Hi Kathy, all,

At the NCSG policy meeting last week, councillors were asked to report back
to members on how council voted or choose to proceed with this issue. I
would like to inform members that the council decided to defer this vote to
the May meeting.

This means that members now have some additional time to think about it and
propose how NCSG would like the council to advance this item. Whether to
request a Policy Status Report now or defer for another 2 years in addition
and continue work in the background through a small team as per @Kathy
Kleiman <[log in to unmask]> suggestion.

Open to thoughts.

Warmly,
Tomslin



On Wed, 17 Apr 2024 at 22:27, Kathy Kleiman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> To our NCSG Councilors,
>
> Tx Tomslin. This is a real problem for Registrants (like NGOs) identified
> by Jamie Headlund, head of ICANN Compliance. He and his Staff write that
> when domain names expire, sometimes they are auctioned off without going to
> the Expiration Grace Period.  Imagine an NGO with a well-known domain name,
> staff has left, no one gets the renewal message. The domain name "drops"
> (fails to be renewed), the website disappears, and now the NGO knows there
> is a problem. Right away, they go to the Registrar and find their domain
> name has been auctioned off!  They can't get it back. (As opposed to the
> NGO going to other Registrars where their domain name has been put on
> "hold," in a Expiration Grace Period, and it costs them a little extra to
> get it back, so the NGO can pays the extra money, and gets their domain
> name and website (and online services) right back up.
>
> This is a problem of Communication and of Policy. This is causing
> confusion to Noncommercial Registrants.  Please do something. Pages 9-10 of
> Jamie Hedlund's report below. It's a good and important read.  Link below
> too.  Please don't let this problem be delayed for 5 years. We discussed
> solutions to solve now and over time. We need you, our Councilors, to
> champion this one.  Best, Kathy
>
>
> *"Requirements related to auto-renew grace period and aftermarket
> activities create *
>
> *confusion for and/or delayed actions by registrants.*
>
> Many registrars implement a process in which they auction or otherwise
> re-assign the rights
>
> to expired domain names during the auto-renew grace period. These domain
> names do not
>
> enter a 30-day redemption period (during which the Registrant at
> Expiration (RAE) may
>
> ICANN | ICANN Contractual Compliance Enforcement of ERRP & EDDP | 31
> October 2022 | 10
>
> request the redemption). Instead, these domain names remain at the current
> registrar and
>
> are re-assigned to the control of the highest bidder. Under the ERRP and
> EDDP, redemption
>
> period is only required if a domain name is deleted.
>
> "The practice of implementing a process in which the registrar auctions or
> otherwise re-
>
> assigns the rights to expired domain names during the auto-renew grace
> period is not
>
> prohibited. However, ICANN Compliance has observed that this practice -
> coupled with the
>
> lack of definition for certain terms explained in the previous section -
> causes substantial
>
> confusion for registrants/complainants. Some of these registrants “lost”
> domain names
>
> during the renewal grace period and contended that they were not afforded
> a redemption
>
> grace period or the subsequent release of the domain name to permit
> re-registration.
>
> Although registrars are required to “provide notice to each new registrant
> describing the
>
> details of their deletion and auto-renewal policy including the expected
> time at which a non-
>
> renewed domain name would be deleted relative to the domains expiration
> date” (EDDP
>
> Section 3.7.5.4), the manner in which the auction/resale events are
> described do not always
>
> make clear that the domain names may not be available for
> renewal/redemption during this
>
> stage.
>
> "In addition, Section 2.2 of the ERRP prescribes the circumstances under
> which a Domain
>
> Name System (DNS) resolution must be interrupted. Section 2.2.2 and 2.2.3
> describe DNS
>
> interruption requirements, which are determined relative to the time at
> which a domain name
>
> is deleted. For example, Section 2.2.2 provides, “for registration deleted
> within 8 days of
>
> expiration the existing DNS resolution path must be interrupted...” The
> term “deleted” can be
>
> interpreted as the actual deletion of the domain name from a registrar’s
> database (i.e., a
>
> delete command is sent to the registry) or as the deletion from the
> registrant’s account
>
> (when it is, for example, made available in auction or sold to a third
> party). Using the former
>
> definition, in cases of auction or resale as described above, the DNS
> interruption warning
>
> (often the biggest warning a registrant receives regarding the expiration)
> would not be
>
> required and may not occur until a domain name is already “lost” (and the
> DNS resolution
>
> path modified by a new registrant).
>
> "The two provisions defining the DNS interruption requirements are later
> used to define the
>
> time within which a RAE must be permitted to renew a domain name (ERRP,
> Section 2.2.5:
>
> “[b]eginning at the time of expiration and through the DNS resolution
> interruption period
>
> described in paragraphs 2.2.2 and 2.2.3, the RAE must be permitted by the
> registrar to
>
> renew the expired registration.) (emphasis added). As the DNS interruption
> period is not
>
> required in cases where the domain name is not deleted, registrants may be
> confused at the
>
> time within which they have to renew the domain name relative to the time
> of expiration.
>
> Additionally, even though the ERRP requires the registrar to begin warning
> the registrant
>
> about the upcoming expiration approximately 30 days before the expiry day,
> the obligation
>
> for the registrar to permit the RAE to renew is not effective until the
> time of expiration, at
>
> which point the domain name could have been deleted or is already at risk
> of being
>
> deleted/lost."
>
>
> https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/council/attachments/20221101/b76ff621/CCEnforcement-EDDP_ERRP_31October221-0001.pdf
>
>
> On 4/16/2024 6:30 PM, Tomslin Samme-Nlar wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> During the NCSG PC meeting this week, we had a discussion on deferral of a
> Policy Status Request (PSR) of the Expired Domain Deletion Policy (“EDDP”)
> and Expired Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”). @Kathy Kleiman
> <[log in to unmask]> pointed out that notes in the ICANN compliance
> report <https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/council/2022-November/026164.html>
> identified that language of the policy is ambiguous in parts and has caused
> confusion for registrants, a group that we as NCSG care about. And
> suggested that those aspects of language confusion be given to the Council
> Comms small team to look at.
>
> In that regard, I thought I should share the attached document which
> summarises the current educational materials on domain name renewal and
> expiration that was presented to the council by ICANN staff. Please take a
> look and let me know if you believe the small team should still study the
> issue.
>
> Warmly,
> Tomslin
>
>
>
>
>
> *From: *council <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Caitlin
> Tubergen via council <[log in to unmask]>
> *Reply-To: *Caitlin Tubergen <[log in to unmask]>
> *Date: *Wednesday, February 14, 2024 at 10:07 AM
> *To: *"[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
> *Cc: *Brian Gutterman <[log in to unmask]>
> *Subject: *[council] Summary of domain name renewal and expiration
> educational resources (Feb Council Agenda Item 6)
>
>
>
> Dear Councilors,
>
>
>
> Further to Agenda Item 6 for Thursday’s Council meeting, Next Steps for
> Consideration of Expired Domain Deletion Policy (“EDDP”) and Expired
> Registration Recovery Policy (“ERRP”), please find a summary of the current
> educational materials on domain name renewal and expiration attached.
>
>
>
> Brian Gutterman from ICANN org will be providing an overview of the
> materials during the Council meeting on Thursday.
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
>
>
> Caitlin
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