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Register Now! Pre-ICANN59 Policy Update Webinar,15 June

To prepare community members for the upcoming Policy Forum inJohannesburg, the Policy Development Support Team is hosting aPre-ICANN59 Policy Update Webinar on 15 June. Subject matterexperts will provide brief updates on cross-community topics andthe policy and advice development work of the Supporting

Organizations and Advisory Committees.

We will conduct two 90-minute sessions at 10:00 and 19:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) toaccommodate participants from different regions and time zones.

Read the full announcement and register now!

Get Ready for ICANN59 Johannesburg, South Africa, 26-29 June 2017

It's not too late to register for the ICANN59 Policy Forum. Beforeyou book your travel, please read the ICANN59 travel and visainformation. If you still need to obtain a visa, check with yournearest South African mission to see if there's still time.

Can't travel to the meeting? Find out how you can participateremotely.

Be sure to check out these useful meeting tools:

ICANN59 Meeting Schedule. You'll find session descriptions, dates, times and locations - and howyou can participate remotely. ICANN59 Mobile App. You can create your own meeting schedule, network with fellow participants,view the venue map, get information about Johannesburg and more. You can find the app in the AppStore, Google play, Windows Store and BlackBerry World. ICANN59 Guide. This handy guide contains a map of the Sandton Convention Centre, health andsafety information, lists of notable sessions, and more.

We hope to see you in Johannesburg!

At the Asia-Pacific Digital Societies PolicyForum 2017, Jia-Rong Low explains theICANN organization's role in helping to

connect people.

ICANN Engages the Pacific Community at the Pacific Internet Governance Forum(IGF)

Young stakeholders waiting for the opening of the Pacific IGF, held on 17-18 May 2017 in Port Vila, Vanuatu

What do multistakeholder participation, openness and inclusivity have in common? They are all necessary topave the way for Internet governance discussions.

ICANN's Savé Vocea, VP of Global Stakeholder Engagement for Australasia, emphasized this point in apanel discussion at the second Pacific IGF. The panel discussion also explored Internet user safety andsecurity. A shared conclusion was that discussions of these issues should start at a national level beforemoving to the regional level.

Vocea also addressed an audience of young people at the Youth IGF session. He encouraged them to maketheir voices heard in Internet governance issues by joining the NextGen@ICANN and ICANN MeetingFellowship programs.

Other discussion topics at the event included affordability and accessibility challenges facing the Pacificregion and Internet security.

ICANN's Role in Building an Inclusive DigitalSociety

The Asia-Pacific Digital Societies Policy Forum 2017, heldon 8-9 May 2017 in Bangkok, Thailand, gathered 160participants from over 20 countries - comprising policymakers,regulators, and representatives from industry and academia. Theevent was co-organized by the International TelecommunicationUnion (ITU) and the GSM Association (GSMA).

In his keynote speech, Jia-Rong Low, VP and Managing Directorof ICANN Asia Pacific, highlighted the ICANN organization's rolein facilitating conversations in the global Internet community. Hespoke of how the Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)Program, which enables users to access the web in their locallanguages and scripts, can help communities come online. IDNswill undoubtedly play a huge role in the next wave for digital societies. Low also shared his views on theInternet of Things (IoT) and Internet security. He invited the region's Internet leaders to participate in thevarious conversations in ICANN.

ICANN's Joyce Chen, Global Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and Development Senior Manager,participated in a panel discussion, where she cited the study "Connecting the Unconnected inDeveloping Asia". Chen also talked about how IDNs can help to enhance digital inclusion in society.

Low and Chen also established relationships with local stakeholders on the sidelines of the event.

Highlights from Asia Pacific (APAC) Space

The APAC Space - a platform for raising issues, sharing viewsand coordinating activities relating to regional participation inICANN's work - was held on 18 May 2017. The agenda focused onplanning for future APAC Space sessions.

In the meeting, the results of a survey conducted by the ICANNAPAC hub were released. The APAC Space Survey 2017 hadasked survey participants what they were most interested indiscussing at future APAC Space sessions. A common theme wasthe Domain Name System (DNS) industry and marketdevelopments.

In a vibrant community discussion, participants explored how to deepen APAC Space discussions. Theyagreed to form smaller subgroups to have in-depth discussions before meetings - with the idea that thesubgroups would summarize these discussions at the APAC Space sessions.

