We talk a lot about "fiduciary duty" but seem to be determined to ignore it.

The Board ultimately has to implement the new Bylaws that will effect the changes, whatever they are. Board members have a fiduciary duty to not do anything that they believe is against the best interests of ICANN (forgive the double negative). If they are forwarding a proposal that in their collective opinion they will not adopt, they have a moral obligation to say that ahead of time.

Knowing that, I do wish there had been active Board participation a lot earlier, but we are where we are.

Alan

At 12/10/2015 09:18 PM, Paul Rosenzweig wrote:

And that, it seems to me, Bruce, is at the nub of the problem.  In theory,
the Board has committed to transmitting whatever the CCWG submits, but in
reserving the right to negate what has been submitted with its own comments
(which would, in effect, kill any proposal) it takes away with the left hand
what it gives with the right.  It is, as EL says, now down to who blinks
first, it seems.

More to the point however, whenever the Board says the first part ("we will
submit whatever we get") without also saying the second part ("but we
reserve the right to countermand that submittal with comments") it is
misleading.  Many in the community read the "we will submit" as an
endorsement of the CCWG process without limitation.  Leaving out the
critical limitation makes statements incomplete and adversely effects
communication and expectation.  Thus, the Board's promise in Buenos Aires
was read as more palliative than it actually is because of its reserved
powers.

In addition, when someone (like Senator Thune) asks the question from a
practical perspective ("will the board accept") then leaving out the caveat
is an omission that affirmatively obscures the reality.

And then, there is the last sadder point:  Which is that the Board's
reservation of a right to comment even after it participates in the process
and, hypothetically, has the community reject its concerns reflects a
distrust of the MSM and a paternalistic attitude that suggests to me all
sorts of inadequacies.  If the Board's conclusion is true, then ICANN is not
fit for the transition.  If it is false, then the Board misreads the
community badly.  Either prospect is daunting

Paul

Paul Rosenzweig
paul.rosenzweig@redbranchconsulting.com
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Link to my PGP Key


-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Tonkin [mailto:Bruce.Tonkin@melbourneit.com.au]
Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2015 9:21 PM
To: Accountability Cross Community
<accountability-cross-community@icann.org>
Subject: Re: [CCWG-ACCT] Blog post on the Accountability work headed to
Dublin

Hello Mike,


>>  Are you going to forward them promptly, or follow the Charter and the
Resolution of 10/16/14?

We will do both.

If there is any disagreement - we will include that in a note to the NTIA
along with the ICG and CCWG Proposals, and then initiate a dialogue with the
CCWG.   We will advise the NTIA of the outcome of any such process.   The
NTIA could either wait for the process to conclude, or it could be that the
NTIA decides that the area of disagreement is not material to the IANA
stewardship.   I don't wish to speculate, that is for the NTIA to decide.
The aim clearly is to develop a proposal that has broad support, and avoids
the need for any follow on process.

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin

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