Development of Transparency and Accountability Management Operating Principles

["Eric Ramage" <eric@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Submission to ICANN regarding its consultation on the Development of 

Transparency and Accountability Management Operating Principles

 

This is posted on behalf of the European Communities Trade Mark
Association (ECTA) which is the principal pan-European body representing
the interests of those professionals who practice within the European
Union in the fields of trade marks and related IP.  ECTA supports
ICANN's consultation on the Development of Transparency and
Accountability Management Operating Principles.  ECTA joins the Canadian
Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), and Australia's Domain Name
Administrator (auDA) in supporting ICANN's attempts to engage the
community in defining "accountability and transparency". ECTA agrees
that such definitions, if they are properly developed, will help ICANN
to establish and maintain trust with its stakeholders and to meet the
conditions set out in the recent Joint Project Agreement between the
U.S. Department of Commerce and ICANN.  However, ECTA believes that
these expressions cannot be fully and properly defined within the
timescale envisaged by ICANN.

 

Consequently, ECTA joins CIRA and auDA to express considerable concern
about the short time period in which comments are sought.  The issues
related to Development of Transparency and Accountability Management
Operating Principles, and defining the expressions "accountability and
transparency" are too complex to permit any international body (or even
national body) to formulate a reasoned view within the time permitted.
Indeed the time permitted is not sufficient to enable a representative
number of personal views to be posted by interested individuals.  The
consequent absence of a properly reasoned definition of these terms will
adversely affect subsequent debate on position papers that may then be
drawn up following incomplete consultation to properly identify the
issues to be addressed.

 

We respectfully request that the deadline be extended to December 31st,
2006. An extension of the time for submissions would not prejudice ICANN
in any way and would allow many stakeholders to participate in this
important process.

 

A very welcome step towards greater transparency would be for ICANN to
clarify the details of the process for the development of the
Transparency and Accountability Management Operating Principles. Further
ECTA joins CIRA in proposing that ICANN should retain (if it has not
already done so) expert external assistance to determine a set of best
practices for transparency, accountability and fair processes.

 

 Eric Ramage,

Chair, ECTA Internet Committee




Eric Ramage 
eric@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:eric@xxxxxxxxxxxx>  
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