ICANN 54 Primer

ICANN 54 Primer: Welcome to Dublin

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ICANN 54-Dublin

Dates:

18-22 October 2015

Location:

The Convention Centre Dublin
Spencer Dock
North Wall Quay
Dublin 1
Ireland

Remote Participation

Even if you are unable to attend ICANN 54 in Dublin, your participation is needed to help shape the future of the internet. Learn about remote participation here.

Important Issues

Domain Privacy

The protocols and policy surrounding WHOIS have not changed much since its conception in the ARPANET days, but the use of WHOIS has changed dramatically. It has become a resource used by law enforcement, domain buyers and data miners alike. This has caused some to register their domains through privacy or proxy registration services. Recently the use of these services has become a center of debate and is one of the topics to look out for at this meeting.

For more information, check out our article on Domain Privacy.

IANA Transition

On March 14, 2015 the US Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it intended to transition stewardship of key internet domain name functions to the global multistakeholder community. However, the NTIA stated that the transfer would not occur until ICANN develops a proposal that meets a number of requirements and has broad community support.

The transition was originally set to take place on 30 September 2015, when that contract term expired, but it became increasingly evident that more time would be required for ICANN to develop an acceptable proposal. The NTIA preemptively extended the contract to 30 September 2016, giving ICANN more time to prepare for the transition. This promises to be an important topic to watch at this meeting.

For More Information, check out our article on the IANA Transition.

Accountability

Since the time ICANN was created, it has been held accountable by the The US government's control of the IANA function. The process of maintaining this accountability after the IANA transition occurs is an extremely important step to be taken before the transition can move forward. ICANN Identified a number of requirements to be met by the proposal before the transition occurs. However, some believe the entire plan is ultimately dependent on improvements to ICANN’s processes and accountability.

New gTLD Program

ICANN’s New gTLD Program was introduced in 2012 as a way to open up competition in the domain name markets. Rather than rely solely on the standard .com, .edu, etc., the new gTLDs have delivered broader options in meaning for consumers. Now that the first round of gTLDs have concluded, domainers and industry professionals have their eye on the future of these extensions--will these new top level domains edge into the mainstream, what are their best uses, and how will they succeed after so many years of .com?

For more information, check out our article on the New gTLD Program.

Finding the Next CEO

In May 2015, ICANN announced that Fadi Chehade will be stepping down in March 2016, prior to the end of his contract which was set to expire in June 2017. ICANN established a search committee at ICANN 53 in Buenos Aires, to begin identifying candidates to fill the vacancy. The application period closed on 20 September 2015, beginning the selection process.

Schedule by Topics

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Venue Map

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ICANN Board

Committees

A = Audit, C = Compensation, E = Executive, BG = Board Governance, NGP = New gTLD Program, R = Risk, OEC = Organizational Effectiveness Committee, F = Finance

Board Members

Fadi Chehadé, CEO & President (September 2012 - March 2016) E, NGP
Steve Crocker, Chair (November 2008 - AGM 2014) A, C, E, NGP
Bruce Tonkin, Vice-Chair (June 2007 - AGM 2016) BG, C, E
Rinalia Abdul Rahim (October 2014 - AGM 2017) NGP, R, OEC
Cherine Chalaby (December 2010 - AGM 2016) F, NGP, BG, E
Chris Disspain (June 2011 - AGM 2017) BG, F, NGP
Asha Hemrajani (October 2014 - AGM 2017) F, NGP
Wolfgang Kleinwächter (November 2013 - AGM 2015)OEC
Markus Kummer (October 2014 - AGM 2017) OEC
Bruno Lanvin (November 2014 - AGM 2017) F, NGP, OEC
Erika Mann (December 2010 - November 2016) A, C, BG, NGP
Gonzalo Navarro (October 2009 - AGM 2015) F, BG, NGP
Raymond A. Plzak (May 2009 - AGM 2015) OEC, A, NGP
George Sadowsky (October 2009 - AGM 2015) C, A, NGP
Michael Silber (May 2009 - AGM 2015) R, BG, NGP
Kuo-Wei Wu (April 2010 - AGM 2016) NGP, R, OEC

AGM = Annual General Meeting

Acronym Glossary

Acronym	Definition
ICANN	Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers
AfriNIC	The African Network Information Center
ALAC	At-Large Advisory Committee
APNIC	The Asia Pacific Network Information Centre
ARIN	American Registry for Internet Numbers
ASO	Address Supporting Organization
ccNSO	Country-Code Names Supporting Organization
ccTLD	Country-Code Top Level Domain
CCWG or CWG	Cross Community Working Group
DNS	Domain Name System
GAC	Governmental Advisory Committee
GNSO	Generic Names Supporting Organization
gTLD	Generic Top-Level Domain
IANA	Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
IDN	Internationalized Domain Names
IETF	Internet Engineering Task Force
IP	Internet Protocol
IPv4	Internet Protocol version 4
IPv6	Internet Protocol Version 6
ISOC	Internet Society
ISP	Internet Service Provider
LACNIC	Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry
NTIA	US Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration
OSC	Operations Steering Committee
PDP	Policy Development Process
RIR	Regional Internet Registry
RSEP	Registry Services Evaluation Proccess
RSSAC	Root Server System Advisory Committee
SSR	Security, Stability, and Resiliency
SSAC	Security and Stability Advisory Committee
TLD	Top Level Domain
TLG	Technical Liaison Group
UDRP	Uniform Dispute Resolution Process
URS	Uniform Rapid Suspension System
W3C	World Wide Web Consortium
WIPO	World Intellectual Property Organization