[ga] ICANN issuing RFP for .com/net/org registry management and legal services??!!??

[George Kirikos <gkirikos@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi folks,

It was interesting to read the following post on the GNSO Council mailing 
list by Margie Milam of ICANN:

http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/council/msg09303.html

I found the following sentence to be a stunning revelation:

"If it were necessary for ICANN to contract with the outside advisor to 
retain an outside advisor to give advice to ICANN's GNSO Council,  ***ICANN 
would need to follow its normal contracting procedures*** (including e.g., 
conducting conflicts checks, ***issuing RFPs***, and performing vendor due 
diligence)." (emphasis added)

So, the "normal contracting procedures" involve "issuing RFPs" --- this sounds 
a 
lot like a tender process for procurement, which folks like myself have been 
advocating for quite some time in regards to gTLDs like .com/net/org.

So, when does ICANN intend to issue the RFP to manage .com, .net and .org?? If 
the answer is "never", wouldn't that be an admission that the contracting 
procedures for those procurements are *not normal*??!!??

BTW, where's the RFP for ICANN's legal services? I asked a related set of 
questions during the public session in Brussels:

https://icann.wufoo.com/reports/icann-38-public-forum-other-community-issues/

"In this economic recession, even law firms have been cutting back on their 
fees 
and staff. Jones Day recently reduced its LA staff, for example. Has ICANN 
considered creating a competitive tender for legal services, to ensure that the 

public gets the most cost efficient legal representation? ICANN spent more than 
$2 million just on Jones Day according to the latest IRS Form 990, and there 
are 
a lot of other big law firms that might be able to perform the same services at 

lower cost. For example, Rita Rodin is from Skadden, a big law firm with 
competent people, and there are many other big law firms that should be able to 
compete with Jones Day. Also, has any other law firm represented ICANN in the 

past 10 years, or does Jones Day have a monopoly at ICANN? What is the 
total spending on other law firms, excluding Jones Day, in the past year?"


and have yet to see a satisfactory response. Why is the "contracting procedure" 
for legal services not "normal"??!!??

Sincerely,

George Kirikos
http://www.leap.com/