RE: [registrars] Board meeting agenda for 15 Feb 2008 in New Delhi

["Jeffrey Eckhaus" <jeckhaus@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

All,

 

I am not sure if we will have time to form a sub-committee and report
back to the Registrars before our meeting on Tuesday, due to length of
time of flights and time in New Delhi. But, if anyone is on the
Continental flight from Newark to New Delhi on Friday night, we have 14
hours to talk. Come see me.

 

I do think it is worth registrars reviewing the budget and reporting
back to the list on what some of the key issues are of the budget, and
then we can discuss at our meeting on Tuesday.

 

 

Here are some of the items I thought are of important consideration to
Registrars:

 

The first assumption is that revenues will derive primarily from growth
in the domain name space and that the fees per transaction year will
remain consistent at $0.20. I think as registrars we would like to see
the details on what is the expected growth in domain names for the
fiscal year and what that change is from the previous 3 years of YOY
growth.  We are the ones ultimately selling the domains and these
numbers should jive with our collective budgets. 

 

The second revenue assumption of ICANN is there will be "no refund of
ICANN fees for registrations (in effect, elimination of the add-grace
period)". It seems this is already factored into the budget as a source
of revenue, not open to discussion or thresholds. Is this where the
growth is coming from? This is a very troubling line item that we need
to discuss. 

 

The third assumption is that a large expense this year will be the
introductions of IDNs and new gTLDs. Then there is the assumption that
"Detailed forecasting of revenue and expenses for this brand new area is
really not practical at this time". If there is a large interest in new
TLD's and that is why ICANN is launching this program, why not force
ICANN to balance the budget and have the fee structure to cover the
costs of implementation? This is the time when forecasting of revenue
(from applications for new TLD's) and expenses is needed, so the burden
of launching new TLD's does not fall on registrars and ultimately
customers.

 

These are the three major issues I have noticed on the revenue side of
the budget that need to be discussed. I will review the expense side
over the next few days and also want to thank Bruce for his notification
and urging (may be a strong word) for registrars to review the
expenditure side of the budget

 

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-registrars@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-registrars@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Adrian Kinderis
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 6:04 PM
To: Bruce Tonkin; Registrars Constituency
Subject: RE: [registrars] Board meeting agenda for 15 Feb 2008 in New
Delhi

 

 

Bruce, 

 

Thanks for this.

 

Are you prepared to provide you thoughts and feedback to this committee

or to the Constituency?

 

Adrian Kinderis

Managing Director

AusRegistry Group Pty Ltd

Level 8, 10 Queens Road

Melbourne. Victoria Australia. 3004

Ph: +61 3 9866 3710

Fax: +61 3 9866 1970

Email: adrian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Web: www.ausregistrygroup.com

 

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-----Original Message-----

From: owner-registrars@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[mailto:owner-registrars@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bruce Tonkin

Sent: Wednesday, 6 February 2008 9:52 AM

To: Registrars Constituency

Subject: [registrars] Board meeting agenda for 15 Feb 2008 in New Delhi

 

 

Hello All,

 

 

Below is the agenda for the Board meeting in New Delhi.   Key topics of

relevance to the GNSO are new gTLDs and IDNs.   My understanding so far

is that the Board is probably not going to approve the new gTLD

recommendations in New Delhi, but will be considering some of the work

done by staff on implementation.   

 

The other topic for the registrars to consider is the budget for the 1

July 08 to 30 June 08 year.   Some of the areas of discussion include

the proposal to charge registrars transaction fees during the 5 day

add-grace period, and an appropriate travel policy for the many

volunteers that contribute to ICANN policy development.    The proposed

budget raises expenses from $42 million in this financial year, to $57

million in 1 Jul 08 to 30 Jun 09 financial year (about a 35% increase).

The travel and meeting budget is currently proposed to be around $10

million (or around 17% of total expenditure) to provide some context.

 

I encourage the registrars constituency to consider the expenditure

budget as a whole, and be able to provide some constructive feedback on

prioritisation for the budget, and whether the expense levels are

reasonable given the tasks of the organisation.   Of course I expect

registrars will want to know what the transaction fees will be, and how

these may be changed during the add-grace period - but I think it is

also important for the industry to be thinking about what ICANN is

doing, and whether that expenditure is reasonable.

 

Maybe the registrars constituency could consider forming a subcommittee

to review the budget in detail in New Delhi, and report back to the

registrars constituency with some recommendations.   It would be good if

this could be done prior to the registrars meeting with representatives

of the Board and staff.

 

 

Regards,

Bruce Tonkin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From:  http://www.icann.org/minutes/

 

15 February 2008

Regular Board Meeting

 

Agenda

 

(As set by the Executive Committee of the ICANN Board of Directors)

 

1) Approval of Minutes of January 2008 Board Meeting

 

2) Approval of ICANN Accountability and Transparency Frameworks

 

3) Review of Board Governance Committee Recommendations

 

Possible BGC Actions

 

(Ombudsman Framework)

 

(Bylaws Mandated Reviews Update)

 

4) Review of Board Finance Committee Recommendations

 

Possible BFC Actions

 

(Funds Disbursement and Approvals Policy)

 

(Budget Next Steps)

 

5) Review of Board Audit Committee Recommendations

 

Possible Audit Committee Actions

 

(Approval of Auditor)

 

6) New gTLDs - Next Steps

 

7) Acknowledging Receipt of DNSSEC Recommendations from SSAC

 

8) ICANN Bylaws Change Request from ALAC

 

9) IDNs (update on IDNc discussions and technical test)

 

10) Other Business