RE: [council] Draft Statement of Work for Funnel Review

["Gomes, Chuck" <cgomes@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Patrick,
 
Please don't take my comments personally because as I stated publicly in
Cairo, I do not attribute my concerns to anything you did in
coordinating the RSEP.
 
Regular reviews of policy are a good practice, but in this case it seems
like overkill and a poor use of funds to hire a consultant to evaluate
the policy or the procedures.  In my opinion, Staff implementation of
the RSEP has already been identified as a problem and we do not need a
high priced consultant to point that out.  As stated in your SoW, "The
RSEP and its implementation were developed in particular: To support a
timely, efficient, and open process for the evaluation of new registry
services".  In 2008, we had at least three examples where implementation
of the RSEP was not timely, efficient or open.  All three examples were
pointed out to ICANN Staff prior to Cairo and in Cairo.  So again, we do
not need a consultant to identify the problem; it has already happened.
 
Those of us in the RyC believe that the RSEP procedures that ICANN Staff
should follow were clear, but obviously they were not clear enough for
ICANN Staff, otherwise we would not have seen the significant delays
that were experienced for three registry service proposals.  Therefore,
maybe all we need to do is provide the clarity that ICANN Staff seems to
need.  That shouldn't be too difficult.  I think it could be done in
fairly short order by a small group of interested GNSO and ICANN Staff
with the opportunity for public comment.  It may not even be necessary
to amend the policy as long as the clarified procedures are consistent
with the policy as is, something that I sincerely believe is very
possible.
 
Chuck


________________________________

        From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Patrick Jones
        Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 8:21 PM
        To: council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
        Subject: [council] Draft Statement of Work for Funnel Review
        
        
        Dear Council,
        
        At the 20 November 2008 GNSO Council meeting, ICANN staff
alerted Council members that efforts were underway to initiate a review
of the gTLD registry funnel process - also known as the Registry
Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP) - that was first implemented in July
2006.
         
        Staff reminded Council members that the RSEP was developed
through the GNSO's policy development process, and applies to all gTLD
registries and registry sponsoring organizations under contract with
ICANN.
         
        The adoption of the RSEP by the ICANN Board did not call for a
periodic review of the process, but ICANN staff is of the opinion that a
review is consistent with ICANN's continuing efforts to evaluate and
improve policies and procedures.
         
        A draft statement of work regarding the review has now been
developed.  The document will be used to identify and retain a reviewer
to evaluate the process as it has worked to date.
         
        In view of the GNSO Council's critical role in developing the
original RSEP, staff would like to give Council members the opportunity
to review and comment on the draft document. A copy of the draft SOW is
attached.  Please feel free to send any comments on the document
directly to me.
         
        An announcement will be made when the SOW is released and
subsequent announcements will be made when the reviewer is selected and
when other milestones in the review process take place. 
         
        Also, if you are interested in being identified as a possible
contact for the review process itself, please let me know of your
interest.  We hope to finalize the SOW in late February, so any comments
should be submitted by 23 February in order to be incorporated. 
        
        Patrick
        
        
        -- 
        Patrick L. Jones
        Registry Liaison Manager &
        Support to ICANN Nominating Committee
        Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers
        4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
        Marina del Rey, CA 90292
        Tel: +1 310 301 3861
        Fax: +1 310 823 8649
        patrick.jones@xxxxxxxxx