Coalition Letter Urging Congress To Sue NTIA and Delay IANA Transition

"We agree that Internet governance should work from the bottom up, driven by the global community of private sector, civil society and technical stakeholders. But that “multistakeholder” model is fragile. Without robust safeguards, Internet governance could fall under the sway of governments hostile to freedoms protected by the First Amendment. Ominously, governments will gain a formal voting role in ICANN for the first time when the new bylaws are implemented. NTIA has expressed its approval of this expanded role for governments in ICANN."--Coalition Letter (embed below)

A host of organizations and individuals, including Esther Dyson, ICANN's founding Chairman (1998-2000), and Brett Schaefer (Heritage Foundation), active participant in ICANN's CCWG-Accountability WS1 process which is part of the IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal approved in June by NTIA (pdf), have written a "coalition letter" (embed below) to the Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, urging them to sue NTIA (U.S. Department of Commerce and Obama Administration):

"... Sen. Grassley and Rep. Goodlatte are correct: if NTIA allows the [IANA functions] contract to lapse, it will have violated federal law.* The decision to abandon an 18-year contractual relationship governing the Internet has obviously consumed significant NTIA resources, both to fund outside experts and to pay for time spent on the issue and on NTIA employees making a decision about whether to extend the contract. Again, Administrator Strickling himself acknowledged that the rider “does restrict NTIA from using appropriated dollars to relinquish our stewardship…. [of IANA].” Congress should make clear that it will sue to enforce the funding prohibition. As it did in 2014, the House needs to vote to authorize Speaker Ryan to sue to defend its Article I powers — not only the Power of the Purse but also the sole right to dispose of federal property, which the IANA function may well be. A federal court could issue a writ of mandamus, ordering NTIA to exercise the option to renew the contract, or a declaratory judgment that, if the IANA contract terminates, the IANA function contract rights revert to NTIA, not to ICANN. Such a ruling could effectively unwind the Transition. Congress should also renew the funding prohibition for FY2017 so that it has time to properly conduct its own assessment of whether ICANN is ready for the Transition. We acknowledge that the Administration's actions have raised expectations that the Transition is imminent and there will be some frustration in the ICANN community if the IANA contract is renewed again (as it was last summer). But far greater disruption would result if a U.S. court forced the reversal of the Transition after the fact. Rushing the Transition could also prove more disruptive than delaying it—for instance, by delegitimizing ICANN if its new governance structure proves too weak or fractious, or if ICANN becomes more vulnerable to antitrust lawsuits due to the expiration of its contractual relationship with the U.S. government ..." Coalition Letter (embed below)(emphasis added)

*citing in a footnote: "31 USC § 1341(a)(1)(A). See also 31 U.S.C § 1350 (fines up to $5,000 and prison terms up to 2 years)."

31 USC § 1341(a)(1) An officer or employee of the United States Government or of the District of Columbia government may not—(A) make or authorize an expenditure or obligation exceeding an amount available in an appropriation or fund for the expenditure or obligation;

Coalition Letter (highlighting added):



See also: ICANN, NTIA, IANA Transition, Fundamental Problems, the Macro View | DomainMondo.com 16 July 2016

and ICANN Board Transmits IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal and Enhancing ICANN Accountability Recommendations to NTIA | ICANN.org March 10, 2016


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DISCLAIMER

ICANN, NTIA, IANA Transition, Fundamental Problems, the Macro View

"We live a very complex world but we want simple answers.  What we end up doing is take a micro view of a situation because we have a sense we can grasp the problem better that way.  A macro view is more challenging because it requires you to handle more uncertainty."--Micro/Macro View | ceri.msu.edu (http://www.ceri.msu.edu/chatter/micromacro-view/).*

Above video is from IGF-USA 2016, July 14, 2016, program notes here.
Keynote: Larry Strickling, NTIA, US Dept. of Commerce (text of prepared remarks here).
Moderator: Shane Tews
Panelists:

• Steve DelBianco, Executive Director, NetChoice
• Gordon Goldstein, Managing Director - Head of External Affairs, SilverLake
• John Kneuer, President and Founder of JKC Consulting LLC and Sr. Partner, Fairfax Media
• Kristian Stout, Associate Director for Innovation Policy at the International Center for Law and Economics (ICLE)
• Berin Szoka, President, TechFreedom
• Jonathan Zuck, President, ACT

The above video will likely soon be forgotten, though it really shouldn't be, which is one reason Domain Mondo is publishing this post. It provides a snapshot of the IANA stewardship transition, plan and process, at this point in time. Pay particular attention to the concerns raised by some of the panelists.

As has been noted before on Domain Mondo, there are fundamental problems in the IANA stewardship transition, both in process and in substance, including ICANN accountability WS1 mechanisms. Here are some of the pros and cons (depending upon your point of view), of the Obama administration's (NTIA) IANA stewardship transition of U.S. government oversight to ICANN, a California corporation:

