Marilyn Cade : dot net RFP public comment

["BC secretariat" <secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Below is a post made on behalf of  Marilyn Cade.  Marilyn's original post 
arrived at this office on 4 February 2005.

Regards
Gary Hills
BC Secretariat
------------------------------------

In reading the .net proposals that are submitted to ICANN, it appears that
some of the bidders are attempting to establish unique and different WHOIS
policies than are required by ICANN policy. I believe that this makes this
section of any such proposals non compliant with the bid, as I read it, and
also would make any awarded proposal that was allowed these changes, non
compliant with ICANN policy. Thus, I urge that close attention be given to
the policy elements in all the proposals, and in particular, to the sections
related to WHOIS policy.

Reviewing the proposals has led to concerns on my part, as a BC member, and
as an elected counciler.  Changes in policy made through the proposal
process are not acceptable. While the perspective of the bidder may be that
they are seeking to identify new and innovative approaches to differentiate
themselves in the market, this can not be achieved through failing to comply
with the policies as they now stand.

The bid document seems clear on the requirement of free public access to
complete WHOIS data. However, at least some of the bidders offer proposals
which do not, as I read them, fulfill the bid requirement in this area. One
indicates that if the original proposal in this area is rejected, then they
will provide fully compliant WHOIS.

Bidders may disagree with some ICANN policies; however, the bylaws of ICANN
require all registries to abide by consensus policy. Changes in policy must
be made in the appropriate, transparent, and bottom up consensus process;
not through the proposal process of a rebid or a bid of a gTLD registry.

Due to the limitations of time to gather broader comments from BC members, I
am speaking for myself as a member of the BC; however, other indications we
are receiving indicate that our members have concerns about changing WHOIS
through the bid process, and about the nature of the changes.

In my view, the evaluators must be instructed to reject specific elements in
any proposal which would not be fully compliant with the relevant policy of
ICANN, and in particular, I ask that close attention be paid to the policy
areas overall, including WHOIS policy. Bidders can be given an opportunity
to modify their proposals to be fully compliant with the policy
requirements.

Marilyn Cade