[CCWG-ACCT] CCWG-Accountability Issues Formal Update on Progress Made In and After ICANN54 in Dublin

Hillary Jett hillary.jett at icann.org
Mon Nov 16 03:01:27 UTC 2015


Original posting: 
https://www.icann.org/news/blog/ccwg-accountability-issues-formal-update-on-
progress-made-in-and-after-icann54-in-dublin
<https://www.icann.org/news/blog/ccwg-accountability-issues-formal-update-on
-progress-made-in-and-after-icann54-in-dublin>

‹

CCWG-Accountability Issues Formal Update on Progress Made In and After
ICANN54 in Dublin
Context

This is a brief and preliminary overview of the proposal for improving
ICANN's accountability developed by the Cross Community Working Group on
Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) over the past year. It
includes a very high-level summary of the main changes being proposed by the
community and outlines what will be described in the full proposal.
This 36-page document is designed to update the community on recent progress
in and after ICANN54 in Dublin and raise awareness of the proposed
enhancements to ICANN's accountability as a more detailed proposal is
finalized. While this formal update reflects the current consensus positions
of the group, there are outstanding elements that remain to be finalized.
These finishing details are highlighted in the document, and will be
confirmed and detailed in the Third Draft Proposal.
Download the Formal Update here.
<https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/cwg-draft-2-proposal-work-strea
m-1-recs-15nov15-en.pdf>


The full Third Draft Proposal on Work Stream 1 Recommendations will be
shared with the public on 30 November 2015, which will include further
explanation and detail about the accountability improvements outlined in
this document. It will also explain why the changes have been suggested, how
the community arrived at these recommendations and the options considered
and ultimately rejected in development of the proposal.
We welcome feedback on this document, and encourage all interested
stakeholders to view the full proposal for any outstanding questions or
concerns.
Summary

Over the last year, a working group of ICANN community members has been
developing a set of proposed enhancements to ICANN's accountability to the
global Internet community.
This effort is integral to the transition of the United States' stewardship
of the IANA functions to the global Internet community, reflecting the ICANN
community's conclusion that improvements to ICANN's accountability were
necessary in the absence of the accountability backstop that the historical
contractual relationship with the United States government provided. The
accountability improvements set out in this document are not designed to
change ICANN's multistakeholder model, the bottom-up nature of policy
development nor significantly alter ICANN's day-to-day operations.
The main elements of the proposal are outlined below. Together with ICANN's
existing structures and groups, these accountability enhancements will
ensure ICANN remains accountable to the global Internet community.
* A revised Mission statement for the ICANN Bylaws that sets out what ICANN
does. This Mission statement clarifies but does not change ICANN's historic
mission
* An enhanced Independent Review Process and redress process with a broader
scope and the power to ensure ICANN stays within its revised Mission
* New specific powers for the ICANN community that can be enforced when the
usual methods of discussion and dialogue have not effectively built
consensus including the powers to:
> * Reject ICANN Budgets, Operating Plans or Strategic Plans
> * Reject changes to ICANN's Bylaws
> * Approve changes to new Fundamental Bylaws (see below)
> * Remove an individual ICANN Director from the Board
> * Recall the entire ICANN Board
* An additional new power that gives the community a say in decisions about
the IANA Function Reviews and any separation of the IANA Names Functions
* All of these community powers can only be exercised after extensive
community discussions and debates through processes of engagement and
escalation. The process of escalation provides many opportunities for the
resolution of disagreements between the parties before formal action is
required.
The accountability elements outlined above will be supported through:
* Additions to the ICANN Bylaws to create an Empowered Community that is
based on a simple legal vehicle that will act on the instructions of ICANN
stakeholder groups to exercise the Community Powers. The Empowered Community
is granted the status of a Designator (a recognized role in law) and has the
standing to enforce the Community Powers if needed.
* Core elements of ICANN's governing documents (the Articles and Bylaws)
being categorized asFundamental Bylaws that can only be changed with
agreement between the ICANN community and the ICANN Board.
In addition, further proposed changes include:
* A recognition of ICANN's respect for Human Rights
* Incorporation of ICANN's commitments under the 2009 Affirmation of
Commitments with the United States Department of Commerce into the Bylaws,
where appropriate
* Improved accountability and diversity for ICANN's Supporting Organizations
and Advisory Committees
* A commitment to discuss additional accountability improvements and broader
accountability enhancements in 2016, following implementation of this core
set of accountability improvements
To develop these recommendations to improve ICANN's accountability, the
Working Group:
* Relied on suggestions and proposals generated inside the Working Group and
by the broader Internet multistakeholder community
* Conducted public comment periods to gather feedback on earlier drafts and
discussed iterations of its recommendations across the world at ICANN
meetings and through online webinars
* Rigorously "stress tested" ICANN's current and proposed accountability
mechanisms to test their strength against problematic scenarios the
organization could potentially face
* Engaged two external law firms to ensure the legal reliability of the
proposed accountability enhancements
* Made the minimum enhancements to ICANN's accountability necessary to meet
the baseline requirements of the community, as required for the IANA
Stewardship Transition
* Met the requirements of the group that developed the IANA Stewardship
Transition proposal for the Domain Names community
* Met the requirements of the U.S. National Telecommunications and
Information Agency for theIANA Stewardship Transition
We look forward to your thoughts and feedback on our Third Draft Proposal on
Enhancing ICANN Accountability.

-- 
Hillary Jett
Communications Coordinator
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

Mobile: +1 (202) 674-3403
Email: hillary.jett at icann.org




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