[CCWG-ACCT] Regarding what happens if fewer than five o f ICANNâ?Ts SOs and ACs agree to be Decisional Participants in the Empowered Community

Nigel Roberts nigel at channelisles.net
Wed Feb 24 13:37:01 UTC 2016


Clearly, if I've learned nothing from this, it is that a flurry of 
disagreement can be reframed as full consensus without consequences.

I shall remember this as a useful technique.



On 24/02/16 13:11, Edward Morris wrote:
> Well said. Completely agree.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From*: "Salaets, Ken" <ksalaets at itic.org>
> *Sent*: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 1:09 PM
> *To*: "Jordan Carter" <jordan at internetnz.net.nz>
> *Cc*: "accountability-cross-community at icann.org"
> <accountability-cross-community at icann.org>
> *Subject*: Re: [CCWG-ACCT] Regarding what happens if fewer than five o f
> ICANN’s SOs and ACs agree to be Decisional Participants in the
> Empowered Community
> This is territory that has been covered time and again, but it should be
> clear to everyone that we still do not have agreement or, perhaps more
> accurately, the requisite commitments from all parties.  Without such,
> we are being set up for future debates, frustrations and
> misunderstandings that, if past is indeed prologue, will lead to further
> marginalization of the accountability objectives that we initially
> established for this process.
> If a clear, solid agreement doesn't get locked into place now, it will
> never get locked into place, and those who have never truly bought into
> the notion that additional accountability is essential or desirable will
> continue to walk us back.
> It was suggested earlier that those who have expressed frustrations with
> this activity perhaps don't understand how international negotiations
> work and what's required to reach an agreement. After spending 15-plus
> years engaging in negotiations of various sorts globally, I understand
> completely.  When those leading a process are perceived to place higher
> priority on  arbitrary deadlines or achieving any semblance of an
> agreement for agreement's sake, the outcome will be unbalanced and the
> opportunity missed.
> It is essential that clear, concise language on how and when thresholds
> are to be adjusted be explicitly included in any final agreement and via
> corresponding amendments to ICANN's governing documents.  All parties
> should be willing to agree to this.  If not, then it would be wise to
> question what exactly has been achieved via this latest round of
> concessions.
> Happy Wednesday.
> Ken
>
> On Feb 24, 2016, at 1:36 AM, Jordan Carter <jordan at internetnz.net.nz
> <mailto:jordan at internetnz.net.nz>> wrote:
>> I am saying that if we write bylaws that have four decisional
>> participants, those bylaws won't have thresholds of four to exercise
>> any community power. That is very clearly the intent of our work to date.
>> So if we find out - possibly through the ratification process for the
>> proposal - that anyone declines to participate who we have assumed
>> will (or those who have said they will not, change their minds), then
>> we have to revisit the thresholds.
>> We have plenty of chance to do that, because all of the bylaws changes
>> require full community consultation and debate etc.
>> I would not want anyone to be mistaken about the importance of getting
>> this right. I will certainly strongly advocate that this proposal be
>> rejected by the ccNSO if there is *any* prospect of general powers
>> requiring unanimity.
>> Best
>> Jordan
>>
>> On Wednesday, 24 February 2016, Alan Greenberg
>> <alan.greenberg at mcgill.ca <mailto:alan.greenberg at mcgill.ca>> wrote:
>>
>>     The Bylaws governing such thresholds are part of the Empowered
>>     Community creation and thus Fundamental Bylaws. They will require
>>     the approval of the Empowered Community to change.
>>
>>     Alan
>>
>>     At 24/02/2016 12:55 AM, Seun Ojedeji wrote:
>>>     That's fine Jordan, but just to be clear, such
>>>     change(reduction/increase in threshold as applicable) will only
>>>     occur when the community come together to agree again right? i.e
>>>     the current CCWG proposal does not say if the "empowered
>>>     community" becomes 4, then the thresholds automatically reduces.
>>>     I hope that is not what you are communicating.
>>>
>>>     Regards
>>>     On 24 Feb 2016 06:22, "Jordan Carter" <jordan at internetnz.net.nz >
>>>     wrote:
>>>
>>>         Seun, all,
>>>         If there are 4 decisional SOs/ACs instead of 5, then the
>>>         thresholds all need to change.
>>>         The ones that currently have a threshold of 4 would then
>>>         require unanimity.
>>>         That would be totally unacceptable. It is not consistent with
>>>         our work to date or with our report. The report specifically
>>>         notes that a change from 5 eligible decisional participants
>>>         leads to threshold changes for this very reason.
>>>         Best
>>>         Jordan
>>>         On Wednesday, 24 February 2016, Seun Ojedeji
>>>         <seun.ojedeji at gmail.com > wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>             I believe this makes sense and can be noted during
>>>             implementation. However, IMO a reduction of participating
