Critical Policy Crossroads at ICANN84 Dublin

Following a successful foundational Day One, ICANN84 transitions into its crucial policy phase. As an Annual General Meeting (AGM), the focus is on synthesizing community work and preparing for significant Board decisions that will shape the future of the Domain Name System (DNS).

🔑 The Top Three Policy Drivers of ICANN84

The remainder of the Dublin meeting is overwhelmingly dominated by two high-stakes, multi-year policy efforts, alongside a major global internet governance review.

1. The Next gTLD Program: Final Hurdles Before Launch

The Next Round is the most significant item on the ICANN84 agenda, with the Board’s expected vote on the final Applicant Guidebook (AGB) setting the stage for the application window to open in 2026.

• Finalizing the AGB: Discussions focus on technical implementation, specifically the switch from the old TLD Application System (TAS) to the new TLD Application Management System (TAMS), and new complexities introduced in contention resolution and appeal processes.
• GAC and Public Interest: The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) holds multiple sessions to finalize its advice on key public interest safeguards, including the monitoring and enforcement of Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs) and Public Interest Commitments (PICs).
• Community Capacity: The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and other groups will review the Applicant Support Program (ASP) updates, which are designed to make the next round more accessible to non-profit, community, and geographically diverse applicants.

2. DNS Abuse and Registration Data Integrity

Work continues to address malicious use of the DNS, with two main threads:

• DNS Abuse PDP: The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) continues to advance the work of a new Policy Development Process aimed at defining and mitigating systemic DNS Abuse in the gTLD space. Key debates center on the scope and impact of these new rules.
• RDRS Review: The community will receive a final review and discuss the key findings from the two-year pilot of the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS). This service was designed as a mechanism for legitimate parties to request non-public domain registration data, balancing the needs for data access (for security/law enforcement) with the requirements of data protection regulations (like the GDPR). The outcome of this review will inform future permanent policy on registration data disclosure.

3. Strengthening the ICANN Ecosystem

Beyond the major policy issues, ICANN84 reinforces the operational stability and strategic direction of the organization:

• Universal Acceptance (UA): Sessions across various groups (ccNSO, GNSO) will emphasize the critical importance of achieving Universal Acceptance—the principle that all email systems and applications correctly recognize and process all domain names, including those in non-Latin scripts (IDNs) and new gTLDs.
• WSIS+20 Geopolitical Forum: High-level policy sessions, potentially involving UN representatives, will explore how the ICANN multistakeholder model and its technical function fit into the broader global conversation on the Internet’s future, particularly in light of the twenty-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

✅ Outlook and Expected Outcome

The coming days are set to be highly productive. By the close of the Annual General Meeting, we expect:

1. A clear path for the launch of the Next Round of New gTLDs following Board action on the AGB.
2. Significant progress in the community-led effort to formalize and implement new policies to combat DNS Abuse.
3. The induction of new leaders to the ICANN Board and various community bodies, setting the leadership for the next operational cycle.

We encourage all community members, whether in-person in Dublin or participating virtually, to engage actively in the upcoming discussions to ensure the final outcomes reflect the consensus of the global multistakeholder community.

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Omowunmi Kuye

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