marby said he loved working for ICANN, but was not ready to die for it.
The next ICANN meeting is going to be held in a hybrid format – both online and in-person. This way of doing things is nothing new; ICANN introduced the option of joining its events online several years ago now. But, if at the end of July the ICANN Board makes the final decision to hold ICANN72 in a hybrid format, it is going to be the first meeting in two years where members of the domain community could actually meet face-to-face. The last time they got such an opportunity was at ICANN66 held in April 2019 in Montreal, Canada.
According to ICANN's plan, its 72nd Public Meeting should be held from October 23 to 28 in Seattle, United States, assuming the organizers take every precaution if the hybrid format is approved. Those attending will have to provide vaccination certificates, get tested before going to the conference and take a rapid diagnostic test upon arrival, and wear masks and keep their distance during events. Social distancing also implies that the number of participants attending the conference at the venue will be limited.
