Re: [bc-gnso] ICANN Board - GAC Meeting

["Mike O'Connor" <mike@xxxxxxxxxx>]

i'm in.  good job Mike.

mikey

On Jan 5, 2011, at 5:20 PM, Michael D. Palage wrote:

> Hello All,
> 
> As many of you may know the ICANN Board and GAC have scheduled an 
> intercessional meeting in Geneva next month to resolve outstanding issues in 
> connection with the new gTLD implementation process. Unfortunately to date 
> details of whether this meeting will be open/closed to observers has not yet 
> been publicly addressed.  As a strong advocate toward openness and 
> transparency I have drafted the following text which calls for the meeting to 
> be open to observers, I did so after talking with several ICANN stakeholders 
> that shared these same concerns.   It would be my hope that SOs/ACs/SGs and 
> individuals could make their voice heard on this important issue. I welcome 
> any questions/comments.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Michael
> 
>  
> 
> DRAFT TEXT
> 
> Over the past eighteen months ICANN has had the opportunity to navigate 
> through a number of challenges and achievements:  expiration of the Joint 
> Project Agreement and the negotiation and signing of the Affirmation of 
> Commitments; introduction of new internationalized top-level domains in the 
> ccTLD fast track process; preparing for the pending exhaustion of IPv4 
> address space while advancing the visibility of IPv6; and progress on 
> addressing remaining work on the proposed Applicant Guidebook/process to 
> introduce new gTLDs, including IDNs. 
>  
> As important as these initiatives have been, ICANN is now experiencing a new 
> challenge, an upcoming consultation between the ICANN Board and Government 
> Advisory Committee (GAC). This consultation appears to be the first time that 
> ICANN’s Board and the GAC will use provisions set forth in Article XI Section 
> 2 to resolve situations where the Board has decided to reject GAC advice.
>  
> In many ways, the legacy of ICANN’s leadership will be significantly impacted 
> by how the parameters are established for this upcoming consultation between 
> the ICANN Board and the GAC, which appears to have been scheduled for the end 
> of February in Geneva. Switzerland.
>  
> While the undersigned support this meeting as an important step in bringing 
> about the responsible conclusion of the new gTLD implementation process, and 
> other issues as defined in the GAC Communiqué, we call on the Board to 
> provide certain safeguards to protect ICANN’s legitimacy as a bottom up, 
> private sector led consensus driven global organization.
>  
> We respectfully request that this consultation between the Board and GAC be 
> open to observers, consistent with the practices of GAC – Board interactions 
> at the public meetings which ICANN holds three times a year. Since this is 
> the first meeting of this nature in ICANN’s eleven year history, the 
> precedent for all future such meetings will be established by this meeting.
>  
> We note that no clear communication on this aspect of the meeting has yet 
> been provided. Therefore, we believe it is timely to express the views of the 
> ICANN community on this topic. Specifically, that ICANN should provide for 
> both onsite and remote observers to this interaction. An examination of the 
> relevant ICANN bylaws, commitments and best practices are provided below:
>  
>  
> Article I, Section 3 of the ICANN Bylaws states that “ICANN and its 
> constituent bodies shall operate to the maximum extent feasible in an open 
> and transparent manner and consistent with procedures designed to ensure 
> fairness.” 
>  
> Article 3 of the Affirmation of Commitment (AoC) states that ICANN commits to 
> “ensur[ing] that decisions made related to the global technical coordination 
> of the DNS are made in the public interest and are accountable and 
> transparent.” While the GAC is clearly suited to provide advice to ICANN 
> regarding “public interest”, this advice should be provided in an open 
> meeting accommodating observers.
>  
> The new gTLD policy development and implementation process has been a 
> multi-year process that has taken place through a series of public 
> consultations, and since the majority of the items that will be discussed in 
> this intercessional meeting are about concerns of the GAC regarding aspects 
> of the new gTLD Applicant Guidebook, we ask that this meeting provide for 
> both onsite and remote observers. 
>  
> Holding the intercessional meeting in a closed manner will raise questions of 
> legitimacy, and could have a chilling effect on future ICANN policy 
> development processes. We believe it is also not consistent with the form of 
> multi stakeholder model that ICANN embodies. It may even have a negative 
> impact on ICANN’s legitimacy within the broader stakeholder community, which 
> has supported it over the last twelve years.
>  
> Recently, ICANN was a recent signatory to a collaborative letter raising 
> concerns about the actions taken by the Commission on Science and Technology 
> for Development (CSTD) Bureau to exclude non-government actors from full 
> participation in the Working Group on Improvements to the Internet Governance 
> Forum.  ICANN participated in both the UN Consultation on Enhanced 
> Cooperation, and in the CSTD Panel held on December 17, and actively 
> supported the importance of allowing private sector stakeholders in these 
> meetings.  It is hard to reconcile ICANN’s position in this letter if it 
> organizes a closed intercessional meeting with the GAC to resolve outstanding 
> issues in the new gTLD Applicant Guidebook/process.
>  
> We accept that there may be space limitations for observers, as there often 
> are in the face to face ICANN meetings. Given logistics and budgetary 
> restraints, it is unlikely that large numbers of in-person attendees would 
> travel to Geneva. Therefore, ICANN should also provide real time 
> transcription and audio streaming of the proceedings, with an MP3 recording 
> in a timely manner.
>  
>  
> 
>  

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