--- id: "pdp" kind: "glossary-term" title: "PDP" language: "en" category: "Governance and policy" updated: "2026-10-10T10:28:55Z" canonical: "https://tldlog.com/glossary/pdp/" translations: es: "https://tldlog.com/es/glosario/pdp/" de: "https://tldlog.com/de/glossar/pdp/" fr: "https://tldlog.com/fr/glossaire/pdp/" it: "https://tldlog.com/it/glossario/pdp/" pt-BR: "https://tldlog.com/pt/glossario/pdp/" ru: "https://tldlog.com/ru/glossariy/pdp/" zh-Hans: "https://tldlog.com/zh/cihui/pdp/" --- # PDP Policy Development Process The formal ICANN procedure for creating policy. A working group studies an issue, publishes reports for public comment and makes recommendations. For gTLDs, recommendations approved by the GNSO Council and the ICANN Board can become consensus policies. A policy development process (PDP) is the formal procedure ICANN's community uses to write rules for domain names. Volunteers study a problem, publish drafts that anyone can comment on and recommend rules; the ICANN Board then decides. For generic domains such as .com, the result can bind every registry and registrar. ## What a policy development process is For gTLDs, the GNSO develops policy and recommends it to the Board. As of October 2026, its PDP is set out in Annex A of the ICANN Bylaws (as amended on 3 July 2026) and in the GNSO's PDP Manual of 21 May 2026. It matters because registries and registrars must follow consensus policies under their ICANN contracts, such as the UDRP, the ERRP and the Transfer Policy. Consensus policies may only cover topics listed in those contracts, such as transfers and registration data, and may not set or cap registrar prices. ## The steps: issue report, working group, final report and Board vote 1. **Issue Report.** The Board, the GNSO Council or an advisory committee asks for one. ICANN staff write a preliminary version within 45 days, with the General Counsel's opinion on scope and a draft charter. After at least 30 days of public comment, a final version follows. 2. **Start.** The Council votes to start the PDP, generally within 90 days: if the issue is within scope, more than one third of each house, or more than two thirds of one house. No vote is needed if the Board asked. 3. **Working group.** Volunteers work under the charter. The chair rates each recommendation: full consensus, consensus, strong support but significant opposition, or divergence. 4. **Reports.** An Initial Report goes to public comment for at least 30 days. The Final Report then gives each recommendation its consensus level. 5. **Council vote.** The Council has a house of contracted parties (7 votes) and one of non-contracted parties (13 votes). A GNSO Supermajority is two thirds of each house, or three quarters of one house and a majority of the other. Without one, approval needs a majority of each house plus support from at least 3 of the 4 stakeholder groups. 6. **Board vote.** The Board gives public notice at least 21 days before acting and asks the GAC for its view where public policy is affected. It adopts recommendations backed by a GNSO Supermajority unless more than two thirds of the Board finds them not in the best interests of the ICANN community or ICANN. With less Council support, a Board majority can reject them. ### Worked example: the Transfer Policy Review - June 2020: the Council asks for an Issue Report. - 18 February 2021: the PDP starts. - 21 June 2022: Initial Report (34 comment submissions). - 31 January 2025: full consensus on all 47 recommendations; Final Report in February 2025. - 12 March 2025: unanimous Council approval. - 7 June 2026: Board adoption. More than five years passed between start and adoption. As of October 2026, the changes are not yet in force and have no effective date. ## Public comment: how anyone can take part Anyone can comment: community groups, governments, companies and individuals. As of October 2026, ICANN keeps proceedings open for at least 40 days, with exceptions. Submissions, with the author's name, are public. Within a GNSO PDP, the Final Report need not go to comment. Comments are weighed, not counted as votes, so they cannot veto a policy. ## From approved policy to enforced rule: implementation After adoption, ICANN staff write the detailed policy text under the Consensus Policy Implementation Framework. The Council normally sets up an Implementation Review Team of volunteers to check that the detail matches the recommendations. Registries and registrars then get time: as of October 2026, policies are announced in bundles, with at least six months to comply. ## Fast-track and emergency routes: EPDP and temporary policies An EPDP, available since 28 September 2015, skips the Issue Report and starts from a scoping document. Starting one needs a GNSO Supermajority, and it may only address a narrowly defined issue found after a policy was adopted or implemented, or an issue already substantially scoped. The best-known EPDP began on 19 July 2018. It had a one-year deadline because of a temporary policy: the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data, in effect from 25 May 2018. The Board alone can adopt a temporary policy, with at least two thirds of its members, when it is immediately needed for the stability or security of registrar or registry services, the DNS or the internet. It must start a PDP at once and reaffirm the policy every 90 days, for one year at most. ## How ccTLD policy is made differently Most rules for country code domains are set locally. The ccNSO makes global policy only on a narrow list of issues, through the ccPDP in Annex B of the Bylaws. The main differences: - The ccNSO Council needs 10 or more votes to start one. - The Council's recommendation goes to a vote of ccNSO members, open for at least 21 days, which passes with more than 66% of the votes received. - The Board adopts it unless more than 66% of the Board objects. These policies bind only ccNSO members, only within scope, and never override the law that applies to the ccTLD manager. As of October 2026, ccPDP4, on the selection and deselection of IDN ccTLD strings, is pending Board action. ## Sources - [Bylaws for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers | A California Nonprofit Public-Benefit Corporation](https://www.icann.org/en/governance/bylaws) - [ANNEX 2: Policy Development Process Manual](https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/file/field-file-attach/annex-2-pdp-manual-21may26-en.pdf) - [PDP Transfer Policy Review | Generic Names Supporting Organization](https://gnso.icann.org/en/group-activities/active/transfer-policy-review) ## related terms - [GNSO](https://tldlog.com/glossary/gnso/) - [EPDP](https://tldlog.com/glossary/epdp/) - [consensus policy](https://tldlog.com/glossary/consensus-policy/) - [public comment](https://tldlog.com/glossary/public-comment/)