News Review: ICANN56, RZMA & .COM, WS2, IANA Transition, $NAME

Domain Mondo's review of the past week and look ahead [pdf]:

•  ICANN56 policy forum meeting was in Helsinki this past week. For more, including the CENTR report and GAC Communique, read: ICANN56 Helsinki, ICANN Policy Forum, June 27-30, Info & Links | DomainMondo.com.

•  In the IANA stewardship transition, after a long, unexplained delay, ICANN published for review the RZMA (Root Zone Maintainer Agreement) between ICANN and Verisign, and published for public comment the .COM registry agreement amendment. For more read: ICANN Finally Publishes Verisign .COM Extension Agreement & RZMA | DomainMondo.com.

•  WS2 Timeline: at ICANN56 during a CCWG-Accountability session, the following timeline was presented for ICANN Accountability Work Stream 2 (WS2):

CCWG-Accountability Work Stream 2 (WS2) Proposed Timeline (source: ICANN56 session, June 26, 2016)

WS2 topics include: ICANN jurisdiction, human rights, diversity, IRP "Phase Two" (carry-over from WS1), Ombudsman, Guidelines on Good Faith Conduct in Participating in Board Removal Discussions, SO/AC accountability, ICANN staff accountability, Transparency, and Reviewing the CEP (as set forth in Section 4.3). For more go to WS2 - Enhancing ICANN Accountability Home | ICANN.org. The goal is to complete WS2 work by June 2017, and within budget ($8.8 million budget FY17). ICANN management and the ICANN community mismanaged "control of costs" in WS1 and the IANA transition planning during FY15 and FY16, with total reported expenses exceeding $28 million dollars. Now the ICANN Board has proposed "cost controls" upon the ICANN community for WS2. For more information read: Proposed Cost Control Mechanisms for Transition and Accountability Work in FY17 (pdf) and  News Review [12Jun]: IANA Transition Has Already Cost ICANN Over $28 Million | DomainMondo.com.

• U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte on Monday, June 27, 2016, wrote to Larry Strickling, NTIA, raising concerns including the IANA transition may be premature, unconstitutional, or illegal, and requested a response from NTIA by July 22. Read more at IANA Transition Premature say Grassley & Goodlatte in Letter to NTIA | DomainMondo.com.

•  NTIA's Larry Strickling responded to US Senator Marco Rubio by letter on June 27, 2016 (pdf) telling him that a delay of the U.S. government's handoff of some of the internet's technical functions is "unnecessary" and would have implications for the "credibility of the United States in the global community" but acknowledged that if all the transition work is not complete, NTIA can extend its contract.

•  Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton endorsed the IANA transition on June 27th in her Initiative on Technology & Innovation. While Republicans in Congress have raised concerns including whether the IANA transition is premature, unconstitutional or illegal (see above), Presidential candidate Donald Trump's position is yet unknown, although the Trump campaign's legal counsel is Jones Day, the same law firm that represents ICANN. Read more at Hillary Clinton Endorses Obama's IANA Stewardship Transition, Reaction | DomainMondo.com.

• Federal regulation of Internet coming, warn FCC, FEC commissioners: "Pai and Goodman cited political correctness campaigns by Democrats as a threat. Both also said their agencies are becoming politicized and the liberals are using their power to push regulations that impact business and conservative outlets and voices."--WashingtonExaminer.com

•  Replace ICANN? China, Russia sign joint statement ... | Xinhuanet.com [Google translation from the statement]: "We maintain that all countries have the right to equal participation in Internet governance, in accordance with national law ... We propose the establishment of a multilateral, democratic and transparent system of Internet governance, support for the United Nations to play an important role in establishing the international aspects of Internet governance mechanisms." (emphasis added)

•  Where Is China’s Internet Headed? | ChinaFile.com: "... In Xu Lin (Lu’s successor as Internet Czar), Xi Jinping has appointed someone he knows, he trusts, and he has worked with—someone who will make Internet policy even tighter and tougher ... The upcoming Wuzhen Internet Summit in November will be a chance for China to focus more on how to govern the Internet and to seek global allies. U.S. or European observers often forget that China is not alone in its fear of a free Internet ..."

• In the new gTLD .AFRICA litigation pending in U.S. District Court at Los Angeles, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal (interlocutory appeal of the preliminary injunction Order enjoining ICANN from delegating .AFRICA), dismissed party defendant ZACR has also filed an appeal, and ICANN amended its notice of appeal to include the District Court's Order denying ICANN's motion to reconsider. ICANN filed its opening brief June 29. Read more at ICANN and Dot AFRICA: Dismissed Party ZACR Files Notice of Appeal | DomainMondo.com.

• The Chairman’s Blog: The ICANN Ombudsman | ICANN.org: "The role of the ICANN Ombudsman ... is currently being examined in Work Stream 2 (WS2) of the CCWG-Accountability ... after five years as ICANN’s Ombudsman, Chris LaHatte’s contract comes to an end on 27 July 2016. Pending the conclusion of the community work, Herb Waye, the current Adjunct Ombudsman, will assume the role of Ombudsman, starting 28 July 2016 ... "

• NETmundial Initiative dead and gone? Former ICANN President & CEO Fadi Chehade's  personal vanity project--the so-called NETmundial Initiative--has apparently died and been buried without so much as a proper funeral. A meeting was supposed to occur June 8, 2016, but didn't happen. The website and Twitter account are still standing but appear to have been abandoned. Besides being a complete waste of ICANN resources, money and staff time, as well as outside ICANN's mission and scope, the project now serves as a good example to the ICANN community of dysfunctional leadership (former ICANN President & CEO), enabled by weak, inept corporate governance (ICANN Board of Directors). For background read NETmundial Initiative, WEF and ICANN Withdrawal, Consequences | DomainMondo.com (Feb 26, 2016).

• Who Really Cares About New gTLDs? | circleid.com by trademark, domain name, and internet lawyer Doug Isenberg: "... Many of the new registrations are speculative, defensive or infringing — none of which seems to be sustainable ... Ultimately, it seems as if a relatively small number of the now 1,000+ new gTLDs are likely to gain much traction ..."

