A vital part of ICANN’s processes is the opportunity for there to be public comment on each substantial piece of work before it is put forward for final approval. This is an archive of one month’s public comment periods, arranged according to the month in which the comment period was closed.
Each box below provides a brief explanation of what the comment period hoped to achieve, as well as: links to relevant reports and/or webpages; a link to the official announcement of the comment period; a link to where all existing comments can be found; and an email link for anyone that wished to send in a comment. A “summary/analysis” objectively reviews the comments.
| Forums Closing This Month | Public Comment | Archived Forums |
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2009 |
Closed Forums
| Proposed Framework for ICANN’s FY10 Operating Plan and Budget | |||||
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Explanation:The release of ICANN’s Proposed Framework for the Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) Operating Plan and Budget [PDF, 868K] kicks off the operational planning process for ICANN, providing the community the first look at the planned work and financial resources required for FY10. The framework will be discussed with members of the ICANN community at the Mexico City meeting in March, through online public comment areas, and through conference calls with ICANN constituencies. A more detailed draft FY10 Operating Plan and Budget will be posted by 17 May 2009. After more public comment and feedback, the budget is expected to be adopted by the ICANN Board at its Sydney meeting in June 2009. ICANN has now completed its 10th year, and this framework reflects a growing organization that is attaining operational maturity in many areas. Many of the organizational support elements envisioned for ICANN are at levels adequate to provide sufficient support for the current scale of community work. This means that ICANN’s spending growth is anticipated to slow substantially in the FY10 budget as compared with previous years (4.9% compared with 30.1% in FY09). The world economic environment has dictated that costs that can be deferred will be. ICANN will likely under run its FY09 budget through some explicit cost controls as well as through the shifting of some program expenses into FY10. As always, the community is encouraged to comment on how well this plan addresses priorities identified in the Strategic Plan. This year, specifically in light of the world economic climate, the community is encouraged to comment regarding the plan elements that might be streamlined, reduced, or deferred: http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-200904.html#op-budget-fy2010 The framework is currently available in English: http://www.icann.org/en/planning/ops-budget-framework-10-en.pdf [PDF, 868K] Translated versions will be available in the following languages soon: This first public comment period on the Framework for the Operating Plan and Budget FY10 will end 30 April 2009. |
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| Staff member responsible: Kevin Wilson | |||||
| ALAC Review WG Draft Final Report | ||||||||||||||||
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Explanation: The ALAC Review Working Group (WG) has released its draft Final Report [PDF, 309K] presenting its conclusions on ALAC improvements. The report is posted for discussion and consultation with the ICANN Community, including at the forthcoming ICANN Meeting in Mexico City in March 2009. After the closure of the period for consultation and public comment, the Final Report will be issued and submitted to the Structural Improvements Committee for consideration and submission to the Board for decision. The draft Final Report(original: English) is available in:
For more information about the ALAC Review, see the ALAC Review page. |
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| Staff member responsible: Marco Lorenzoni | ||||||||||||||||
| Travel Support | |||||
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Explanation: A public comment period has opened today for 30 days on the topic of travel support. Last year, ICANN created travel procedures to clarify which members of the ICANN community were to receive travel support for that fiscal year (2009). At the same time, it was announced that they would be reviewed after the first year of use. As well as that review commitment, ICANN has received diverse feedback from across the community for improving the procedures. That feedback covered a number of topics: level of support; what costs covered and did not cover (e.g. food, Internet access); booking travel; and visas, among others. This comment period is intended to gather further feedback before revised procedures are introduced into the FY2010 budget for approval at the Sydney meeting in June. A presentation on ICANN travel support was provided at the ICANN Mexico City meeting in which the purpose of the travel support and insights gathered from the current year’s experiences were discussed. Links to the materials produced for that meeting and a transcript are provided below. The public comment period will close on 24 April 2009. If you wish to send in a comment, email travel-support-2010@icann.org. All comments can be viewed at http://forum.icann.org/lists/travel-support-2010/. Related links: 2008 travel procedures: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/travel-support/revised-procedure-11aug08-en.htm Mexico City meeting presentation: http://mex.icann.org/files/meetings/mexico2009/cfo-travel-support-workshop-02mar09-en.pdf [PDF, 3,290K] Mexico City meeting transcript: http://mex.icann.org/files/meetings/mexico2009/transcript-constituencies-travel-support-02mar09.txt |