• Solves (or at least is intended to solve) the U.S. government's problems in the wake of the Snowden revelations, including global criticism of the perceived role of  the U.S. government in the operation of the internet, thereby pre-empting a UN (or ITU) multilateral solution that would give governments a leading role;
• Fulfills the promise of the U.S. government in 1998 to "privatize" and transition the US government's "historic stewardship role of internet oversight" to the "global multistakeholder community;"
• False Narrative: the Obama administration (NTIA) bumbled the IANA transition from the beginning (March 2014) in two critical aspects: (1) NTIA pre-empted consideration of ICANN alternatives by the global internet community, and instead, in top-down fashion designated only ICANN, a California corporation and current IANA functions contractor, as the sole convener of the IANA transition planning process, thereby, in effect, pre-ordaining the end result and declaring ICANN to be the representative body of the "global multistakeholder community" and successor to NTIA in its "stewardship role." Unfortunately, as most knowledgeable people recognize, ICANN is not today, and never has been, truly representative of the global multistakeholder community ("massive power imbalance" within ICANN, absence of full global participation, a "broken" GNSO (ICANN's main policy-making body), etc.,--see News Review: ICANN, China, IANA: ex-CEO Fadi Chehadé's Sad Legacy). As a result, the IANA transition is already being dismissed and attacked globally as a U.S. government scheme to retain power and control over the internet; and (2) NTIA failed to recognize the extent of ICANN dysfunction and how much ICANN is not trusted, even by ICANN's own stakeholders, who in a rare moment of unanimity, insisted on adding an accountability (WS1) component to the IANA transition planning process, months after the NTIA announcement in March, 2014;
• Immunity and Liability: once ICANN is operating "naked" without any contract from the U.S. government, or other sovereign authority, and lacking any operational status by way of statute or international treaty, such as that granted to the United Nations and its agencies, ICANN will no longer have the benefit of certain legal defenses based on U.S. law, including government contractor immunity, and may be subject to legal claims and liabilities anywhere a claimant asserts, and court affirms, jurisdiction.
• Antitrust: as acknowledged by NTIA's Larry Stickling in the video above, ICANN "has always been and will continue to be subject to antitrust laws" of the United States (DOJ, FTC, and private antitrust actions), but with the U.S. government contract expiring, ICANN, as an unregulated global monopoly after September 30, 2016, as well as some of its "contracted parties," namely, the gTLD registry operators (each of which are granted exclusive global monopolies by ICANN), may be more likely to face antitrust actions in the future, not only in the U.S., but elsewhere.
• Untested, unproven: none of the ICANN accountability mechanisms developed by the "ICANN community" in WS1 have yet been implemented, tested and proven. If the accountability mechanisms prove to be ineffective, there may be nothing either the U.S. government or ICANN community can do, leaving the global multistakeholder community with a dysfunctional, unaccountable ICANN.
• Critical issues left to Work Stream 2 (WS2): work involving ICANN's jurisdiction and other issues was deferred to a later phase by ICANN and its CCWG-Accountability. The outcomes of WS2 will not be known until 2017, long after the IANA transition is complete.

The above list is not exhaustive, and others, such as U.S. Senators Cruz, Lankford, and Lee, have raised concerns related to foreign governments and free speech. Nevertheless, there is now little doubt that the Obama administration fully intends to allow the IANA functions contract expire on September 30, 2016. Caveat Emptor.

*For a further look at a micro/macro view comparison, with due credit to the Michigan State University source (first link above) and also to Peter Marber (petermarber.com):

Micro View:

• Based on recency (present moment) or historic time biases; often failing to recognize changes in the environment, ecosystem, trends or indicators, or other new, evolving factors. Everything is predicated on the present or past perspective, even if past experience may no longer be applicable ("past success is no guarantee of future results"), or past policies no longer work (every economic model, every HFT algorithm, eventually fails);
• Assumes larger degree of certainty and predictability than warranted; humans like certainty and often assume certainty, discounting risks, which has its own consequences. What is the level of information required, needed or even efficiently obtainable, before taking action?
• Assumes, or locks-in, only one way;
• Primary emphasis on control and concentrated power;
• Cautious relationships, some participants (stakeholders) count less than others;
• Policy changes are reactive not proactive;
• Views issues as separate and compartmentalized, to be dealt with separately.

Macro View:

• Forward time bias; tries to anticipate and think longer term;
• Assumes more uncertainty, ambiguity and unpredictability; there is never a perfect answer or solution;
• Many ways forward (more than one right way) depending on how one wants to arrange and rearrange the parts;
• Influence is spread widely among a range of players;
• Partnerships abound between countries, states as well as non-state agencies and others, such as non-profits (NGOs), education, business, and other interests or stakeholders;
• Policy is proactive, involving many players, and evolving to fit the circumstances;
• View issues as interrelated, integrative and global.

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DISCLAIMER

Enhancing ICANN Accountability, Much Work Left for Work Stream 2

While NTIA is still considering the IANA stewardship transition proposal (which includes WS1), the WS2 phase of work for the ICANN Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) is moving forward. CCWG-Accountability intentionally broke its work into 2 phases:

1. Work Stream 1 (WS1) which is part of the IANA transition proposal currently being reviewed by NTIA, and 
2. Work Stream 2 (WS2) work just beginning (target completion date: June 2017--see slide 4 in the last embed below):

10 WS2 Topics:
• Diversity
• Human Rights (this issue has been noted by some as potentially allowing ICANN to regulate "content" on the internet)
• Jurisdiction (U.S./California or Switzerland or ???)
• SO/AC Accountability [ICANN's supporting organizations' and advisory committees' accountability to the global multi-stakeholder community]
• Ombudsman
• Transparency
• ICANN Staff Accountability
• Guidelines for standards of conduct presumed to be in good faith associated with exercising removal of individual ICANN Board Directors

• Reviewing the CEP [Cooperative Engagement Process (pdf)] (as set forth in Section 4.3 of the new bylaws (pdf)--not yet adopted as of May 26 )

• IRP [Independent Review Process] “phase 2” (additional topic carried over from WS1)

Below are slide presentations in preparation for the WS2 meeting at ICANN56 in Helsinki, Finland, on June 26, 2016, which indicate the breadth of work in Work Stream 2:

See also on Domain Mondo: IANA Transition, What's Next, Years of Litigation in U.S. Federal Courts? and Senate Commerce Hearing on ICANN & IANA Transition, Tuesday, May 24


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ICANN, Esther Dyson, Becky Burr: The Historical Perspective

The previous post on Domain Mondo contained this short notice about Becky Burr's election to the ICANN Board of Directors, replacing Bruce Tonkin whose term expires in November, 2016:

Source: News Review [April 17]: dotAFRICA, Public Interest, Judge Holds ICANN Accountable | DomainMondo.com

For those familiar with the history of ICANN, J. Beckwith ("Becky") Burr plays an important role. Her bio on the ccNSO webpage includes this (links and emphasis added):

J. Beckwith ("Becky") Burr is a [former] partner in the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP. Becky, who is a veteran of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), has broad experience in e-commerce, information technology, intellectual property licensing, and international regulation of communications and information technology. As Attorney-Advisor at the Federal Trade Commission (January 1995 - June 1997), Becky was responsible for competition and consumer protection policy in connection with information industry/electronic information infrastructure. At the Commission, she participated in developing the FTC's approach to competition and consumer protection in the digital marketplace. At the National Telecommunications and Information Administration ("NTIA"), first as Senior Internet Policy Advisor (June 1997 - December 1997) and subsequently as Associate Administrator and Director of International Affairs (December 1997 -October 2000), Becky was responsible for domestic and international policy related to Internet and information technology. As the chief NTIA official in the Clinton Administration's inter-agency task force on e-commerce, she was responsible for development and implementation of Administration policy on privacy, as well as Internet governance and privatization of the Internet domain name system.

