From: Steve Crocker Date: March 10, 2016 at 6:20:58 PM GMT Subject: IANA Stewardship Transition and the Affirmation of Commitments The Honorable Lawrence E. Strickling Assistant Secretary for Communication and Information and Administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration United States Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20230 Re: IANA Stewardship Transition and the Affirmation of Commitments Dear Assistant Secretary Strickling: On behalf of the ICANN Board of Directors it gives me great pleasure to transmit to you the IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal, which outlines the transition of NTIA’s stewardship of the IANA functions to the global multistakeholder community. I am also pleased to transmit the CCWG Accountability Supplemental Final Proposal on Work Stream 1 Recommendations on Enhancing ICANN Accountability. In its 14 March 2014 announcement, NTIA asked ICANN to convene an inclusive, global discussion to determine a process for transitioning the stewardship of these functions to the multistakeholder community. It specifically stated that the transition proposal must have broad community support and address the following four principles: 1. Support and enhance the multistakeholder model; 2. Maintain the security, stability, and resiliency of the Internet DNS; 3. Meet the needs and expectations of the global customers and partners of the IANA services; and, 4. Maintain the openness of the Internet. NTIA also specified that it would not accept a proposal that replaces NTIA’s role with a government-led or intergovernmental organization solution. Thirty individuals, representing the broad range of Internet stakeholder interests, were nominated by their respective communities to become a part of the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG). The ICG assembled input from three global multistakeholder communities with direct operational relationships with the IANA functions – Domain Names, Numbering Resources, and Protocol Parameters – to develop one single, cohesive proposal to facilitate the succession of NTIA’s stewardship of the IANA functions. The Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability), made up of members from ICANN’s Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees, and over 200 participants, developed a separate proposal for enhancing ICANN’s accountability in light of the changing historical relationship with the U.S. Government. The proposals underwent extensive discussion and enjoy broad global community support. The relevant multistakeholder communities held over 600 calls and meetings with more than 32,000 mailing list exchanges over the past two years . The ICG proposal was finalized after the three operational communities of the IANA functions indicated consensus support for the proposal. The CCWG-Accountability proposal received consensus support from its members and was subsequently approved by the Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees which chartered the group. The proposals themselves describe at great length how their recommendations meet all of NTIA’s criteria. The ICANN Board agrees with the community that the proposals do in fact meet each of NTIA’s criteria. The ICANN Board resolutions for the package address each of the proposals. As you conduct your review of the package of proposals, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. , The ICANN multistakeholder community eagerly awaits the results of your review. Sincerely, Dr. Stephen Crocker Enclosures: • Cover Page for IANA Stewardship Transition Package • Cover Note from Dr. Stephen Crocker • ICANN Board Resolution on IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal • ICANN Board Resolution on Enhancing ICANN Accountability Recommendations • IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) Proposal • Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG- Accountability) Proposal • IANA Stewardship Transition Timeline • Diversity and Statistics on Development of IANA Stewardship Transition Package