I am informed that there has been a long running discussion dating back to the beginning of ICANN and that there is a disparity of opinion regarding the relationship between the policy issues and specific contractual agreements.
ICANN starting pushing this idea that 'contracts aren't policy' back when it tried to sell the community on the first ICANN-Network Solutions contract. Since that time, the "disparity of opinion" has been between Joe Sims, trying to sell a series of unpalatable NetSol-Verisign contracts to the community, and everyone else. The fact that the disparity has been "long-running" is more an indicator of the legal staff's recalcitrance than a sign of a legitimate dispute among equal factions in the stakeholder community. The "new" ICANN has the opportunity to break this cycle and bring some sense to the debate. -- Bret