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RE: [gnso-dt-wg] Rework of motion

  • To: "Robin Gross" <robin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Subject: RE: [gnso-dt-wg] Rework of motion
  • From: "Gomes, Chuck" <cgomes@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 18:00:37 -0500

Robin,
 
Please note that my comments were addressing the process, not the
outcome.  Your questions deal with the outcomes, possible policy
recommendations, and that is what a PDP is supposed to consider.  I have
not been advocating for or against the AGP but only fora valid process.
 
Chuck

________________________________

From: Robin Gross [mailto:robin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 5:15 PM
To: Gomes, Chuck
Cc: Mike Rodenbaugh; gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [gnso-dt-wg] Rework of motion


Since we have begun a process to better understand this practice:

What is the rationale for keeping the grace period given its use for the
unintended practice "tasting", which is not in the interest of the
overwhelming majority of Internet users?  

Or is it?

I haven't heard a convincing case for allowing the practice to continue.

Thanks,
Robin


On Feb 24, 2008, at 1:18 PM, Gomes, Chuck wrote:



        It seems clear to me that my effectiveness in communicating my
concerns
        about process is falling way short, so let me try in a different
way.

        I strongly believe that the recommendations that the BGC WG for
GNSO
        Improvements with regard to policy development and in particular
the
        working group model are right on target.  I fully understand
that those
        recommendations have not been approved yet, but the goals behind
them
        are reasonable goals for us now and are fully consistent with
the
        current PDP.  In spite of all of its inadequacies, the PDP as
described
        in the Bylaws was intended to provide a procedure for developing
policy
        in a collaborative way that deals as best as possible with the
concerns
        of as many impacted parties as possible.  With or without
        implementations of the GNSO Improvement Recommendations, our
goal should
        not be anything less.

        The GNSO Improvement Recommendations specifically suggest that
the GNSO
        Council should move away from being a legislative body.  There
seems to
        be a lot of misunderstanding on this, so let me try to
illustrate my
        views by using the latest Whois work as an example. Would it
have been
        acceptable to implement the OPoC proposal just because there was
simple
        majority support on the Council?  I do not think so, but under a
        legislative approach, that would have been okay. If we operate
the
        Council as a legislative body, then our goal will be to come up
with
        policies for which we can gain simple majority support.  But
that would
        result in policy recommendations that I believe are far from
consensus
        and certainly do not come close to addressing the needs of many
        stakeholders.

        The legislative approach is much faster; that is a fact.  But I
do not
        believe that it would result in the best policy recommendations.
Again,
        I cite the OPoC proposal.

        Whois is a much tougher problem than domain tasting but we still
need to
        make sure that we deal with all possible impacts in the best way
we can.
        Bottom up processes take more time but also have the potential
of
        yielding better long-term results that need less tweaking after
        implementation.

        Chuck

        -----Original Message-----
        From: owner-gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx] On
        Behalf Of Gomes, Chuck
        Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 8:51 AM
        To: Mike Rodenbaugh; gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx
        Subject: RE: [gnso-dt-wg] Rework of motion


        A few corrections and clarifications below Mike.

        Chuck 

        -----Original Message-----
        From: owner-gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx] On
        Behalf Of Mike Rodenbaugh
        Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 3:34 PM
        To: gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx
        Subject: RE: [gnso-dt-wg] Rework of motion


        I would prefer to vote on the proposal ASAP.  Council has
already
        decided not to have a Task Force, and had commissioned an open
WG
        already, and has taken Constituency Impact Statements.  This
proposal
        has been thoroughly vetted through open process.  I see no hope
of
        coming to a solution that RyC will accept, because their
position
        appears to be that ICANN can't make policy that binds them,
unless they
        agree.  And they haven't agreed to any policy development the
last 3
        years, except for newTLDs which will make them more money and
        Inter-Registrar Transfer which will save them money via less
disputes.
        Seems to me that RyC is again trying to delay policy development
for as
        long as they can, by throwing up bogus arguments about lack of
process.

