ICANN’s Intellectual Property Constituency has elected Flip Petillion as the new GNSO Councilor repr
Today, Flip Petillion was elected Councilor on the Council of the GNSO of ICANN.
Context
ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It is an internationally organized , non-profit corporation that has responsibility for Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions. Originally, the U.S. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and other entities performed these services under U.S. Government contract. ICANN now performs the IANA function.
As a private-public partnership, ICANN is dedicated to preserving the operational stability of the Internet; to promoting competition; to achieving broad representation of global Internet communities; and to developing policy appropriate to its mission through bottom-up, consensus-based processes.
The DNS translates the domain name you type into the corresponding IP address , and connects you to your desired website. The DNS also enables email to function properly, so the email you send will reach the intended recipient.
Because ICANN tackles complex problems, it depends on the support of many different types of groups and sub-structures: Advisory Committees, Supporting Organizations, standing committees, working groups, review teams, task forces, and more. The most important of these groups is the GNSO, the Generic Names Supporting Organization.
GNSO Council is a parliament for Internet governance
The GNSO Council counts 21 members, all appointed by the Stakeholder Groups and ICANN’s Nominating Committee.
Flip was appointed by the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) of which he has been an active member. Flip was appointed for a renewable term of two years.
The IPC consists of various members and organisations representing the interests of IP owners. The list of organisations includes INTA, Marques, IIPLA and ECTA.
The GNSO Council works like a parliament in which Flip represents the interests of the Intellectual Property owners, along with U.S. colleague and ICANN veteran Paul D. McGrady.
For voting purposes, the Council has two houses, like a Congress or Parliament. The Contracted Parties House holds the Registries and Registrars Stakeholder Groups, while the Non-Contracted Parties House holds the Commercial and Non-Commercial Stakeholder Groups. ICANN's Nominating Committee appoints three Council members, two of which are voting members assigned to each house. The third appointee is an advisor to the Council as a whole. The Council also includes formally appointed but non-voting Liaisons and Observers from other groups within ICANN. This elaborate system provides checks and balances, so no single interest group can dominate the Council.
GNSO’s Role
The GNSO fashions (and over time, recommends changes to) policies for gTLDs (e.g., .com, .org, .biz). The GNSO strives to keep gTLDs operating in a fair, orderly fashion across one global Internet, while promoting innovation and competition.
Sample GNSO issues:
When you register a domain name, what services must the registrar provide?
If you forget to renew your domain name, and it expires, can you get it back?
What happens if someone registers a domain name that is confusingly similar to yours?
How will the rights of trademark owners and other intellectual property owners be effectively protected in the Internet’s domain name system?
What personal information of domain name holders can be obtained by third-parties in relation to their legitimate interests?