The topic for the next APAC Space will be data privacy and protection.

If you missed this APAC Space, you can listen to the recording or view the notes. To join in thediscussion, subscribe to the APAC Space community mailing list at discuss@tld.asia. To learn aboutfuture sessions, visit the APAC Space wiki page.

Promoting Participation in ICANN's Multistakeholder Model in Sri Lanka

Champika Wijayatunga and Kelvin Wong with the participants of the Sri Lanka School of Internet Governance(SIG)

The second Sri Lanka Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and inaugural Sri Lanka School of InternetGovernance (SIG) were held from 16-18 May 2017 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. ICANN's ChampikaWijayatunga (Regional Security, Stability and Resiliency Engagement Manager) and Kelvin Wong (Head ofOutreach and Public Responsibility, APAC) attended the events.

At the Sri Lanka IGF, Wijayatunga moderated a forum called "Cybersecurity and Safer Internet." Hereinforced the need for greater capacity-development programs and cybersecurity awareness in Sri Lanka.He stressed the importance of collaboration between local and global organizations, and encouraged local lawenforcement agencies to get involved in ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee's Public Safety WorkingGroup (PSWG).

Wong spoke at the IGF session called "Digital Rights and Multistakeholderism in Sri Lanka." He introducedICANN's multistakeholder model and the various stakeholders in the ICANN community. He shared theexample of the Japanese community's ICANN readout sessions (carried out in Japanese) as a model forother communities to follow, including Sri Lanka. Readout sessions are organized by community members forcommunity members who were unable to attend ICANN meetings.

Wijayatunga and Wong also met with about 30 students and other young people at the Sri Lanka SIG, wherethey introduced ICANN's NextGen@ICANN program, multistakeholder model and cybersecurity. They alsomet with key local stakeholders to affirm relationships on the sidelines of the events.

Samiran Gupta addresses the need toparticipate in ICANN at NamesCon Indiaon 19 May 2017 in Mumbai, India. (Photo

credit: NamesCon India)

Encouraging Businesses to Participate in ICANN atNamesCon India

Nearly every business model is built on the assumption that theInternet of tomorrow will be the same as the open, secure andglobally interoperable Internet of today. But who can guaranteethis? According to ICANN's Samiran Gupta, Head of India, allstakeholders of the Internet, including hosting companies, need toparticipate in ICANN's policymaking process.

Gupta's keynote speech at NamesCon India was titled "TheBusiness of ICANN: How Internet Policy Affects You and YourCustomers." He also talked about Internationalized Domain Names(IDNs) and the root zone key signing key (KSK) rollover. Severalparticipants expressed an interest in participating in ICANN afterhis speech.

While in Mumbai, Gupta also attended the WorldHostingDays (WHD.India) on 18 May 2017.

ICANN Conducts DNS and DNSSEC Workshop in Indonesia

Champika Wijayatunga and Rachel Reyes with the participants of the DNS and DNSSEC workshop in Jakarta,Indonesia

On 15-16 May 2017, ICANN's Champika Wijayatunga (Regional Security, Stability and ResiliencyEngagement Manager) and Rachel Reyes (End User Support) were in Jakarta, Indonesia, to conduct a two-day workshop on DNS and DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC). The workshop was held in conjunction withthe Pengelola Nama Domain Internet Indonesia (PANDI) Meeting (PANDI8).

The workshop drew 25 participants - including registrars, Internet service providers, government institutionsand law enforcement agencies. Attendees had hands-on experience configuring DNSSEC on their DNSservers and validating DNSSEC-enabled responses. They also learned about the KSK rollover.

ICANN looks forward to conducting similar events in the future.

Numbers Community Assists in Key Roll Outreach

ICANN has enlisted the help of our partners in communicating theupcoming change to the cryptographic keys that help protect theDomain Name System (DNS). The five Regional InternetRegistries (RIRs) have agreed to work with ICANN to increaseawareness among Internet service providers and network operatorsin their respective global regions.

"The RIRs clearly realize how important it is that network operatorsare ready for this change on October 11," said Matt Larson,ICANN's Vice President of Research. "We're grateful to them forhelping us get the word out and we stand ready to support theRIRs' outreach in whatever way they think will be mostbeneficial."

Internet service providers, network operators and others candetermine if their systems are ready for the pending key changeby going to http://go.icann.org/KSKtest.

