<div dir="ltr">Bruce, a few observations on your first post:<div><br></div><div>1. Its interesting to note the international instruments the gTLD handbook highlights as 'relevant' mostly involve state parties. Given the absence of specific remedies to the community, the purpose of citing ICANN's adherence to them is unclear. Every corporation, transnational or not, is expected to comply with these treaties as long as their host state is a signatory (the US is not a party to the Child Rights Convention btw)</div><div><br></div><div>2. The CCWG should distil principles from general instruments, rather than using broad diplomatic jargon like "relevant" international laws. If there are specific international laws that apply to transnational corporations which may prove useful to apply in ICANN's case, those too should be addressed. Happy to contribute in this exercise.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 5:10 AM, Phil Corwin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:psc@vlaw-dc.com" target="_blank">psc@vlaw-dc.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">That’s exactly right, David, and what we just saw in the IRP brought by Booking.com over the finding that .Hotels and .Hoteis were in the same new gTLD contention
set<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">The available accountability mechanisms were restricted to reviewing whether proper procedure had been observed, but could not reach the admittedly questionable
merits of the original decision that found them confusingly similar at the gTLD level.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">So when should the merits of a Board decision be susceptible to modification or reversal, who has standing to bring such a challenge, and what should be the
standard of review? Important questions, and not easy to answer.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy">Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy">Virtualaw LLC</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy">1155 F Street, NW</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy">Suite 1050</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy">Washington, DC 20004</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy">202-559-8597/Direct</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy">202-559-8750/Fax</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy">202-255-6172/cell</span></b><b><span style="color:navy"><u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy">Twitter: @VlawDC</span></b><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"> <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy">"Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey</span></i></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> <a href="mailto:accountability-cross-community-bounces@icann.org" target="_blank">accountability-cross-community-bounces@icann.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:accountability-cross-community-bounces@icann.org" target="_blank">accountability-cross-community-bounces@icann.org</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>David Post<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, March 15, 2015 9:26 AM<span class=""><br>
<b>To:</b> Accountability Cross Community<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [CCWG-ACCT] Regarding ICANN's adherence to "international law"<u></u><u></u></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At 08:16 PM 3/14/2015, Bruce Tonkin wrote:<br>
<br>
<u></u><u></u></p><div><div class="h5">
<p class="MsoNormal">Under its Articles of Incorporation ICANN already operates “for the benefit of the Internet community as a whole, carrying out its activities in conformity with relevant principles of international law and applicable international conventions
and local law.†See: <a href="https://www.icann.org/en/about/governance/articles" target="_blank">
https://www.icann.org/en/about/governance/articles</a><br>
<br>
The Independent Review Process allows parties to challenge Board decisions that are inconsistent with the Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws.<br>
<br>
[SNIP]<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
Just by way of clarification, while it's true that the IRP allows parties "to challenge Board decisions that are inconsistent with the Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws," the IRP panel does not have the power to actually decide the question of whether or
not a Board decision WAS inconsistent with the Articles or Bylaws. See Bylaws, Art IV sec 3(4):<br>
<br>
"The IRP Panel must apply a defined standard of review to the IRP request, focusing on:
<u></u><u></u></p>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">
<a name="14c1fd07de5b6332_IV-3.4a"></a>did the Board act without conflict of interest in taking its decision?;
<u></u><u></u></li><li class="MsoNormal">
<a name="14c1fd07de5b6332_IV-3.4b"></a>did the Board exercise due diligence and care in having a reasonable amount of facts in front of them?; and
<u></u><u></u></li><li class="MsoNormal">
<a name="14c1fd07de5b6332_IV-3.4c"></a>did the Board members exercise independent judgment in taking the decision, believed to be in the best interests of the company?"
<u></u><u></u></li></ol>
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<p class="MsoNormal">That's a much narrower scope of inquiry than whether the Board acted outside the ByLaws, for example.<br>
<br>
David<br>
<br>
*******************************<br>
David G Post - Senior Fellow, Open Technology Institute/New America Foundation<br>
blog (Volokh Conspiracy) <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/david-post" target="_blank">
http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/david-post<br>
</a>book (Jefferson's Moose) <a href="http://tinyurl.com/c327w2n%A0%A0%A0%A0%A0%A0" target="_blank">
http://tinyurl.com/c327w2n </a><br>
music <a href="http://tinyurl.com/davidpostmusic" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/davidpostmusic</a> publications etc.
<a>http://www.davidpost.com </a><br>
******************************* <u></u><u></u></p>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">-<div>@<a href="http://www.twitter.com/arunmsukumar" target="_blank">arunmsukumar</a></div><div>Senior Fellow, <a href="http://www.ccgdelhi.org" target="_blank">Centre for Communication Governance</a></div><div>National Law University, New Delhi</div><div>Ph: +91-9871943272</div></div></div></div></div>
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