• Dot GAY Update: Blog Update: BGC's Comments on Recent Reconsideration Request | ICANN.org: "Earlier this week ICANN's Board Governance Committee (BGC) recommended that the ICANN Board deny a Reconsideration Request from dotgay LLC, in which it objected to emails to authors of letters of support having been sent by an administrator at the Community Priority Evaluation (CPE) provider rather than an evaluator ... Four applicants for .GAY remain in contention (including dotgay LLC), and we look forward to the award of the .GAY TLD in the near future ..."

• June 30, 2016, marked the end of ICANN's FY2016 (ending June 30, 2016), but if past performance is any indicator, ICANN's financial disclosures to the "global multistakeholder community" as required by ICANN 's articles, bylaws, or applicable law, will be delayed, even beyond their "due date(s)." For more, including the ICANN FY2017 budget (ending June 30, 2017), go here: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/current-en.

•  Comments close this coming week at ICANN on:
1. Draft Restated Articles of Incorporation Close 6 Jul 2016 23:59 UTC
2. Draft Root Zone Evolution Review Committee (RZERC) Charter Close 10 Jul 2016 23:59 UTC

•  Verisign reported a domain name base as of  June 30, 2016: 127,424,320 .COM domain names; and 15,780,421 .NET domain names; for a total of 143,204,741 (.COM + .NET ). Note that Verisign reported, as of December. 31, 2015, a domain name base of registered domain names in .COM of 124 million names, and in .NET 15.8 million names. Therefore, net growth in registered .COM domain names over the past six months equals approximately 3.4 million names, while net growth in.NET domain names has been flat.

See also: Verisign: Time To Make Some Real Money | SeekingAlpha.com: "... VeriSign is a long-term play - its shares aren't for those looking to make a quick buck ... The company continues to see increases in revenue and cash flow on the back of its strong competitive advantages and business model. It's not every day you find businesses with a great moat like VeriSign trading at a reasonable valuation ... Notable shareholders: Berkshire Hathaway, Paul Singer, Ron Baron, Joel Greenblatt ..." and Active Equities to Watch in the Technology Sector | MarketWatch.com: "[VeriSign] stock finished Thursday's session 2.33% higher at $86.46 with a total volume of 979,071 shares traded. Over the last one month and the previous one year, the Company's shares have advanced 1.26% and 36.59%, respectively. The stock is trading above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages by 1.23% and 4.24%, respectively. VeriSign's stock traded at a PE ratio of 29.03 and has a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 54.51."

• Brexit: read Brexit Postscript: FTSE100 Roars, Theresa May, Sword in Hand, Next PM? | DomainMondo.com.

• $Name in Play? follow-up: Rightside shares (NASDAQ: NAME] moved UP 15.45% this past week, closing Friday at $10.61. $NAME has not traded this high since 2014, its first year of trading following the spin-off from Demand Media, and the current run was losing steam by the end of the week. Unless there is further news from Donuts or Rightside management or other(s), Caveat Emptor [see Disclaimer].

*$NAME UPDATE July 5, 2016: Rightside® Board of Directors Rejects Donuts' Unsolicited Proposal--"Proposal Substantially Undervalues Rightside's Registry Business and is Not in the Best Interest of Shareholders"--$NAME (NASDAQ: NAME) shares UP July 5, 1:43 PM EDT at $10.75 USD +0.14 (1.32%).

•  Earnings Season: June 30th marked the end of the second quarter of 2016 (Q2 2016) so publicly traded companies will be reporting their Q2 2016 financial results over the next few weeks. Domain Mondo coverage will include 12 technology and domain name industry stocks:

• Alibaba BABA
• Alphabet GOOG
• Amazon AMZN
• Apple AAPL
• Facebook FB
• GoDaddy GDDY
• Neustar NSR
• Rightside NAME 
• Twitter TWTR
• Verisign VRSN
• Web.com WEB
• Yahoo YHOO

Scheduled release dates for earning results and webcasts will be posted on the stock links page.

•  Five most popular posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this week on DomainMondo.com:

1. News Review [26Jun]: Brexit, ICANN56, Chinese Domainer Advice, $NAME in Play?
2. ICANN and Dot AFRICA: Dismissed Party ZACR Files Notice of Appeal
3. Day After Brexit Vote Eurocrats Lost, Market Recovery, Path Forward
4. ICANN56 Helsinki, ICANN Policy Forum, June 27-30, Info & Links
5. IANA Transition Premature say Grassley & Goodlatte in Letter to NTIA

• 9 Other Reading Recommendations:

1. Jurisdiction: The Taboo Topic at ICANN | The Centre for Internet and Society | cis-india.org: "The "IANA Transition" that is currently underway is a sham since it doesn't address the most important question: that of jurisdiction. This article explores why the issue of jurisdiction is the most important question, and why it remains unaddressed ..."
2. Is ICANN “Jurisdiction Shopping”? | Lexology.com: "... where ICANN is formed – and therefore the general jurisdiction under which ICANN operates – has far reaching implications. This is especially so for individuals and corporations who are used to ICANN operating under predictable United States law, with all of its due process and human rights protections and appeal mechanisms. However, that could all be changing. At least one member of WS2 bluntly suggested that the WS2 group is “jurisdiction shopping.”..."
3. Last August But Still Relevant: Transparency and Accountability in the ICANN Structure | ALAC | ICANN.org by Garth Bruen (last modified on Aug 21, 2015):  ... compliance is under the direction of ICANN domain business. This is a serious problem. The attached memo explains the situation and provides some suggestions for remedying the issue in order to ensure true accountability of ICANN especially as the IANA transition moves forward. As we consider IANA Transition work in the context of accountability and transparency to the stakeholder community I would encourage all to review the current structure of ICANN’s compliance functions. What ICANN has at the moment is an inherent conflict of interest in the management of compliance ..."
4. Wise Chinese Domainer Advice: Is it really a domain upgrade? | coreile.com: "... In this internet age, a good domain name is paramount. A short, exact matching domain name on .com is the best choice because it requires the least effort for customers to remember both your brand name and where to find you on the internet ..."
5. Cybersquatting complaints against .COM domains are dropping | DomainNameWire.com
6. But maybe you don't need a domain name: China Digital Consumer Study 2016 | ChinaInternetWatch.com: WeChat [app] online shoppers to double in 2016
7. So Hey You Should Stop Using Texts for Two-Factor Authentication | WIRED.com: "... Twitter, like other services that store your sensitive data, may soon be offering a second-factor option other than the rickety telephone line that SMS represents. And security-conscious users should take it."
8. Death & Taxes: Google offices in Spain raided in tax investigation | telegraph.co.uk.
9. Attention Apple $AAPL Investors: Everybody Already Hates iPhone 7, So Prepare To Buy Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) | SeekingAlpha.com by Scott Tzu: "We think the iPhone 7 is going to flop with sales and in the media, and we think peak hatred for this phone is going to create an extraordinary buying opportunity in the high $80's, prior to the iPhone 8 narrative beginning ..."