Burr was at the NTIA when Jon Postel sent his email to 8 (of then 12) global DNS root zone server operators, asking them to change the authoritative Internet root zone server from NSI's A.ROOT-SERVERS.NET (198.41.0.4) to DNSROOT.IANA.ORG (198.32.1.98), a request with which the 8 operators complied, thereby running the global Internet in parallel on 2 separate, but identical root zones, for a short time:

"... One of the reconfigured servers is located at the University of Maryland at College Park ... Gerry Sneeringer, the assistant director for networking for the university's Academic Information Technologies Service, said he received an e-mail message last week from Postel asking that the change be made. "If Jon asks us to point somewhere else, we'll do it," Sneeringer said. "He is the authority here." Akira Kato, a researcher at the University of Tokyo who runs another root server, said in a telephone interview that he, too, reconfigured his server after getting an e-mail from Postel. J. Beckwith Burr, a [U.S. government] Commerce Department official who co-authored the administration's report, said the incident "caused a lot of concern ... We have asked that the system be returned to the situation it was in before and that no such tests are to be undertaken without consultation again."..." --The Day Jon Postel Freed The Internet Root From US Government Control | DomainMondo.com

Burr, now Deputy General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer at Neustar, is a Registry Stakeholder Group member of the CCWG-Accountability, and has been an active contributor to Work Stream 1 (WS1), including even addressing the murky history of the United States government's involvement with the Internet Root Zone: see What Is The US Government's Claim to the Internet Root? | DomainMondo.com.

Below is the correspondence from Burr, and Esther Dyson, ICANN Board of Directors founding Chair, in 1998. At that time, it appeared the IANA stewardship transition from the U.S. government to ICANN would be accomplished in a short period of time. What happened? The same issues that were raised by NTIA's Becky Burr in 1998, still plague a dysfunctional ICANN in 2016: transparency, accountability, conflicts of interest, true representation of, and participation by, the global internet community, etc., even jurisdiction! It is truly amazing how little progress ICANN has made, and even regressed in some aspects, since 1998. Esther Dyson, like many others, gave up on ICANN ever achieving Jon Postel's (and others') original vision for the organization, due to the conflicts of interest and domain name industry capture of ICANN structures and processes, the new gTLDs program being the final straw:

".... a financial conflict of interest that continues to this day: ICANN subsists on the very industry it purports to govern. [Esther] Dyson says she “lost any faith, over time,” in ICANN’s ability to regulate the domain-name business." source: ICANN's Boondoggle | MIT Technology Review, August 21, 2012

Embedded below is the letter from Burr, and the response from Dyson, in 1998:

See also on Domain Mondo: 

• ICANN, Greedsters, new gTLDs, and the BIG LIE
• Esther Dyson Told ICANN new gTLDs were a mistake in 2011 (video)
• ICANN Was Originally Intended To Be A Membership Organization

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News Review: France Blasts IANA Proposal, Berkman to Assess ICANN

Domain Mondo's review of the past week and look ahead--[pdf of this post here]--with major markets closed on Good Friday throughout much of the world (including the U.S.), the news cycle was shortened, and many were enjoying their three-day holiday weekend and spring weather in the northern hemisphere. Nevertheless, things continued to churn and turn in domain world:

This past week, the government of France did the world (and Congress) a favor and exposed the false narrative ICANN has been pushing since ICANN55 that 'all Chartering organizations approved the IANA Transition proposal'--#FALSE, GAC did not 'approve'--by blasting the IANA transition & ICANN accountability proposal. The office of French Secretary of State for Digital, Axelle Lemaire, issued a press release (pdf)--Google's English translation here--and the French press widely reported the French government's dissatisfaction with the proposal now being assessed by the US government (NTIA). The following excerpts are from French media (translated from the original French):

• Le Figaro: Negotiations for a new Internet governance result in "unsatisfactory" solution, according to the [French] Ministry of Foreign Affairs ... Secretary of State for Digital, Axelle Lemaire, said Thursday the proposal "marginalized" the role of governments in ICANN, strengthening , ultimately, the U.S. stranglehold on the internet;
• Le Monde: France denounces IANA Transition Plan as a "privatization" of global Internet governance in favor of special interest lobbyists [full text English translation here];
• Silicon.fr: "France calls on the US government, which must now examine this reform project, to give greater attention to the concerns expressed by many nations. It will also be particularly attentive to the continuing work to improve the accountability of ICANN as part of the "Work Stream 2", particularly on strengthening the geographical diversity and the fight against conflicts of interest." 
• LesEchos.fr: For France, Internet governance is in the hands of GAFA* "... the Foreign Ministry is very disappointed with the turn of events. According to France, it is like giving control of the Internet to private actors ... Paris denounces the roles taken by lobbyists in the process in recent months and regrets that the role of governments is still reduced within ICANN ... the GAC (Governmental Advisory Committee) will have to vote unanimously. A complicated imperative to keep ... "The Americans gave with one hand, and took back with the other" concludes one in Paris ... Other problematic issues, starting with the diversity of ICANN as too Anglo-Saxon [that's a pejorative in France for American-British or English-speaking], its lack of transparency and difficult litigation procedures, lengthy, costly and favoring U.S. companies - ICANN is a California corporation and will remain so..."

*Note: The term "GAFA" (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) is also used loosely for what some call American cultural imperialism, particularly in the context of the U.S. government advancing the interests of Silicon Valley, i.e., U.S. technology companies--see, e.g., They Made Him a Moron | The Baffler, about Alec Ross, innovation adviser to (then) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton--"... This book by the State Department’s former innovation adviser merely attests to the intellectual bankruptcy of the term “innovation,” which in the hands of people like Ross has ceased to have any substantive meaning ... I soon became a critic of the U.S. government’s “Internet freedom agenda,” while Ross and his colleague and friend Jared Cohen (then on the policy planning staff of the State Department and now the head of Google Ideas) embarked on adventures so reckless and ridiculous, so obsequious to the interests of Silicon Valley and offensive to anyone well-versed in the diplomatic trade, that some career staffers at the State Department began to ridicule, anonymously, of course, their cluelessness on social media ..."