To learn more about the key roll, go tohttps://www.icann.org/kskroll.

ICANN Launches Gender Diversity Survey

The ICANN organization is conducting a survey to determine currentperceptions of gender diversity in the ICANN community and toidentify potential barriers to participation. The purpose of thissurvey is to inform community discussions on diversity, followingcalls for additional data on this topic.

We invite all community members to take part! Responses will beanonymous and used in accordance with ICANN's PrivacyPolicy. The survey will be available in Arabic, Chinese, English,French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

It takes just ten minutes to support diverse and meaningful engagement. To make your voice heard, pleasecomplete the survey before 8 July. Your input matters!

Please email any questions to gendersurvey@icann.org .

ICANN Introduces New Empowered CommunityResources

On 25 May 2017, ICANN launched three new resources tosupport the Empowered Community:

Empowered CommunityEmpowered Community AdministrationCorrespondence related to the EmpoweredCommunity

These resources will enable ICANN to provide the community withclear information about any powers currently being exercised, andhow those processes are progressing. Read the full announcement.

Want a Career at ICANN?

Do you know someone who is interested in making a difference inthe future of the Internet and wants to work for a dynamic globalorganization? If so, ICANN could be a great fit. Take a look at ournew careers webpage, now available in six languages. We havean exciting range of career opportunities to explore. View currentjob openings (English).

Ira Magaziner talks to ICANN's BradWhite.

A Look Back: The ICANN History Project

If Vint Cerf is considered one of the "fathers of the Internet," then IraMagaziner could easily be considered "the father of ICANN." It wasMagaziner who spearheaded the formulation of a plan for aninternational, multistakeholder organization, the likes of which fewhad ever seen. And it was this organization, the Internet Corporationfor Assigned Names and Numbers, that would manage theInternet's Domain Name System (DNS).

Magaziner related his little-known story in a video interview thatis part of the new ICANN History Project, which can be found athttps://www.icann.org/history. There, you will find a growingnumber of video interviews.

Read more...

Donggi LeeICANN Fellow, Asia Pacific Interrnet GovernmentAcademy (APIGA) Fellow

Donggi Lee is currently an undergraduate student majoring intechnology management and computer engineering at the UlsanNational Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea. He hasa strong interest in Internet and Internet governance matters.

Lee is familiar with ICANN and Internet governance work, havingstarted his ICANN journey at ICANN49 as a NextGen@ICANNparticipant. Last year, he was a fellow at the APIGA, a five-day

capacity-building program that familiarizes young stakeholders with Internet governance. Lee calls theacademy a "great stepping stone" for young people to get involved in Internet governance work.

Following APIGA, Lee attended ICANN58 in Copenhagen, bolstering the voices of the next generation. He isalso in the midst of joining the Asian, Australasian and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization(APRALO), where he hopes to encourage more Internet users to participate in ICANN and propose solutionsto make the Internet better.

Expect to see more of Lee at ICANN meetings or in ICANN working groups!

Next Steps on the Use of Country and Territory Names as TLDs

The Cross-Community Working Group on the Use of Country and Territory Names as Top-Level Domains(TLDs) - CCWG-UCTN - sought public comment on the draft conclusions and recommendations in itsInterim Paper.

The comments received support the CCWG-UCTN's major recommendations: close the working group,create a new effort with a broader mandate, and embed the work in a comprehensive context. However, therewas great divergence in suggestions for how to embed the next effort.

The CCWG-UCTN is further reviewing the comments. The goal is to complete the final report by ICANN59and submit it to the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) and Generic Names SupportingOrganization (GNSO) Councils for discussion and adoption.

GNSO Initiates Policy Amendment Process on Red Cross and Red Crescent Names

The GNSO Council passed a motion to initiate a policy amendment process on the protection ofspecific Red Cross and Red Crescent names at the top and second level of all generic top-level domains(gTLDs). The Council requested reconvening the Policy Development Process Working Group (PDP WG),which developed the original policy recommendations.

In 2013, the PDP WG developed consensus recommendations for protecting the identifiers of internationalgovernmental and nongovernmental organizations. Some of the recommendations pertaining to theInternational Red Cross and Red Crescent are inconsistent with advice from the Governmental AdvisoryCommittee (GAC). At ICANN58, the GAC and the GNSO engaged in a facilitated dialogue to resolve theiroutstanding differences. The ICANN Board has not yet adopted these recommendations. Recognizing theexceptional circumstances and per the ICANN Board's request, the GNSO agreed to take this extraordinarystep to reconsider its policy recommendations.

