Sorry - only just saw this one and request for a response from me.
Re: context. I don't know whether people are following all the action whirling around this recently. I've been trying to write stories about each new aspect so forgive me if I post a series of links to articles of mine.
Very broadly, several of you on this list have probably been having the usual behind-the-scenes conversations with ICANNers about how the transition must be done by September but also there isn't time for all the accountability work i.e. lobbying for an IANA transition without real accountability changes in place.
A lot of people who have been stung in the past don't like this argument. The NTIA is one of them.
At the same time, there are more than a few people poking the fires in Washington in the lead up to the Republican run Congress. This has resulted in a range of things:
Overall, the pressure is on. And it is going increasingly partisan - which is bad news for anyone interested in rational policymaking.
So Strickling is trying to keep everything on track but pushing back on inaccuracies while also, I believe, trying to make it clear to us - the internet community - to get moving on a plan.
I should say in a quick plug that IoN magazine - which I edit - is writing a special feature on all this for our next issue. Should be comprehensive.
It will be handed out at the NamesCon conference in Las Vegas in early January but we are also mailing it to subscribers so if you are interested in signing up, let me know offlist.
Hope that is helpful.
Kieren