There is an open comment on the EPDP Phase 2a recommendations that closes today. We had decided that an ALAC statement was not necessary because we had already said what needed to be said. After consulting with other groups, I thought that it was advisable to have something on the record in the comments SAYING that the Board needs to factor in our comments, and those of the like-minded groups (GAC, SSAC, BC, IPC). On the CPWG call yesterday, the recommendation was for Hadia and me to submit a very brief statement, as the ALAC appointed members to the EPDP, and on behalf of the ALAC saying that the Board should factor in our comments in our Minority statement, as well as those of the GAC, SSAC, BC and IPC. Maureen agreed to this path forward. Accordingly, I have submitted the following comment:

This statement is being submitted by the ALAC-appointed members of the Phase 2a EPDP team (Alan Greenberg, Hadia El Miniawi) on behalf of the ALAC Chair Maureen Hilyard and the ALAC.

The EPDP Phase 2a was triggered based on the dissatisfaction of the ALAC and several other groups with the EPDP Phase 1 and 2 not having addressed two critical issues.

Our Minority statement submitted within the Phase 2a report captures the ALAC position on the Phase 2a outcomes, and we request that the Board take that statement into account as it deliberates on its action regarding the Phase 2a outcomes. We also call the Board's attention to the GAC Minority Statement which the ALAC formally supported, as well as the statements of the SSAC, the GNSO Business Constituency and the GNSO Intellectual Property Constituency, all of which espouse views similar to those of the ALAC.

We also wish to point out that these so-called "minority" statements represent 11 of the 24 EPDP Members and 5 of the 9 groups represented on the EPDP.

Alan