GNSO.Council

The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) is a policy-development body which is responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains (gTLDs). The 21 members of the Council govern policy development in the GNSO. Stakeholder Groups appoint 18 of its members. For voting purposes, the Council has two houses, like the US Congress or the British Parliament. The Contracted Parties House (CPH) holds the Registries and Registrars Stakeholder Groups, while the Non-Contracted Parties House (NCPH) holds the Commercial and Non-Commercial Stakeholder Groups. ICANN's Nominating Committee appoints three Council members, two of which are voting members assigned to each House. The third appointee is an advisor to the Council as a whole. The Council also includes formally appointed but non-voting Liaisons and Observers from other groups within ICANN. This elaborate system provides checks and balances so no single interest group can dominate the Council. The Generic Names Supporting Organization develops policies for generic Top-Level Domains. The GNSO strives to keep gTLDs operating in a fair, orderly fashion across one global Internet.