Affirmation of commitments Re: [governance] Potential IGC letter to US gov (was Re: NET NEUTRALITY AND MORE)

[Mawaki Chango]

On Mon, Jun 3, 2013 at 4:00 PM, John Curran <jcurran at istaff.org> wrote:

> On Jun 3, 2013, at 8:34 AM, Mawaki Chango <kichango at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Two short remarks:
> >
> > 1. The cost/benefit (incentive/disincentive) analysis for a collective
> governmental (or multilateral) agreement with ICANN has to be appreciated
> both from ICANN and from government perspectives. And I admit, at this
> point, I'm not pretty sure on which side the incentive scale will tip for
> having either such collective framework or a collection of bilateral
> agreements with ICANN. Adding to that, there might be a challenge in having
> every country sign off on the same exact agreement (which they didn't
> negotiated) with ICANN, but if that works then more power to ICANN.
>
> Agreed, the benefit has to be looked at from both directions...  I believe
> the
> underlying concept is that ICANN, through the AoC, has offered to be
> externally
> accountable to at least one government (USG), potentially to others
> (although
> I can't readily find a clean reference from ICANN of such an offer -
> hmm...)
>
> Right now, governments (other than USG) have no direct commitment from
> ICANN on these principles, and it might be useful for them to have such,
> either individually entered or collectively (e.g. the EU could be such a
> party)
>
> > 2. Yes, I'm culprit for (implicitly) lumping the AoC and the notion of
> the IANA Function... That is because I think it is also implicit in the
> reasoning people make when they think of USG as holding a privileged or
> exclusive position (above the "equal footing" level, so to speak) over
> ICANN and anything it does for fulfilling its mission. I'm not sure if
> opening up the mechanism of the AoC (which as you clearly show focuses
> mainly on the oversight of the commitments therein) to multiple governments
> without any subsequent and related amendment to the IANA relationship
> between ICANN and USG will completely that concern to rest. But again, if
> that works...
>
> The USG has several unique roles, and I'd recommend considering the one
> by one to determine if they need to remain unique.  I do not believe that
> the
> oversight role needs to remain unique, as noted above and in prior email.
>
> If this oversight role were to be shared among several governments, then
> one
> of the items that could become a topic of these reviews is the existence
> of the
> IANA Function contract vis-a-vis ICANN's commitment in "ensuring
> accountability,
> transparency and the interests of global Internet users."   I believe it
> is safe to
> say this is not as likely to arise if the only accountability to these
> principles is
>

+1
Thanks for providing clarification and thoughtful arguments.

Mawaki



> to the USG...
>
> >  All that is open to discussion and I don't have any definite answer.
>
> Excellent discussion... thanks for sharing your thoughts!
> /John
>
> p.s. (Regarding the role of "being the party issuing the IANA Function
> Contract",
>        I'm not sure that is actually a necessary role... see this earlier
> discussion
>        <http://lists.igcaucus.org/arc/governance/2011-10/msg00250.html>
> on same)
>
> Disclaimers:  My views alone.  Contents may be flammable; keep away
>                     from the spark of action or the flame of open
> discussion... :-)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20130603/b8316d3a/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.igcaucus.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t