[council] Commencement of the new PDP

["Bruce Tonkin" <Bruce.Tonkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello All,

With reference to section 4 of Annex A of the ICANN bylaws, we need to
decide whether to form a task force:

"4. Commencement of the PDP

At the meeting of the Council initiating the PDP, the Council shall
decide, by a majority vote of members present at the meeting, whether to
appoint a task force to address the issue. If the Council votes:

a. In favor of convening a task force, it shall do so in accordance with
the provisions of Item 7 below.

b. Against convening a task force, then it will collect information on
the policy issue in accordance with the provisions of Item 8 below."


I note that Council members are currently involved as part of a 
Committee-of-the-whole-Council on the new gTLD policy area.

I recommend that we form a separate task force on the new PDP to ensure
we have enough resources to focus on the new gTLD process and don't
distract that process.  



Note under section 7 (b) of Annex A of the bylaws:

"Task Force Charter or Terms of Reference. The Council, with the
assistance of the Staff Manager, shall develop a charter or terms of
reference for the task force (the "Charter") within ten (10) calendar
days after initiation of the PDP. Such Charter will include:

        1. the issue to be addressed by the task force, as such issue
was     articulated for the vote before the Council that commenced the
PDP;

        2. the specific timeline that the task force must adhere to, as
set forth       below, unless the Board determines that there is a
compelling reason to    extend the timeline; and

        3. any specific instructions from the Council for the task
force, including        whether or not the task force should solicit the
advice of outside advisors      on the issue."



I recommend that we form a task force with experts in areas around the
economics of the gTLD registry environment.   Issues under consideration
including competition, pricing controls, renewal provisions etc.
Constituencies could appoint appropriate representatives, but we may
wish to identify appropriate independent experts to advise the Council
on this important topic area.


Regards,
Bruce Tonkin