        CG: The open WG was an information gathering WG.  The impact
statements
        were not based on any policy recommendations developed by a PDP.
What
        proposal was "thoroughly vetted"?  Certainly not the proposal in
the
        motion. 

        While we won't have a SuperMajority (if indeed we even have a
majority),
        it will be clear why, and the Board can do as it likes.  And we
can move
        onto other issues as we will have done our job.  I simply have
no
        confidence that
        3 more months will produce anything different in the situation
we have
        today.  I have lost patience on this issue because the practice
is so
        facially wrong and has garnered almost unanimous antipathy from
the
        non-contracting community, yet Council have spun our wheels
endlessly
        for about a year now, fruitlessly trying to do anything about
it.
        Process like this gives ICANN a bad name.

        CG: Whether or not you think additional time will produce what
you want
        is not the issue.  The issue is whether or not we have a
legitimate
        policy development process.

        -Mike Rodenbaugh

        -----Original Message-----
        From: owner-gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx] On
        Behalf Of Neuman, Jeff
        Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 12:04 PM
        To: Avri Doria; gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx
        Subject: RE: [gnso-dt-wg] Rework of motion


        Avri,

        Is your question to the ICANN GC on whether the ICANN Board can
act?  If
        that is the question, the answer is yes.  If your question is
whether
        the ICANN's Board decision is binding on the registries, that is
a
        totally separate issue.

        Irrespective of the answer, whether we call it a new PDP or jus
opening
        a new WG, I guess I am neutral.  I would just clarify that
rather than
        having the WG determine a solution, in order to narrow that
down, and
        speed up the times lines, I would propose that the WG just focus
on the
        solution presented by the Design Team which I believe is the
        NeuStar/Afilias solution (unless people think that would be too
narrow).


        Design Team -- Does this sound like a way forward?  If so, I
could take
        the substance of the motion that has been reworked (minus all of
the
        Whereas clauses) and try to come up with a draft charter and
proposed
        time-line to send to the group. (To that end, if someone has a
form
        charter to use as a template, that would help).  If not, I am
sure I can
        wing it.

        Jeffrey J. Neuman, Esq. 
        Sr. Director, Law, Advanced Services  & 

        Business Development 

        NeuStar, Inc. 
        e-mail: Jeff.Neuman@xxxxxxxxxx 


        -----Original Message-----
        From: owner-gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx] On
        Behalf Of Avri Doria
        Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 2:50 PM
        To: gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx
        Subject: Re: [gnso-dt-wg] Rework of motion


        Hi,

        Two quick comments:

        - The issue of whether this would or would not be a consensus
policy is
        one for  legal counsel.  I can certainly check with legal
counsel to
        find out the status of a decision according to 13f.

        - We are already in a PDP.  As opposed to trying to begin yet
another
        PDP, I would would think a suggestion for an open WG to come up
with a
        solution that could get a supermajority would be a more feasible
route.
        Assuming others in the DT and the council, agree with you.  If
this is
        the path the DT suggests, it would be good for the DT to propose
the
        charter and timings.

        a.

        On 22 Feb 2008, at 13:45, Neuman, Jeff wrote:



                A couple of notes:

                1.  A majority of the Council as opposed to
Supermajority is not 
                "deemed to reflect the view of the Council".  See
Section 12.

                2.  Yes, the Board can act, but again, that Board
decision, in my view


                (and in the view of the other registries) would not be
binding on the 
                gTLD Registry Operators because that would not be viewed
as "consensus


                of Internet stakeholders".  After all, if a majority is
not even 
                deemed to reflect the view of the Council, then how can
it represent a


                Consensus of Internet stakeholder.

