ICANN84: Intense Focus on DNS Abuse and Future gTLD Policy.

DUBLIN, IRELAND – October 27, 2025 – Day 3 of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 84th Annual General Meeting in Dublin was dominated by high-level joint sessions and crucial policy discussions, particularly around mitigating security threats and planning for the next generation of domain names.

Policy and Security Highlights

• DNS Abuse Takes Center Stage: The issue of Domain Name System (DNS) Abuse—which includes activities like malware distribution and phishing—received significant attention. The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) continued its work on a planned Policy Development Process (PDP) aimed at creating more specific and enforceable measures to combat malicious activity across generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs).
• Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Deliberations: The GAC, representing global governments, met to advance its position on several key policy areas. A major topic of discussion was the New gTLD Program: Next Round, where the GAC sought to provide advice on ensuring public interest and protecting country/territory names in the next round of applications. They also pressed for stronger compliance mechanisms against DNS Abuse before further delegation of new gTLDs.
• Capacity Building for ccTLDs: The Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) continued its efforts to strengthen the technical and operational resilience of country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs). Sessions focused on sharing best practices and strategies for areas like disaster recovery and technical capacity building within African and other underserved regions.

Cross-Community Engagement

The day featured a critical Joint Session between the ICANN Board and the Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG), fostering direct dialogue on the economic and operational impacts of proposed policies on the business community. These sessions are vital to the multistakeholder model, ensuring technical stability aligns with commercial realities.

Resolution on Next Round Policy Development

While major final Board approvals typically occur later in the week, Day 3 successfully concluded a key preparatory step for the future of the internet’s addressing system:

RESOLUTION: The GNSO Council formally chartered the Specific Aspects of DNS Abuse Policy Development Process (PDP) Working Group to begin its official work. The Working Group is mandated to specifically define and recommend policy requirements concerning the reporting, data sharing, and mitigation obligations for registrars and registries related to systemic DNS Abuse, marking a decisive shift toward more concrete and contractually binding security standards for the next round of new gTLDs.

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