POLICY vs. IMPLEMENTAION (was [council] FW: Letter from the GAC regarding IOC/RC Protections)

Jonathan Robinson jonathan.robinson at ipracon.com
Fri Nov 30 10:46:11 UTC 2012


All,

This has really kicked off a critical area of discussion and required
development, as Jeff highlighted at the outset.  At the absolute minimum, it
is great to see the level of engagement in the topic.

A related concept that I do not believe we have yet picked up on in this
thread, is not around the definition but the sequencing of policy and
implementation.

It seems that we have often focussed strongly on policy and then
subsequently followed up with focus on implementation as though they are
necessarily sequential.
It reminds me of the current trend in software and systems development where
iterative development with small cycles is very much in fashion now, so
called Agile Development practices.
This approach is nowadays often favoured over the more classical sequential,
cascading ("Waterfall" approach) which may produce results which are no
longer fully relevant to requirements or dated from the outset.

This tighter linking of policy and implementation issues throughout the
process is certainly something I have heard Fadi mention and I believe it is
on the agenda of ICANN staff to be focussed on and aware of.  
Clearly, the "implementation" of the TMCH and other critical new gTLD issues
has brought this home to Fadi and many if not all of us.

Jonathan

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-council at gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council at gnso.icann.org] On
Behalf Of Volker Greimann
Sent: 30 November 2012 09:41
To: joy at apc.org
Cc: Neuman, Jeff; Jonathan Robinson; council at gnso.icann.org
Subject: Re: POLICY vs. IMPLEMENTAION (was [council] FW: Letter from the GAC
regarding IOC/RC Protections)


All,

I am in full agreement that a better definition of these terms is necessary
and I appreciate staffs efforts in this matter, even though I think this
needs broader community involvement. Definitely a session to attend in
Beijing, so I would urge staff not to schedule it concurrently with other
important sessions. One further consideration is the question if policy
"taints" (for lack of a better word; I mean it without the negative
connotations here) implementation. I would argue that even if a decision is
90% implementation and 10% policy, it should be enveloped under the umbrella
of policy and therefore subject to GNSO approval.