To those in the USA, have a happy 4th of July, and to all, have a great week!

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
Follow @DomainMondo

DISCLAIMER

News Review: dotAFRICA, Public Interest, Judge Holds ICANN Accountable

Domain Mondo's review of the past week and look ahead [pdf of this post is here]:

It was a rough week for arrogant and unaccountable ICANN. A U.S. District Court Judge, The Honorable R. Gary Klausner, in Los Angeles, actually held the California corporation accountable, a rare event, to which most stakeholders can attest, sweeping aside every one of the arguments interposed by Jones Day, ICANN's lawyers, and granted a preliminary injunction "barring ICANN from delegating the rights to [new gTLD] .Africa until this case [DotConnectAfrica Trust vs ICANN and ZA Central Registry] is resolved." You can read the Court's full decision at Will ICANN File An Interlocutory Appeal in DCA Trust gTLD AFRICA Case? | DomainMondo.com. [UPDATE June 16, 2016: New gTLD AFRICA Litigation: Defendant ZACR Dismissed as a Party.]

Key to the case was the application of California state law (a California statute invalidating "Covenants Not to Sue" or "Releases"), to ICANN in connection with new gTLD applicants. Specifically, the U.S. District Court case involves Plaintiff DotConnectAfrica Trust (DCA Trust), a Mauritius Charitable Trust, applicant for new gTLD .AFRICA, and Defendants ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a California corporation, and  ZA Central Registry, a South African non-profit company.

If this all sounds like a confusing mix of global internet governance with California state law and jurisdiction and U.S. federal law and jurisdiction (U.S. District Court), welcome to the world of ICANN and the legal system of the United States of America, see Erie doctrine (Wikipedia).

Here's the California state statute in question, California Civil Code §1668:

"All contracts which have for their object, directly or indirectly, to exempt any one from responsibility for his own fraud, or willful injury to the person or property of another, or violation of law, whether willful or negligent, are against the policy of the law." 

Here's the“Release and Covenant Not To Sue” that ICANN is relying on (yellow highlighting added):

Judge Klausner:

"On its face, the Release is “against the policy of the law” because it exempts ICANN from any and all claims arising out of the application process, even those arising from fraudulent or willful conduct. Cal. Civ. Code § 1668. ICANN argues that Section 1668 is limited only to agreements involving the public interest which the Guidebook is not, and cites to Tunkl v. Regents of Cal., 383 P.2d 441 (Cal. 1963) for support. However, Tunkl concerns the validity of a release from liability for negligence, not intentional acts or fraud. Here, the Release waives all liability, not just liability resulting from negligence. Thus, Tunkl is distinguishable, and the Court need not determine whether the Release is in an agreement involving the public interest ... ICANN fails to recognize that the alleged conduct giving rise to this claim is intentional. Specifically, DCA alleges that ICANN intended to deny DCA’s application after the IRP proceeding under any pretext and without a legitimate reason ... The evidence suggests that ICANN intended to deny DCA’s application based on pretext. Defendants have not introduced any controverting facts. As such, the Court finds serious questions regarding the enforceability of the Release due to California Civil Code § 1668 .... the public has an interest in the fair and transparent application process that grants gTLD rights. ICANN regulates the internet – a global system that dramatically impacts daily life in today’s society. The IRP Declaration recognizes that ICANN’s function is “special, unique, and publicly important” and ICANN itself “is the steward of a highly valuable and important international resources ... the Court finds that both the likelihood of irreparable injury and the public interest favors the injunction ..." (emphasis added).

Boiled down to its essence, ICANN's argument seems to be:

1. There is no public interest involved with new gTLD applications nor the new gTLD guidebook which resulted from ICANN policy-making;
2. ICANN can, therefore, do whatever it wants with new gTLD applications without any liability because California Civil Code §1668 does not apply, and all new gTLD applicants are required to accept the terms and conditions of the guidebook which includes a Covenant Not To Sue and Release;
3. There is nothing any Court, including a U.S. District Court, can do about this, other than dismiss all cases filed by parties claiming otherwise.

Judge Klausner's response, in essence, seems to be:

1. The public has an interest in the fair and transparent application process that grants gTLD rights. ICANN regulates the internet, a global system that dramatically impacts daily life in today's society;
2. California Civil Code §1668 applies and the guidebook's Covenant Not To Sue and Release violates California public policy, i.e., the Release is “against the policy of the law”;
3. In such cases, the United States District Court for the Central District of California, at Los Angeles, serves as a judicial forum to provide remedies, legal and equitable, for injured parties.

The fact that ICANN is arguing in a U.S. Court that there is no public interest involved in the new gTLD application process is illuminating. This may be related to what Internet Hall of Famer Dr. Paul Vixie characterized as the corruption of ICANN and its new gTLDs program. Contrast the ICANN position on its new gTLD process with that elucidated by Timothy Berners-Lee:

"When a decision is taken about a possible new top-level domain, ICANN's job is to work out, in a transparent and accountable manner, whether it is really in the best interest of the world as a whole, not just of those launching the new domain."

Sir Tim is referring to the public interest. Judge Klausner apparently agrees, there is a public interest involved.

Nonetheless, ICANN is not giving up, and repeated the same arguments in a filing two days after the injunction was granted:

"Plaintiff [DotConnectAfrica Trust] asserts “[i]t [the Release or Covenant Not To Sue] cannot mean that ICANN can decide to reject a qualified applicant for any reason whatsoever.” (Opp’n at 16: 24- 26.) However, that is exactly what the contract term means. Thor Seafood Corp. v. Supply Management Services, 352 F.Supp.2d 1128, 1131 (2005) ...."--ICANN's Amended Reply Memorandum (pdf) filed April 14, 2016, in support of ICANN's Motion to Dismiss DCA Trust's First Amended Complaint in its entirety, with prejudice, set for hearing on April 25 (emphasis added).