ALAC Rescinds Advice on the Proposed Guidelines for the Second String SimilarityReview Process

The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) recently passed a motion to rescind its advice on the ProposedGuidelines for the Second String Similarity Review Process, which it submitted for public comment last year.The advice had supported the recommendations of the ccNSO Extended Process Similarity Review Panel(EPSRP) Working Group.

The validity of the advice was questioned after the ALAC reviewed the Security and Stability AdvisoryCommittee (SSAC) Advisory SAC084. This advisory raised concerns over potential user confusion with theproposed process in relation to Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) TLDs.

After exchanging views with the SSAC and the ccNSO at ICANN58, the ALAC realized that the issue of userconfusion could be resolved if registries would commit to including it in their evaluation processes. The ALACencourages all concerned bodies to find a solution that ensures timely deployment of IDN TLDs withoutcompromising security and stability or processes that mitigate potential user confusion.

GNSO Council Does Not Support Reopening Decision on Two-Character Countryand Territory Codes at the Second Level

In response to advice from the GAC in the ICANN58 Communiqué, the GNSO Council does not supportthe ICANN Board reopening its decision and subsequent implementation of two-character country and territorycodes at the second level. The Council is concerned that the GAC advice essentially requires the ICANNBoard to negotiate directly with individual governments on this topic. In the Council's view, this process isinconsistent with the "Consensus Advice" mechanism stated in the ICANN Bylaws. It would potentiallyundermine the utility of the GAC itself and violate the post-transition accountability commitment of ICANN.

In the new procedure introduced by the ICANN Board 8 November 2016 Resolution, registries are nolonger mandated to notify governments of their use of two-letter country codes or to seek agreements ofgovernments when releasing two-letter country codes at the second level. Because of serious concernsexpressed by some governments, the GAC advised the ICANN Board to engage with concerned

governments and resolve these issues before ICANN59. Learn more in the GNSO Review of the GACICANN58 Copenhagen Communiqué, which has been submitted to the ICANN Board.

GNSO Council Supports the CCWG-Accountability Request for Extension ofMandate and Funding for FY18

As a chartering organization of the Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability(CCWG-Accountability), the GNSO supports the requested extension of the mandate and funding of itsWork Stream 2 (WS2) activities for Fiscal Year 2018. The GNSO Council expects regular updates on WS2activities and on how expenditures track against the adopted budget. The GNSO Council also reserves theright to give further input on the budget allocation for FY18 activities related to the CCWG-Accountability.

Matthew Shears Selected for ICANN Board Director Seat 14

The GNSO Non-Contracted Parties House (NCPH) selected Matthew Shears to succeed Markus Kummer forSeat 14 on the ICANN Board of Directors at the end of ICANN60. As required by the ICANN Bylaws, theGNSO Council Chair communicated the selection to the Empowered Community Administration, theDecisional Participants and the ICANN organization.

ALAC Endorses Three Candidates for the Second RDS Review Team

On 16 May, the ALAC endorsed three candidates for the Second Registration Directory Services (RDS)Review Team: Dmitry Belyavsky (Russia), Alan Greenberg (Canada) and Carlton Samuels (Jamaica). TheALAC received six applications, and the ALAC Appointee Selection Committee led the evaluation processand made the full consensus recommendation to the ALAC for ratification.

GAC Prepares for ICANN59

The GAC leadership created an agenda that aligns with the issues raised by GAC members and respondsto meeting requests from the ICANN community.

In Johannesburg, the GAC will meet with the GNSO, ccNSO, ALAC and the ICANN Board. Additionally, theGAC will discuss its role in the Empowered Community, new gTLDs, and the protections in second-leveldomain names for international governmental and nongovernmental organizations such as the Red Cross andRed Crescent. The GAC will also discuss internal matters, and each working group will meet.

Before ICANN59, the co-chairs of the GAC Underserved Regions and Public Safety Working Groups - incooperation with the ICANN Government Engagement team - are hosting a workshop for law enforcementagencies to raise awareness about the DNS and its impact on public safety.