Best,

Volker
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>
> Hi Jonathan and thanks for forwarding this.
> Jeff, this is an interesting idea which I've asked for comments on 
> from our constituency group.
> I think it is a good idea to take a step back from the issues and look 
> strategically at what is happening and why in the GNSO relationship 
> with the GAC. The examples you cite are symptoms, I agree, of a wider 
> problem and they will simply keep happening if not resolved. I'm not 
> convinced getting agreed definitions of "policy" vs "implementation"
> will resolve some of these issues. But if it is a measure to assist 
> and has community support then the Council should consider it.
> Thanks for raising this
> Kind regards
> Joy
>
> On 30/11/2012 3:55 a.m., Neuman, Jeff wrote:
>> All,
>>
>>
>>
>> We have a very serious problem here that needs immediate attention.
>> I am not referring to the merits of whether any of these 
>> organizations deserve protection or not, or whether there should be 
>> additional safeguards for IP owners in the new gTLD process or 
>> whether certain Whois Review team recommendations could be put into 
>> place .  Forget all of that.  Forget the merits and substance of 
>> these important issues.
>>
>>
>>
>> The real issue is that new reliance on the terms “policy” vs.
>> “implementation.”  This is the issue that should receive top 
>> priority. To quote Alan Greenberg (or at least paraphrase), when one 
>> group wants something in place without using the policy process, they 
>> call it “implementation.”  Those that oppose it, call it “policy.”  
>> While that statement was made several times by Alan partly in jest, 
>> that statement does have merit.
>>
>>
>>
>> Lets look at the following 3 examples:
>>
>>
>>
>> 1.       _ IOC/RC_– As the letter sent around by Jonathan shows,
>> the GAC is thoroughly annoyed with the GNSO for starting a policy 
>> process on the protection of IOC and Red Cross marks.  They believe 
>> (although unstated), that they have exclusive jurisdiction over these 
>> types of public policy issues and do not want the GNSO to take 
>> “years” to work out whether these organizations (which they believe 
>> are protected by law) should receive protections in the new gTLD 
>> process.  Without commenting on the merits of this argument, look at 
>> what they have done. They have called the protections as nothing more 
>> than “implementation” and therefore, the GNSO should explain itself 
>> as to why we believe we have a right to start a policy process on it.  
>> After all, implementation can just be enacted by the Board.  There is 
>> no need for the GNSO to get involved, in their view
nor do they want 
>> it.
>>
>>
>>
>> 2.       _Whois Review Team_:  The ICANN Board sought guidance from
>> the entire Internet community on whether the recommendations involved 
>> “implementation” or “policy”.  Why? Because if it is implementation, 
>> there is no need to involve the GNSO community and it can just be 
>> enacted.  Those that supported the recommendations wholeheartedly 
>> called them “implementation.”  Those that opposed the recommendations 
>> called it “policy.”  I believe that many who called it policy 
>> actually truly believe there are policy issues involved, but some 
>> called it policy, to have it go through the long drawn out process we 
>> call a PDP (with the hopes that it dies a slow death).  Neither side 
>> of this debate is blameless.
>>
>>
>>
>> 3.       _The now infamous New gTLD “straw-man”_:  For the record,
>> I was a part of the group that discussed the straw man in Brussels 
>> and LA over the past few weeks.  I found those discussions very 
>> useful and appreciate the efforts being made by the new ICANN CEO, 
>> who I have a tremendous amount of respect for.  I believe he truly 
>> will make a huge positive impact on ICANN for many years to come.
>> But, now the debate has turned into what is policy and what is 
>> implementation.  The IPC/BC and their representatives have called
>> all of their proposals “implementation”.   The NCSG, Registries,
>> Registrars and Applicants have called much of it policy.  ICANN staff 
>> has now weighed in on their thoughts and have classified certain 
>> items as implementation (thereby negating the need for GNSO policy 
>> development), and other items as policy, thereby requiring extensive 
>> involvement from the GNSO community – note I did NOT say necessarily 
>> PDP).
>>
>>
>>
>> I believe we all need to take a step back from the issues 
>> _immediately_ and decide once and for all an agreed upon bottom-up 
>> multi-stakeholder definition of what is “policy” and what is 
>> “implementation.”  Or at the very least a framework for making that 
>> assessment when issues arise.  I would advocate for a cross community 
>> group made up of members from ICANN staff, the GNSO, the GAC and 
>> others to come together to figure this issue out, so that we get out 
>> of this rut we are now in.  At the same time, we need to fix the 
>> image of the GNSO policy processes so that they are no longer feared, 
>> but embraced.  They need to not be used as vehicles for delay, but 
>> rather utilized for the common good.
>>
>>
>>
>> If we are able to do this, I believe many of the issues we are now 
>> having will become easier to resolve (and we can focus on the 
>> merits). If not, I see these issues getting much worse over the 
>> coming months/years.  I believe the future of the GNSO, and even the 
>> multi-stakeholder model in general hinge on the definition of these 2 
>> words.
>>
>>
>>
>> I would be very happy to volunteer to serve on such a group.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Jeffrey J. Neuman** **Neustar, Inc. / Vice President, Business
>> Affairs*
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:*owner-council at gnso.icann.org
>> [mailto:owner-council at gnso.icann.org] *On Behalf Of *Jonathan 
>> Robinson *Sent:* Thursday, November 29, 2012 5:00 AM *To:* 
>> council at gnso.icann.org *Subject:* [council] FW: Letter from the GAC 
>> regarding IOC/RC Protections
>>
>>
>>
>> All,
>>
>>
>>
>> FYI.  Please see the attached letter received from the GAC last night 
>> my time.
>>
>>
>>
>> Jonathan
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:*GAC Secretariat [mailto:gacsec at gac.icann.org] *Sent:* 28 
>> November 2012 21:38 *To:* jonathan.robinson at ipracon.com 
>> <mailto:jonathan.robinson at ipracon.com> *Cc:* Steve Crocker; Fadi 
>> Chehade; Heather Dryden; Maria Häll; alice at apc.org 
>> <mailto:alice at apc.org>; Choon Sai LIM (IDA) *Subject:* Letter from 
>> the GAC regarding IOC/RC Protections
>>
>>
>>
>> Sent on behalf of Heather Dryden, GAC Chair
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear Jonathan,
>>
>>
>>
>> Attached please find a letter from the GAC regarding IOC and Red 
>> Cross/Red Crescent protections.
>>
>>
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>>
>>
>> Jeannie Ellers
>>
>>
>>
>> Jeannie Ellers Manager, GAC Coordination Internet Corporation for 
>> Assigned Names and Numbers 1101 New York Avenue NW, Suite 930
>>
>> Washington, DC 20005 Ph. +1 202 570 7135 M. +1 310 302 7552
>>
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