Of course, all of this bears on the touchy subject of ICANN's future jurisdiction, which was deferred to Work Stream 2 (WS2) of the CCWG-Accountability process, for political reasons--foreign and domestic--Congress would not otherwise approve an IANA transition that changed ICANN's jurisdiction, and others outside the U.S. are adamant that ICANN should be located in a neutral jurisdiction such as Switzerland. Jurisdiction is not a fundamental bylaw under the proposed new bylaws, and theoretically ICANN could change its jurisdiction at any time in the future after the transition is complete and the Affirmation of Committments (see paragraph 8), is no longer in effect. However, this decision to defer the threshhold issue of jurisdiction has only contributed to the dysfunction of the overall CCWG-Accountability WS1 process--all of the new proposed bylaws are drafted in accordance with, and dependent upon, ICANN's jurisdiction remaining in California.

ICANN has tried to "play both sides of the fence" on the jurisdiction issue--telling Congress (under oath), ICANN will stay in the U.S., and telling, e.g., the French Senate, that ICANN is moving forward with plans to create a “parallel, legal, international structure, maybe in Switzerland, for ICANN,”--see Fadi Chehadé, Will ICANN Move to Switzerland? | DomainMondo.com and Will ICANN Board Disclose New Swiss Legal Structure at ICANN 50 London? | DomainMondo.com.

Wonder why people don't trust ICANN?

• In the IANA Transition process, this Wednesday, April 20, is the scheduled posting date for public comment on ICANN's new proposed bylaws in connection with the IANA transition and ICANN accountability proposal. Public comment period is scheduled for the period April 20 through May 20, 2016:

• Calls with Community on Public Comments Submitted on ICANN's Draft FY17 Operating Plan and Budget - Finance Community Wiki: ICANN will be holding community calls during which the comments submitted on the Draft FY17 Operating Plan and Budget will be presented by the submitters to ICANN staff. According to ICANN, this is intended to enhance the understanding of the comments and so improve the quality of the response. The schedule for these calls will be published as dates and times are agreed with each constituency group, more info here.

• In the world of tech,  the Yahoo ($YHOO) bid deadline is Monday, April 18, 2016. Yahoo's Q1 2016 earnings release is Tuesday, April 19, after market close. Google n/k/a Alphabet ($GOOGL, $GOOG) will be reporting Q1 2016 earnings Thursday, April 21, after market close [corrected to delete reference to Amazon which will report April 28].

• In Washington this week, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is hosting a summit on Tuesday and Wednesday (media not invited), which will feature Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), interviewed by a16z.com co-founder partner, Marc Andreessen.

• On Tuesday, April 19, House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing entitled, “Deciphering the Debate Over Encryption: Industry and Law Enforcement Perspectives.” Bruce Sewell, general counsel of Apple, and Amy Hess, the FBI's executive assistant director for Science and Technology, will be among those testifying.

• On Friday, April 15, Neustar, Inc. (NYSE: NSR), a Top-Level Domain Name (.co, .us, .biz, etc.) Registry Operator and Registry Services provider, and technology company, announced that J. Beckwith (“Becky”) Burr, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer, has been elected by domain name industry registries and registrars, to serve on the ICANN Board of Directors, replacing Melbourne IT's Bruce Tonkin whose term expires November, 2016. Burr has been an effective advocate for the interests of Neustar, and the domain name industry generally, within ICANN, most recently as the Registry Stakeholder Group appointed member of the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability). Like many lawyers-lobbyists-stakeholders active in ICANN, Burr not only has domain name industry ties, but is also a product of Washington, D.C.'s revolving door culture, having once served as Associate Administrator of NTIA, U.S. Department of Commerce, at the time of ICANN's formation in 1998, about which Domain Mondo may have an upcoming post.

• ICANN ex-CEO Fadi Chehade's partner in his NETmundial schemes, Brazil's Presidenta Dilma Rousseff, faces an impeachment vote on Sunday, April 17, based on allegations of misappropriated funds from public banks to shore up the government’s finances as she faced a tough re-election in 2014, the same year as the NETmundial Conference in São Paulo, Brazil. Maybe she should have followed Fadi's example and just left voluntarily. Who knows, she might have gotten a big bonus and a grand $100,000+ "Tribute Party" in Marrakech, complete with camel selfies, like Fadi did!

This past week's five most popular posts on Domain Mondo (# of pageviews Sun-Sat):

1. News Review [April 10]: ICANN, China, IANA: ex-CEO Fadi Chehadé's Sad Legacy
2. Will ICANN File An Interlocutory Appeal in DCA Trust gTLD AFRICA Case?
3. Verizon, Daily Mail? Who Will Make a Bid for Yahoo? (video)
4. ICANN GNSO Working Groups, Newcomer Slide Deck, Info & Links
5. ICANN Is Now Holding Over $101 Million in Net Auction Proceeds

Finally, check out the Domain Mondo posts (including videos) this past Friday and Saturday on the IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. Note the IMF legal structure and compare it to ICANN's.

Have a great week!

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo

Follow @DomainMondo

DISCLAIMER

ICANN President & CEO Fadi Chehade's Last Letter to Dilma Rousseff

UPDATE: Flashback--

"... And then there is dysfunctional ICANN mission drift--one would think with the on-going roll-out (and concurrent problems) of the largest expansion of the domain name system in history, as well as the multiple on-going processes concerning ICANN accountability and the IANA transition, that the ICANN CEO would have more than enough on his plate, but no, he has been spending his time (and hundreds of thousands of dollars from ICANN's budget) trying to "force" or "beg" the global internet community to join his ill-conceived, top-down, unwanted, unneeded idea for another global internet organization--the so-called NETmundial Initiative, not to be confused with the original NETmundial Conference held in Brazil--The Register: "ICANN has been criticized for its efforts to control conversations over internet governance while at the same time claiming to be open. The creation of the NetMundial conference earlier this year and its sister astroturf * organization, 1Net, was bankrolled by ICANN. It then used its clout to controversially change a key recommendation of the conference at the last minute. Some months after that conference, ICANN was again criticized when it announced out of the blue that it was partnering with the World Economic Forum to create the namesake "NetMundial Initiative"."). *“Astroturfing” is the practice of hiring a third­ party group to advocate for an issue, falsely giving the impression that the effort is a “grassroots,” bottom­up initiative ..." --17 December 2014 ICANN, Dysfunctional, Sick Organizational Culture, Warped Values | DomainMondo.com

No wonder ICANN refuses to disclose its spending outside the United States to influence governments, governmental officials, or others--corrupt or otherwise--see How ICANN and ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé Evade Accountability | DomainMondo.com.