See the GAC sessions in the ICANN59 Schedule.

Participate in ICANN Reviews

Reviews are critical tools that provide performance evaluations of ICANN, its Supporting Organizations andAdvisory Committees. Help ICANN by participating in Reviews and driving continuous improvement throughthe findings and recommendations that they deliver.

What's Happening?

The members of the Registration Directory Service (RDS) Review Team have been announced.This announcement includes diversity data for the team. The Review Team welcomes observers tosign up to follow its meetings. The Security, Stability, and Resiliency of the DNS (SSR2) Review Team has announced its Termsof Reference. This follows their second face-to-face meeting in Madrid, a summary of which can befound here. The Nominating Committee (NomCom) independent reviewer has been announced. Click here to learnmore. The Final Report on the Review of the At-Large Community has been translated into Arabic, Chinese,French, Russian and Spanish. For more information, click here.

ICANN Board Approves Global Amendment

The Global Amendment is a set of revisions to the base New gTLDRegistry Agreement, as negotiated by ICANN and a WorkingGroup established by the Registries Stakeholder Group. Asrequired by the terms of the Registry Agreement, the GlobalAmendment was approved by eligible registry operators following avote that concluded on 10 April 2017, and by the ICANN Board ina resolution dated 18 May 2017.

With these approvals, ICANN provided registry operators with a 60-day notice of the Global Amendment's effective date of 31 July2017. Please visit the Global Amendment webpage for

additional information and the most recent updates.

Annual GDD Summit Brings Together Registriesand Registrars

During the second week of May, ICANN held the third annualGlobal Domains Division (GDD) Industry Summit in Madrid,Spain. More than 450 people from 60 countries attended inperson, and dozens more remotely. Several executives and Boardmembers attended this year's event and actively engaged withparticipants.

GDD Summit 2017 participants listen inon one of the many Registry breakout

sessions.

The summit provided a forum for ICANN's contracted parties todiscuss issues of mutual interest and importance, share bestpractices and meet one-on-one with members of the ICANNorganization.

More information about the GDD Industry Summit, presentationsand session audio recordings can be found athttps://www.icann.org/gddsummit.

Participants Explore ICANN DNS Initiatives atInaugural DNS Symposium

The inaugural ICANN DNS Symposium took place after the GDDSummit in Madrid, Spain, as a one-day event focused on allaspects of the Domain Name System (DNS). More than 175attendees met with members of the ICANN organization to exploreits current initiatives and projects relating to DNS research,operations, threats and countermeasures and technology evolution.

More information about the event and a link to the presentations canbe found at: https://www.icann.org/ids.

Wanted: Trusted Community RepresentativeVolunteers

ICANN is seeking volunteers to act as Trusted CommunityRepresentatives for managing the root zone key signing key (KSK),the trust anchor for the global DNS. By inviting recognizedmembers of the DNS technical community to be part of the rootzone KSK operations, the ICANN organization seeks to improvetransparency and confidence in DNS Security Extensions(DNSSEC).

If you're interested in serving as one of the multilayered safeguardsthat protect the key material used to secure the DNS root zone, submit a statement of interest here.

Latin Generation Panel Formed - Enabling aMultilingual Internet

ICANN recently announced the formation of the Generation Panelto develop root zone Label Generation Rules (LGR) for theLatin script. Because it's the most widely used in terms ofnumber of languages and number of speakers, the Latin script orRoman script is a major writing system of the world today.

Thank you to the Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Cyrillic, Georgian,Greek, Ethiopic, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Latin, Neo-Brahmiand Thai script communities that are currently working to enable a

multilingual Internet. Learn how you can speak up for your language by visiting the www.icann.org/idn.

Two New gTLDs Were Delegated in May 2017

arab برع , "Arab", /arab/

ICANN will be participating in these upcoming events:

3-7 July 2017 | Pacific Network Operators Group (PacNOG) 20 | Port Moresby, Papua NewGuinea25-27 July 2017 | Commonwealth Broadband Pacific Forum 2017 | Apia, Samoa26-29 July 2017 | Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) | Bangkok,Thailand7-11 August 2017 | Asia Pacific Internet Governance Academy (APIGA) | Seoul, Korea7-8 September 2017 | Australian Network Operators Group (AusNOG) | Melbourne, Australia

Learn more about how ICANN will be participating in regional events near you.