I have to take issue with the formulation of the first question.  The commitment* in paragraph 3 of the AoC to "(c) promote competition, consumer trust, and consumer choice in the DNS marketplace….” is not "an AoC provision specific to TLD expansion."  Paragraph 9.3 may be "an AoC provision specific to TLD expansion" but 9.3 is just a specific application of the more fundamental commitment in paragraph 3.  So the contention that an expansion-specific provision is being "leveraged" is both incorrect and somewhat leading: if "leveraging" is a bad thing (and it seems to be used in a negative sense here, akin to "bootstrapping"), then who would answer yes?

In any event, we should not be cherry-picking the AoC here.  "Consumer trust" is an integral part of those commitments.  We should not eviscerate this commitment. 

I concur with Bruce and Steve's emails regarding the attempts to raise definitional issues.  Whether the EU, for its purposes and in different contexts, defines consumer differently is neither relevant nor problematic for ICANN's commitment here.

Greg

_____
* I certainly read this as a commitment, and not merely some sort of nebulous "goal".  As such, I guess I do disagree with Becky's opinion on this (and also disagree that Becky's opinion is a fact (I often agree with Becky's opinions, which are well-informed and well-considered, but even the ones I agree with aren't facts.).)


On Sun, Jan 10, 2016 at 10:07 AM, Steve DelBianco <sdelbianco@netchoice.org> wrote:
Please see these working definitions of ‘Consumer' and 'Consumer Trust', from the 2012 Working Group that defined measures and metrics for the AoC Review of the 2012 gTLD expansion (link to WG report, page 5):

Consumer is defined as actual and potential Internet users and registrants.

Consumer Trust is defined as the confidence Consumers have in the domain name system. This includes 
(i) trust in the consistency of name resolution 
(ii) confidence that a TLD registry operator is fulfilling the Registry’s stated purpose and is complying with ICANN policies and applicable national laws and 
(iii) confidence in ICANN’s compliance function.

Consumer Choice is defined as the range of options available to Consumers for domain scripts and languages, and for TLDs that offer meaningful choices as to the proposed purpose and integrity of their domain name registrants.

Competition is defined as the quantity, diversity, and the potential for and actual market rivalry of TLDs, TLD registry operators, and registrars.

That WG was created per a Dec-2010 Board resolution (link) requesting advice from the GNSO, ccNSO, ALAC and GAC on establishing the definition, measures, and three-year targets for competition, consumer trust and consumer choice in the context of the DNS in preparation for the AoC required review of the 2012 gTLD expansion.
 
The WG's final report was adopted by its chartering organizations, GNSO and ALAC, with ALAC adding several additional measures. 

I believe these definitions are appropriate and workable for purposes of reviewing ICANN’s remit in expanding the gLTD space. They aren’t universal definitions to apply for everything ICANN does, but 



From: <accountability-cross-community-bounces@icann.org> on behalf of Nigel Roberts <nigel@channelisles.net>
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2016 at 3:32 PM
To: "accountability-cross-community@icann.org" <accountability-cross-community@icann.org>
Subject: Re: [CCWG-ACCT] "Consumer Trust" in the Mission Statement

"Furthermore,under EU law, the notion of consumer does not extend to
legal persons, even if they have a non-business character (e.g.
non-profit associations).

The Court of Justice has consis-
tently held that EU definitions of consumer must
not be given a wider interpretation."

On 01/09/2016 10:30 PM, Nigel Roberts wrote:
The definition of 'consumer' in this is problematic.

In EU legislation it generally excludes businesses.  A common
understanding would be a 'natural person acting outside the scope of an
economic activity'.



On 01/09/2016 09:56 PM, Bruce Tonkin wrote:
Hello Malcolm,

Even if rephrased, I don't think I understand what is intended to be
meant by "consumer trust".

It is a general term like human rights and public interest.

I think the key is that it needs to be grounded in what it means for
ICANN's limited mission.

If we are talking about domain names it could be that:

- a domain name resolves deterministically to a particular resource
connected to the Internet

(the implementation of DNSSEC at the root was intended to help with that)

- there is a legal person that can be contacted when there is a
problem with the operation of the  domain name

(the collection and publication of contact information was intended to
help with that)

What it should not be in my personal view:

- anything to do with the content of a website that might be referred
to by the domain name

- anything to do with the characteristics of a legal person associated
with a domain name that might be inferred from the name


Regards,
Bruce Tonkin

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