ASO Review
The Address Supporting Organization (ASO) is one of the supporting organizations affiliated with ICANN. The purpose of the ASO is to review and develop recommendations on Internet protocol (IP) address policy and to advise the ICANN Board.
Under the ICANN bylaws, all supporting organizations must conduct a periodic review of their operations. The Number Resource Organization (NRO) is responsible for conducting this review of the ASO and has granted the independent review of the ASO to ITEMS International, a consultancy firm specializing in strategic consulting in the areas of telecommunications and the Internet. It published its final report with findings of the ASO review on 8 August 2017.
The report outlines 18 recommendations, which the NRO has resolved to accept. The first 17 recommendations are well-defined and practical, and can be implemented by actions of the NRO Secretariat, or of the ASO address council (ASO AC), with respect to administrative procedures, documentation or in some cases adjustments to agreements established by the ASO.
The eighteenth recommendation says, “The NRO should initiate a public consultation, involving the five RIR communities, to determine the future structure of the ASO.” The NRO executive council has decided to accept this final recommendation.
The purpose of the consultation was to review the structural implications of the issues identified in the ASO review conducted by ITEMS, including but not limited to:
- Any updates and adjustments identified as requirements for ASO-related documents
- Any procedural clarifications and adjustments identified
- Reported confusion of roles between ASO and NRO, and their components
- Perceived complexity of relationships among NRO, ASO and ICANN
- Relevance and cost to the RIRs of various ICANN engagement activities
The following aspects are outside the scope of this consultation:
- The Global Policy Development Process (GPDP)
- The role of the ASO AC with regards to the GPDP
The consultation consisted of information sessions, engagement at different levels, and two formal instances to receive contributions from the community.
- Starting on 16 April 2018 a mailing list was provided to encourage the discussion of the role and functions of the ASO.
- On 2 May 2018 a plenary session was held within the framework of LACNIC 29 with a panel of noted speakers. See video.
- From 7-26 May 2018 an online consultation was conducted based on the results of the face-to-face consultation held during LACNIC 29 to allow community members to submit further contributions in an open and transparent manner.