[council] Reconfiguring the URS?

["Neuman, Jeff" <Jeff.Neuman@xxxxxxxxxx>]

All,

Thanks to Phil Corwin for catching this, but buried in the new budget document 
(http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/op-budget-fy13-01may12-en.htm) 
just put out for comment is a note on "reconfiguring" the URS.  Excerpt 
provided below.   I guess they could not find any URS providers that could do 
it for the costs that they had projected, so ICANN is holding 2 summits to work 
on a new model.  My question for the Council, is whether this is really a 
policy issue that should be referred back to the GNSO Community as opposed to 
having  ICANN on its own resolving after holding 2 summits.  Given the 
controversy around this over the past few years, any tweaks to the URS should 
probably go back to the community in my opinion.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) - $175K
At present there is a significant gap between the features specified for the 
URS procedure and the desired cost. In order to bridge this gap we will: hold 
two summit sessions to reconfigure the URS to arrive at a lower cost model (one 
session in FY12 budget and another in this FY13 plan), conduct a process to 
develop and finalize URS Model in consultation with current UDRP providers and 
community members; and conduct RFP based on URS Model and select URS providers. 
The goal is have a URS program in place and providers contracted and onboard by 
June 2013.

Jeffrey J. Neuman
Neustar, Inc. / Vice President, Business Affairs
21575 Ridgetop Circle, Sterling, VA 20166
Office: +1.571.434.5772  Mobile: +1.202.549.5079  Fax: +1.703.738.7965 / 
jeff.neuman@xxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:jeff.neuman@xxxxxxxxxxx>  / 
www.neustar.biz<http://www.neustar.biz/>