Steve, Nothing? There remains the role of the USG, and its contractor, Verisign, as two of the three parties to the Root Zone Partners. There remains the NRO with its increasing distinct stewardship responsibility. There remains the IETF/IAB with its increasing distinct stewardship responsibility. As hypos this, and your flight-to-avoid-jurisdiction, may be fun and games speculatively, though not rising to the level of "gunmen menace the periodic review team" of the ALAC scenarios, but it assumes either wild wrecklessness on the part of some fairly sane people -- ICANN blows off the IP and DNS components of what is a semi-stable troika, or sudden onset blindness on the part of some fairly sane people -- the IP and DNS components blithly following an erratic executive shredding accountability agreements. There are less unlikely scenarios that deserve more attention. As for Peter, in the course of his many years as Board Chair he's said many things, some right and some wrong. The Board has a liaison and his expression in the present would be pertinent, that of a past member of the Board only possibly informative. Eric Brunner-Williams Eugene, Oregon On 1/29/15 2:47 PM, Steve DelBianco wrote:
Eric — Your first question helps make my point: After the USG lets of of IANA contract leverage, there is nothing they could do to hold ICANN to the Affirmation of Commitments.
As to your second question:
Within a year of signing the AoC, Peter Dengate Thrush told a group of EU Representatives that he saw the Affirmation as a temporary arrangement ICANN would like to eventually terminate. (22-Jun-2010, at a dinner hosted by the European Internet Foundation in Brussels).
At a breakfast with the entire Board the next day, I asked ICANN board members if the commitments in the Affirmation should be permanently adopted as part of ICANN's official charter. One board member immediately disagreed, saying the AoC made no commitments that weren't already in ICANN's bylaws. I responded that the Affirmation includes important new commitments in paragraphs 3, 4, 7, and 8 – even before we get to the periodic reviews required in paragraph 9.
From: Eric Brunner-Williams <ebw@abenaki.wabanaki.net <mailto:ebw@abenaki.wabanaki.net>> Date: Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 5:30 PM To: Jordan Carter <jordan@internetnz.net.nz <mailto:jordan@internetnz.net.nz>> Cc: Accountability Cross Community <accountability-cross-community@icann.org <mailto:accountability-cross-community@icann.org>> Subject: Re: [CCWG-ACCT] The big test of effective accountability
Steve, Jordan, and anyone else so inclined,
Would you care to offer your best guess(es) as to the response of the Government of the United States were the Corporation to engage in the course of conduct proposed?
I suspect it would look suspiciously similar to something we've seen before, http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/fr_ianafunctionsnoi_02252011...
Have either of you (or others sharing the concern expressed by Steve and Jordan) any indication that the Board is or ever has considered unilateral termination of the AoC?
Eric Brunner-Williams Eugene, Oregon
On 1/29/15 2:14 PM, Jordan Carter wrote:
On 30 January 2015 at 11:07, Eric Brunner-Williams <ebw@abenaki.wabanaki.net <mailto:ebw@abenaki.wabanaki.net>> wrote:
On 1/29/15 1:58 PM, Steve DelBianco wrote:
Okay, so Jonathan exaggerated a bit by saying we have zero accountability today. But Avri admits we have no mechanisms that are binding on the board. And Avri cites the AoC, which can be canceled by ICANN at any time.
Would you be so kind as to offer support for this ... peculiar claim?
From section 11 of the AOC:
"Any party may terminate this Affirmation of Commitments by providing 120 days written notice to the other party."
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/affirmation-of-commitments-2009-09-30-...
duckduckgo.com <http://duckduckgo.com> is often your friend.
Jordan
-- Jordan Carter
Chief Executive *InternetNZ*
04 495 2118 (office) | +64 21 442 649 (mob) jordan@internetnz.net.nz <mailto:jordan@internetnz.net.nz> Skype: jordancarter
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