June 2008 - NA-Discuss - lists.icann.org

CONFIRMED: new gTLD Briefing Session 11 June 1330 UTC
by At-Large Staff June 7, 2008

June 7, 2008

Dear all, The Briefing Session on ICANN¹s new gTLD program will be on Wednesday, 11 June at 1330 UTC. Ms. Karla Valente, from ICANN¹s new gTLD program and Mr. Olof Nordling, Manager of Policy Development Coordination will give a presentation on the new gTLD programme, including an update on the staff implementation planning. The briefing is designed to focus on the programme from an Internet end-users¹ perspective; members of GNSO constituencies are being invited to join the briefing. Subsequently, they will be available to answer some of your questions, both about the GNSO Policy presented to the Board and the implementation planning for the programme. Please visit the meeting page to find participation instructions and reference material for this presentation. https://st.icann.org/alac/index.cgi?briefing_session_on_new_gtld_programme We will soon upload Karla Valente¹s PowerPoint presentation to the meeting page and you will also be able to follow the presentation in real time, chat and ask questions using the Adobe Connect meeting room for this presentation. The Adobe Connect link is also on the meeting page. Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart, Matthias Langenegger, Frederic Teboul ICANN At-Large Staff email: staff(a)atlarge.icann.org

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Re: [NA-Discuss] Budget Follow-up Question
by Kevin Wilson June 6, 2008

June 6, 2008

Danny, Below is a quick response to your budget follow up question. Feel free to call me if you need more clarity. Best regards, Kevin Q1: What is included in the $4MM contingency? This contingency is significantly larger than last year (up from $1.9MM); why this large increase? A: ICANN formally included a contingency in its budget in FY08. At the time this provision was made, the organization committed to operating within the stated expense budget, and only use this contingency if absolutely necessary. As FY08 is closing, the projection is that almost none of this contingency will be used, and nearly the full amount returned to build ICANN's reserves. The same approach will be used in FY09. Specifically, this contingency: - Has some growth to cover a larger total budget - A more cost-controlled approach to forecasting legal fees requires a larger contingent amount to cover unanticipated legal activity - An amount sufficient to cover possible Board compensation Here is what we have in the posted draft document. Contingency FY09 FY08 Budget FY08 Forecast Contingency 4.0 million 1.7 million n/a · Individual FY09 budget items were estimated based upon the most reliable information available. In order to allow for the possibility of costs exceeding original estimates, an overall contingency of $4.0 million is included in the budget. · A formal contingency was identified in the FY08 budget as well. At that time, ICANN management committed to spend money in accordance with the base budget and spend money from the contingency only if truly necessary. FY08 projections show that little, if any, of that contingency will actually be spent. · Board compensation. The contingency budget has been increased to ensure that there are adequate resources set aside in the event that planned studies and consultation result in a recommendation for ICANN to begin compensating Board Directors and Liaisons for the significant amounts of time they devote to ICANN matters. Any such compensation program would only be adopted subsequent to community consultation and a Bylaws amendment (http://www.icann.org/general/bylaws.htm - VI-22<http://www.icann.org/general/bylaws.htm#VI-22>). (The Bylaws currently require that Directors and Liaisons be reimbursed for expenses they incur in performing their duties, but prohibit compensation to Directors for their services.) · Litigation. The contingency budget is being established in part to accommodate any excess substantial litigation costs that occur. · Currency Exchange Risk: The continuing weakening of the US dollar vis-à-vis other currencies caused erosion of purchasing power for ICANN in FY08. As ICANN's costs are being increasingly incurred in non-US currencies, some contingency is set aside for currency exchange risk. Key currency exchange rates used in the FY09 Operating Plan and Budget are: Non-US Currency Currency Exchange Rate Euro 1.55 Euro per US$ Canadian Dollar 0.998 US$ per Canadian dollar Australian Dollar 0.947 Australian dollar per US$ -----Original Message----- From: Danny Younger [mailto:dannyyounger@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 11:03 AM To: na-discuss(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org; At-Large Staff Cc: Kevin(a)yahoo.com; Denise Michel; Kevin Wilson; Doug Brent Subject: Budget Follow-up Question Dear Kevin and Doug, The budget states: "Legal costs are budgeted to be $2.7 million largely based upon existing litigation, legal support of organizational initiatives, and the continued work required supporting the new gTLD launch as well as providing all other legal support services for baseline activities. The contingency budget is intended to cover any excess litigation costs that occur. The contingency budget is listed at $4,000,000. Why do you deem it appropriate to set the contingency budget at that very high level? Are you anticipating a massive amount of litigation in response to the new gTLD launch? Thanks, Danny