On Wednesday, March 23, the U.S. government published its award of a contract between the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society | Harvard University to provide an independent review and assessment of  ICANN "a non-profit corporate governance structure designed for a multistakeholder setting" in support of NTIA's broader evaluation and assessment of the proposal to enhance ICANN's accountability related to the IANA Stewardship Transition .... "This contract requires the contractor to have detailed knowledge and a thorough understanding of ICANN, a California-based, non-profit corporation that currently performs the IANA functions and manages these technical functions through a governance model in which a multistakeholder community--interested parties from all over the world and from multiple sectors and industries, including technical, government, business, and public-interest organizations--develop policies that support how the Internet DNS is operated ..." According to the notice, Congress mandated this review, which is to be completed by June 30, 2016, although the award is 'anticipated' to last for five months.

Berkman Center for Internet & Society | Harvard University also conducted the 2010 Independent Review of ICANN Accountability and Transparency, finding many problems within ICANN, and made recommendations, some of which were never implemented by ICANN.

Meanwhile, implementation work required by the IANA Transition & ICANN Accountability (WS1) Proposal proceeds at ICANN and within its "ICANN community." ICANN also posted on Friday, March 25, a Call for Volunteers: Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) Implementation and Work Stream 2 (WS2).

Below is the tentative timeline for the IANA transition and ICANN Accountability Work Stream 1 (WS1) work, going forward:

IANA Transition Tentative Timeline (source: Congressional Testimony)

Also this past week the GNSO's PDP (policy development process) to review all rights protection mechanisms (e.g., URS and UDRPs) in gTLDs began to organize--with the work divided into 2 phases:

"Phase One will focus on a review of all the RPMs that were developed for the New gTLD Program (i.e. the Trademark Clearinghouse and associated notification and sunrise mechanisms, the Uniform Rapid Suspension procedure, and the Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedures), and Phase Two will focus on a review of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)." (source: ICANN, link added)

For more information see Call for Volunteers: New GNSO Policy Development Process Working Group to Review All Rights Protection Mechanisms in All gTLDs - ICANN (March 21, 2016), the Charter (pdf), the List of Members & Observers - Review of RPMs in all gTLDs PDP Working Group, and Review of all Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) in all gTLDs PDP Working Group webpage.

This past Thursday auDA, Australia's policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au top-level domain, published a brief note on its website, announcing longtime CEO, and prominent member of ICANN's Board of Directors, Chris Disspain, had been replaced by Jo Lim (current Chief Operations and Policy Officer) as interim CEO, while the Board undertakes an executive search for a new CEO:

"The Board of auDA (.au Domain Administration Ltd) announced today that it was ending the contract of CEO, Chris Disspain. Mr Disspain’s contract was due for renewal later this year, but the Board agreed new leadership was required to take the organisation forward. The Board acknowledged and thanked Mr. Disspain, as founding CEO of auDA, for the hard work and visionary leadership he has demonstrated throughout his tenure, helping to cement the organisation’s standing as a one of the world’s best practice ccTLD managers..." (source: auDA)

* * * * * * *

Five most popular posts/pages at DomainMondo.com this past week (# of pageviews Sun-Sat):

1. News Review [March 20]: ICANN, IANA, NTIA, Congress, the American People (this post attracted, by far, the largest U.S. and global readership for most of the week); 
2. Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology, Congressional Hearing Video
3. Election2016 (our 'backpage' coverage of 2016 US Presidential politics in this year of the IANA Transition--edited by analyst @UnderMyPalm--opinions are his own);
4. Fintech Startup Stash: Investment App for Millennials
5. (tie) New gTLD AFRICA: DotConnectAfrica Trust vs ICANN, End of the Line? (to be updated after the April 4th hearing in LA); and Mobile Connectivity Explosion, Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, IoT (video).

Have a great week!

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo


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DISCLAIMER

News Review: ICANN, IANA, NTIA, Congress, the American People

Domain Mondo's review of the past week and look ahead to the coming week [pdf of this post here]: The IANA transition and ICANN accountability proposal is currently being assessed by the U.S. Department of Commerce's NTIA, while implementation work proceeds within ICANN and Cross-Community Working Groups.

"As NTIA embarks on its work, I want to reiterate what I have been saying throughout this entire process. This IANA transition is far too important to be rushed by any artificial deadline. Much work still remains, and if needed, NTIA should take the steps to extend the contract. It is more important to get this done right, than to simply get it done. Lastly, while we await the analysis of the proposal from NTIA, it is important to stress the important role that Congress plays during this process. The bipartisan work reflected in the DOTCOM Act maintains our oversight authority to ensure the requirements of a transition established by NTIA are met by the proposal." --Chairman Greg Walden, March 17, 2016, Opening Statement - Communications and Technology Subcommittee Hearing “Privatizing the Internet Assigned Number Authority” (emphasis added).

"... Unfortunately, much of the ICANN community has been acting in haste and urgency based on a belief that the transition will not occur if the process extends beyond the expiry of the Obama administration. In reality, this haste and the inevitable imprecision and pressure-induced compromises that result is probably the greatest threat to the transition. The best prospect for the transition being approved is if it is sound, complete, and addresses the concerns of NTIA and Congress. The NTIA has emphasized over and over again, the U.S. government “has not set any deadline for the transition.”... ICANN accountability and insulation from undue government influence is critically important to the future vitality, stability, and openness of the Internet. It is far better to get this process done right than it is to get it done on time."--Congress Should Reject ICANN Transition Proposal Unless Significant Changes Are Made | The Daily Signal (written by Brett Schaefer and Paul Rosenzweig (CCWG-Accountability participants) December 22, 2015, emphasis added). UPDATE March 20: see also ICANN and the IANA Transition -- Proceed With Caution - Lawfare (Rosenzweig) and Stop Obama’s Internet Giveaway - WSJ (Gordon Crovitz)

"The [multistakeholder] process is an ugly process ... the fact that everyone is dissatisfied with this [IANA Transition & ICANN Accountability] proposal is a testament to its success ... there is no one that is happy with everything in this proposal."-- Jonathan Zuck  (CCWG-Accountability participant), President, ACT, The App Association, speaking March 17, 2016, at ITIF

"The devil is in the details"-- Victoria Sheckler, Sr. V.P and Deputy General Counsel, RIAA, speaking March 17, 2016, at ITIF

"... no consensus was reached about the proper role of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) ... it is key that any amendments to the ICANN bylaws be carefully crafted ... This may be the most critical time of the process..."-- J. Scott Evans, Trademark Director and Associate General Counsel at Adobe, writing in CircleID.com (emphasis added).