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| Staff member responsible: Kevin Wilson | |||||
| SSAC Review – Independent Reviewers’ Draft Report | |||||
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Explanation: ICANN appointed JAS Communications as the consultants for the independent review of SSAC, the Security and Stability Advisory Committee. The consultants released their draft final report, which was presented and discussed at the ICANN Mexico City meeting. Slides used during the presentation and transcript of the discussion are available here. A public comment period is now open to allow inputs from the community to the draft final report of external reviewers. The SSAC review Working Group, considering the report of external reviewers and the inputs that will be received during public comments, will issue its recommendations to the Structural Improvements Committee and the Board for implementation. The reviewers’ draft final report is available in English [PDF, 677K]; other linguistic versions will follow. Its executive Summary is also available in French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese from the SSAC review webpage. |
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| Staff member responsible: Marco Lorenzoni | |||||
| New gTLDs – Preliminary Reports on Competition and Pricing | |||||
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Explanation:ICANN retained Dennis Carlton, Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and Senior Managing Director of Compass Lexecon, to perform two independent analyses:
The preliminary reports represent a third party independent analysis. A public comment period is now open to allow for further inputs from the community. Both reports are currently available in English; other linguistic versions will follow shortly. |
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| Staff member responsible: Kurt Pritz | |||||
| Board Review – Working Group Interim Report | |||||
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Explanation:ICANN appointed the Boston Consulting Group/Colin Carter & Associates to perform the external review of its Board of Directors; their review report was presented during a public workshop at the Cairo meeting. A public comment period followed and comments received can be viewed at http://forum.icann.org/lists/board-review-report/. The Board review WG, considering the Independent Reviewer’s final report, Board input, and comments from stakeholders and the public, issued an Interim Report for consultation with the Community, which was presented at the ICANN meeting in Mexico City. This Report presents the WG’s “initial thinking” on the questions under review; a public comment period is now open to allow for further inputs from the community to this Interim Report before its finalization. The Interim Report is available in English [PDF, 124K]; other linguistic versions will follow shortly. |
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| Staff member responsible: Marco Lorenzoni | |||||
| New GNSO Stakeholder Group Petitions and Charters | |||||
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Explanation:As part of the comprehensive GNSO Improvements effort, last August the ICANN Board approved the formation of four new Stakeholder Groups (SGs). These SG structures represent a new concept for the GNSO that was envisioned by the Board Governance Committee GNSO Review Working Group On GNSO Improvements (BGC WG). As of 5 March, charter petitions for the Registry SG, the Registrar SG, the Commercial SG and the Non-Commercial SG (NCSG) have been submitted to the Board for review and approval. A total of five charters have been received as two proposals were submitted for the NCSG. The overall GNSO Improvements effort and the role SGs will play in that arena is more fully described in the Stakeholder Group section of the GNSO Improvements Information Page - http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/stakeholder-process-en.htm
All members of the ICANN community are now invited to review those submissions and share comments and observations with the Board and the wider community through 15 April 2009. That date has been extended from 5 April to allow additional community input on the updated/revised NCUC NCSG proposal submitted on 16 March 2009. Staff Responsible: Robert Hoggarth Deadline and How to Submit Comments: The Staff is opening a 30-day public consultation forum, from 5 March 2009 through 15 April 2009, and invites community comments on this topic. In view of the extensive community discussions in Mexico City regarding several of the SG Charters, a number of SG proponents indicated that they would like to modify or update their proposals. As a result, to the extent necessary, this Public Comment Forum may be extended as late as15 April if revised proposals are submitted by SG proponents over the next week to 10 days. To the extent that a SG Group chooses to update or modify its proposal during that time frame, that revised submission will be added to the Public Comment Forum as well as the GNSO Improvements Information Page. < http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/stakeholder-process-en.htm> To submit comments: Comments on the document are welcome via email at sg-petitions-charters@icann.org. This public forum will be open at least through 5 April 2009 and is subject to extension as described above. To view comments: An archive of all comments received will be publicly posted at http://forum.icann.org/lists/sg-petitions-charters/. For a copy of the public announcement of this forum please see http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-3-05mar09-en.htm. |