[--end of UPDATE--]

Two Days ago, Domain Mondo published Brazil Insulted by ICANN President & CEO Fadi Chehade Farewell Letter, which incuded an excerpt from Fadi's Farewell Letter to the ICANN Board of Directors and the March 9th retort by the Brazilian Ambassador at ICANN55, in Marrakech, Morocco, together with Fadi's reply. Below is a March 12th letter from the (now) former ICANN President and CEO to the President of Brazil, subsequently published on the ICANN website (pdf), embedded below:



Unfortunately the "partnership" which Fadi says in his letter started on October 10, 2013--"a key turning point in digital geopolitics"--has taken a turn for the worse, see first link above, and NETmundial Initiative, WEF and ICANN Withdrawal, Consequences | DomainMondo.com.

And unfortunately for Presidenta Dilma Rousseff, apart from any issue involving ICANN or internet governance, things have deteriorated dramatically, see:

• Calls Mount for Brazil President Dilma Rousseff’s Exit - WSJ
• More than a million Brazilians protest against 'horror' government | The Guardian

Things look bad for Dilma Rousseff—will she cling to power? https://t.co/sxBEVyuhuT pic.twitter.com/tfg0LbM2ga

— The Economist (@EconAmericas) March 15, 2016

WATCH: More than 1,000,000 protesters have taken to Brazil's streets to demand Pres. Dilma Rousseff's resignation. https://t.co/YXZz43bd3K

— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) March 15, 2016

Follow @DomainMondo

DISCLAIMER

News Review: ICANN Accountability, NETmundial Initiative, G20 & China

Another busy week!--here's the Domain Mondo news review of the past week--

1. The ICANN CCWG-Accountability Final Report (WS1)--part of the IANA Transition--was approved for publication and distribution to the CCWG Chartering Organizations for their review and approval. Read more further below*.

2. The NETmundial Initiative Coordination Council had its face-to-face meeting in Madrid. Current funding by the founding partners--ICANN, World Economic Forum (WEF), CGI.br--ends June 30, 2016. ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade announced his resignation from the Council effective March 13, 2016. Read more at: DomainMondo.com: NETmundial Initiative, WEF and ICANN Withdrawal, Consequences

3. The global economic situation continued its precarious 2016 start with more concerns being raised about China's debt problems, and global monetary policies. Read more on Domain Mondo at: Will the Chinese Yuan Lose 30% of its Value? Investing in China (video) and G20 Meeting in China, Mohamed El-Erian Interview, Twitter Feeds.

*IANA Transition--what's next?
The Final Proposal for Enhancing ICANN Accountability (WS1) was (finally!) approved by the ICANN Cross-Community Working Group (CCWG-Accountability) and distributed to Chartering Organizations for their approval by March 9th at ICANN55 in Marrakech, which would allow the ICANN Board at its meeting on March 10th, to approve and send the entire IANA Stewardship Transition Plan to NTIA for its review. What happens after the IANA Plan gets to Washington, D.C., is no slam dunk. The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee's Communications and Technology Subcommittee has already scheduled an IANA Transition Hearing for March 17, 2016. See also on Domain Mondo:  Is ICANN's IANA Stewardship Transition Plan DOA Washington DC? (video) and US Congressman Tells ICANN CEO To 'Abandon' IANA Transition and US Senators Cruz, Lankford & Lee Demand Answers From ICANN CEO.

Before the IANA Plan even gets to Washington, there are a couple of caveats:

(a) Not everyone on the CCWG-Accountability is happy about the way things went down at its last meeting on February 23rd, and five minority (dissenting) reports have been filed, including one representing 16 governments. Read more at: GAC Members Minority Statement on ICANN Accountability WS1 Proposal (post includes all 5 minority reports); and at IANA Stewardship Transition, New ICANN CCWG Accountability Timeline.

(b) There's a chance a further glitch may occur at ICANN55. Here's what the CCWG charter says about this phase of the process:


There are several nightmare scenarios that could play out at ICANN55 in Marrakech. Keep an eye on the GAC (Governmental Advisory Committee) deliberations at ICANN55.

Most popular articles on DomainMondo.com this past week (highest number of pageviews):

1. NETmundial Initiative, WEF and ICANN Withdrawal, Consequences
2. Verisign Form 10-K for 2015, Domain Name Industry 'Must Read'
3. News Review: ISIS at Marrakech, ICANN Plan Delayed, Verisign 10-K
4. ICANN Damaged a Competitive Domain Name Market With Its New gTLDs
5. US Senators Cruz, Lankford & Lee Demand Answers From ICANN CEO

Looking ahead to this coming week on Domain Mondo:

• Super Tuesday is March 1st, when several U.S. states hold their U.S. Presidential primary elections. Right now Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the front-runners to become the respective Democrat and Republican candidates for U.S President. More information on Domain Mondo's Election2016 page.
• ICANN55 in Marrakech will officially begin this coming Saturday, March 5th. Domain Mondo will post a page with ICANN55 info, links, and twitter feeds, prior to the start of ICANN55. Hot topics, as discussed above, will include IANA transition and ICANN accountability issues. It will also be the final meeting of current ICANN President & CEO Fadi Chehade.
• ICANN's selection of Meeting locations has been problematic in 2016. On February 5th, ICANN announced that due to the severity of the Zika Virus outbreak in the Latin America region, ICANN56 would be relocated from Panama (alternate location still TBD). ICANN55 has had to contend with security issues, see ICANN 55, Marrakech, Morocco: Travel Warnings, Threat of Terrorist Acts. If you are traveling to Marrakech, you may want to read An Informed Traveler Is a Safer Traveler - The New York Times.

