[CWG-Stewardship] Comments on draft Section 3 and Annex

[Matthew Shears]

Hi,

Some comments on the current draft:

  * How will non-performance related questions be escalated from the
    CSC?  At the moment their mandate is performance issues and the
    proposed CSC composition lends itself more to performance than
    policy escalation.
      o No matter the liaison role of the SO ACs, I would suggest that
        policy issues can/should also be raised directly with the PRT.
  * How will the PRT be composed, how often will it meet, etc.?
      o Representation on the PRT should reflect but also be broader
        than ICANN (additional independent experts) otherwise I believe
        we will not have satisfied the key criteria of "support(ing) and
        enhanc(ing) the multistakeholder model".   The PRT should meet
        annually to review overall IANA operator performance and any
        policy or other concerns.  It should also be convened on an ad
        hoc basis to address policy or performance issues as they arise
        or are escalated.
  * Should the CSC assume the responsibilities of the current NTIA
    Contracting Officer?  I would have through that this should reside
    with the PRT.  (we may need further elaboration on this particular
    role at NTIA, etc., and where it would best sit.)
  * The draft has some contract duties assumed by both the PRT and CSC -
    is this deliberate?  C.5.1., C.5.2 and C.5.3. for example.
  * Do we believe that the role described in the current contract
    (sections C.3. and C.5.3.) related to the audit of security
    provisions can be undertaken by CSC or the PRT?
  * It still remains unclear how the Contract Co could "take action" per
    the request of the PRT if the contracting Co. is not staffed, etc.  
    And, does it need to be a corporation?  We advice on this asap.
    otherwise we will have to consider another model.
  * Is the IANA function to have independent legal counsel (per the
    proposal)?  And will that legal counsel role need to have a more
    expanded role than delegation and re-delegation issues?
  * Annex 3 already points to a model for contract options including up
    to two options to extend.  I do not recall there being any consensus
    or agreement on the structuring of the contract or extension options
    and this section should be reworded accordingly - for example to
    state that all contract details such as length, options to extend,
    etc., are TBD.  (I do recall that there was some sense of the room
    that the amended contract should remain with the current operator
    after the transition for a limited period of time again TDB.)
  * In Annex 3 there needs to be a careful reread - see below for examples:
      o It reads "ICANN to Provide Qualified Program Manager" and should
        read "Contractor....."
      o Why does the CSC approve contractor personnel changes? Surely it
        should the PRT as responsible for contracting issues?
      o Shouldn't the Final Report and Acceptance and Inspection be for
        the PRT?  There seems to be some lack of clarity in the Annex as
        to what roles/functions are CSC or PRT?
      o Again C.6 and C.7 should be PRT, not CSC, issues and are
        identified as such in the section 3 text.  Same issue with C.8
        and E.

Finally, I share a number of the concerns voiced on the list over the 
past couple of days.  In particular there are many critical details yet 
unresolved.  We may rue not addressing these now.

On the issue of accountability, I am pleased to see that the Co-chairs 
of the two WGs are meeting and believe that we need to quickly align as 
best possible these two work streams.  If, as is likely, the amended 
contract remains with ICANN for some period of time after the transition 
the recommendations from work stream 1 (and 2) of the Accountability WG 
are and remain critically important no matter what happens after the 
initial contract period.

Matthew

-- 
Matthew Shears
Director - Global Internet Policy and Human Rights
Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT)
mshears at cdt.org
+ 44 771 247 2987

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