To: members of CCWG and Work Area 2,

After our last call on 16-Dec, the chairs tasked the entire CCWG with this action:  
3. ACTION review the inventory list compiled by WA2 and suggest either additions to or deletions from the list.

With regard to work area 2, everyone is encouraged to review the latest version of the inventory that was developed by the WA 2 sub-group. The inventory is intended to capture all ideas / suggestions made to date through previous public comment periods and/or (new) suggestions from CCWG colleagues. As agreed during the last call we suggest that you now check whether the list is complete, and if not suggest to include other items or delete some on the list. We ask you to share any additions to the inventory prior to our next meeting on Tuesday 23 December. 

The chairs also recommended next steps for our Work Area 2, after our inventory is complete. (see bottom of this email)

As rapporteur for Work Area 2, I reviewed emails since 16-Dec (see email archives for Work Area 2 and for entire CCWG).  Most of the correspondence was about Public Interest and International Law, but I found notes relevant to Work Area 2 from Kavouss Arasteh, Alain Bidron, Google, Paul Rosenzweig, and Carlos Raúl Gutiérrez.

For your review, I attach an updated drafted with these changes:
- added a footnote to page 1 citing how Member oversight is enabled by California Law and by ICANN Articles of incorporation, and noted that ICANN’s present bylaws would have to be changed to recognize Members.

- I did not delete any items at this point, but for items where opposition has been noted, you will see under the Support column, [opposition noted] 

-  Per requests from the chairs and from Alain Bidron, I expanded the rationale for work stream designations.  These appear in the headers of the table and are shown below:
Proposed rationale for designating Work Streams:  Work Stream 1 is designated for accountability enhancement mechanisms that must be in place [or firmly committed] before IANA transition occurs.  All other consensus items could be in Work Stream 2, provided there are mechanisms in WS1 adequate to force implementation of WS2 items despite resistance from ICANN management and board. 

1. Mechanisms giving the ICANN community ultimate authority over the ICANN corporation.   Most of these are initially designated as WS1, since community Members need the leverage of IANA transition to obtain these Bylaws changes. 

2. Mechanisms to restrict actions of the board and management of the ICANN corporation.   Most of these are initially designated as WS2, since the Members could reverse board or management decisions if Members are empowered in WS1 (above).

3. Mechanisms to prescribe actions of the ICANN corporation. Most of these are initially designated as WS2, since the Members could reverse board or management decisions if Members are empowered in WS1 (above).  For example, a bottom-up consensus process to change ICANN bylaws might be rejected by ICANN board, but the Members could then reverse that decision and force the change.  [I folded the Transparency items into this category]

Look forward to discussion on tomorrow’s call.
—
Steve DelBianco
Executive Director
NetChoice
http://www.NetChoice.org and http://blog.netchoice.org
+1.202.420.7482


On 12/18/14, 3:10 PM, "Thomas Rickert" <rickert@anwaelte.de> wrote:

B. WA 2

With regard to work area 2, everyone is encouraged to review the latest version of the inventory that was developed by the WA 2 sub-group. The inventory is intended to capture all ideas / suggestions made to date through previous public comment periods and/or (new) suggestions from CCWG colleagues. As agreed during the last call we suggest that you now check whether the list is complete, and if not suggest to include other items or delete some on the list. We ask you to share any additions to the inventory prior to our next meeting on Tuesday 23 December. 

It is our intention that after completing this inventory, the CCWG will, as next steps, consider the following:
  • Assess and determine which items of the inventory belong in stream 1 (mechanisms that must be in place or committed to within the time frame of the IANA Stewardship Transition in light of the changing historical contractual relationship with the US Government) or stream 2 (accountability topics for which a timeline for developing solutions and full implementation may extend beyond the IANA Stewardship Transition). Note that the charter of the CCWG includes a definitions and guiding questions questions, which are expected to serve as the basis for this assessment and determination (see below). In order to make this assessment the CCWG should also consider the meaning of ‘must be in place’ and ‘committed to’ as included in the definition of work stream 1. (Note: Steve already included a proposed categorisation in the latest draft version of the inventory).
  • Provide a rationale for categorising an item as part of work stream 1 or 2, taking into account the definitions and guiding questions in the CCWG charter.
Only after agreement has been reached on the categorisation of items and rationale, we can proceed to focus on the items in work stream 1 to a) develop further details for each of the proposed accountability mechanisms and b) review each accountability mechanism proposed in work stream 1 and c) assess whether there is CCWG support for including it as part of the CCWG recommendations.

As a reminder, the following list of non-exhaustive questions were included in the CCWG charter to aid the CCWG in its deliberations:

Suggested questions to be considered as part of Work Stream 1 include, but are not limited to:
  •  What would be the impact of NTIA’s transition of the IANA Functions Contract in ensuring ICANN’s accountability and what potential accountability concerns could this cause?
  • What enhancements or reforms are required to be implemented or committed to before the NTIA Stewardship Transition?
    •  How will these enhancements or reforms be stress-tested?
  • What enhancements or reforms must be committed to before the NTIA Stewardship Transition, but could be implemented after.
    • If the implementation of enhancements or reforms are to be deferred, how can the community be assured they will be implemented?
  •  How will these enhancements or reforms be stress-tested?
Suggested questions to be considered as part of Work Stream 2 include, but are not limited to:
  • What enhancements or reforms can be addressed after the NTIA Stewardship Transition?
  • If there are enhancements or reforms that can be addressed after NTIA disengages, what new or existing processes ensure they will be addressed and implemented?
    • How will these enhancement or reforms be stress-tested?
Suggested questions to be considered as part of both Work Stream 1 and 2 include, but are not limited to:
  • What mechanisms are needed to ensure ICANN’s accountability to the multi-stakeholder community once NTIA has disengaged from its stewardship role?
  • What enhancements or reforms are needed to ICANN’s existing accountability mechanisms?
  • What new accountability reforms or mechanisms are needed?
  • If accountability enhancements and reforms are made through changes to ICANN’s Articles of Incorporation or By-Laws, how can the community be assured that those changes will be permanent, or not subject to unilateral amendment by the ICANN Board at a later date?