Final Note: Don't miss Domain Mondo's earlier post this week Klarna [klarna.com]: Buy Things With Just Email and Zip Code (video).

Have a great week!

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo


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DISCLAIMER

NETmundial Initiative, WEF and ICANN Withdrawal, Consequences

UPDATE: Comments of Larry Strickling (US Department of Commerce, NTIA) at the NETmundial Initiative meeting in Madrid (as reported by Samantha Dickinson):

#NETmundial Initiative, L Strickling: some members of Coordination Council wanted this mtg closed. Some of us had to push to make it open.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) February 26, 2016

#NETmundial Initiative, L Strickling: the fact is that after 2 years, we don’t see many in the community who see a need for NMI.#netgov

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) February 26, 2016

#NETmundial Initiative, L Strickling: if nobody wants NMI, then why do we persist?#netgov

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) February 26, 2016

UPDATE: The NETmundial Initiative (NMI) meeting in Madrid has concluded, and a Communique issued which includes the following points:

• Funding by the founding 'partners' ICANN, World Economic Forum (WEF), and CGI.br ends June 30, 2016 [ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade announced at the meeting that the new ICANN CEO and the ICANN Board will determine at a later date whether to continue any funding beyond June 30th. Chehade also announced his resignation from the NMI Coordination Council effective March 13, 2016].
• The Council considered and accepted a proposal for CGI.br to provide an institutional home for the ongoing initiative, subject to approval by CGI.br’s Board.  
• The Council discussed the possibility of changing its current structure following a broad community consultation. 
• The current open request for nominations to the Coordination Council is withdrawn. Once the public consultation is complete, a new nomination process will begin.  
• Two activities were proposed for 2016, sponsorship for which has already been secured: (1) Document a set of good practices for national multistakeholder Internet governance structures and mechanisms; (2) Pilot the application of such practices in sub-Saharan Africa, including a conference to share learnings from pilot participants.
• A follow-up meeting of the Coordination Council will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on 8 June 2016. 

[--end of UPDATE--]

NETmundial Initiative: "Council members are currently considering the future direction of the NETmundial Initiative, and will make decisions at the Council's face-to-face meeting in Madrid, Spain, on 26 February 2016. In the meanwhile the nomination process for a new Council announced previously is on hold pending the outcome of that meeting."

NETmundial Initiative Coordination Council, 2nd Face to Face Meeting, Madrid, Spain
Date: 26 Feb 2016 - Remote Participation: Adobe Connect Room.

AGENDA - times shown below are UTC:

08:00 - 08:30 Welcoming Remarks from Host, Co-Chairs Overview of Achievements.
Moderator: Eileen Donahoe

08:30 - 10:00 WEF [World Economic Forum] & ICANN Withdrawal: Financial & Political Consequences; Looking Forward - A quick reality check; value of NETmundial; order of magnitude of costs; potential new partners, etc. This session is meant to inform the next sessions.
Moderator: Jean-Jacques Subrenat
10:00 - 10:15 | Break

10:15 - 12:00 Moving Forward - Share and explore feasibility of ideas presented in the non-paper and subsequent CGI.br position paper; relationship with the IGF.
Moderator: Wolfgang Kleinwächter
12:00 - 13:30 | Lunch

Afternoon Agenda TBD - to be determined based on work of morning sessions
13:30 - 14:30
14:30 - 14:45 | Break
14:45 - 15:30
15:30 - 16:00 NMI Roadmap Post June 2016
Moderator: Marilia Maciel
16:00 - 16:15 | Approval of Communique

Background:
The NETmundial Initiative (NMI) was one of  ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehade's personal pet projects while on "ICANN's dime" (Fadi is Co-Chair, as is Jack Ma and others), reportedly funded (in part) by ICANN, though NMI has never received wide support from either the global internet community, nor the "ICANN community"--see NETmundial Initiative Lacks Backing, and ICANN Should Not Lead and other sources below. See also this ICANN Documentary Information Disclosure Policy Request (pdf) and Response (pdf).

See on Domain Mondo:

• NETmundial Initiative, Headwinds, Questions, Puzzlement 23 Feb 2015
• After Wuzhen, Should ICANN President & CEO Fadi Chehade Be Fired? 28 Dec 2015
• What To Do With ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade? ICANN Board Chair Knows 20 Jan 2016
• How ICANN and ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé Evade Accountability 9 Feb 2016

NetMundial Initiative (NMI) - (Wikipedia): "The NMI was launched in on 6 November 2014 in a
partnership between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) and the World Economic Forum (WEF). Its Inaugural Coordination Council consisted of 23 members ... Leading up to and following the initial scoping meeting of NMI in Geneva, Switzerland in August 2014, several actors in the broader Internet governance ecosystem expressed concerns over NMI's proposed organization and activities. Concerns intensified following the official launch in November of that year. ISOC, the IAB and ICC BASIS published statements outlining their concerns ... According to Julia Pohle in the Global Policy Journal, there were three main controversial issues surrounding NMI raised by civil society and the technical community: permanent seats on the NMI Council, potential interference with the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and concern over disproportionate involvement in decision-making by economic and political elite. NMI retracted the notion of permanent seats on the Council, committed to supporting the efforts of the IGF and generated Internet Governance Process Principles to comprehensively address concerns regarding adherence to bottom-up, multistakeholder consensus-driven governance."

#netmundial

@AkramAtallah I tried to bring you with me to #WEF but Klaus was very firm on this point. Could you ensure #ICANN still funds #NETmundial ?

— Shit Fadi Says (@ShitFadiSays) January 22, 2016

Recruitment for next #NETmundial Initiative Coord Council not going well. Deadline quietly extended to day before #ICANN CEO quits.

