[CCWG-ACCT] "Consumer Trust" in the Mission Statement
David Post
david.g.post at gmail.com
Sat Jan 9 13:16:54 UTC 2016
I do not think that the addition of this language
is a good idea. Lengthening the list of 'values'
and 'commitments' that ICANN is supposed to
implement will inevitably weaken the Mission
Statement. The more the document suggests that
it is ICANN's job to balance a wide variety of
different concerns - enhancing competition and
consumer choice, supporting geographic and
cultural diversity, promoting human rights and
the global public interest - the easier it
becomes for ICANN to justify pretty much anything
it might do in the future as promoting one or
another of these broad goals. The point that
Andrew Sullivan made recently in connection with
the discussions about the GPI is applicable here, I think:
"ICANN should pay attention to its
well-understood and needed functions. It should
not go adventuring out into global governance issues that
distract from that narrow set of
responsibilities. And it should not embrace
language that distracts from the narrow responsibilities --
lest such language become an attractive nuisance
that encourages people to think ICANN has power it never has had"
David
At 04:10 PM 1/8/2016, Burr, Becky wrote:
> As discussed in our call yesterday, we would
> like to get some discussion started on some of
> the issues with the Mission Statement,
> Commitments & Core Values elements of the CCWG
> Proposal. One of those issues relates to the
> inclusion of the concept of promoting consumer
> trust in the Commitments and/or Core
> Values. The USCIB comment, for example, urged
> inclusion of a Commitment/Core Value of
> promoting competition, consumer trust, and
> consumer choice in the DNS marketplace. ALAC
> urged inclusion of the consumer trust language.
>This is the topic we will discuss on Monday,
>during the Ad Hoc meeting just announced. Feel
>free to contribute your views in this thread,
>particularly if you are not going to be able to participate on Monday.
> ISSUE: Paragraph 3 of the Affirmation
> of Commitments describes the goals of the AoC, saying:
> "This document affirms key commitments
> by DOC and ICANN, including commitments to:
>
(c) promote competition, consumer trust, and
> consumer choice in the DNS marketplace
.
>Paragraph 9.3 of the AoC says:
>
If and when new gTLDs (whether in
> ASCII or other language character sets) have
> been in operation for one year, ICANN will
> organize a review that will examine the extent
> to which the introduction or expansion of gTLDs
> has promoted competition, consumer trust and
> consumer choice
. ICANN will organize a
> further review of its execution of the above
> commitments two years after the first review,
> and then no less frequently than every four years.
>
> In the Initial Draft Proposal, this
> AoC language was transposed into the Core
> Values by requiring ICANN to depend on market
> mechanisms to proote and sustain a healthy
> competitive environment in the DNS market that
> enhances consumer trust and choice. (Para 107, page 27 Initial Draft Proposal)
> In the 2nd Draft Proposal we elected to
> delete the reference to consumer trust in the
> Mission statement and include it in the Review
> section of the Bylaws (See 3rd Report, Appendix
> 9, Para. 33). The reason we agreed to make
> this switch was because it is not a standalone
> ICANN commitment in the AoC, rather, it is
> specifically tied to new gTLD expansion and
> specifically tied to a required review.
> Several commenters in both the 2nd
> and 3rd comment round argued that the Core
> Values should specifically call out consumer
> trust. Some have disputed my characterization
> of Paragraph 3 of the AoC (i.e., it states the
> goals of the AoC but does not recite a specific
> commitment), on the grounds that my
> characterization is an opinion and not a fact.
>QUESTIONS:
>Should an AoC provision specific to TLD
>expansion be leveraged to impose generalized,
>independent, and affirmative competition and
>consumer trust protection obligations on ICANN?
>Does ICANNs fundamental Mission to ensure
>stable and secure operation of the DNS, and
>its various Commitments (i.e., to use processes
>that enable competition, and to
>preserve stability, reliability, security,
>global interoperability, resilience, and
>openness) adequately address this concern?
>
>
>
>J. Beckwith Burr
>Neustar, Inc. / Deputy General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer
>1775 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington D.C. 20006
>Office: +1.202.533.2932 Mobile: +1.202.352.6367
>/ <http://www.neustar.biz>neustar.biz
>_______________________________________________
>Accountability-Cross-Community mailing list
>Accountability-Cross-Community at icann.org
>https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/accountability-cross-community
*******************************
David G Post - Senior Fellow, Open Technology Institute/New America Foundation
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