On 1/18/11 4:23 AM, ICANN At-Large Staff wrote:
Update on ALAC Policy Discussions A review of ALAC¹s policy discussions in Cartagena can be found in the Chair's report from Cartagena <http://www.atlarge.icann.org/announcements/announcement-10dec10-en.htm> . ... Eric: The fact that the Board did not adopt the GAC recommendation was remarkable.
Correction: The fact that the Board invoked the Bylaws concerning the rejection of GAC advice by the Board is remarkable. The GAC's advice has been "non-adopted" previously, even repeatedly from some expressions of GAC members. Hence the surprise that there was a moment of really high drama at Cartagena during the open GAC-Board meeting in which the GAC, citing the rejection of its advice, invoked the Bylaws. This has not happened at any time previous, and is the cause of the Board's non-vote on starting the new gTLD application process at Cartagena, and the Board's decision to hold an intersessional meeting prior to the San Francisco meeting. Personally, I was gratified to see the applicant requirement for public support extended from capitals (Washington, Ottawa) to all cities. During the IANA management of the .US zone (prior to 2002), more than 40% of the US metro markets were "owned" by just six speculators. This is not a public resource management experience that should be repeated. Eric