Congress held an introductory hearing on the IANA stewardship transition proposal (IANA transition + ICANN Accountability WS1) on Thursday. Witnesses were a select group of participants from the ICANN community in support of the Proposal. Issues raised included questions about timing for implementation--can this all be accomplished prior to September 30, 2016? The witnesses all testified "yes" even though in reality the Cross Community Working Groups have missed every deadline in this whole process thus far.

Work Stream 2 (WS2) issues such as jurisdiction, human rights, ICANN staff accountability, accountability of AC/SOs to the global internet community, and transparency of ICANN (corporate, management, staff, Board of Directors), were barely touched upon. Ranking member, California Congresswoman Eshoo, asked about “vulnerabilities” of the proposal, Illinois member of Congress Shimkus asked about who the IANA functions operator would be if  the community selected a provider other than ICANN (or its PTI), and Chairman Walden asked about transparency regarding ICANN’s dealings with foreign governments. There were no clear answers given by the witnesses to those questions, part of the problem being that the Proposal is still incomplete, not yet implemented, with many details yet to come ("the devil is in the details"), untested, unproven, and as I pointed out last week, critical and fundamental accountability issues were postponed to a later WS2 stage, to be completed after  the U.S. has given up all oversight. As I wrote last week:

"... there is always the possibility that Congress--both Democrats and Republicans--will realize it is in the best interests of not only the American people, but also the global internet community, to insist upon the completion and implementation and a subsequent evaluation of both Work Stream 1 (WS1) and Work Stream 2 (WS2) accountability mechanisms, and whether they are actually effective and working, and then decide whether ending U.S. oversight is appropriate and in the best interests of both the American people and the global internet community."

Why would Congress be concerned about the global internet community? Because the U.S. government is ceding its role as steward of the global internet to ICANN: "No government owns or controls the root level of the Internet. Nor does ICANN or any other single entity .... In effect, ICANN serves as a trustee of the Internet’s unique names and numbers in service to all Internet users." --source: Weinstein et al v Iran and ICANN - U.S. Amicus Curiae Brief (pdf).

Although NTIA said in its March, 2014, announcement, it was transitioning its stewardship role to the global multistakeholder community, in reality, this whole process has been about NTIA transitioning its stewardship role to ICANN, the California corporation. Note that sole control of the Internet root zone will soon be ICANN's alone--ICANN is currently drafting a new contract for Verisign, the current Root Zone Maintainer (RZM), that will allow ICANN to make changes in the future, including taking over that additional role itself. That is an unprecedented concentration of power that NTIA is proposing to give to ICANN, the California corporation, in perpetuity. Why shouldn't the operators of the ccTLDs (ccNSO), and gTLDs (Registries Stakeholder Group), as well as the Root Name Server Operators (there are 12 including Verisign and ICANN), the IETF and RIRs, select the Root Zone Maintainer (RZM)? What happens, if and when, the "community" decides to change the IANA functions operator (IFO) from ICANN (or its PTI), to a new third party, only to discover that ICANN, in its new future role as Root Zone Maintainer, is now blocking or overwriting the work of the new IFO? Note also that ICANN has been aggressively expanding the number of its L Root Server sites, which according to this map now total 143 globally, far exceeding the number of sites of any other Root Server Operator which range from only 1 (ISI "B") to 109 (Verisign "A"+"J"). Whether or not it is ICANN's intention (now or in the future) to not only replace Verisign as Root Zone Maintainer, but also become sole operator of the Internet's root servers, once this transition is completed, ICANN will have that capability, thanks to the Obama administration, the bureaucrats at NTIA, a complacent and compliant Congress, and this flawed IANA Transition process.

Recall that this whole process started with the NTIA announcement in March, 2014, which only covered U.S. oversight of the IANA functions via the IANA contract. At that time, ICANN directors and officers were confident that a proposal could be delivered within a year, obviating any need to extend the IANA contract beyond September 30, 2015. In the summer of 2014, at the insistence of the "ICANN community," ICANN accountability was added as a separate, but equal, component of the whole IANA transition process. Today, ICANN accountability issues are the sticking points in the whole process. In comparison, the elimination of the U.S. government role in the IANA functions is a piece of cake, after all, the IANA functions used to be run by just one person, Jon Postel (see this pdf, p.5), and, as testified this week before Congress, the IANA functions are clerical in nature, not "rocket science."

One thing is now clear, Larry Strickling, and indeed, all of NTIA and the U.S. Department of Commerce, were, apparently, clueless about the extensive problems the "ICANN community" had with ICANN--the California corporation, its directors, officers, and staff--which is somewhat hard to understand since NTIA had threatened to remove ICANN as the IANA functions operator in 2012:

The New York Times March 18, 2012: "A boardroom dispute over ethics has broken out at the organization that maintains the Internet address system after its most important supporter, the United States government, reproached the group for governance standards said to fall short of “requirements requested by the global community.”..."

