MESSAGE SENT ON BEHALF OF THE RPM WORKING GROUP CO-CHAIRS Dear Working Group members, Several members have expressed concerns to us, as the Working Group co-chairs, about the recent volume of messages on this mailing list as well as the tone of some of the email exchanges. We appreciate that everyone in this Working Group is devoting a significant amount of their time and energy to our work, and ask that you bear in mind the need to respect the fact that there are likely to be differing viewpoints on a number of the issues at hand. We also acknowledge that emails may be more easily misinterpreted than face-to-face interaction, and that not all participants will have the day to day experience that others may possess. We therefore ask that everyone continue to treat one another with civility, respect, and patience as we work through the many topics before us in a collective attempt to find common ground. Finally, while we encourage active participation by everyone on this mailing list as this facilitates the efficacy of our work, we wish to remind everyone of the importance of keeping the discussions focused on the specific issues that we as a Working Group have been charged by the GNSO Council to review. Messages that are concise, precise and address a specific substantive topic with additional facts and analysis are more likely to help advance our understanding of the topic and our ability to reach consensus than those that merely repeat previous points or that include off-topic comments. Shorter and less personalized messages may well be found to be more appropriate and persuasive by other Working Group members. We thank you all for your time and for all your thoughtful contributions and active participation. Sincerely, Kathy, Phil and J. Scott