ICANN 51 Comes Into Focus

ICANN’s 51^st public meeting in its hometown Los Angeles in October is coming into focus just as ICANN 50 in London recedes into the past. But the two meetings will share a number of issues in common.

The topics that permeated the London meeting – the future structure of ICANN as the U.S. relinquishes control of the IANA functions to ICANN and how ICANN will be held accountable in its new role – likely will dominate in Los Angeles as well.

The New gTLD Applicant Group (NTAG), for example, launched a conversation in London about how it will fit into the new ICANN regime. Among the questions raised were how the interests of new gTLD operators will continue to be represented within the Registries Stakeholder Group and ICANN in general, and how the NTAG will serve the needs of applicants in subsequent gTLD application rounds.

The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council, the policy-making body that encompasses numerous stakeholder groups and constituencies, also began contemplating its future at the London meeting. The group resolved to create an open committee to discuss 
lessons learned from the first round of applications and to identify areas 
for potential policy modifications for future rounds.

Odds are these discussions will continue in Los Angeles.

As has been the trend since ICANN 49 in Durban, issues surrounding the new generic top-level domain (gTLD) program are slowly being overtaken by future concerns. London marked a notable shift in the discussion toward the future expansion of the domain name space. In no danger of jumping the gun, these discussions took place only among a small group of highly active and experienced ICANN participants.

ICANN 51 is scheduled from October 12-17. Because the meeting will take place much closer to home for most FairWinds’ clients, we are encouraging them to attend. FairWinds will be there in force and will provide details about our activities closer to the meeting date.