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| Staff member responsible: Robert Hoggarth | |||||
| New gTLD Draft Applicant Guidebook, Version 2 (V2) | |||||
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Explanation: The Draft Applicant Guidebook, V2 is now available for review and comment at http:/www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/comments-2-en.htm. A red-lined and annotated version of the document is also available to better understand the changes that were made in progressing from Draft Applicant Guidebook, V1 to V2. A series of Explanatory Memoranda accompany the Draft Applicant Guidebook, V2, to supplement understanding of the implementation work for new gTLDs. The Draft Applicant Guidebook, V2, and accompanying papers, will be made available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish in the near future. All materials are in draft form for public comment and review. Your comments will help with the production of the Draft Applicant Guidebook, Version 3, expected to be released in Q3 2009. Further details about the New gTLD Program can be found at: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm |
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| Staff member responsible: Carole Cornell | |||||
| Ombudsman Framework | |||||
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Explanation: A new public comment period opens today on the revised Ombudsman Framework. See http://www.icann.org/ombudsman/documents/draft-ombudsman-framework-13mar09-en.pdf [PDF, 588K]
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| Staff member responsible: Amy Stathos | |||||
| GNSO-Approved RAA Amendments | |||||
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Explanation: At the ICANN meeting in Mexico City, the various GNSO constituencies worked diligently to arrive at a supportive motion that will advance the RAA amendment package and provide for additional follow-up efforts that will be pursued over the coming months. This motion was adopted unanimously and the amendment package has been advanced to the Board for final approval. For a transcript of the discussion in the GNSO meeting on 4 March 2009 see http://mex.icann.org/files/meetings/mexico2009/transcript-gnso-council-04mar09-en.txt. A copy of the motion adopted during this public meeting is available at http://gnso.icann.org/resolutions/#200903. In addition to approving the set of amendments, the GNSO also commited to:
The ICANN Board of Directors agreed with the substance of the amendments at its public meeting on 6 March 2009 and directed staff to hold a final public comment period prior to its vote. Once the Board approves the amendment package, the new form of RAA will be used with newly accredited registrars, with registrars that are up for renewal, and voluntarily by registrars that wish to enter the new contract prior to their renewal date. Incentives will be developed to encourage early adoption by registrars. |
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| Staff member responsible: Tim Cole | |||||
| New CyberSafety Constituency Petition and Charter | |||||
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Explanation:The ongoing GNSO Improvements process has created significant community interest in the formation of new GNSO constituencies and several groups have stepped forward to begin the process of forming a new GNSO constituency. The ICANN Board has now received its first formal petition - from the prospective CyberSafety Constituency. All members of the ICANN community and the public are now invited to review the petition and charter of the CyberSafety Constituency and share comments with the Board and community through 5 April 2009. In June 2008, the Board of Directors endorsed a series of recommendations on how to improve the GNSO’s structures and operations. One of the significant drivers of those recommendations was an interest in maximizing participation in the GNSO and its policy development processes. Among the various recommendations endorsed by the Board was that ICANN take steps to clarify and promote the option to self-form new constituencies. The current ICANN Bylaws provide that any group of individuals or entities may petition the Board for recognition as a new or separate constituency, in accordance with Section 5(4) of Article X. Such a petition must explain (1) why “the addition of such a Constituency will improve the ability of the GNSO to carry out its policy-development responsibilities” and (2) why “the proposed new Constituency would adequately represent, on a global basis, the stakeholders it seeks to represent.” At the direction of the Board, the ICANN Staff developed a two-step process for potential new constituencies to follow. The proponent of the CyberSafety Constituency completed the first step of the process on 20 October 2008 by filing a Notice of Intent to Form New Constituency[DOC, 148K]. The proponent of the CyberSafety Constituency completed the second step of the process- submission of a New Constituency Petition and Charter on 23 February 2009 –
Deadline and How to Submit Comments: The Staff is opening a 30-day public consultation forum, from 5 March 2009 through 5 April 2009, and invites community comments on this topic. To submit comments: Comments on the document are welcome via email at cyber-safety-petition@icann.org. This public forum will be open through 5 April 2009. To view comments: An archive of all comments received will be publicly posted at http://forum.icann.org/lists/cyber-safety-petition/. For a copy of the public announcement of this forum please see http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-05mar09-en.htm. |
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| Staff member responsible: Robert Hoggarth | |||||