[registrars] .COOP agreement

["Nevett, Jonathon" <jnevett@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I may be missing something, but it appears to me that the proposed .coop
registry agreement includes a new provision - not appearing in other
ICANN sTLD registry agreements (including the recent agreements covering
.asia, .jobs, .mobi, .tel and .travel) - that would permit .coop to seek
an exemption from complying with certain Consensus Policies with ICANN
approval.  The proposed contract is silent as to who at ICANN would
decide on such exemptions and by what criteria.  I'm not sure why .coop
should have a special exemption with regard to complying with Consensus
Policies that more recent sTLDs don't enjoy.  I am concerned about this
precedent for the future.  Are others as well?   

 

Here is the text of the new provision
(http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/coop/draft-proposed-agreement-19ap
r07.pdf):

"In the event that the Sponsor has a reasonable basis to believe that
the established Consensus Policy is not relevant, or may represent an
unreasonable burden to the Sponsored Community, Sponsor shall have the
right to seek an exemption from ICANN.  If ICANN declines the exemption,
the Sponsor and ICANN shall utilize the process for resolution of
disputes set forth in Article 5."  Section 3.1(b)(vii)

I also should note that ICANN's announcement regarding the proposed
.coop registry agreement
(http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-20apr07.htm) states
that: 

"The proposed .COOP agreement substantially follows the format of other
recent sTLD registry agreements negotiated by ICANN. The agreement is
for a ten-year term, and provides for the same set of requirements for
these key terms: 

*	compliance with consensus and temporary policies except to the
extent policy development has been delegated to the sponsoring
organization"

Again, unless I am missing something, this appears to me to be
inaccurate.

Thanks.

Jon