[pdp-pcceg-feb06] proposed note to Council - revised

["Philip Sheppard" <philip.sheppard@xxxxxx>]

On reflection we should seek to AFFIRM the existing role of consensus policy 
(not ask what
we already have!), so suggest this amendment:

"Dear Bruce,
During the Thursday, August 10th, 2006 PDP Feb 06 Task Force (TF) 
teleconference an issue of
concern was raised by some of the Task Force members, and I proposed to make 
you aware of it
by means of this memorandum, the purpose of which is to seek clarification from 
the Council
and request that you communicate the contents of this memorandum to the ICANN 
Board.  

I am requesting clarification on how our work relates to the renewal process 
for gTLD
contracts. The issue was raised in light of the renewal of the three gTLD 
Registry
agreements .biz, .info, and .org, as announced by ICANN staff on July 28, and 
which is
concurrent with the Task Force's work to determine the policy issues around 
renewal of
existing agreements. The TF wondered was it valid for theTF to set policy in 
parallel with
the work of the ICANN staff to move forward on renewals. 

The question from the TF to Council is: 
Given the existence of ICANN by-law annex A Clause 13, would Council please 
confirm to the
TF that should the TF's recommendations lead to Consensus Policy (as described 
in Clause 13)
that differs from contract wording, then all current gTLDs contracts would 
indeed be changed
retroactively as a result?  

(I should note that while the other members of the TF present shared these 
concerns, there
was an opinion expressed by the Registry Constituency representative that 
supported
the continuation of contract negotiation in parallel with the work of the Task 
Force.)

Given the Board meeting of September 13 it may be prudent to have a reply 
before then. Thank
you for your consideration.  On behalf of the Task Force, I await your reply.

Kind regards,
Maureen"