[bc-gnso] ICANN Board's secret September resolution on internet governance

[Steve DelBianco <sdelbianco@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is the resolution that gave Fadi a mandate for his initiatives in 
Montevideo and Brazil.

See below or at 
http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/resolutions-28sep13-en.htm#2.f


  1.
Resolution Re Internet Coordination (Published on 17 November 2013)

Whereas, the existing, global, open, multi-stakeholder Internet governance 
system is under increasing pressure to evolve and adapt to global concerns.

Whereas, such pressures and concerns, if not addressed, may negatively impact 
many, including ICANN stakeholders and the stability and effectiveness of the 
open Internet system.

Whereas ICANN has a responsibility to act in the global public interest.

Whereas these increasing pressures cannot be addressed by ICANN alone, but only 
by a group of similarly concerned organizations and entities acting in concert, 
ICANNshould participate in an effort to form an Internet cooperation agenda 
("Coalition").

Resolved (2013-09-28-C1), the ICANN Board authorizes its CEO to allocate 
necessary and sufficient time and resources of ICANN and work with other key 
organizations and leaders to establish a coalition towards the formation of a 
movement or initiative. The financial resources for building the coalition must 
be allocated from the already established Strategic Plan funds.

ICANN's involvement shall be consistent with ICANN's purpose. The CEO shall 
provide regular reports to the Board of Directors regarding the status of these 
discussions.

Resolved (2013-09-28-C2), the Board directs the CEO to: (1) assess the 
potential for success of the Coalition; (2) in the event of a positive 
assessment, should the CEO recommend an additional longer term strategy based 
on Coalition results, the CEO shall present such a plan of action, including 
any additional financial resources required, for further consideration by the 
Board.

Confidentiality Resolution

Resolved (2013-09-28-C3), the Board directs that pursuant to Article III, 
Section 5.2 of the ICANN Bylaws, this resolution and rationale be kept 
confidential. Such resolution shall be held confidentially, without 
publication, until such time as the Board determines that such a resolution 
shall be published.

RATIONALE FOR RESOLUTIONS 2013-09-28-C1 – 2013-09-28-C2

ICANN uses a multi-stakeholder governance model to coordinate, at the overall 
level, the global Internet's systems of unique identifiers. This governance 
model is derived from the approach of global multi-stakeholder cooperation that 
has been used over time in the development of the Internet and World Wide Web. 
As ICANN has been participating in discussion regarding Internet Governance, 
there has been continuing debate on whether to use conventional governance 
models or a global multi-stakeholder governance model to address broader 
governance coordination issues. This action by the Board is an initial step in 
moving towards how ICANN can assist the global community in addressing these 
issues through global multi-stakeholder cooperation without compromising or 
increasing ICANN's mandate. The potential for the formation of a Coalition to 
address these Internet coordination issues appears to be the most promising 
path forward to starting this work.

Taking this action allows ICANN to remain responsive to those in the Internet 
community that wish to continue to use a global multi-stakeholder to address 
broader Internet governance issues, while remaining accountable to its core 
mission. The development of a coalition will allow for community participation 
and input into this coordination work, while not relying solely on ICANN or 
ICANN processes to move coordination issues to the forefront. Achieving this 
balance is key for ICANN in its role in acting in the public interest.

As this resolution directs that all of this initial work be performed within 
the Board approved budget for Strategy Panels of US$3.5 million this action is 
not anticipated to have a significant financial impact on ICANN. Similarly, 
directing ICANN to initiate coordination exercises is not anticipated to have 
any impact on the security, stability or resiliency of the DNS, though the 
outcomes of any Coalition could have positive benefits on how these issues are 
coordinated in the future.

This is an Organizational Administrative Function for which public comment is 
not required.