RAA Revisions Implementation Procedure

[Danny Younger <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear members of the ICANN Board:

The public expects ICANN to function as an effective and sensible global 
coordinator.  At a time when the end of the JPA is fast approaching, the world 
is looking at ICANN to see whether it is capable of making the hard decisions 
and whether it has the management skills to move forward in a levelheaded 
fashion.

It is at this pivotal moment that ICANN has introduced the most ill-conceived 
implementation plan ever devised.  

Rather than inaugurating the RAA revisions uniformly across all registrars on a 
date certain, an ill-conceived plan has been put forward to implement the new 
package of revisions on a piecemeal basis -- some will adopt the revisions in 
the next few months, others won't adopt the revisions until five years hence 
(and some won't agree to any early adoption unless they first receive a package 
of financial incentives)... and, of course, the public will never know which 
particular version of the RAA is governing which registrars at any given time.

Linking the adoption of these revisions to a contract renewal cycle is likely 
the most foolhardy, non-sensible approach that could ever have been devised.  
Such an approach is neither in ICANN's best interest nor is it in the public's 
best interest.

There is another way forward.

While ICANN Staff has relied on the section 5.4 of the current contract as the 
basis for their proposed initiative, the ICANN board has another option 
available in section 4.3.4 -- this contract clause states:

"A specification or policy established by the ICANN Board of Directors on a 
temporary basis, without a prior recommendation by the council of an ICANN 
Supporting Organization, shall also be considered to be a Consensus Policy if 
adopted by the ICANN Board of Directors by a vote of at least two-thirds of its 
members, so long as the Board reasonably determines that immediate temporary 
establishment of a specification or policy on the subject is necessary to 
maintain the operational stability of Registrar Services, Registry Services, 
the DNS, or the Internet, and that the proposed specification or policy is as 
narrowly tailored as feasible to achieve those objectives."

In short, the Board has the power to declare that all registrars must  adopt a 
specification or policy by a date certain.  

This temporary-basis decision becomes permanent thereafter upon ratification by 
the relevant Supporting Organization as a "Consensus Policy".  All the board 
needs to do is to outline its reasons for establishing the temporary 
specification or policy and to outline why the Board believes the policy should 
receive the consensus support of Internet stakeholders.

Such a narrowly tailored expression of the board's will might simply state:

"Inasmuch as a uniform adoption of the proposed RAA revisions by a date certain 
is moreso in the public interest than a staggered adoption over a five-year 
time-frame, and inasmuch as a uniform adoption serves to promote registrar 
operational stability, it is resolved as a matter of public-interest policy to 
implement these revisions uniformly on a date certain across all registrars as 
a temporary basis Consensus Policy.  The GNSO is asked to affirm this decision 
within the next ninety days and thereby to make permanent through ratification 
such decision of the board."

Allow me to remind the board that one of ICANN's core values is to "remain 
accountable to the Internet community through mechanisms that enhance ICANN's 
effectiveness".   

A staggered five-year long implementation plan linked to registrar contract 
renewals does not comport with the notion of an effective ICANN 
-- you can do much better than that.

Best wishes,
Danny Younger