1 1 The GNSO Role in Internet Governance Presented by: Chuck Gomes Date: 13 May 2010

2 2 Introduction  Thank you for the kind invitation to participate in the RIGF.  Personal Information –VP, Policy & Compliance, VeriSign, Inc. –Chair, ICANN GNSO Council –Involved in Internet domain name policy work since 1996  What is the GNSO? –Generic Names Supporting Organization –One of three policy development bodies in ICANN –Responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board policies relating to generic top-level domains –Consists of 4 stakeholder groups: –Non-commercial users –Commercial users –Registrars –Registries

3 3 Presentation Objectives  Brief gTLD history  Historical role of the GNSO in Internet Governance  The GNSO role in Internet Governance today & going forward –What do GNSO policy development efforts have to do with global Internet governance?  What is the GNSO doing to bridge the digital divide?

year snapshot of gTLDs  15 March st.com name registered (symbolics.com)  6 August Debut of the world wide web  13 September Network Solutions started charging for registering.com,.net &.org domain names.  18 September 1998 – The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was incorporated.  11 March 1999 – Separation of gTLD registry & registrar functions  16 November 2000 – 7 new gTLDs approved by ICANN  August 2004 ff – 7 additional gTLDs were approved by ICANN  2010 – The process to introduce more gTLDs is being finalized.

5 5 Early Internet governance issues for gTLDs  First two major governance issues –Cybersquatting –Competition  Examples of GNSO policies that contribute to Internet Governance –Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), 24 October 1999 –Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy, 25 April 2003 –Whois Data Reminder Policy, 16 June 2003 –Procedure for Potential Conflicts between Whois Requirements & Privacy Laws, 10 May 2006 –Recommendations on the Introduction of New gTLDs, 26 June 2008

6 6 Current Internet Governance related GNSO policy work  Whois Studies  Registration Abuse  IDN Variants & 1 or 2 character IDN TLDs with the Country Code Name Supporting Organization (ccNSO)  Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy Improvements  Internationalized Registration Data with the ICANN Security & Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) & the ccNSO  New gTLD Applicant Support

7 7 GNSO policy development challenges General Challenges  Bottom-up policy development is slow.  Volunteers must commit a lot of time.  Finding representatives from all impacted groups is difficult.  Competing interests make it hard to reach consensus.  Implementation of some policies can be time consuming Examples of Policy Challenges  Whois  New gTLDs

8 8 What is the GNSO doing to bridge the digital divide?  Introduction of new gTLDs including IDN gTLDs  Internationalization of Registration Data  New gTLD Applicant Support  GNSO Improvement Recommendations –GBSO Website improvements including translation of key documents –Increased outreach efforts to inform & involve new stakeholders from all over the world –Improved coordination and communication with other ICANN organizations such as the Governmental Advisory Committee, the ccNSO & the At-Large community. –Open working group model –Training for potential leaders & participants

9 9 Conclusion  The GNSO is just one element of Internet Governance.  ICANN is just one element of Internet Governance.  The IGF has proven to be an outstanding way for all stakeholders to collaborate on Internet Governance issues and especially provides a place to discuss issues outside of the missions of ICANN & the GNSO.  The GNSO open working group model is open for any of you who are interested in and/or impacted by gTLD policy development.  The GNSO is privileged to have Andrei Kolesnikov, Director of the Coordination center for the.RU TLD, serving on the GNSO Council and various GNSO working groups and I hope others will follow his lead.  Throughout these two days and following this meeting, I will be happy to answer any questions and listen to your comments about the GNSO.

10 Thank You