[CWG-Stewardship] [client com] CWG Comment Letter - PTI Bylaws

avri doria avri at apc.org
Tue Aug 9 19:05:30 UTC 2016


Hi,

I also do not support the objection.

I think the comments were, heard, understood and responded to.  I accept
the explanation both   as it refers to:

- allowing the RIRs to define how they make decisions. As I understand
it, this requirement for unanimity is central to their notions of how
they cooperate.

- the use of the phrase"joint and several." In fact I am sure my partner
have I have signed a few things, such as insurance agreements and
ownership papers that use this very construction.

I also continue to support the proposal that our co-chairs, who have led
us with great neutrality, in the initial PTI Director spots. The Nomcom
is not set up to make a rapid appointment in this matter.  I have no
impression that they are trying o hurry separation, but rather that they
are adhering to the principle of separability as decided by the group.

avri

On 09-Aug-16 14:41, Allan MacGillivray wrote:
>
> Let me echo Matthew’s comment by saying that I support Chuck and Greg
> and do not support the objection.
>
>  
>
> Allan
>
>  
>
> *From:*cwg-stewardship-bounces at icann.org
> [mailto:cwg-stewardship-bounces at icann.org] *On Behalf Of *matthew shears
> *Sent:* August-09-16 2:37 PM
> *To:* Gomes, Chuck; Greg Shatan; Christopher Wilkinson
> *Cc:* cwg-stewardship at icann.org IANA
> *Subject:* Re: [CWG-Stewardship] [client com] CWG Comment Letter - PTI
> Bylaws
>
>  
>
> + 1 Chuck and Greg.  In response to your question Chuck - no, I do not
> support the objection. 
>
> Matthew
>
> On 09/08/2016 19:30, Gomes, Chuck wrote:
>
>     + 1 Greg, noting of course that I am probably classified as one of
>     the “few very interested stakeholders”.  Actually, I think most of
>     us or ‘very interested stakeholders’ or we wouldn’t have spent
>     such inordinate amounts of time for the last nearly two years.
>
>      
>
>     My question of the WG is this: is this a one-off objection or is
>     there support from others in the CWG for it?
>
>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
>
>
>     It is very disturbing that this objection is coming at this late
>     time regardless of whether it was expressed previously or not. 
>     Unless I missed something, there was no significant objection in
>     the CWG to seating Lise and Jonathan on the PTI Board initially. 
>     If I am correct, this seems like a case of someone trying to get
>     another bite at the apple when they failed previously.
>
>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
>     p
>
>     I fully respect Christopher’s opinion and his right to express it
>     but I strongly disagree with it, especially at this terribly late
>     stage in the process.
>
>      
>
>     Chuck
>
>      
>
>      
>
>     *From:*cwg-stewardship-bounces at icann.org
>     <mailto:cwg-stewardship-bounces at icann.org>
>     [mailto:cwg-stewardship-bounces at icann.org] *On Behalf Of *Greg Shatan
>     *Sent:* Tuesday, August 09, 2016 2:04 PM
>     *To:* Christopher Wilkinson
>     *Cc:* cwg-stewardship at icann.org <mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>
>     IANA
>     *Subject:* Re: [CWG-Stewardship] [client com] CWG Comment Letter -
>     PTI Bylaws
>
>      
>
>     A few brief thoughts in response.
>
>      
>
>     1.  Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. PTI is a
>     necessary element of the transaction and the Board is a element of
>     the transition.  What's suggested here would pull the entire
>     Transition over to the side, at least until some workaround was
>     developed.  Initial Directors are commonplace in setting up new
>     corporations.  I trust that Jonathan and Lise, both with
>     significant experience in senior management and board matters,
>     will withstand whatever apocryphal pressure might be put upon them.
>
>      
>
>     2.  I'm not sure what a "very interested stakeholder" is.  If this
>     means a very dedicated stakeholder, who is very interested in
>     assisting the community in achieving its goals and who will work
>     on these matters in spite of personal and professional interests
>     in doing other things, I'll admit to that.  If this means someone
>     who is operating in this CWG at the behest of "special interests"
>     and whose actions are designed to advancing the undisclosed goals
>     of those special interests, I categorically reject and resent
>     that.  (The latter description might apply to others, and that's
>     reasonable; it's just not my position, and if you are referring to
>     others, then I withdraw my sense of umbrage.)  
>
>      
>
>     3.  Personally, I don't have any particular affinity for the PTI
>     solution, and I was opposed to removing the IANA IPR from ICANN. 
>     Both of these were supported by the consensus of this group, as
>     was the overall concept of enhancing "separability."  On the
>     latter point, I could have chosen to sulk and withdraw (or insist
>     I was right long after it became an annoyance to the group).  I
>     chose neither; rather, I pitched in and worked on accomplishing
>     the CWG's chosen goal to the best of my ability.  I felt this was
