The 53rd international meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) commences in earnest on Monday, June 22, 2015, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with some sessions beginning as early as Saturday, June 20. As always, several high-profile topics have emerged amidst community discussions leading up to this meeting, all of which are relevant to established registry operators, new generic top-level domain (gTLD) applicants and brand owners alike.

1. IANA Transition and ICANN Accountability Issues -

Unsurprisingly, the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) stewardship transition from oversight by the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the global stakeholder community, and corresponding ICANN accountability enhancements, continue to dominate ICANN community discussions, and we expect no less in Buenos Aires. Since the most recent ICANN meeting in Singapore in February 2015, the Cross-Community Working Group on the IANA Stewardship Transition (CWG-IANA) has published a second draft transition proposal for public comment, addressing a number of the serious concerns raised in response to the first draft proposal. Public comments on the second proposal were received through May 28, 2015, and the CWG-IANA is currently reviewing the comments in preparation for further discussion of the revised proposal in Buenos Aires. In general, comments from brand owners and other stakeholders were supportive of the revised proposal, although a number of areas have been identified for further improvement, particularly areas heavily reliant on developments from the parallel and interrelated Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability).