Re: [council] FYI: NCSG Letter to the Board re. Reconsideration Request 13-3

[Volker Greimann <vgreimann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It is indeed frustrating that whenever the council fails to take a vote 
positions are suddenly questioned when it comes to publicly stating 
concerns a large part of the council holds. The only solution seems to 
be that prior to ending a discussion on any topic that calls for a 
letter to be sent or statement to be made at least a measurement of the 
"temperature of the room" be conducted to see if there is substantial 
opposition during the meeting, instead of after the letter is drafted.
Best,

Volker Greimann

> Thanks, John, for your comments. I'm not sure how fruitful it is to 
> continue pressing the point, but it seems clear to me that a majority 
> of the stakeholder groups on the Council are very concerned with the 
> issues NCSG has raised in its request and that Jeff has articulated in 
> his letter.
> I have found it frustrating that efforts to secure agreement on any 
> core principles of concern appear to have foundered, so I'm not sure 
> how constructive it is to keep saying that the Council as a whole 
> doesn't have a view.
> I haven't heard much in the way of substantive disagreement, but 
> perhaps my impression of our most recent call where others expressed 
> concern about process or their ability to be heard is colouring my memory.
> In any case, what is the status of a letter from the Council to the 
> Board, articulating concerns? Can a formal decision taken to either 
> send or not send Jeff's letter?
> I think it is time we rose above individual stakeholder group concerns 
> and considered the implications for the Council as a whole.
> All the best, Maria
>
>
> On 26 June 2013 17:42, <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> <mailto:john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>     Jonathan,
>     I will repeat what I said initially.
>     Jeff's proposed letter was accurate in exposing a set of issues
>     that was of intense interest to the Council.  It was incorrect is
>     suggesting the view was unanimous and that there was some decision
>     taken on the part of the Council about it.
>     Raise the matter -- I was the one who brought of the notion of
>     exectivication of decision making at ICANN -- sure, but be clear
>     it is our concern, not our judgement.
>     Berard
>
>         --------- Original Message ---------
>         Subject: RE: [council] FYI: NCSG Letter to the Board re.
>         Reconsideration Request 13-3
>         From: "Jonathan Robinson" <jonathan.robinson@xxxxxxxxxxx
>         <mailto:jonathan.robinson@xxxxxxxxxxx>>
>         Date: 6/26/13 7:30 am
>         To: "'WUKnoben'" <wolf-ulrich.knoben@xxxxxxxxxxx
>         <mailto:wolf-ulrich.knoben@xxxxxxxxxxx>>, "'Maria Farrell'"
>         <maria.farrell@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:maria.farrell@xxxxxxxxx>>,
>         council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
>         john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>         Personally, I have no difficulty with the principle of the
>         point made by John and supported by Wolf-Ulrich.
>
>         That said, I believe Jeff has articulated a concern regarding
>         this item which was then discussed and there was clearly some
>         (un-quantified) support on the Council for this position.
>
>         Therefore, what would be helpful to me, and likely to the
>         Council as a whole, is to hear any arguments as to why the
>         concerns articulated are not necessarily concerns.
>
>         I hope I am not doing anyone a disservice here but I thought I
>         heard questions seeking clarification or detail and some
>         proposed variations to the wording of our communication with
>         BGC,  but not necessarily any substantive arguments as to why
>         the concerns raised (originally by Jeff) should not be concerns.
>
>         Thanks,
>
>         Jonathan
>
>         *From:*WUKnoben [mailto:wolf-ulrich.knoben@xxxxxxxxxxx
>         <mailto:wolf-ulrich.knoben@xxxxxxxxxxx>]
>         *Sent:* 26 June 2013 12:58
>         *To:* Maria Farrell; council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>         <mailto:council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>         <mailto:john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>         *Subject:* Re: [council] FYI: NCSG Letter to the Board re.
>         Reconsideration Request 13-3
>
>         With respect to the fairness to those who did not raise
>         similar concerns or couldn’t support the concerns raised at
>         the last council meeting I join John’s comment.
>
>
>         Best regards
>
>         Wolf-Ulrich
>
>         *From:*john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>         *Sent:*Wednesday, June 26, 2013 12:41 AM
>
>         *To:*Maria Farrell <mailto:maria.farrell@xxxxxxxxx> ;
>         council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>         *Subject:*RE: [council] FYI: NCSG Letter to the Board re.
>         Reconsideration Request 13-3
>
>         Maria,
>
>         I am a fan of short-hand and jargon (it make life quicker and
>         excludes the uninitiated) but your letter should have more
>         correctly said "/*Some members of*/ the GNSO Council expressed
>         concern..."  It is clear there is no position taken and no
>         unanimity.
>
>         A fine but important point.
>
>         Cheers,
>
>         Berard
>
>             --------- Original Message ---------
>
>             Subject: [council] FYI: NCSG Letter to the Board re.
>             Reconsideration Request 13-3
>             From: "Maria Farrell" <maria.farrell@xxxxxxxxx