                3.  The reason I am using the phrase "consensus of
Internet 
                stakeholders" is because that is the phrase that is used
in the gTLD 
                contracts.  See below which is taken from Section
3.1(b)(iv) of the 
                .com agreement (See


        
http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/verisign/registry-agmt-com-01mar06 

                .
                htm) which states:

                "Consensus Policies and the procedures by which they are
developed 
                shall be designed to produce, to the extent possible, a
consensus of 
                Internet stakeholders, including the operators of gTLDs.
Consensus 
                Policies shall relate to one or more of the following:
(1) issues for 
                which uniform or coordinated resolution is reasonably
necessary to 
                facilitate interoperability, Security and/or Stability
of the Internet


                or DNS;
                (2)
                functional and performance specifications for the
provision of 
                Registry Services (as defined in Section 3.1(d)(iii)
below); (3) 
                Security and Stability of the registry database for the
TLD; (4) 
                registry policies reasonably necessary to implement
Consensus Policies


                relating to registry operations or registrars; or (5)
resolution of 
                disputes regarding the registration of domain names (as
opposed to the


                use of such domain names).  Such categories of issues
referred to in 
                the preceding sentence shall include, without
limitation:

                Particularly important is the phrase "including the
operators of 
                gTLDs".
                Now before you try to argue that it is modified by the
phrase "to the 
                extent possible", let me state that the following:

                1.  "To the extent possible" does not mean that if the
registries are 
                on the losing side of the vote it is not "possible" to
achieve gTLD 
                operator support for a proposal on domain tasting.

                2.  The gTLD Registries have indicated on a number of
occassions that 
                we do believe a proposal to eliminate tasting (in TLDs
where tasting 
                has
                occurred) can garner the registry operators support.  We
are committed


                to working with you to achieve that.  We just need to
find a solution 
                that takes into consideration the differences of each of
the 
                registries.

                Now if we are done talking about process, lets get down
to business:

                1.  There is a proposed solution on the table; namely I
believe the 
                NeuStar/Afilias proposal (which by the way should be
officially posted


                for public comment today).

                2.  My recommendation is to take those proposals, get
the GNSO Council


                to initiate a PDP, and launch a Task Force (or Working
Group) open to 
                the community whose sole purpose and charter is to study
the 
                implications of this proposal.  I would gladly help
ICANN staff in the


                drafting of that charter.

                3.  We follow the strict timing in the Bylaws on the
formation of the 
                Task Force/Working Group, elect a chair, and get
constituency 
                statements getting them to focus solely on the proposal.
This should 
                be very easy, quick and painless.

                4.  Have a Task Force report that analyzes the
constituency statements


                and public input and modifies the proposal (if
necessary).  Put that 
                out for comment and draft the final report (all included
in the 
                Bylaws).

                If we follow the strict timing in the Bylaws, which I
believe we can, 
                we can have this done, wrapped up and to the Board
within 90 days and 
                still before the Paris meeting.

                This will require some diligent efforts, but let's show
that this is 
                possible.


                Jeffrey J. Neuman, Esq.
                Sr. Director, Law, Advanced Services  &

                Business Development

                NeuStar, Inc.
                e-mail: Jeff.Neuman@xxxxxxxxxx


                -----Original Message-----
                From: owner-gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx]
                On
                Behalf Of Avri Doria
                Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 12:15 PM
                To: gnso-dt-wg@xxxxxxxxx
                Subject: Re: [gnso-dt-wg] Rework of motion



                On 22 Feb 2008, at 11:41, Rosette, Kristina wrote:


                        eff, good question.  I'd appreciate
clarification of that, too, to 
                        make sure we're all on the same page.  The
transcripts of the GNSO 
                        Council meeting and Thursday wrap-up are far
from crystal clear.  As 
                        for your other point, I had understood that the
bylaws do not require


                        supermajority support of Council before Board
can vote.  If there's 
                        language elsewhere that controls, I'd appreciate
if you would point 
                        me in the right direction so that I'm working
from the same baseline.


                Hi,

                As I read the by-laws, appended below, the Council does
not need to 
                achieve a supermajority in order to forward on a
decision (note 11b).
                A non supermajority view, though, is treated differently
by the board 
                (13b vs. 13f).

                In terms of this DT, the purpose is still to present a
way forward for


                the council to discuss.  That can be a motion, a motion
plus update of


                constituency statements, or a WG charter.  The motion
can be based on 
                the reworked version Alan has presented, or another
motion all 
                together, e.g. the elimination of a required AGP as was
suggested by 
                many of the comments or some other motion.

