[CCWG-ACCT] "Christmas trees" and "Consumer Trust" in Article 1 of the Bylaws

Malcolm Hutty malcolm at linx.net
Thu Jan 14 08:59:23 UTC 2016



On 14/01/2016 06:15, Steve DelBianco wrote:
>  isn't it true that AoC items 3a, 3b, and 3c map directly to AoC reviews
> 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3 ?

AoC item 3 begins

"3. This document affirms key commitments by DOC and ICANN, including
commitments to ..."


By contrast, successive clauses begin:

"4. DOC affirms...

5. DOC recognises...

6. DOC also affirms...

7. ICANN commits...

8. ICANN affirms...

9. Recognising that [some stuff], ICANN affirms..."


So we have six clauses where the active verb explicitly has either ICANN
or the DOC as the actor (the subject, in grammatical terms), and one
clause where "this document" is the subject.

That looks to me very much like item 3 is a chapeau, merely introducing,
describing and explaining the clauses that follow in "this document". As
a textual matter, I find it very hard to read it as introducing wholly
additional commitments, that are not elaborated in one of the following
clauses.

I'm not all that keen on inviting parties to a document such as this to
interpret it after the event: the document should be interpreted
objectively, as saying what it says on its face. But since we have
decided to invite the NTIA to give their view, we need to be very
precise in the question we ask them.

Here is my initial suggestion, for the group's review:

"In the opinion of the NTIA, does clause 3 of the AoC serve only to
introduce, explain and interpret the commitments affirmed in clauses
4-11, or does it also create a separate affirmation of additional
commitments beyond those elaborated elsewhere in the document?".

Kind Regards,

Malcolm.

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