time to move on and accept the .com settlement/contract

["Andrew Mack" <mack_andrew@xxxxxxxxx>]

I was in Vancouver and was impressed by the tremendous passion of the
many parties there.  Still, I walked away with one simple feeling: its
time to move on and accept the settlement.  I say this because the
settlement/contract address what I see as the two key issues:  making
the money flow, and streamlining the decisionmaking process.
 
First, Money:  There should be a predictable (and increasing) source of
funding for ICANN, and the agreement will help.  Everyone agrees that
ICANN needs more money.  With more money ICANN can do outreach, improve
professionalism, speed decisionmaking.  The agreement also makes the
flow of funding much simpler, as opposed to the current situation of
invoicing and voting with the registrars, which has led to spikey
funding flows and doesn't seem to provide any value (except perhaps to
parties that currently get the float on money owed to ICANN).  Everyone
at the meeting seemed to agree that the current funding system is, well,
messy. 
 
Second: Decisionmaking.  ICANN needs clearer rules to lead to better
long-term planning and more innovation.  Building in stability --
including things like presumptive contract renewal -- just makes common
sense from ICANN's perspective and from the perspective of the 99.99
percent of the users out there who have no idea that ICANN exists.  If
there's a problem, there's a chance to remedy and a provision for
non-renewal, but at present and my first rule would alway be "if it
ain't broke, don't fix it."  Competition for its own sake, like
discussion for its own sake, is only talk.  Similarly, the agreement
helps clarify processes for bringing new products to market.  Great!
After all, it is innovation, not any one contract, where the value is.
One look at the history of the internet should be enough to remind us of
that.
 
The ICANN-VeriSign agreement may be imperfect and reasonable people can
quibble.  Still it gets key things right.  In my mind taking all this
back to the lawyers does nothing positive for ICANN, VeriSign, the
principle of competition, or for internet users.  
 
A. Mack