Part of the systemic and continuing problems at ICANN is the failure of both ICANN, and the "ICANN community," to understand their respective roles and responsibilities. ICANN is not an example of a multistakeholder-run organization and never has been. ICANN is an example of a California non-profit corporation controlled by a Board of Directors that have legal fiduciary duties including the duty to act in the global public interest, albeit in an environment where various designated stakeholder groups have policy-making roles, and some of those groups have a right to elect some of the corporation's directors. This leads to tensions, e.g., when special interests, such as the domain name industry, dominate and control the GNSO and advocate for policies that may not be in the global public interest, or disagree with other Board decisions. While bringing the Advisory Committees, particularly ALAC and GAC, into the "empowered community" may improve ICANN, the CCWG-Accountability, unfortunately, completely neglected issues concerning selection and qualification of ICANN Directors, other than removal.  This is tragic because so many of the problems at ICANN stem from a Board of Directors whose members appear to be passive, or lacking in an understanding of their important and vital legal role within ICANN's corporate governance structure, or their fiduciary duty to the global internet community. In particular, the failure of the ICANN Board of Directors to hold ICANN officers and staff accountable, has been striking. Just one example (of many): Why would any competent ICANN director allow an ICANN President to spend his, and ICANN staff time, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in ICANN funds, to establish and bankroll organization(s) outside the scope of ICANN's mission? For more see: ICANN President & CEO Fadi Chehade's Last Letter to Dilma Rousseff.

In any event, that is where we are now, more to come. See below the tentative timeline going forward (source: from the prepared testimony at this week's Congressional hearing):

• March 11 – June 11: NTIA assesses transition plan
• April 15: Draft revisions to ICANN bylaws released
• April 15 – May 15: Public Comment on ICANN bylaw revisions
• Mid – April: Root Zone testing begins
• April – May: Public review period on the RZM Contract (ICANN & Verisign)
• May 31: ICANN Board approves draft bylaw revisions
• June 15: NTIA submits plan to Congress for review
• June 16: Congressional review begins
• August – September New agreements are executed:
o Relationship agreements for the IANA including establishment of the PTI
o New RZM Contract
• October 1 Transition complete

Week ahead: Subject to future editorial changes, coming up on Domain Mondo:

• Fintech Startup, Investment App, Millennials
• Mobile Connectivity, Internet of Things
• Massive Revaluation: Tech Valuations
• Digital Currency, Blockchain Technology

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

1. News Review [March 13]: ICANN, IANA Transition Plan, NTIA, and U.S. Congress
2. U.S. House Subcommittee, IANA Transition Hearing, March 17th Video
3. ICANN President & CEO Fadi Chehade's Last Letter to Dilma Rousseff
4. Brazil Insulted by ICANN President & CEO Fadi Chehade Farewell Letter
5. WIPO: Domain Cybersquatting Cases Up in 2015, Driven by New gTLDs

Final Note: Don't miss Domain Mondo's post yesterday: NTIA's Larry Strickling Et Al: Internet Governance in a Post-American World (video)

Have a great week!

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo

UPDATE March 29: News Review: France Blasts IANA Proposal, Berkman to Assess ICANN | DomainMondo.com (March 27, 2016)

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ICANN55 Wednesday Recap, GNSO & ccNSO Approve CCWG WS1 Report

A recap of Wednesday at ICANN55 in Marrakech, Morocco, via the twittersphere of the talented and observant tweeter @sgdickinson:

#ICANN55 @ccNSO Council: approves CCWG-Accountability report. 15 in favour. 2 abstentions.#IANAsteward pic.twitter.com/8h6gdbGLQ9

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 9, 2016

Big thanks to #ICANN55 GAC members for embracing openness & transparency in their communique drafting process today.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 9, 2016

Great news! Based on its +ve experience w observers in room during CCWG drafting, GAC has opened up its communique drafting!#ICANN55

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 9, 2016

#ICANN55 @Bladel: we can now affirmatively state @ICANN_GNSO Council has adopted all 12 CCWGaccountability recs.
Loud applause.#IANAsteward

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 9, 2016

#ICANN55 GAC/Board, Brazil: deeply disappointed w @Fchehade’s characterisation of our #netgov position in farewell addressed 2 #ICANN Board.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 9, 2016

#ICANN55 GAC/Board, @Fchehade to Brazil: As I have apologised before, privately to you, I now do it publicly to the Brazilian government 1/2

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 9, 2016

#ICANN55 GAC/Board, @Fchehade to Brazil: I did not intend to sully Brazil’s deep commitment to multistakeholder #netgov. 2/2

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 9, 2016

Tomorrow is the final day of ICANN55 meeting in Marrakech, Morocco. Links to the public forum and public ICANN Board of Directors meeting scheduled for the last day can be found at: ICANN 55, Marrakech, Morocco, March 5-10, Info, Links, Twitter Feeds. Livestream videos (Live and Replay Archive) can be found here.


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News Review: ICANN55, IANA Transition, New gTLDs, dot AFRICA

The Domain Mondo news review of the past week--and a look at the week ahead:

ICANN55 started officially on Saturday, March 5th, and runs through Thursday, March 10, 2016. Expect lots of faux applause and cheering when the long-overdue CCWG-Accountability Final Report on WS1 Recommendations is finally approved and the IANA transition plan can finally be sent by the ICANN Board at its Public Meeting on Thursday, to NTIA. Expect an appearance by ICANN's new CEO Göran Marby (though he doesn't start until May, 2016). Also expect a faux farewell to ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade. The Economist, which is paid a lot of money by ICANN as a new gTLD evaluator (The Economist Intelligence Unit), ran a soft story about ICANN55 and Fadi which concludes:

"Perhaps Fadi Chehadé, ICANN's president [& CEO] and one of the instigators of NETmundial, will be more successful getting such efforts off the ground in his new job. He will step down after the meeting in Marrakech, to be succeeded by Göran Marby, a Swedish telecoms regulator, and join the World Economic Forum to create all sorts of multi-stakeholder groups. "We need many little ICANNs," he says." --The Economist

The reality of  ICANN, the IANA transition, NETmundial, ICANN's new gTLDs, and Fadi Chehade, is very different from what will be portrayed at ICANN55 in Marrakech. Here's what one leading participant in the IANA transition process (both CWG and CCWG) wrote:

"There are parts of this final Proposal I am not happy with. There are battles that were fought and lost, and consensus-building compromises that make me queasy; I believe other members of my stakeholder structure (IPC) would tend to agree. If I were so inclined (and if I were a Member or my structure had a Member able to speak for my structure alone) I could stand our ground (or lick our wounds) in a Minority Statement." --source: CCWG public mail list (emphasis added)

The only really interesting thing at ICANN55 will be to observe the GAC (Governmental Advisory Committee) deliberations, particularly the sessions concerning the CCWG WS1 recommendations (1,2,11). But, remember, GAC's approval is not needed if a sufficient number of other Chartering Organizations approve, which is likely.

