[council] From Paul Twomey regarding Joint Partnership Agreement with the United States Department of Commerce

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

Dear Chairperson, GNSO

ICANN has today signed a new Joint Partnership Agreement with the United
States Department of Commerce.

This new agreement is a major step forward. It recognizes that ICANN and
its community will be responsible for the management of the Internet's
system of unique identifiers on an ongoing basis.

It indicates a new stage in the continued evolution of ICANN's
management of the Internet's system of unique identifiers, as well as
its relationship with the United States Department of Commerce.

Some of the main features of this agreement are:


* ICANN will no longer have its work prescribed for it.

* ICANN is not required to report every 6 months to the United States
Department of Commerce as it has under the Memorandum of Understanding.
It will now provide an annual report that is targeted to the whole
Internet community.

* There is no requirement to report regularly to the DOC. The DOC will
simply meet with senior ICANN staff from time to time.


The new agreement makes significant progress toward the goal of
transitioning the technical coordination of the Internet's system of
unique identifiers to the bottom up model of stakeholder management that
ICANN represents.

The ICANN model of multi-stakeholder consultation is working and this
agreement is a major endorsement. It is our community that makes it work
and we are constantly evolving and improving through your advice and
input.

The press announcement, a copy of the agreement and other related
materials can be found at www.icann.org

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Dr Paul Twomey
President and CEO
ICANN


www.icann.org