[CCWG-ACCT] Transparency recap (Was: Contribution on Transparency Reforms for CCWG)

Seun Ojedeji seun.ojedeji at gmail.com
Fri Oct 30 11:54:29 UTC 2015


Sent from my Asus Zenfone2
Kindly excuse brevity and typos.
On 30 Oct 2015 12:35, "Chris Disspain" <ceo at auda.org.au> wrote:
. I have no issue with the right of inspection being given to the SOs and
ACs pursuant to an agreed level of consensus.
>
SO: Considering that designator is the enforcement vehicle/channel for
participating SO/AC and considering that the designator will be a legal
personhood, I agree that right to inspection should not be given to such
personhood(which is Just a channel) but rather directly to the SO/AC(which
creates the community decisions).

That in itself will be a genuine act of transparency.

Regards
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
> Chris Disspain | Chief Executive Officer
>
> .au Domain Administration Ltd
>
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>> On 30 Oct 2015, at 22:25 , Schaefer, Brett <Brett.Schaefer at heritage.org>
wrote:
>>
>> Matthieu,
>>
>> I may be wrong, but based on the comments on the list and in Dublin that
there is broad agreement, I would even say consensus, that the right to
inspect needs to be granted to the designator.
>>
>> The discussion recently has focused on how much of the other
transparency provisions to bring forward to WS1. I and others think a
substantial amount, others disagree. If a compromise or centrist position
is being sought, I suggest it that it focus on these items of dispute.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Brett
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> Brett Schaefer
>> Jay Kingham Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs
>> Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom Davis Institute for National
Security and Foreign Policy
>> The Heritage Foundation
>> 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
>> Washington, DC 20002
>> 202-608-6097
>> heritage.org<http://heritage.org/>
>>
>> On Oct 30, 2015, at 5:24 AM, Edward Morris <egmorris1 at toast.net<mailto:
egmorris1 at toast.net>> wrote:
>>
>> Mathieu,
>>
>> Thank you very much for this post. I  want to succinctly thank the
Chairs for their exemplary leadership on this issue, express my support for
their rational, considered, centered and measured approach to transparency
and inspection issues, and express my full support for the approach
indicated, with work beyond the transposing of certain provisions from the
old reference model into into the new reference model to be tackled in work
stream 2. It is an approach between the two extremes recently debated on
list and as a centrist in most things in life find it a reasonable way
forward that should provide us with the best opportunity to get this done
right. Thanks again.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Ed Morris
>>
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Oct 30, 2015, at 8:15 AM, Mathieu Weill <mathieu.weill at afnic.fr
<mailto:mathieu.weill at afnic.fr>> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>>
>> First of all many thanks to all of you who have been working hard on
this issue. We are well aware of your efforts to find an approach that
would be acceptable to all on this question.
>>
>> Regarding transparency discussions, I would like to remind everyone of
the content and conclusions of our discussions on Transparency in the Sole
Designator model while we were in Dublin.
>>
>>
>> -          Our lawyers have confirmed that the same level of
transparency could be achieved in the Sole Designator model as with the
Sole Member, by adding a specific provision to the Bylaws enabling the Sole
Designator to inspect Ican’s accounting books and records.
>>
>> -          In response to a concern raised by Sam Eisner about public
disclosure of such documents, we discussed how we could use the same type
of provision that we had agreed on for the AoC reviews as a safeguard (see
below the relevant extract from the AoC section, provided by Steve del
Bianco)
>>
>> -          There was a debate about whether or not extra provisions for
transparency were needed in Work stream 1, considering that we have
agreement that the topic is on the WS2 agenda. There was no formal
conclusion.
>>
>> Thomas did conclude by saying “So that’s one action item for our group
to set up a subteam to define the exact language and extent to which a
transparency is required.”
>>
>> In terms of way forward, given the input we have received, I believe the
question is whether transparency provisions, beyond the records inspection
rights, fit with our agreed definition of Work stream 1, and whether the
level of consensus on the extra provisions at this stage is sufficient.
>>
>> I would note that, with the group’s input, our WS2 initiative would
already be well advanced. It might be possible to launch it very soon after
we have submitted our WS1 recommendations if that is the path we take.
>>
>> Best,
>> Mathieu
>>
>> For your reference :
>> Full transcript -->
https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/56143884/Transcript%20CCWG%20ACCT%20Working%20Session%202_21%20October.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1445525810000&api=v2
>> Slide-deck -->
https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/56143884/CCWG-Accountability%20Working%20Session%20II%20%281%29-1.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1445444965000&api=v2
>>
>> page 75 of AoC reviews as part of WS1.
>> Confidential Disclosure to Review Teams:
>> To facilitate transparency and openness regarding ICANN's deliberations
and operations, the Review Teams, or a subset thereof, shall have access to
ICANN internal information and documents. If ICANN refuses to reveal
documents or information requested by the Review Team, ICANN must provide a
justification to the Review Team. If the Review Team is not satisfied with
ICANN’s justification, it can appeal to the Ombudsman and/or the ICANN
Board for a ruling on the disclosure request.
>>
>> For documents and information that ICANN does disclose to the Review
Team, ICANN may designate certain documents and information as not for
disclosure by the Review Team, either in its report or otherwise. If the
Review Team is not satisfied with ICANN’s designation of non-disclosable