There will be two Public Forums at ICANN55, but Public Forums are just another opportunity for the ICANN Board, officers, and staff to evade accountability, and avoid answering the hard questions that so desperately need to be answered and dealt with. Read more at How ICANN and ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé Evade Accountability.

While ICANN55 attendees are partying and enjoying the luxury resort which is the venue, the reality in Morocco is very different: Morocco’s ANRT Uses Skype, FaceTime in ICANN Conference, Bans Them for Moroccans: "The Moroccan National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT) has announced that it will hold a conference [ICANN55] in Marrakech next month will utilize Skype services, despite Skype being banned for the Moroccan public. The move is the latest in a long saga after Moroccan Telecom Companies fully blocked the usage of VoIP services last week..." 

Finally, on Friday, March 11th, U.S. Senators Cruz, Lankford, and Lee, are expecting answers to their questions raised in a letter to Chairman Steve Crocker which follows an earlier letter to Fadi Chehade, who avoided answering all of the Senators' questions.

More information about ICANN55 on Domain Mondo: ICANN 55, Marrakech, Morocco, March 5-10, Info, Links, Twitter Feeds

Most popular posts on DomainMondo.com this past week (highest number of pageviews Sun-Sat):

1. US vs Apple, House Judiciary Committee Hearing on Encryption, Video 
2. News Review: ICANN Accountability, NETmundial Initiative, G20 & China 
3. NETmundial Initiative, WEF and ICANN Withdrawal, Consequences
4. One 'Must Read' For Those Attending ICANN55, Marrakech, March 5-10 
5. US Senators Cruz, Lankford, Lee's New Letter to ICANN Chairman re: China

Final Note: On Friday, ICANN was enjoined by a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles from delegating new gTLD .AFRICA--read more at: US Federal Court Enjoins ICANN From Delegating New gTLD dot AFRICA.

Have a great week!

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo


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ICANN Accountability, CCWG F2F Meeting Friday, Agenda, Reading List

IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal Process

The CCWG-Accountability Work Stream 1 (WS1) Final Report was sent to the Chartering Organizations for consideration and approval on February 23, 3016. It is anticipated that by March 9th, at the latest, the Chartering Organizations will approve the Final Report, so on March 10th, the ICANN Board of Directors may approve and send to NTIA (US governement) the complete IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal, which includes WS1 of the Cross-Community Working Group to Enhance ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability).

Below is the proposed agenda prepared for the CCWG-Accountability Face to Face (F2F) Meeting in Marrakech on Friday, 4 March 2016 from 08:00 – 17:00 UTC. Also below is the Reading List for the meeting.
Remote Participation: (silent observers permitted)
Adobe Connect Online: https://icann.adobeconnect.com/rak55-cristal/

UPDATE: Link to CCWG-Accoutability Wiki page: CCWG ACCT F2F Meeting #86 (4 March @ 08:00 UTC) - Enhancing ICANN Accountability (transcript, documents, etc.)
Meeting Link: CCWG-Accountability Face-to-Face Meeting | ICANN Public Meetings
The reading list:
• Charter -- https://community.icann.org/x/KYMHAw
• Full Final Proposal -- https://community.icann.org/x/8w2AAw
• IANA Stewardship Transition costs --  https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/iana-stewardship-project-costs

Proposed Agenda - all times are UTC:
Current date/time UTC:

08:00 - 08:30 – Welcome:
• Roll call and SOI updates;
• Opening remarks and housekeeping;
• Define meeting goals, outcomes.
08:30 -09:30 – WS1 recommendation: preparing engagement session and update on consideration by SO/ACs 
09:30 -10:30 – Planning for WS1 implementation
• Overall approach with legal counsel, implementation oversight team, and other subgroups
• Call for volunteers

10:30-10:45 – Coffee break
10:45-12:00 – WS2 Kick-off
• Discussion on general approach
• Plenary approval on scope, requirements, recommendations for public comments
• Call for volunteers to Chartering Organizations

12:00-13:00 Lunch break
13:00-15:00 – Exchange of views regarding WS2 items scopes
• Staff overview presentation
• Diversity
• SO/AC Accountability
• Staff Accountability
• Transparency
• Human Rights Framework
• Jurisdiction
• Ombudsman 15:00-15:30 – Coffee break
15:30-16:30 – Resources and facilitation for WS2
• Meeting and travel support requests
• External legal counsel
16:30-17:00 – AOB and Closing Remarks

Note: ICANN55 Marrakech is March 5-10, 2016.

See DomainMondo.com: One 'Must Read' For Those Attending ICANN55, Marrakech, March 5-10

See also on Domain Mondo:

• Total ICANN Tab for IANA Stewardship Transition? US$31+ Million!
• News Review: ICANN Accountability ...
• GAC Members Minority Statement on ICANN Accountability WS1 Proposal (post includes all 5 minority reports)
• IANA Stewardship Transition, New ICANN CCWG Accountability Timeline.

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News Review: ISIS at Marrakech, ICANN Plan Delayed, Verisign 10-K

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

More ISIS (Daesh) terrorist cells discovered inside Morocco this week, in addition to the cell of seven suspected jihadists active in Marrakech, Laayoune and Boujdour, uncovered earlier this month. Marrakech is the location of ICANN55 which meets March 5-10, 2016. Morroco now claims to have dismantled 152 militant cells since 2002, including 31 since 2013 that were linked to armed terrorist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq. Read more, including updates, at: DomainMondo.com: ICANN 55, Marrakech, Morocco: Travel Warnings, Threat of Terrorist Acts.

ICANN Accountability WS1 Proposal (part of the IANA stewardship transition) delayed. The CCWG-Accountability Final Report was scheduled to be published and distributed to the Chartering Organizations on Friday, but has been delayed due to "concerns" of the ICANN Board of Directors expressed by its Chairman, Steve Crocker, in a posting to the CCWG-Accountability mail list on Friday--read more (including updates) at DomainMondo.com: IANA Stewardship Transition, New ICANN CCWG Accountability Timeline.

