[council] Request for information on the process and timelines for considering changes to the proposed .com agreement

[Bruce Tonkin]

To: John Jeffrey, ICANN General Counsel
From: Bruce Tonkin, Chair, GNSO

Cc: Paul Twomey, ICANN CEO
Cc: Vint Cerf, ICANN Chair

Dear John,

The GNSO Council in its resolution of 2 Dec 2005, stated that there are
broader questions raised in the proposed .com settlement that need to be
first addressed by the GNSO, and the GNSO Council recommended that the
ICANN Board should postpone adoption of the proposed settlement while
the Council fully investigates the policy issues raised by the proposed
changes.

The GNSO, at its teleconference meeting on Tuesday 17 Jan 2006, directed
the ICANN Staff Manager to arrange for the development of an issues
report on the policy issues raised in the proposed .com agreement as the
first step of the formal Policy Development Process (PDP).  This issues
report will be able to draw from the constituency statements prepared
for the ICANN meeting in Vancouver, and the transcripts of the various
public comment forums held on this topic.

The Council intends to treat this as a high priority issue given the
current negotiations on the .com agreement, and follow the timelines in
the PDP as closely as possible.

To ensure that the GNSO Council can provide policy advice in a timeframe
that is useful to the ICANN staff and ICANN Board, the GNSO Council
seeks information from the ICANN staff on the proposed process and
timeline for the Board approving a new .com agreement.

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin
Chair, GNSO Council