>>>             SO/AC in the "empowered community" from 5 to 4 should not
>>>             cause any need for change since none of the exercise of
>>>             community powers requires more than a threshold 4 and
>>>             considering that 4 still represents over 50%(4/7) of the
>>>             ICANN community we should be fine. So the current
>>>             threshold proposed from paragraph 25 to 47 on Annex 2
>>>             could still be maintained (ofcourse without any reduction)
>>>             However anything that goes below 4, I expect would make
>>>             the model impractical and require a complete overhaul.
>>>             Regards
>>>             On 24 Feb 2016 04:39, "Bruce Tonkin"
>>>             <Bruce.Tonkin at melbourneit.com.au <http://??>> wrote:
>>>
>>>                 Hello All,
>>>                 In response to the question from Brett Schaefer:
>>>                 >>  I would hope that we could get explicit clarification and commitment from the Board that, if the GAC cannot decide or chooses not to become a decisional participant, that the Board would support lowering the thresholds for exercising all EC powers to avoid the requirement for SOAC unanimous support to exercise those powers.
>>>                 The Board supports the language in the report, at
>>>                 Page 72 of Annex 2:
>>>                 “The thresholds presented in this document were
>>>                 determined based on this assessment.  If fewer than
>>>                 five of ICANN’s SOs and ACs agree to be Decisional
>>>                 Participants, these thresholds for consensus support
>>>                 may be adjusted.  Thresholds would also have to be
>>>                 adjusted if ICANN changes to have more SOs or ACs.â€
>>>
>>>                 The Board’s earlier comment on this issue from Page
>>>                 5 of our 14 December 2015 Comments to the Third Draft
>>>                 Proposal from the CCWG is as follows:
>>>                 "B. Board Comments and Supporting Rationale on
>>>                 Further Defining Thresholds
>>>                 The thresholds as set out in the Proposal (Pages
>>>                 22-23) seem well defined for the design of ICANN
>>>                 today.  The Board would not support lowering of any
>>>                 of these thresholds because these community powers
>>>                 represent the voice of the ICANN community.  A
>>>                 reduction of the threshold could risk that a decision
>>>                 does not reflect the community’s will.
>>>                 While the thresholds seem well defined for the design
>>>                 of ICANN today, the Board recommends further defining
>>>                 the thresholds for exercising community powers in the
>>>                 event that the number of SOs or ACs change.  Leaving
>>>                 this issue for future consideration raises the
>>>                 potential for renegotiation of the community
>>>                 thresholds.   This potential for renegotiation adds a
>>>                 level of instability and a lack of predictability.
>>>                 As a result, the Board recommends (1) clarifying that
>>>                 the thresholds identified in the Proposal are based
>>>                 on the current structure; and (2) identifying the
>>>                 percentages that will be applied in the event that
>>>                 there is a change in the number of SOs or ACs in the
>>>                 future."
>>>                 When we previously discussed this with the CCWG, we
>>>                 understood from Page 72 of Annex 2 that the CCWG does
>>>                 not want to set percentages and has agreed to revisit
>>>                 the thresholds if the number of participants change.
>>>                 We will further discuss this issue when it becomes
>>>                 clear who the future participants will be, and
>>>                 whether fewer than five of ICANN’s SOs and ACs
>>>                 agree to be Decisional Participants in the Empowered
>>>                 Community.
>>>                 Regards,
>>>                 Bruce Tonkin
>>>                 _______________________________________________
>>>                 Accountability-Cross-Community mailing list
>>>                 Accountability-Cross-Community at icann.org <http://??>
>>>                 https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/accountability-cross-community
>>>
>>>         --
>>>         Jordan Carter
>>>         Chief Executive, InternetNZ
>>>         +64-21-442-649 <tel:%2B64-21-442-649> | jordan at internetnz.net.nz
>>>         Sent on the run, apologies for brevity
>>>
>>>         _______________________________________________
>>>         Accountability-Cross-Community mailing list
>>>         Accountability-Cross-Community at icann.org
>>>         https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/accountability-cross-community
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jordan Carter
>> Chief Executive, InternetNZ
>>
>> +64-21-442-649 | jordan at internetnz.net.nz
>> <mailto:jordan at internetnz.net.nz>
>>
>> Sent on the run, apologies for brevity
>>
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