On 2017-09-04 23:48, John R. Levine wrote:
Is the current financial position of ICANN really an impediment to what ICANN wants to do in support of its mission ? I was under the impression that ICANN's budget was healthy enough to implement its mission optimally today, with also a large untouched pot coming from the new gTLD application process (unused legal costs if I understand correctly).
Not really. ICANN's operating budget is fully committed. There is indeed a lot of unspent new gTLD application money, but it's a whole separate can of worms. It's not ours to spend and since ICANN said the price was set to cover their costs, the obvious and ethical thing to do will be to refund the excess to the applicants.
I kind of agree with the ethical part (although I haven't read the contract those applicants signed and what was promised in writing) but is it really going to be obvious to refund hundreds of applicants, some of them potentially gone as a business ?
R's, John
PS:
How is it different to give away the funds to the ICANN community (for projects aligned with the ICANN mission) vs. to give them back to the board directly, given that the board is driven by the community ?
Well, actually, it's the board's money to give away, not ours. We're just offering them advice.