Minutes | Meeting of the Technical Committee of the Board (BTC) | 2 February 2026

BTC Attendees: James Galvin (Chair), Alan Barrett, Chris Buckridge, Raúl Echeberria, Wes Hardaker, David Lawrence, and Patricio Poblete

Board Members with Apologies: Nico Caballero

ICANN Organization Attendees: Adiel Akplogan (VP, Technical Engagement), Andre Abed (CIO, Head of Engineering and Information Technology), Franco Carrasco (Board Operations Manager), John Crain (SVP & Chief Technology Officer), Matt Larson (Vice President, Research, and Managing Director - Washington D.C.),  Wendy Profit (Board Operations Sr. Manager), Kim Davies (VP, IANA Services & President, PTI), and Sarah Zagha (Counsel)

Invited Board Members: Christian Kaufmann

The following is a summary of discussions, actions taken, and actions identified:

1. Welcome and Admin –
   • Agenda Review – The Chair established the agenda for the meeting.
   • Approval of Pending Meeting's Reports (If Any) – The Committee was informed that the Committee's draft 09 December 2025 Preliminary Report has not been unanimously approved. It was noted that a clarifying question regarding the report had been previously raised by a Committee member and that ICANN org had subsequently addressed the question via email. It was agreed that further discussion between the Committee member and ICANN org regarding the clarifying question would be taken offline.
   • Action Item Review – Two current action items were discussed, and two new action items were noted:
     • Action Item #1: ICANN org and the IETF Liaison to the ICANN Board to discuss a potential mechanism for ICANN org to request input from the IETF on technical issues through the IETF Liaison is an open action item.
     • Action Item #2: ICANN org to note, as a potential agenda item, a cost comparison analysis between Free and Open Software (FOSS) and proprietary software that will help assess ICANN org's expenditures on proprietary software can be closed (pending full agreement by the Committee). Certain pertinent information on software licensing costs incurred by ICANN org has been provided to the ICANN Board. It was noted that further discussion of the cost information provided should be directed to the Finance Committee of the Board (BFC).
     • Action Item #3: ICANN org (OCTO) to follow-up with the relevant Committee member to confirm their agreement that the potential agenda item concerning a cost comparison analysis between Free and Open Software (FOSS) and proprietary software can be closed.
     • Action Item #4: ICANN org (OCTO) to review the Committee's list of action items that have an "on hold" status, and present these action items, along with any updates to them, during the Committee's next meeting.
2. Charter Review and Adoption – As part of an annual process, the Committee reviewed its charter. The Committee had no concerns regarding, nor updates to make on, their Charter.
   • Action Item: ICANN org to relay the Committee's approval of the current version of the Committee's charter to the Governance Committee of the Board (BGC) through the appropriate process.
3. Workplan Review and Approval – The Committee reviewed its workplan, which sets out the Committee's scope of responsibilities, official Committee meeting dates, and relevant timelines for performance of the Committee's work. The Committee agreed that deep dive discussions on technical topics proposed by the Committee would take place during Committee meetings, ensuring that the Committee has an opportunity to engage in strategic discussions about issues of significance.
4. Updates from Technical Liaisons –
   • IETF (Wes Hardaker): The Committee was provided with a presentation on SAC113 (SSAC Advisory on Private-Use TLDs), Board resolution 2024.07.29.06 concerning reserving .INTERNAL for private-use applications, what a validating resolver does when querying .INTERNAL, and what happens when resolvers move from global DNS to the Corporation infrastructure. This presentation also addressed the IETF's Domain Name System Operations (DNSOP) Working Group's discussions about, and interpretation of, ICANN Board Resolution 2024.07.29.06. The Committee discussed that ICANN would be receptive to information and/or any technical solution that the IETF may propose eventually regarding Board resolution 2024.07.29.06's implementation.
     • Action Item #1:  ICANN org to provide information to the Committee on the formality of process required for the Committee (via the IETF Liaison to the ICANN Board) to communicate with the IETF (and/or IAB) regarding any technical solution for ICANN Board Resolution 2024.07.29.06's implementation.
     • Action Item #2: ICANN org (OCTO) to track IETF discussions on .INTERNAL and to be prepared to report to the BTC, as appropriate, in coordination with the IETF liaison to the Board, in the event there is new information for the Committee to consider.
   • SSAC (James Galvin): This topic was not addressed due to time constraints.
   • RSSAC (Wes Hardaker): This topic was not addressed due to time constraints.
5. AOB – The Chair shared a list of potential technical topics to be discussed at future Committee meetings, and requested that the Committee, via their mailing list, comment on their preferred topic to be discussed during the Committee's next meeting.