To BC members: NetChoice filed comments today with ICANN, regarding the new public interest test for reviewing ICANN decisions. This is for the Accountability review of ICANN, as required by the new Affirmation of Commitments. The NetChoice comment is below. All comments are listed at http://forum.icann.org/lists/affrev-draft-processes/index.html#00000 We're recommending that the 'public interest' test encompass two tests that are meaningful to BC members: Availability and Integrity. If you agree, please consider filing a supporting comment, at http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-201001.htm#affrev --Steve Comment on discussion draft for Affirmation Reviews By Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice 13-Jan-2010 *ICANN's new Public Interest Imperative* The Affirmation of Commitments (AoC) adds a new imperative: ICANN decisions must now meet a 'public interest' test. Public interest is part of AoC commitments 3 and 4, and is an explicit criteria in the Accountability Review. Accordingly, ICANN staff featured 'public interest' in the draft terms of reference for the Accountability review. But neither the Affirmation nor the discussion draft has proposed what 'public interest' means for ICANN. Should we just let review panelists (and their consultants) set their own definitions of 'public interest'? I hope not. The broader ICANN community should define the public interest test for ICANN decisions. *Recommended definition of 'Public Interest' for ICANN* First, I believe that the 'public' part of public interest is concerned more with users and registrants than with contracted parties and others who are deeply involved at ICANN. Commitment 4 of the AoC makes this point in calling upon ICANN to analyze and publish the 'effects of its decisions on the public'. Second, I believe that the public interest in ICANN decisions is somewhat broader than just a secure and stable DNS. Namely, users and registrants want ICANN to make sure the DNS delivers two essential and measurable qualities: *Availability* and *Integrity* Availability of the DNS is critical for global users who increasingly rely on the Internet for information, communications, and commerce. Domain name resolutions need to be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, from anywhere on the globe. Availability also means being able to use any language and any script for both generic and country-code domains and email addresses. Availability can also apply to domain names sought by registrants: will domains in new gTLDs be available to the public, or will they be captured by insiders? That kind of availability should also be part of the public interest test for ICANN decisions. Integrity of the DNS is vital to businesses and end-users of the Internet. Businesses rely upon the integrity of domain name registration to ensure that their brands are not misrepresented or misappropriated. E-commerce and Internet financial transactions absolutely require integrity in resolution of domain names and secure delivery of encrypted data. Internet users depend upon the integrity of domain name services to provide accurate and authentic results when they look up a website or send an email. Integrity is undermined by deceptive practices such as redirecting users to fraudulent websites or providing false information about the true owner of a web domain. It's true that ICANN decisions alone cannot directly address much of what undermines DNS integrity today. But ICANN can promote integrity by making policy and enforcing rules that require contract parties to meet industry security standards. For these reasons, I believe that Availability and Integrity are necessary elements in the public interest test that will be applied to ICANN decisions in the upcoming Accountability Review. I encourage further community discussion on the concept of public interest in Affirmation reviews. This term is too important to leave undefined or let a few reviewers define it to fit their own agenda. If we allow 'public interest' to mean anything and everything, it will end up meaning nothing at all. -- Steve DelBianco Executive Director NetChoice http://www.NetChoice.org and http://blog.netchoice.org +1.202.420.7482