LOS ANGELES - The Public Comment period for the Draft Report: Review of the Generic Names Supporting Organization has been extended. In view of the current community workload and the impact the recommendations will have on the workload of the community and staff, the comment period has been extended to 24 July 2015 23:59 UTC.

According to ICANN, the purpose of the Public Comment posting is to request community feedback on the Draft Report issued by Westlake Governance Limited (Westlake) on the Review of Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO). As the Independent Examiner, Westlake has drafted their report after conducting extensive work, including but not limited to online surveys (178 responses), 40 one-on-one interviews (considerably more than originally anticipated in the scope of work), review and analysis of documents and direct observations of GNSO proceedings at three ICANN meetings. In addition, Westlake has been engaged in consultations with representatives from the GNSO and other community members.

Westlake will issue their Final Report at the end of August 2015 after considering community feedback via Public Comment process, in-person meetings at ICANN53 and ongoing interaction with the GNSO Review Working Party. The final report, along with public comments, will be considered by the Board. After the Board takes action and accepts the report, the implementation phase will begin.

The Report Summary (Section 1, pages 4-20) offers a brief overview of Westlake's work and outlines 36 proposed recommendations, classified into four topical themes: Participation and Representation; Continuous Development; Transparency; and Alignment with ICANN's Future. Please refer to the specific recommendation and relevant section of the Draft Report for additional details and context about each recommendation.