[CCWG-ACCT] STATEMENT FROM THE NUMBERS COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES ON THE PROPOSED MODELS

Fiona Asonga fasonga at kixp.or.ke
Thu Jun 25 13:01:30 UTC 2015


Dear all,

The numbers community has their own mechanisms to ensure accountability of ICANN to our community, so we do not have strong preferences for the details of any new accountability mechanisms internal to ICANN.  However, the continued stability of ICANN is of utmost importance.  We are concerned that some of the proposed changes may result in instability or other risks, and we are concerned that too much change in a short time is risky.  Furthermore, the accountability considerations should not be a delaying factor in the current IANA Stewardship Transition. Accordingly, we would like to encourage a simple model with minimal changes from the status quo.

The designator model seems to meet the simplicity requirement mentioned above. This model is based on the current model, which is well understood. The designator model can be implemented with minimum changes. It can also accommodate the proposed community powers in an adequately enforceable way.

According to the received legal analysis the designator model allows the community to exercise all of these powers. It also allows enforceability of these powers if the Board does not follow the community’s wishes, both through internal appeal mechanisms within ICANN, and ultimately by allowing some or all parts of the community to remove and replace Board members.

The designator model can be implemented in a timely manner by amending the bylaws. This ease of implementation is another advantage of the model. The CCWG work is affecting the IANA stewardship transition and any delays may put the entire process at risk. 

Moreover, we are very concerned that adding new accountability topics will delay the IANA stewardship transition process.  We would like to emphasize the need to prioritize our resources towards finalizing our proposal. Given that we have already identified the core essential components of accountability requirements for WS1, we should focus on refining the details of how to make the designator model work.

Thank you,
Fiona, Izumi, Jorge, Athina
ASO representatives to the CCWG



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