Logo
ICANN
ICANN
Filtered Search

Are you sure you want to sign out from http://www.icann.org?

If you want to sign out from both http://www.icann.org and ICANN Account, click here.

Board Activities and Meetings

View records of actions and decisions made by the ICANN Board from recent activities and meetings.

Minutes | Meeting of the Technical Committee of the Board (BTC) | 29 June 2023

Board Member and Liaison Attendees: Avri Doria (Chair), Alan Barrett, Nicolas Caballero, Edmon Chung, James Galvin, Wes Hardaker, Christian Kaufmann, and Patricio Poblete

Board Member with Apologies: Harald Alvestrand

ICANN Organization Attendees: Jennifer Bryce (Project Manager), Franco Carrasco (Board Operations Specialist), John Crain (SVP and Chief Technology Officer), Wendy Profit (Board Operations Senior Manager), Kim Davies ((VP, IANA Services and President, PTI), Matt Larson (VP, Research), Steve Conte (Sr Director, IROS Operations), Samaneh Tajalizadehkhoob (Director, Security, Stability and Resiliency Research) and Sarah Zagha (Counsel)

Invited Guests: Suzanne Woolf and Matthew Thomas (Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) Working Party (WP) chairs)
– only present for agenda item no. 1

The following is a summary of discussions, actions taken, and actions identified:

  1. BTC Update Session with the Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) DG Admin – The Committee received an update on the NCAP work from Matt Thomas and Suzanne Woolf, the NCAP Discussion Group Admin co-chairs. It was noted that Study 2 is progressing well. Completion of a full draft of the Study 2 report is anticipated before the ICANN78 Annual General Meeting (AGM).
  2. Approval of Pending Committee Meeting's Report – The Committee approved the 25 May 2023 Preliminary Report of its meeting

  3. Action Items Review – The Chair established the agenda for the meeting. Seven action items were reviewed:

    • Action Item #1: The Committee to review the finalized proposed revisions to the Committee Charter online and approve final changes via email is in progress, and was discussed further during this meeting.
    • Action Item #2: The Committee to review the DSFI-TSG Report's 12 recommendations, note any questions, and discuss further during the next Committee meeting is in progress. A link to the report was sent via email for individual review. This item will be discussed further during this meeting.
    • Action Item #3: The Chair to revert back to the Committee once the Governance Committee of the Board (BGC) reviews the Committee's questions regarding the Committee Charter for formal approval is completed. A response from the BCG was not received. As such, the Committee continued its work to review its Charter
    • Action Item #4: The Chair to work with volunteers Edmon Chung, Jim Galvin, and Wes Hardaker on outlining the topics associated with alternative naming systems and Blockchain, in order of progression, which will be used to set the agenda of future Committee meetings, is completed.
    • Action Item #5: Board Ops to schedule a 45-minute time slot during a future Committee meeting in which the researcher from the University of San Diego to present her findings to the Committee. Board Ops to schedule this meeting for the July 2023 Committee meeting, subject to the availability of the researcher.
    • Action Item #6: A deep dive presentation for the Committee of the Initial Draft of Study 2 to be scheduled for the first quarter of 2023 is on hold. This action item is pending finalization of the Study 2 report.
    • Action Item #7: The Committee to review its Work Plan for 2023 is on hold. This action item is subject to the Committee's finalization and approval of its Charter. Once the Committee's Charter is approved by the Committee, and sent to the BGC for approval, the Committee will begin reviewing its Work Plan for 2023 while the BCG reviews the Charter.
  4. Standby Meeting Chair – The Chair informed the Committee that she has asked Committee member Alan Barrett to serve as the Committee's standby meeting Chair in the event that the Chair is not available.
  5. Approval of Revised BTC Charter – The Chair led the review of the Committee's Charter. Previously, the Chair and other Committee members made comments and some proposed changes to the Charter, which were presented to the Committee. The Committee continued its discussion on the topic of composition (voting), changes relating to the Scope of Responsibilities and Review sections within the Charter, and ultimately finalized, and unanimously voted to approve, the proposed revisions to the Committee Charter. It was noted that the Committee Charter will next be sent to the BCG for review and approval.
  6. Alternative Naming System & ICANN – The Chair noted that the Alternative Naming System & ICANN topic is currently memorialized within a living document that a small group of Committee members have created and placed within the Committee's working directory. This document will serve as a guide to frame the discussion on this topic. The Committee reviewed the document as well its proposed edits and comments. The question of whether alt, alternative, or alternate is the more appropriate word choice when referring to these naming systems was raised. The Chair informed the Committee that the paper remains open to further edits and suggestions. The Committee asked various questions at the end of the presentation.

  7. Priority Project Updates – The Committee received an update on the following projects:

    • SAC113 Implementation Update: ICANN org gave a brief presentation on updates related to the implementation of SAC113. A summary of comments resulting from the Public Comment proceeding (held from January 2023 and to February 2023) on a proposed procedure for selecting a top-level domain string for private use was given. It was noted that a draft SAC113 Board paper was circulated to the Committee members for their review (before going to the full Board for its consideration). The discussion concluded with the Committee vote to send the Board paper to the full Board, with the Committee's recommendation.

      • Action Item: ICANN org to make a minor editorial change to the resolution clause within the SAC113 Board paper (place "SAC113" in the first sentence to clarify what the resolution pertains to).
    • Domain Name System Security Facilitation Initiative Technical Study Group (DSFI-TSG) Report - Feasibility Assessment: ICANN org presented on the DNS Security Facilitation Initiative. A brief discussion on the Feasibility Assessment, including its criteria, was given. A question regarding the three classes of recommendations was raised and discussed.
    • Root Server System Governance Working Group (RSS GWG) 037/038 Implementation: Committee member Edmon Chung provided an update on the RSS GWG 037/038 implementation. It was reported that the GWG's workshop (composed of four sessions) during ICANN77 went well. Discussions of the financial principles, including the accountability and transparency of funding, for root server operators were held. The next discussion will center on separation and balance of power in the eventual governance model.

  8. Updates from Technical Liaisons – The Committee received an update from the following Board Technical Liaisons:

    • SSAC (James Galvin): The Committee was notified that the SSAC has selected a new chair from among its membership and will be announced. Furthermore, there will be upcoming vice-chair elections to be held. It was noted that the annual SSAC workshop will be held in September 2023. Agenda items for that worksop will include ideas for ICANN's five-year strategic plan, the NCAP discussion group's work product, and DNS issues.
    • RSSAC (Wes Hardaker): The Committee was notified that RSSAC002 version 5 has been published, and that RSSAC001 version 2 is within the final stages of publication. It was also noted that a new RSSAC caucus work party on RSS security incident reporting is forming. Furthermore, the RSSAC continues to work on messaging to explain how the root server system and the top of DNS works at multiple levels, depending on who the audience is (e.g., audiences with less technical understanding versus more technical audiences).
    • IETF (Wes Hardaker): The Committee was reminded that "The ALT Special Use Top Level Domain" IETF draft has passed the IETF's last comments and is currently in the queuing system. It was also noted that conversation regarding alternative naming systems is expected to be an active one within the IETF in the near future.
  9. Any Other Business - No other business was discussed

The Chair called the meeting to a close.

Published on 6 September 2023