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REMINDER: Briefing Session on Fast Flux Hosting 5 June 1300 UTC
by At-Large Staff June 3, 2008

June 3, 2008

Dear all, This is to remind you about the Briefing Session on Fast Flux Hosting starting at 1300 UTC this coming Thursday. Dave Piscitello who will host this meeting has prepared a Powerpoint presentation, which is posted on the meeting page. There will also be an Adobe Connect link where we will be able to show the slides in real time. To join the presentation, please follow the participation instructions on the meeting page. https://st.icann.org/alac/index.cgi?fast_flux_hosting There will be no Spanish and French interpretation for this call as there was not sufficient interest for this service. Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart, Matthias Langenegger, Frederic Teboul ICANN At-Large Staff email: staff(a)atlarge.icann.org

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Re: [NA-Discuss] [At-Large] Not the pending death of a registry
by Von Welch June 2, 2008

June 2, 2008

Hello- I notice that I've been explicitly cc'ed on a number of these emails related to ICANN and have no idea why that would be the case. I suspect it is a mistake. Regards, Von Jeffrey A. Williams wrote: > Michele and all, > > Very good question IMHO. That figures out to be about > 8k per registration just for administration costs! Looks > to me there are some shanagans going on there... I bet > they wouldn't pass a in depth audit... Of course > niether did ICANN some time back... Birds of a feather > perhaps? > > And so the ICANN/GNSO decision making saga continues > eh? What's next, lets see now... Maybe .Pharm for > pharmacuticles? or maybe just .Drug instead? > > -----Original Message----- >> From: Michele Neylon <michele(a)blacknight.ie> >> Sent: May 30, 2008 4:59 AM >> To: At-Large Worldwide <alac(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org> >> Subject: Re: [At-Large] Not the pending death of a registry >> >> >> On 30 May 2008, at 01:58, John Levine wrote: >>> It appears that .TRAVEL generates about $1.5 million per year in >>> revenue, >>> which should be enough to keep it going just fine if they cut down on >>> whatever is costing $200K/mo in administrative overhead, which >>> shouldn't >>> be hard. >> >> What on earth are they spending that money on? >> >> When I wrote about them last year they only had 25 thousand names >> registered: >> >> http://www.isquattedyour.eu/2007/05/20/tralliance-in-trouble-travel-could-d… >> >> >>> So it's not a particularly noble situation, but it looks >>> like .TRAVEL will >>> survive to fail another day. >> >> Considering its size and "popularity" why aren't they courting one of >> the other registry operators? Is there any sane reason for them to >> continue a loss making exercise when a larger and leaner organisation >> might be in a better position to do it? >> >>> >>> I agree with Danny that ICANN should still be working on registry >>> failover >>> plans, because if Egan ever loses interest, Tralliance could >>> collapse in a >>> matter of weeks. >> >> Agreed >> >> Mr Michele Neylon >> Blacknight Solutions >> Hosting & Colocation, Brand Protection >> http://www.blacknight.com/ >> http://blog.blacknight.com/ >> Intl. +353 (0) 59 9183072 >> Locall: 1850 929 929 >> Direct Dial: +353 (0)59 9183090 >> Fax. +353 (0) 1 4811 763 >> ------------------------------- >> Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd, Unit 12A,Barrowside Business >> Park,Sleaty >> Road,Graiguecullen,Carlow,Ireland Company No.: 370845 >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> ALAC mailing list >> ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org >> http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org >> >> At-Large Official Site: http://atlarge.icann.org > > Regards, > > Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 281k members/stakeholders strong!) > "Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" - > Abraham Lincoln > > "Credit should go with the performance of duty and not with what is > very often the accident of glory" - Theodore Roosevelt > > "If the probability be called P; the injury, L; and the burden, B; > liability depends upon whether B is less than L multiplied by > P: i.e., whether B is less than PL." > United States v. Carroll Towing (159 F.2d 169 [2d Cir. 1947] > =============================================================== > Updated 1/26/04 > CSO/DIR. Internet Network Eng. SR. Eng. Network data security IDNS. > div. of Information Network Eng. INEG. INC. > ABA member in good standing member ID 01257402 E-Mail > jwkckid1(a)ix.netcom.com > My Phone: 214-244-4827 >

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