>             <mailto:maria.farrell@xxxxxxxxx>>
>             Date: 6/25/13 1:48 pm
>             To: "council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>             <mailto:council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>" <council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>             <mailto:council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
>
>             Dear Council colleagues,
>
>             Below for your information is a copy of a letter sent on
>             behalf of the NCSG to the Board of Directors, which was
>             received by the Board (via Bruce Tonkin's kind
>             intercession) on 19 June.
>
>             Bruce says the Board would be interested to meet and
>             discuss the broad concerns about the multistakeholder
>             model raised in the reconsideration request, and also
>             confirms that the request itself will be discussed at the
>             BGC meeting of 25 June.
>
>             If and when we have any scheduling information about a
>             meeting with the Board, we will share it so that others
>             may be aware.
>
>             All the best,
>
>             Maria
>
>
>             Dear ICANN Board of Directors:
>
>             I am writing to you on behalf of the Non-Commercial
>             Stakeholder Group (NCSG) and other concerned members of
>             the ICANN community regarding the harmful implications to
>             the community-led multi-stakeholder policy development
>             model if the ICANN Board decides to adopt the rationale
>             provided in the recommendation of the Board Governance
>             Committee (BGC) in response to the NCSG's Request for
>             Reconsideration (13-3). The rationale provided in the
>             BGC's recommendation, which appears to be drafted by
>             over-reaching lawyers, attempts to set a precedent that
>             ICANN staff can over-rule the GNSO Council on policy
>             decisions at its own discretion.  This decision has
>             alarmed community members beyond the NCSG and beyond those
>             who were originally concerned with the underlying issue
>             that NCSG was initially probing of staff's adoption of the
>             "TM+50" policy for the Trademark Clearinghouse.
>
>             The GNSO Council expressed concern about the BGC decision
>             rationale at length during council's 13 June meeting; and
>             I encourage all Board Members to listen to audio recording
>             <http://t.co/ss2MwpdWEa> of the GNSO Council discussion or
>             read the attached transcript to get a better understanding
>             the concerns of members of several different GNSO
>             stakeholder groups.
>
>             The rationale provided in the BGC decision, if adopted by
>             the entire board, would cement the change in ICANN's
>             policy development model away from the bottom-up
>             community-led governance model to a top-down staff-driven
>             model with no checks on abuses or poor staff decisions. 
>             If the rationale provided in this BGC decision is adopted
>             by the Board, which goes well beyond the narrow issue
>             presented to it, ICANN threatens to undermine its own
>             legitimacy as a global governance institution, and it
>             loses the ability to label itself as a community-led
>             bottom-up model for Internet governance.
>
>             We understand the BGC's recommendation is on the agenda to
>             be adopted on 25 June 2013 by the Board's New gTLD Program
>             Committee (NGPC).  Given the Board's record of adopting
>             all 15 BGC decisions that have come before it in the last
>             ten years, there is concern that this BGC recommendation
>             will be similarly adopted by the Board with little
>             understanding or discussion of the harm to ICANN's
>             legitimacy and the multi-stakeholder model that this
>             precedent threatens.  The handling of this reconsideration
>             request has also raised concerns about ICANN's
>             "accountability" mechanism, which appears to allow the
>             same legal team that created and adopted a policy to later
>             evaluate the legitimacy of that policy's adoption.
>
>             /*We therefore respectfully request that the Board meet
>             with concerned members of the community including NCSG to
>             permit a more complete discussion and understanding of the
>             concerns raised by the rationale provided in the BGC
>             decision and to allow for appropriate adjustments to the
>             decision before it is adopted by the Board.*/  We would
>             gladly meet with the Members of the ICANN Board during the
>             Durban Meeting or before, at the Board's convenience, to
>             discuss this decision and welcome all members of the
>             community to join in the discussion. Please let us know if
>             the Board is available to meet with NCSG and others in the
>             community on this crucial issue at your earliest
>             convenience.   Thank you for your consideration.  We look
>             forward to fruitful discussions going into Durban and
>             stand ready to provide whatever assistance is needed.
>
>             Truly,
>
>             Robin Gross
>
>             NCSG Chair

--
Bei weiteren Fragen stehen wir Ihnen gerne zur Verfügung.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Volker A. Greimann
- Rechtsabteilung -

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