[Chapter-delegates] [FYI] ISOC position on the ICANN Joint Project Agreement

[Bill Graham]

Dear Colleagues,

In advance of the ICANN meeting in Delhi next week, I would like to  
share with you an overview of the comments ISOC is planning to submit  
to the United States Department of Commerce Notice of Inquiry on the  
mid-term review of the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between DoC and  
ICANN.    This position is based on ISOC principles and builds on past  
submissions.  We continue to support a transition to a private sector  
model for administration of the domain name system, and we continue to  
be supportive of ICANN’s efforts as they evolve to this model.

When the JPA was created in September 2006 it had two parts:
·      the agreement itself and

·      an annex written by the ICANN Board.


The annex contained 10 commitments that the Board voluntarily made to  
the US government.  The present mid-term review was also promised in  
the JPA.

Some, including ICANN itself, seem to think it is possible that the  
JPA could be terminated at the mid-term.  Others see obstacles –  
political and otherwise.  - Irrespective of whether early termination  
is possible.  For three major reasons, ISOC’s position is that the JPA  
should continue until its end in 2009 so that ICANN can prepare itself  
for private sector management.  Briefly those reasons are:

(1)  ICANN has done a lot in the first half of the JPA with respect to  
advancing work on the JPA responsibilities in areas such as  
transparency, to making progress in other key areas such as IDNs, and  
working to improve stability and security.  The next 18 months will be  
an opportunity to put these into operation and ensure that the new  
mechanisms are adequate to meet community expectations.  This is  
essential for the stability of the organization post-JPA, and is  
central to strong engaged community support – a central tenet of the  
private sector model envisaged for ICANN.

(2)  ICANN needs to develop a vision or plan for what it will look  
like and how it will work without the US government oversight.   This  
will need community support and buy-in and must be developed within  
ICANN’s processes, following principles of openness, transparency and  
accountability.  The community needs to understand how ICANN plans to  
operate and evolve in the absence of the USG oversight role.  That  
needs to be elaborated & test-driven over the next year(s) in order to  
be credible, to gain support, and before various constituencies should  
be comfortable with ending the JPA.

(3) In the 2006 DoC proceedings, both ISOC and IAB strongly expressed  
the need for all parties to recognize that the protocol parameter  
function carried out by ICANN is on behalf of and performed fully  
under the IETF’s direction.  ICANN’s responsibilities for these  
assignments is therefore different from ICANN’s other responsibilities  
within the IANA function.  In the next 18 months, concrete steps must  
be taken to recognize this, and to ensure that the IETF’s protocol  
parameter needs will continue to be met to its satisfaction,  
regardless of any changes that may be made in ICANN’s relationship  
with the DoC.

The deadline for making the formal submission to the US government is  
February 15, and this summary of our position is provided as  
background for our discussions during the ICANN meeting.  I am aware  
that some Chapters and individual members have already made  
submissions to the DoC – some not entirely agreement with the position  
we are planning to put forward.  I think it will be important for ISOC  
members speaking publicly in Delhi to identify themselves and make it  
clear that they speak on their own or their Chapter’s behalf.  If you  
do not agree with the formal ISOC position outlined above, I would  
also encourage you to state that as well.  Because of the short time  
remaining before the deadline for comments, I don’t think it will be  
possible to engage in discussion on the chapter delegates’ list.  But  
I look forward to meeting many of you at ICANN and welcome any  
comments you may want to email me off list at graham at isoc.org.

Best wishes

Bill
========================
Bill Graham
Global Strategic Engagement
The Internet Society
graham at isoc.org
tel +1.613.231.8543



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