<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Let's recall what the NTIA said in its press release:</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex" class="gmail_quote"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><b>To support and enhance the multistakeholder model of Internet policymaking and governance</b>, the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announces its intent to <b>transition key Internet domain name functions to the global multistakeholder community</b>. As the first step, NTIA is asking the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to convene global stakeholders to <b>develop a proposal to transition the current role played by NTIA in the coordination of the Internet’s domain name system</b> (DNS). </span></blockquote><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><br></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">(emphasis added)</font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">As I read this, the role of the NTIA, which expressly includes its role as the "steward of the DNS," is being transitioned to the "global multistakeholder community." (Some may think that means ICANN, Inc.; I disagree and I think most of us do.) As I read Bruce, he seems to have significant concerns about whether the ICANN community is sufficiently representative of the "global multistakeholder community" to take on that job.</font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">If we're not, then that would seem to be reason to delay the transition until we are.</font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">However, I tend to disagree with Bruce's view of the ICANN community. While there is always room for improvement, I tend to share Phil's view and Jordan's view in this regard, both with regard to our readiness and Bruce's view of the yardstick for readiness. I'm not sure what statistical significance is proposed, but if it is based on direct representation and participation seems like an unreachably high bar, and something that has never been a focus of ICANN. I also don't think it takes into account how stakeholder organizations work.</font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">For instance, I don't foresee the IPC having 10,000 members in the foreseeable future. However, I would note that the IPC is in significant part an organization of organizations,, and through organizational members, we represent over 50,000 intellectual property owners around the world. Our direct membership is about half North America-based (though that includes global organizations headquartered in the US), but that ratio is improving, and the majority of our new members are coming from outside the North American/Western European area. So I would say that the characterization of "predominately US based intellectual property interests" is at best outmoded.</font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">I expect that other commercial and noncommercial community groups can demonstrate similarly how their reach exceeds the number of noses counted at an ICANN meeting, both in terms of indirect participation and in terms of mission.</font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">The NTIA did not just decide that ICANN was ready. It decided that the global multistakeholder community -- the target of their transition -- was ready. We should honor that decision.</font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14.4px;line-height:17.28px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Greg</font></span></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Oct 4, 2015 at 2:43 PM, Greg Shatan <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:gregshatanipc@gmail.com" target="_blank">gregshatanipc@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Nigel,</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Please see my email today in response to you on another thread regarding the three duties that make up the fiduciary duties of a non-profit Board member. The "Duty of Obedience" does obligate the Board to "obey" the mission, purpose and values of ICANN as set forth in the Articles and Bylaws (including those cited above), and to its status as a public benefit corporation. This is a fiduciary duty, and while it must be balanced by the Board members against the fiduciary duties of care and loyalty, it cannot be denigrated to the point where it is breached.</div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Greg</div></font></span></div><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 3:17 AM, Nigel Roberts <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:nigel@channelisles.net" target="_blank">nigel@channelisles.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">I'm not sure I agree with this exactly as phrased by Bruce.<br>
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ICANN's Directors owe a fiduciary duty to the corporation. This is undeniable.<br>
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ICANN (the corporation) is established to lessen the burden of government and promote the global public interest in the operational stability of the Internet (Art 3).<br>
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ICANN operates for the benefit of the Internet Community as a whole (Art 4).<br>
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Whilst ICANN certainly owes a duty or obligation of some form "to the Internet community as a whole" (as per Art 4, above), I am not convinced that it is that of a fiduciary, or even the lesser standard of the tort duty of care: see as a starting point:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiduciary" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiduciary</a><br>
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Please convince me.<span><br>
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<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
ICANN owes a fiduciary duty to the Internet community as a whole.<br>
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