Wendy and I were in attendance at ICANN's Washington session on Improving Institutional Confidence. My assessment of the collective view: the level of confidence in ICANN is now substantially lower than it has been in several years: 1. Participants cast doubts on ICANN's willingness to be accountable. 2. Concerns were raised regarding the lack of sufficient compliance measures. 3. The sentiment was expressed that contracting parties have captured the ICANN policy process. 4. The business community spoke to domain registration system abuses and expressed fears pertaining to the launch of new gTLDs 5. Several complaints regarding the GNSO restructuring plan were heard On a positive note, CEO Paul Twomey recognized the need for a comprehensive review of registrar accreditation processes as a valid operational concern. The audiocast of the session may be found on ICANN's home page. About 175 people attended the event.