They did give an explanation, albeit not a particularly satisfying one, nor even one that stands up to scrutiny (in my opinion). They said that "Assistance is limited to the available funding, thereby mitigating risk." The risk of deferring at least a reasonable amount of return-to-reserve is one that they have accepted in the past without any substantial rationale that it was a risky decision. Alan At 18/12/2011 01:30 PM, Evan Leibovitch wrote:

WHEREAS the ICANN Board, without explanation, has refused the cross-community endorsement of the Joint Applicant Support Working Group recommendations to reduce costs of new gTLD in developing economies independent of any fixed fund;