                I think it is best if the way forward leads to a
supermajority 
                position.  If we can't get a motion that would be able
to garner 
                supermajority support, then perhaps we need to do more
work and a WG 
                charter might be the right way forward.

                a.


                from the by-laws
                -----------------------

                11. Council Report to the Board

                The Staff Manager will be present at the final meeting
of the Council,


                and will have five (5) calendar days after the meeting
to incorporate 
                the views of the Council into a report to be submitted
to the Board 
                (the "Board Report"). The Board Report must contain at
least the
                following:

                    a. A clear statement of any Supermajority Vote
recommendation of 
                the Council;

                    b. If a Supermajority Vote was not reached, a clear
statement of 
                all positions held by Council members. Each statement
should clearly 
                indicate (i) the reasons underlying each position and
(ii) the
                constituency(ies) that held the position;

                    c. An analysis of how the issue would affect each
constituency, 
                including any financial impact on the constituency;

                    d. An analysis of the period of time that would
likely be 
                necessary to implement the policy;

                    e. The advice of any outside advisors relied upon,
which should be


                accompanied by a detailed statement of the advisor's (i)

                qualifications and relevant experience; and (ii)
potential conflicts 
                of interest;

                    f. The Final Report submitted to the Council; and

                    g. A copy of the minutes of the Council deliberation
on the policy


                issue, including the all opinions expressed during such
deliberation, 
                accompanied by a description of who expressed such
opinions.

                12. Agreement of the Council

                A Supermajority Vote of the Council members will be
deemed to reflect 
                the view of the Council, and may be conveyed to the
Board as the 
                Council's recommendation. Abstentions shall not be
permitted; thus all


                Council members must cast a vote unless they identify a
financial 
                interest in the outcome of the policy issue.
Notwithstanding the 
                foregoing, as set forth above, all viewpoints expressed
by Council 
                members during the PDP must be included in the Board
Report.

                13. Board Vote

                    a. The Board will meet to discuss the GNSO Council
recommendation 
                as soon as feasible after receipt of the Board Report
from the Staff 
                Manager.

                    b. In the event that the Council reached a
Supermajority Vote, the


                Board shall adopt the policy according to the Council
Supermajority 
                Vote recommendation unless by a vote of more than sixty-
six (66%) 
                percent of the Board determines that such policy is not
in the best 
                interests of the ICANN community or ICANN.

                    c. In the event that the Board determines not to act
in accordance


                with the Council Supermajority Vote recommendation, the
Board shall 
                (i) articulate the reasons for its determination in a
report to the 
                Council (the "Board Statement"); and (ii) submit the
Board Statement 
                to the Council.

                    d. The Council shall review the Board Statement for
discussion 
                with the Board within twenty (20) calendar days after
the Council's 
                receipt of the Board Statement. The Board shall
determine the method 
                (e.g., by teleconference, e-mail, or otherwise) by which
the Council 
                and Board will discuss the Board Statement.

                    e. At the conclusion of the Council and Board
discussions, the 
                Council shall meet to affirm or modify its
recommendation, and 
                communicate that conclusion (the "Supplemental
Recommendation") to the


                Board, including an explanation for its current
recommendation. In the


                event that the Council is able to reach a Supermajority
Vote on the 
                Supplemental Recommendation, the Board shall adopt the
recommendation 
                unless more than sixty-six (66%) percent of the Board
determines that 
                such policy is not in the interests of the ICANN
community or ICANN.

                    f. In any case in which the Council is not able to
reach 
                Supermajority, a majority vote of the Board will be
sufficient to act.

                    g. When a final decision on a GNSO Council
Recommendation or 
                Supplemental Recommendation is timely, the Board shall
take a 
                preliminary vote and, where practicable, will publish a
tentative 
                decision that allows for a ten (10) day period of public
comment prior


                to a final decision by the Board.













IP JUSTICE
Robin Gross, Executive Director
1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA  94117  USA
p: +1-415-553-6261    f: +1-415-462-6451
w: http://www.ipjustice.org     e: robin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx





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