— thereforeICANN (@thereforeICANN) January 22, 2016

#Wuzhen Initiative #netgov work said led by 31 member high-level advisory committee & secretariat. Interesting viz. #NETmundial Initiative

— William J. Drake (@wjdrake) December 18, 2015

#ICANN has spent half a million dollars on NYETMundial Initiative, including $200k for a "solutions map" https://t.co/OQgmEOmE3C

— Milton Mueller (@miltonmueller) February 26, 2016

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DISCLAIMER

ICANN, Dysfunctional, Sick Organizational Culture, Warped Values

ICANN Never Cleans Up Its Own Messes, It Just Creates More--

The story about an egregious UDRP case is hardly unique, but it is illuminating about how ICANN operates and fails, time and time again, in its mission, policy-making, implementation, coordination, and oversight roles. You can read the dismal details and how broken ICANN's UDRP policy (and its implementation) is at the first link above, but this is all "typical ICANN stuff" which most knowledgeable domain name registrants have come to expect from ICANN and the SIPs (Self-important People) on ICANN's Board of Directors, as well as some members of the "stakeholder" groups. You know, those people who have the time and resources to fly around the world for multiple meetings every year, staying in luxury hotels, often paid for by ICANN (from domain name registrant fees)--just to meet and make more bad policies, which are then poorly implemented by ICANN  and third-party contractors, with no oversight nor follow-up by ICANN's Board, staff, or stakeholder groups. Any wonder why ICANN is commonly referred to as ICANT?

And of course, there is no domain name registrants stakeholder group within ICANN, which is yet another reason ICANN is held in such low regard by so many domain name registrants. Instead, we get new gTLD policy and implementation by people who do not know what they are doing, who have limited understanding and experience "buying, owning, developing, managing, and selling" domain names, even from an average registrant's perspective, and ICANN know-it-alls who rely on information and "expert opinions" from self-interested, profit-seeking stakeholders or contractors or consultants, who are paid by ICANN to give the information and opinions the stakeholder groups or staff or Directors want, to justify ICANN's next bad policy-making action and implementation, all of which is used to justify the exorbitant salaries, expenses, and budget of ICANN. It never ends. For just a few examples of the systemic dysfunctions within ICANN, see:

• ICANN Insiders On New gTLDs: Mistakes, Fiascos, Horrible Implementation 
• ICANN Process for New gTLDs Dysfunctional -- from the beginning 
• Former ICANN CSO Kurt Pritz says ICANN Violated Its Own Policies

And then we have the lack of honesty, accountability and transparency, the "cover-ups," the "secrets" that must never be disclosed, as indicators of a very sick organizational culture with warped values. Of course, I am not the first to notice all of this. For example, Kieren McCarthy, a former ICANN staffer, has written about this, multiple times, in recent years, see: My analysis of the broken ICANN culture | Kieren McCarthy [dotcom] and The case study that could kill ICANN | .Nxt | Internet policy and governance. Meanwhile bumbling NTIA bureaucrats at the US Department of Commerce have chosen to maintain a state of denial about all of this, although two years ago they said ICANN was unfit to be granted the IANA contract:

Ethics Fight Over Domain Names Intensifies - March 18, 2012 - NYTimes.com: "... the United States government is also dissatisfied with ICANN. The Commerce Department said it had canceled a request for proposals to run the so-called Internet Assigned Numbers Authority [IANA] because none of the bids met its requirements..."

And then there is dysfunctional ICANN mission drift--one would think with the on-going roll-out (and concurrent problems) of the largest expansion of the domain name system in history, as well as the multiple on-going processes concerning ICANN accountability and the IANA transition, that the ICANN CEO would have more than enough on his plate, but no, he has been spending his time (and hundreds of thousands of dollars from ICANN's budget) trying to "force" or "beg" the global internet community to join his ill-conceived, top-down, unwanted, unneeded idea for another global internet organization--the so-called NETmundial Initiative (not to be confused with the original NETmundial Conference held in Brazil--The Register: "ICANN has been criticized for its efforts to control conversations over internet governance while at the same time claiming to be open. The creation of the NetMundial conference earlier this year and its sister astroturf * organization, 1Net, was bankrolled by ICANN. It then used its clout to controversially change a key recommendation of the conference at the last minute. Some months after that conference, ICANN was again criticized when it announced out of the blue that it was partnering with the World Economic Forum to create the namesake "NetMundial Initiative"."). *“Astroturfing” is the practice of hiring a third­ party group to advocate for an issue, falsely giving the impression that the effort is a “grassroots,” bottom­up initiative [source: Strategy Panel: ICANN’s Role in the Internet Governance Ecosystem (pdf)--see footnote 109]. I kindly suggest to Fadi Chehade that he "call the whole charade off" and start "taking care of business" at ICANN.

I further suggest that at the next ICANN meeting (and perhaps thereafter), every attendee when checking in, be required to complete a poll and the results be recorded and published, with the second question sorted by category (as either "domain name registrant" or "not a domain name registrant"):

1. Are you currently a domain name registrant? Yes / No

2. Please answer this question: Why are you here? [Please be honest, your answer will be recorded, not your name.] Answer:

Acceptable answers might include: "I like to travel and stay in nice hotels, and ICANN is paying for my flight, hotel, and per diem expenses, to be here" or "I am (or my employer is) an ICANN contractor and I am here to 'game the system,' keep the money flowing, and increase profits." Those are just two honest answers out of many possible answers--someone could make a game out of this--The ICANN Game.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo

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Internet Governance, US-EU Cyber Dialogue, Agreements

At the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-EU Cyber Dialogue in Brussels, Belgium on December 5, 2014, the participants jointly agreed to specific areas of collaboration and cooperation in various areas including internet governance as follows:

Internet Governance Developments in 2015

"All reiterated that no single entity, company, organization or government should seek to control the Internet and expressed their full support for multi-stakeholder governance structures of the Internet that are inclusive, transparent, accountable, and technically sound. As such we:

• emphasized the value of the annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and encouraged its ongoing improvements in line with the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development recommendations. Urged renewal of the IGF’s mandate and the continuation of its work, according to paragraph 72 of The Tunis Agenda, beyond the end of its current mandate in 2015.
• recognized the importance of the NETmundial Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance hosted by Brazil in April 2014 which set common principles and important values for an inclusive, multistakeholder, and evolving governance framework. Both sides are committed to implementing the NETmundial roadmap.
• welcomed the multi-stakeholder community’s engagement on efforts to address accountability of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and transitioning the stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), recognizing the positive progress of these two interrelated initiatives."

