ICANN85 Readout – Highlights & Take-Aways from the Community Forum
eco – Association of the Internet Industry / ICANN - March 18 2026
VIDEO | AUDIO | RECAP EN / ES / FR | ARCHIVE | PERMALINK
Speakers: Gabriella Schittek — ICANN Org; Susan Payne — GNSO Council; Sarah Wyld — RrSG; Elizabeth Bacon — RySG; Frédéric Taes — EURALO; Jordan Carter — ccNSO; Nicolas Caballero — GAC; Philippe Fouquart — ISPCP
Moderator: Thomas Rickert — eco
ICANN85 Overview & Key Outcomes
Gabriella Schittek opened with participation metrics, noting over 1,400 in-person attendees from 112 countries and 660+ online participants, totaling more than 2,000 contributors across 203 sessions.
Key highlights included:
A cross-community plenary on Internet resilience, focusing on systemic vulnerabilities and mitigation strategies
The ICANN Community Excellence Award presented to Amrita Choudhury
ICANN Board approval of the Standard Registry Agreement, a key step toward the next round of new gTLDs
DNS Abuse & Policy Development (PDP-1)
Susan Payne outlined the launch of the first DNS abuse PDP, centered on associated domain checks (ADC) — requiring registrars to investigate related domains linked to malicious activity.
Key debates:
Scope and triggers for checks
Privacy, human rights, and data protection implications
Timeline tensions: proposed ~18 months vs. calls for acceleration
Stakeholder perspectives:
Registrars emphasized complexity and risk of overreach
Registries supported progress but noted operational burden falls mainly on registrars
GAC pushed for faster action and stronger pre-registration verification, citing potential reductions in abuse
ccNSO contributed operational insights from ccTLD practices
A core tension emerged between speed vs. due process, given ICANN’s structured PDP requirements.
TCCM & WSIS+20 Follow-Up
Elizabeth Bacon and Jordan Carter described the Technical Community Coalition for Multistakeholderism (TCCM) as a lightweight, global coordination group formed to engage in WSIS+20 and broader UN processes.
Outcomes:
Successful advocacy for continued support of the multistakeholder model
Renewal of the IGF mandate
Future focus:
IGF engagement
ITU Plenipotentiary
Continued coordination across technical operators
Next Round of New gTLDs
Frédéric Taes provided a comprehensive update on the upcoming application round:
Key developments:
Improved predictability and contention resolution mechanisms
Stronger privacy and data protection frameworks
Expanded support for Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)
Applicant Support Program (up to 75–85% fee reduction), though still costly for some regions
Timeline:
Application window expected April 2026
Multi-year process (potentially up to four years end-to-end)
GAC emphasized:
Ensuring support funding does not dilute promised discounts
Readiness of systems (TAMS) for government review and early warnings
SSAD (Access to Registration Data) Reset
Sarah Wyld explained that the ICANN Board declined to adopt the original SSAD recommendations due to cost and complexity (estimated >$100M).
Next steps:
Development of supplemental recommendations
Use of RDRS (pilot system) insights to guide a more practical solution
Key issues:
Balancing usability vs. affordability
Ensuring privacy protections
Exploring voluntary vs. mandatory participation
Human Rights in Policy Development
Human rights considerations, embedded in ICANN bylaws since 2016, are now integrated into all PDPs.
Discussion focused on:
Moving from end-stage assessment to continuous evaluation during policymaking
Leveraging expertise from governments and external bodies (e.g., UNESCO, Council of Europe)
Aligning human rights with data protection frameworks
“Review of Reviews” Reform
Philippe Fouquart described efforts to overhaul ICANN’s review system, which had become burdensome for volunteers.
Proposed structure:
On-demand accountability reviews
Continuous improvement programs (lighter, iterative)
Structural reviews of ICANN entities
Ad hoc reviews
Broad support emerged for simplifying processes and focusing on effectiveness rather than volume.
ICP-2 & RIR Governance
Discussion on updates to ICP-2 (criteria for recognizing Regional Internet Registries) emphasized:
Public interest obligations
Transparency and accountability
Measurable audit criteria
The policy is expected to be finalized by late 2026.
Universal Acceptance, AI & Resilience
ISPCP outreach highlighted:
Ongoing technical gaps in Universal Acceptance despite years of IDN deployment
Growing role of AI as both a threat and a defensive tool
Rising focus on Internet resilience across ICANN communities
Frédéric Taes stressed the importance of education, certification, and ecosystem-wide adoption of UA principles.
Conclusion
The ICANN85 readout underscored a community balancing policy ambition with operational realism.
Across DNS abuse, data access, new gTLDs, and governance reform, the central challenge remains consistent:
advancing security, inclusivity, and accountability
while preserving the multistakeholder model and respecting ICANN’s limited technical mandate
The next phase will hinge on execution — translating extensive community dialogue into implementable, scalable policy outcomes.
RESOURCES
ICANN85 GAC Communiqué — official advice from governments to the ICANN Board on DNS abuse, new gTLDs, RIR governance, and registration data; referenced throughout by Nicolas Caballero
New gTLD Program: 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook — the official 400-page rulebook for applying for a new top-level domain, discussed by Frédéric Taes and Susan Payne
New gTLD Applicant Support Program — fee reduction program (up to 75–85%) for applicants from underserved communities, referenced by Nicolas Caballero and Frédéric Taes
eco New gTLD Provider Directory — directory of registry service providers, registrars, and consultants for the 2026 round, compiled by Lars Steffen and promoted by Thomas Rickert
ICANN85 Session Schedule — full schedule including the DNS abuse associated domain checks session (CSI ICANN) mentioned by Sarah Wyld
India School on Internet Governance (inSIG) — capacity-building programme co-founded by Community Excellence Award winner Amrita Choudhury
ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) — advisory body on DNS security and Internet resilience, highlighted by Frédéric Taes in the context of growing resilience concerns
ICP-2 Review (NRO) — ongoing update to the governance framework for recognizing and auditing Regional Internet Registries, discussed by Philippe Fouquart and Nicolas Caballero
ICANN Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) — pilot system for accessing non-public domain registration data, central to the SSAD discussion led by Sarah Wyld and Susan Payne
Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG) — global initiative to ensure all domain names and email addresses work in all applications, discussed by Frédéric Taes and Philippe Fouquart in the ISPCP outreach session