The Q4 2015 financial reporting period concluded this week with results reported by:

• Rightside $NAME on February 16th
• GoDaddy $GDDY on February 17th

Find links to all this season's Q4 2015 reports on Domain Mondo at the Stock Links page.

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

1. ICANN Damaged a Competitive Domain Name Market With Its New gTLDs (includes Web.com $WEB Q4 2015 results)
2. IANA Stewardship Transition, New ICANN CCWG Accountability Timeline
3. ICANN 55, Marrakech, Morocco: Travel Warnings, Threat of Terrorist Acts
4. Rightside $NAME Q4 2015 Financial Results, LIVE Webcast Replay
5. GoDaddy $GDDY Q4 2015 Financial Results, LIVE Webcast Replay

Looking ahead to this coming week on Domain Mondo:

• Will the ICANN Board's "concerns" with the CCWG's ICANN Accountability WS1 Final Proposal be resolved? 
• Mobile World Congress--MWC2016--(90,000+ expected attendance) meets this week in Barcelona, 22-25 Feb 2016 (Mobile World LIVE videos).
• Investing in China? Will the Chinese Yuan Lose 30% of its Value? 

Final Note: Don't miss Domain Mondo's earlier post today: Verisign Form 10-K for 2015, Domain Name Industry 'Must Read'.

Have a great week!

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo


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GAC Members Minority Statement on ICANN Accountability WS1 Proposal

UPDATE February 26, 2016: Updated Minority Statements--Following the publication of the CCWG-Accountability Final Report and its distribution to the Chartering Organizations, those five members of CCWG who had submitted minority statements [available separately here] were given the opportunity to submit revise minority statements. All minority statements are now in Appendix A  (pdf)--embedded below–"Documenting Process of Building Consensus" of the Final Report, including that of GAC member Olga Cavalli, whose minority statement is now supported by 16 governments:
Argentina, Benin, Brazil, Chile, Commonwealth of Dominica, France, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Russian Federation, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Uruguay, Venezuela:

--end of update--

"Does this [the GAC members' minority statement below] constitute an objection? My understanding is that only objections can be accompanied by a minority opinion. As the GAC works by consensus, I assume it means the GAC objects. Given Ms Gross Minority statement, it follows she objects. I have objected formally as well and have sent a Minority Statement. Can the Co-Chairs please declare non-consensus so we can all get on with our lives? Not only would it be cost saving..." --Dr Eberhard W Lisse, Thu Feb 18 19:35:55 UTC 2016, CCWG member (emphasis and link added)

A few CCWG-Accountability members have filed minority statements in dissent to the CCWG-Accountability Work Stream 1 final proposal now scheduled for final approval at ICANN55 in Marrakech, March 5-10, including a CCWG member appointed by GAC, who filed a minority statement on behalf of nine governments:

[CCWG-ACCT] Updated Minority Statement for the CCWG-Accountability Supplemental Final Proposal on Work Stream 1 Recommendations Thu Feb 18 16:39:44 UTC 2016:

"As a member of the CCWG on Accountability appointed by the GAC [Governmental Advisory Committee], and on behalf of the governments of:
Argentina
Brazil
Chile
France
Paraguay
Peru
Portugal
Uruguay
Venezuela

"I am submitting an updated verision of the Minority Statement which I sent yesterday..."
 [revised text of minority statement in embed below and here (pdf)]

Best regards
Olga Cavalli
Argentina GAC Representative
GAC Vicechair



Others also filing minority statements:

UPDATE: Minority statement also filed by ALAC Member Tijani Ben Jemaa: a) "I would like to express my strong opposition to removing the entire board by a decision taken by only 3 SO/ACs under any circumstance ..." (pdf) and b)  "I would like to make this minority statement regarding
Recommendation 6 (Human Rights) - I express my opposition to replacing “within its mission” in the beginning of the proposed text by “within its core value”..." (pdf)

[CCWG-ACCT] Minority Statement of Individual Member Robin Gross (pdf): ".... "The CCWG-Accountability proposal includes a number of important and long over-due accountability reforms including improvements to ICANN’s Independent Review Process (IRP), Reconsideration Request process, board removal rights, and a noteworthy bylaws commitment to respect human rights in ICANN’s operation, among other truly laudable accountability reform measures. However, the long-term harm to a free and open Internet from the proposal’s shifting the traditional balance of power over ICANN in favor of governments and away from the Supporting Organizations and the private sector is a monumental mistake."

[CCWG-ACCT] Appendix H - ASO Minority Statement: "... ASO, we would like to make a minority statement below, not on the recommendations but on "Appendix H: Bylaws Drafting Process & Implementation Timeline". Our statement is related to bylaws drafting process & implementation timeline, and not directly related to contents of the recommendations ..."

*Note: only appointed members (not participants) were permitted to file minority statements. All filed minority statements are in Appendix A (pdf) to the final proposal.

The members of the CCWG-Accountability:

ALAC
Sebastien Bachollet (Europe)
Tijani Ben Jemaa (Africa)
Alan Greenberg (North America)
Cheryl Langdon-Orr (Asia/Asia Pacific)
León Sanchez (Latin America) – Co-Chair

ASO
Fiona Asonga
Athina Fragkouli
Izumi Okutani
Jorge Villa

ccNSO
Jordan Carter (.NZ, AP Region)
Eberhard Lisse (.NA, African Region)
Roelof Meijer (.NL, European Region)
Giovanni Seppia (.EU, European Region)
Mathieu Weill (.FR, European Region) – Co-Chair

GAC
Par Brumark (Niue)
Olga Cavalli (Agentina)
Alice Munyua (African Union Commission)
Suzanne Radell (USA)
Julia Wolman (Denmark)

GNSO
James Bladel (RrSG, North America Region)
Becky Burr (RySG, North America Region)
Steve DelBianco (CSG, North America Region)
Robin Gross (NCSG, North America Region)
Thomas Rickert (GNSO Council, Europe Region) – Co-Chair

SSAC
Lyman Chapin
Julie Hammer

Others
Bruce Tonkin (ICANN Board Liaison)
Samantha Eisner (ICANN Staff Representative)

For more information on CCWG-Accountability WS1 final proposal, see Domain Mondo: IANA Stewardship Transition, New ICANN CCWG Accountability Timeline.


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