documents or information, it can appeal to the Ombudsman and/or the ICANN
Board for a ruling on the non-disclosure designation.
>>
>> A confidential disclosure framework shall be published by ICANN. The
confidential disclosure framework shall describe the process by which
documents and information are classified, including a description of the
levels of classification that documents or information may be subject to,
and the classes of persons who may access such documents and information.
>>
>> The confidential disclosure framework shall describe the process by
which a Review Team may request access to documents and information that
are designated as classified or restricted access.
>>
>> The confidential disclosure framework shall also describe the provisions
of any non-disclosure agreement that members of a Review Team may be asked
to sign.
>>
>> The confidential disclosure framework must provide a mechanism to
escalate and/or appeal the refusal to release documents and information to
duly recognized Review Teams.
>>
>>
>>
>> De : accountability-cross-community-bounces at icann.org<mailto:
accountability-cross-community-bounces at icann.org> [mailto:
accountability-cross-community-bounces at icann.org] De la part de Kieren
McCarthy
>> Envoyé : jeudi 29 octobre 2015 15:58
>> À : Padmini
>> Cc : accountability-cross-community at icann.org<mailto:
accountability-cross-community at icann.org>
>> Objet : Re: [CCWG-ACCT] Contribution on Transparency Reforms for CCWG
>>
>> I have to agree with Padmini on this one re: DIDP and being "able to
refer the requestor to documents already publicly available".
>>
>> The information provided is often tangential to what has actually been
asked for. In quite a few cases it is so far removed from the query that it
is almost obnoxious.
>>
>> I don't know why Board members have such a blind spot about how the
staff behaves to those outside the corporation.
>>
>> And I'm still waiting to hear a Board member - any Board member -
announce that they have decided to look into the staff's bylaw-breaking
behavior in the .africa application.
>>
>> If I was on the Board and I heard that the entire process was being
jeopardized by staff wrongly interfering in the process (and then lying
about doing so), I'd make sure the community knew I was doing my job and
insist on some kind of internal review of what happened and what could be
done to make sure it didn't happen again.
>>
>> But instead we get silence and fantasy responses like these ones from
Bruce about how the DIDP works and the effectiveness of ICANN's financial
reporting systems.
>>
>>
>> Kieren
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 5:41 AM, Padmini <pdmnbaruah at gmail.com<mailto:
pdmnbaruah at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> Dear Bruce,
>> As someone who has spent some time combing through the different
responses that ICANN files to the various DIDP requests, my findings are
slightly different, and have been posted earlier.
>> While ICANN does link one to an innumerable array of documents that are
publicly available, many times, there is little or no connection between
the information one seeks and the publicly available documents that are
provided. For instance, I have asked a few questions on registrar/registry
audits, specifically seeking individual contracted party audit reports in
cases where there have been breaches or discrepancies. However, the
response contains a large number of links explaining ICANN's
three-year-audit process in great detail, and at the end has a rejection of
my actual request on the basis of certain of their extremely vast and broad
grounds for non-disclosure. I like to refer to this as ICANN's tendency
towards documentary obfuscation where they aren't actually giving you the
information that you need, but are drowning you in documents anyway.
>> That 66 is a figure that we might need to scrutinise closer in terms of
how effective those disclosures actually have been.
>> Warm Regards
>> Padmini
>> Programme Associate, Internet Governance
>> Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, India
>>
>> Padmini Baruah
>> V Year, B.A.LL.B. (Hons.)
>> NLSIU, Bangalore
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 12:16 PM, Bruce Tonkin <
Bruce.Tonkin at melbourneit.com.au<mailto:Bruce.Tonkin at melbourneit.com.au>>
wrote:
>> Hello Greg,
>>
>>>> 6333.  The accounting books and records and minutes of proceedings
>>
>> of the members and the board and committees of the board shall be
>> open to inspection upon the written demand on the corporation of any
>> member at any reasonable time, for a purpose reasonably related to
>> such person's interests as a member.
>>
>> The minutes are basically published today.    The only minutes
apparently that are not posted are compensation committee minutes – but
even then we could at least note the items discussed without necessarily
disclosing some personal information.
>>
>> With regard to financials– we are already moving towards the same
standards as publicly listed companies in the USA.   We now provide
quarterly financial reporting, and a quarterly call where the community can
question the CEO and the CFO on the income and expenditure.   It would not
be normal to provide people with access to the raw accounting system (in
this case Great Plains) – which would include information on payments to
all staff etc.
>>
>> We do use an external auditor to validate our financials and processes
once per year.
>>
>> If there is a community  concern about a particular financial matter
(e.g concern about whether procurement policies were being followed) – then
I think it would be more appropriate if the single legal entity that
represents the community powers has the right to appoint an external
auditor to validate any particular process or numbers and report back to
the community.      Audit firms have the appropriate skills to analyse
financial accounting records and also have appropriate procedures in place
for confidentiality.
>>
>> I think we should be focussing on improving the processes we already
have.   I advocated moving to quarterly financial reporting, and I have
certainly been a strong advocate of making things as public as possible,
and welcome suggestions for improving our processes.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Bruce Tonkin
>>
>>
>>
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