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

[martinsutton@xxxxxxxx]

Mike,

Great idea and thank you for pulling this together. I support. 

Best wishes for the New year,

Martin

Martin C SUTTON 
Group Risk 
Manager, Group Fraud Risk and Intelligence | HSBC HOLDINGS PLC HGHQ
Group Security & Fraud Risk
8 Canada Square,Canary Wharf,London,E14 5HQ,United Kingdom
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Phone.     +44 (0)20 7991 8074 / 7991 8074
Mobile.     +44 (0) 7774556680
Email.       martinsutton@xxxxxxxx
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"Michael D. Palage" <michael@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent by: owner-bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx
Jan 05 2011 23:22

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Subject
[bc-gnso] ICANN Board - GAC Meeting



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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