Post ICANN59 Meeting Report – At-Large

Decisions and Outcomes

At ICANN59, the At-Large community held 25 sessions, including local and regional outreach activities and meetings with other stakeholders.

The ALAC and the Regional At-Large Organization (RALO) leaders discussed public interest issues pertinent to the end-user community, including new generic top-level domain (gTLD) consumer safeguards, the Domain Abuse Activity Reporting (DAAR) Project, and an update of the Competition, Consumer Trust, and Consumer Choice (CCT) Review. In particular, the community had a productive discussion with Bryan Schilling, Consumer Safeguards Director, about his role at ICANN, his understanding of the definition of consumer, and what support At-Large could provide to advance his work efforts at ICANN.

Entering the next phase of the At-Large organizational review, the At-Large Community leaders discussed the method and timeline for developing the At-Large Review Recommendations Feasibility Assessment and Implementation Plan. The ALAC Statement has laid the groundwork for analyzing the recommendations from ITEMS, the independent examiner.

Nearly 50 African Regional At-Large Organization (AFRALO) At-Large Structures (ALSes) across 30 countries participated in the AFRALO General Assembly (GA) and its related activities. During the GA plenary on Wednesday, 28 June, AFRALO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AFRINIC for future enhanced cooperation. Göran Marby, ICANN President and CEO; Cherine Chalaby, ICANN Board Director; and Pierre Dandjinou, Vice President, Global Stakeholder Engagement, Africa, spoke at the GA and encouraged ALSes to continue their efforts to spread the word about ICANN.

Furthermore, AFRALO made progress on revising its operating principles and identified topics for the AFRALO policy document for capacity-building purposes. AFRALO ALSes benefited from daily capacity-development sessions focused on the ALAC advice development process, security trends affecting registrants, the ICANN Empowered Community, and the Next Generation Registration Directory Service (RDS). Experienced community leaders such as Chuck Gomes and Alan Greenberg, as well as ICANN staff, presented in those sessions.

Finally, AFRALO successfully held outreach activities at ICANN59, including a local engagement event with young members from the Innovation Hub Management Company of the University of Johannesburg, a multicultural showcase, and outreach activities and video interviews of ALSes at the AFRALO booth.

What Else Happened?

During the ICANN59 Policy Forum, At-Large members participated in the cross-community discussions, particularly on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and top-level geographic names. Cheryl Langdon-Orr, ALAC Liaison to the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), chaired the GDPR session. The cross-community session topics were also discussed during the At-Large leadership sessions, during which Rinalia Abdul Rahim, ICANN Board Director, informed At-Large that the GDPR is high on the ICANN Board’s agenda.

As a Decisional Participant in the Empowered Community, the ALAC participated in the Community Forum, which was convened for the first time at ICANN59, to discuss a proposal to amend a Fundamental Bylaw.

As is usual practice during ICANN Public Meetings, At-Large met with the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC). The discussion with the GAC focused on ways to enhance ALAC-GAC cooperation, new approaches to the new gTLD subsequent procedures, and potential cooperation to encourage participation in ICANN from underserved regions. The SSAC shared its Advisory on the Use of Emoji in Domain Names and other policy priorities.

Members of At-Large also met with senior staff from the Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE) and Public Responsibility Support (PRS) teams. GSE staff gave an overview of its programs that aim to increase participation in ICANN policymaking in the African region. PRS staff reported on the development of the ICANN Learn program and highlighted that several At-Large capacity-building webinars have been successfully converted into online courses.

The initial discussion of the third At-Large Summit (ATLAS III), which is expected to take place during ICANN64, focused on the criteria and expectations for ALS representatives and individual members to be considered for travel support to attend ATLAS III.

RALO leaders and four At-Large internal working groups (Capacity Building Working Group, Outreach and Engagement Subcommittee, Public Interest Working Group, and Technology Taskforce) also met in ICANN59.

Next Steps

The At-Large community will be busy with the next phase of the At-Large Review. At-Large staff will prepopulate the content in a template for the Feasibility Assessment and Implementation Plan based on the ALAC statement on the At-Large Review Draft Report. This draft document will be discussed as frequently as possible during the ALAC and RALO teleconferences, and the At-Large Review Working Party calls. The community aims to submit this document to the ICANN Board Organization Effectiveness Committee by early September, followed by ICANN Board action on the ITEMS recommendations.

Shortly after ICANN59, the ALAC will conduct an electronic vote regarding whether to approve the changes to a Fundamental Bylaw, which was discussed during the Community Forum. According to the ALAC rules of procedure, this ratification will require two-thirds of the 15 ALAC Members to cast affirmative votes. Other ICANN policy-related ALAC activities include a follow-up on open ICANN public comment proceedings and the review of the draft flowchart of the ICANN process documentation initiative pertaining to the ALAC policy advice development process.

At the regional level, AFRALO will collaborate with ICANN Policy staff to develop a policy document based on the topics identified at ICANN59. After the discussion with Göran Marby, ICANN President and CEO, about connectivity challenges in rural areas, AFRALO plans to coordinate with ICANN IT staff to organize a webinar or a session at ICANN60 regarding the access challenges for low bandwidth users.

The Asian, Australasian, and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO) will hold its General Assembly during ICANN60 in Abu Dhabi. Its leaders and members will mobilize to work on the logistics, finance, outreach, and other aspects to prepare for the GA. Several organizing committees will be formed. APRALO will also collaborate with ICANN Policy staff to develop a policy document in support of the upcoming GA.

Finally, the ALAC will deal with various organizational matters, including:

• Selection of At-Large members to fill vacant slots to attend ICANN60
• Ratification of ALAC representatives to the Nominating Committee
• Decertification of several At-Large Structures
• Discussion of criteria and expectations for ALS representatives and individual members to be considered for travel support to attend the ATLAS III

Resource Materials

At-Large Review

• At-Large Review Recommendation Feasibility Assessment and Implementation Plan Workspace

• ALAC Statement on the At-Large Review Draft Report

At-Large Sessions at ICANN59

• Policy Discussions: CCT Review | Domain Name Abuse and the DAAR Project | Public Interest Concerns

• At-Large Review Working Party Meeting with Multistakeholder Strategy and Strategic Initiatives Staff

• ALAC Discussions about Fundamental Bylaw changes, GDPR, Auction Proceeds, ICANN Process Documentation Initiative

• Joint Meetings: GAC | SSAC

• Meetings with ICANN Departments: Consumer Safeguards | PRS | GSE

• ATLAS III Discussions

• Working Group Meetings: Capacity Building Working Group | Outreach and Engagement Subcommittee | Public Interest Working Group | Technology Taskforce

AFRALO Activities at ICANN59

• General Assembly Plenary: Part 1 | Part 2 | Wrap-Up

• Capacity Building: ALAC Policy Advice Development Process | Security Trends Affecting Registrants |Empowered Community | Next Generation RDS

• Local Community Engagement Activity

Other ICANN59 Reference Materials

• One-stop shop for the agendas, presentations, recordings, and transcripts of all At-Large sessions in ICANN59

• Photos of At-Large sessions and activities

• Video Interview of AFRALO ALSes

Policy Reference Materials

• ICANN Public Comment At-Large Workspace

• At-Large Community Policy Topics: Why End Users Should Care

• European Regional At-Large Organization (EURALO) Policy Topics

APRALO Activities at ICANN60

• APRALO Workspace