[bc-gnso] RAA Negotiations Update - December 2012

[Marilyn Cade <marilynscade@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

BC Members: FYI
 https://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-3-14dec12-en.htmRAA 
Negotiations Update – December 201214 December 2012Over many months of 
negotiations, ICANN and the Registrars have made significant progress in 
negotiating the 12 recommendations from law enforcement authorities on 
improvements to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement. At ICANN's October 2012 
meeting in Toronto, the negotiation teams described the agreements in principle 
on 11 of the 12 key law enforcement-recommended improvements, including the 
establishment of an abuse point of contact at each registrar; enhanced 
requirements to maintain updated information with ICANN; and robust data 
retention requirements. The documents posted in advance of the Toronto meeting 
also reflect the progress made with respect to the amendment topics proposed by 
the GNSO and ALAC. On one of the more complex items within the negotiations – 
the institution of validation and verification requirements on Whois data 
submitted by registrants – much progress has been made towards outlining an 
initial Whois verification process. However, a fundamental area of difference 
still remains between ICANN and the registrars, and agreement in principle has 
not been reached on this remaining topic.ICANN and the registrars have jointly 
initiated work on the development of a strawman for a Proxy/Privacy Service 
Provider Accreditation Program. The working team hosted a session on this topic 
at ICANN's Public Meeting in Toronto to start soliciting community input into 
what such a program should encompass.While much progress has been made on the 
recommendations provided by law enforcement, the GNSO and the ALAC, additional 
items remain for ICANN and the registrars to discuss. Both ICANN and the 
registrars have additional proposed changes which have not yet been negotiated. 
As previously discussed, it has been ICANN's position that the negotiations on 
key topics within the law enforcement recommendations need to come to 
resolution prior to concluding negotiations on these additional areas.In 
Toronto, ICANN's new President and CEO, Fadi Chehadé, announced to the 
community that the changes to the RAA are one of his top priorities, and 
assured the community of his focus on this work. While in Toronto, an ambitious 
schedule was set out for the completion of the RAA negotiations, including the 
posting of a proposed RAA for public comment before the end of 2012. Since the 
Toronto meeting, the President and CEO has been working closely with ICANN 
staff to gain a deeper understanding of the RAA negotiation topics. The 
substantial amount of work spent on the Trademark Clearinghouse for the New 
gTLD Program as well as the organizational work to meet the operational 
excellence goals has pushed the RAA negotiations into December.  While the 
registrars and ICANN explored potential dates for negotiation in December 2012, 
both sides have agreed that between holidays, difficult travel schedules and 
the ICANN Prioritization Draw for New gTLDs, a December meeting is not 
feasible. Therefore, negotiations will resume in January 2013, and the 
anticipated date for publication of a draft RAA for community comment will be 
announced in January as well. ICANN thanks the registrars for their continued 
engagement in this negotiation process.

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