The co-chairs are extremely disappointed by Mr. Kirikos' rejection of what we believe is a very reasonable compromise proposal regarding a path forward for this WG. That proposal withdraws the request that the poll sought by the co-chairs to assist them in performing their Guideline duties be anonymous, and accepts consideration of his proposal (subject to WG support) for a facilitated session in which maximum participation of WG members will be encouraged. A review of the transcript of the January 18th call held between the co-chairs shows that there was no agreement on every element of a path forward, only an agreement to vet the concept of a facilitated session with the full WG. As noted from page 32 of the transcript, Mr. Kirikos - at least at the time of the second call - seemed to accept such way to move forward[1]. Notwithstanding Mr. Kirikos' decision to reject our compromise offer and continue his section 3.7 appeal, the co-chairs continue to encourage feedback from other members on our proposal and thank those who have already responded. ICANN 61 is just five weeks away, and the co-chairs are concerned that further substantial delay in resolving the 3.7 appeal will make it logistically impossible to secure the assistance of a community facilitator for the WG's session there if there is overall WG support for that approach. We will therefore request that staff provide the GNSO Council Chair with a copy of our compromise proposal, copies of Mr. Kirikos' email responses on the WG list, a copy of this further response from the co-chairs, and copies of feedback on our proposal from other WG members -- along with a request from the co-chairs that the Council Chair or her designated representative decide his appeal as expeditiously as possible. Those materials will make clear that the issue of an anonymous poll is no longer in dispute, and that the appeal is now confined to an objection to the co-chairs' exercise of their discretion to utilize a public and transparent poll of WG members to assist us in proposing consensus levels and initiate the consensus call process recommended in section 3.6 of the Guidelines, as well as address any potential allegations of WG "capture". We thank WG members for their continued patience and feedback, and hope we can resume WG activities and complete our work as soon as possible and thereby conclude final recommendations on the topics of our WG. Regards, Philip Corwin and Petter Rindforth [1] ICANN Transcription Call to discuss George Kirikos appeal under section 3.7 of the GNSO WG guidelines / Thursday, 18 January 2018 at 17:00 UTC / Page 32: (George Kirikos): "...And I actually proposed earlier in the chat room that, you know, we can put this proposed solution to the working group members to see how they feel and I concur with that" Philip S. Corwin Policy Counsel VeriSign, Inc. 12061 Bluemont Way Reston, VA 20190 703-948-4648/Direct 571-342-7489/Cell "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey _____ [1] ICANN Transcription Call to discuss George Kirikos appeal under section 3.7 of the GNSO WG guidelines / Thursday, 18 January 2018 at 17:00 UTC / Page 32: (George Kirikos): "...And I actually proposed earlier in the chat room that, you know, we can put this proposed solution to the working group members to see how they feel and I concur with that"