Other topics covered included:

• International Security in Cyberspace
• Cybersecurity
• Cybercrime
• Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Online
• Global Cyber Capacity Building
• and Upcoming Cyber Events: 

"The two sides look forward to the UN General Assembly ten-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society in 2015. They both believe that the timing of the review is appropriate as the UN General Assembly will be finalizing a post-2015 development agenda, and the review will build on efforts to continue bridging the digital divide. The General Assembly’s recognition and allowance for multistakeholder participation in the review was appreciated, and participation from all stakeholders is strongly encouraged and welcomed. With the increasing relevance that cyber issues play in society overall, the United States and the EU welcomed the upcoming Global Conference on Cyberspace in The Hague in April 2015 and the annual Freedom Online (Coalition) Conference in Mongolia in May 2015."

It was agreed that collaborative efforts will continue and to convene the U.S.-EU Cyber Dialogue again in approximately one year’s time in Washington, D.C. Further information available here.

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Geneva Internet Conference, Internet Governance at a Crossroads

Tweets about #igeneva OR #thegip
Tweets by @GenevaGIP

Geneva Internet Conference - Internet Governance at a Crossroads | Geneva Internet Platform: 17-19 Nov 2014 "The Geneva Internet Conference (GIC) will address critical issues, gaps, and future developments in Internet governance (IG) and digital politics. The conference will provide a neutral and inclusive space for debates as it paves the way to 2015, building on the main events and developments in 2014, including announcement of the transition of the IANA oversight of Internet functions, NETmundial and the Internet Governance Forum."  Registration to attend the conference in Geneva is closed, but you may still participate online" Register here to participate online, by clicking on the 'I will participate remotely' at the bottom of the form. Schedule/program/speakers(pdf) Conference times are local Geneva, Switzerland (CET/UTC +1) 

CURRENT Date and Time in Geneva, Switzerland:
DAY ZERO – 17 November 2014
14.00 ‒ 17.00 Introduction to Internet governance (pre-conference workshop)
17.30 ‒ 19.30 Keynote address by Fadi Chehadé, President and Chief Executive Officer, ICANN
Inauguration of Geneva Digital Landscape IG 360°
DAY ONE – 18 November 2014: The Internet governance landscape (see program for specifics)
DAY TWO – 19 November 2014: The complexity of Internet governance: sustaining innovation while ensuring equality (see program for specifics)

On Twitter: #igeneva #thegip @GenevaGIP

UPDATE:
Links for remote participation by location:(see program ["programme and speakers" tab] for location of each event):

'Salle Obassi'
'Auditorium Kreuzel'
'Auditorium de Mello'

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ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehadé at IGF 2014 (videos)

IGF 2014 High level leaders meeting:

Above, ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehadé at IGF 2014 High Level leaders meeting on September 1, 2014 (3:24:17-3:27:48): "... We are in a very special time in the era of what we call the Internet ... with values of trust, sharing, which we should keep in our minds and hearts as to Internet governance... distributed, shared, decentralized, built on trust... As CEO of ICANN, I want to make a recommitment to all of you that we will continue with resolve to make ICANN the global organization that all of you want it to be. We will open it, we will make it more accountable and we will make sure that all stakeholders, including governments and the U.S. government, are equal partners at the table participating in making ICANN what it should be to serve you."

IGF 2014 - NETmundial Looking Back, Learning Lessons and Mapping the Road Ahead -

Fadi Chehadé at IGF 2014 session on NETmundial (video above at 3:32:45-3:42:08)

ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehadé speaks on Monday, September 1, 2014, at IGF 2014 pre-event session: NETmundial Looking Back, Learning Lessons and Mapping the Road Ahead

The Internet Governance Forum, IGF 2014, continues through September 5th at Istanbul, Turkey

IGF 2014 Schedule
IGF Webcast Info

IGF2014 Video Replay

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Internet Ungovernance Forum, September 4-5

A Strategy Workshop for Internet Activists

Are you confused about all the complicated and overlapping institutions that claim to be working on Internet governance?

Are you unsure about how activists concerned with local censorship and surveillance fit into these global structures?

Are you wondering how the IGF, ICANN, IETF, the ITU, the CSTD, Netmundial are relevant to your collective engagements?


Internet Ungovernance Forum, September 4-5, Istanbul Bilgi University, Santral Campus:

Internet Ungovernance Forum: "This workshop is for activists that want to collectively develop strategies for action at the local or international level on the topics of surveillance, privacy, the securitization of the Internet and censorship. We expect activists from all disciplinary/non-disciplined backgrounds to join us. A commitment to collective action and curiosity about internet governance processes is a plus. We ask those interested in participating to send an email to ungovWorkshop@alternatifbilisim.org by 1st of September, 2014. Please include in the email a short biography and a list of topics you would like to see discussed at the workshop." (more information and registration at link above)

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IANA Transition a Waste of Time, Decision Has Already Been Made

Dear (name withheld):

I just read your email and attachment dated July 23, 2014. Unfortunately the goal of NETmundial (which you refer to) that the transition of the IANA stewardship “take place through an open process with the participation of all stakeholders extending beyond the ICANN community” has already been subverted. This is now a closed ICANN-centric process essentially comprised of just 3 groups of "insiders" who will ultimately come up with a plan to transition everything to ICANN--in fact Vint Cerf and Google have already started a big PR campaign with video wherein Vint states "NTIA has presented a plan to end this contractual oversight and hand that responsibility over to ICANN" and Larry Strickling of NTIA has now "moved the goalposts" in his speech 3 days ago when he said "Now that ICANN has demonstrated its ability to perform these functions with the support of the community, there is no longer a need for the United States to designate ICANN to perform these functions and we are not obligated to maintain a contract when it is no longer needed."

In other words, Strickling is saying the role performed by the US government is no longer needed--no oversight, no accountability, no verification--nothing, nada--needed! 

Which begs the question, then WHY have an ICG process at all???

Is it all for show? To make everyone "feel good" that the "multistakeholder" or "internet community" agreed to this (when in reality it was decided by the US government, ICANN insiders, and special interests). As I said at the conclusion of Strickling's AEI speech: "Multistakeholderism" means that ICANN insiders, the US government, and special interests control the Internet DNS--now and in the future.

So [name withheld], if you (or anyone else) truly want something different than where this process is now headed, you might be wiser to invest your time elsewhere. Parlez-vous français?

Best regards,

John Poole
Domain Mondo

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