>     and is the right approach as a good community member and
>     "multistakeholder."  I won't speak for CWG counsel, but any
>     counsel's role is to advise and caution on risks and concerns, and
>     when the path is chosen, to assist the client in seeing it
>     through.  The fact that CWG's counsel is facilitating the chosen
>     approach of the CWG is manifestly unexceptional; anything other
>     than that would be peculiar, to say the least.  Finally, to see in
>     this some grand and concerted plan to dismantle ICANN (as the
>     IANA) seems rather hypervigilant, to say the least.  If someone
>     has such a grand plan, I'm no better than a "useful idiot" in that
>     regard.  I wouldn't discount it entirely as someone's plan or goal
>     (and I have had my own musings on that front, without naming
>     names), but I do not ascribe it to some larger group (and
>     certainly not any group of which I am a part).
>
>      
>
>     4.  The fact that legal documents (Bylaws, Articles of
>     Incorporation, Agreements) contain legal language should not be
>     shocking.  "Legalese" is often a pejorative term, and I avoid it
>     here to avoid misinterpretation.  These documents are in fact
>     necessary to implement the transition as designed.  If anyone
>     finds the documents "impenetrable" in whole or in part, I'm sure
>     that Sidley would be more than happy to walk through the documents
>     line by line and explain them all to you (at their usual hourly
>     rate).  (I might volunteer to do the same, but I've learned
>     repeatedly that some who need such assistance are reject advice
>     from a "participant" out of fear that the participant is "very
>     interested" and thus would manipulate their explanations to serve
>     some unseen agenda or master.)
>
>      
>
>     5.  At the risk of repeating myself, the idea of a simple
>     transition, with no separability or designed-in anticipation of
>     separation, was rejected in this group a long time ago, and after
>     months of arduous discussion.  I have not heard widespread
>     discontent with that choice.  Making a more complex choice
>     obviously led to more complex implementation.  I happen to think
>     it's going quite well, though not without occasional bumps and
>     hurdles.  It's certainly not gone so pear-shaped that it should be
>     scrapped.  I will grant that for those "less interested" (in the
>     non-pejorative sense of being less involved) may feel they have
>     lost the thread a bit.  If there are webinars or recap meetings
>     that could help those who feel that way, it might be a good
>     thing.  Those who are lost, perplexed or confused often tend to
>     imagine monsters around every bend where there's nothing to
>     behold, and that should be avoided to the extent possible through
>     explanation and edification.
>
>      
>
>     6.  The fact that various bodies have no experience with something
>     that doesn't exist yet also seems rather obvious, but not one to
>     engender massive changes at the last minute.  That was rather to
>     be expected, wasn't it?  An alternate reality without
>     reorganization and separability (or one where any work on that is
>     shelved) has a certain charm and attraction in its relative
>     simplicity.  However, I see nothing in our current state of
>     affairs that would support in any way a plan drastically dismantle
>     something that has been approved by every community, the ICANN
>     Board and the NTIA just for the sake of taking a deep breath and
>     looking around a bit.  On the other hand, I can imagine quite a
>     number of negative consequences from doing so at this late date,
>     or even attempting to do so.  It's far better to make sure that we
>     are "socializing" this plan as often as possible so that "monsters
>     under the bed" of mistrust and opportunism can be pointed out to
>     be mere dust balls that disintegrate just by blowing on them.
>
>      
>
>     Apologies for breaking my promise of brevity.
>
>      
>
>     Greg
>
>      
>
>     On Tue, Aug 9, 2016 at 1:01 PM, Christopher Wilkinson
>     <lists at christopherwilkinson.eu
>     <mailto:lists at christopherwilkinson.eu>> wrote:
>
>     Dear Jonathan, Dear Lise:
>
>      
>
>     I do not support this option. I consider that the constitution of
>     PTI should be deferred until the Nominating Committee has made its
>     appointments.
>
>     Although I respect and admire the offer from the Co-Chairs to act
>     as temporary alternates for the - not-yet-appointed - NomCom
>     Directors, I would be concerned that you - as PTI Board members -
>     would be subject to unreasonable and unmanageable pressures
>     meanwhile, including in the election of a Chair of the PTI Board. 
>
>      
>
>     In the light of recent experience, I note that CWG has been driven
>     by a few very interested stakeholders towards a position that
>     would facilitate, if not anticipate, an early separation of PTI
>     from ICANN and its probable severance into two or three distinct
>     entities, and that this orientation has been facilitated, if not
>     explicitly supported, by CWG counsel. Whereas I am reasonable
>     certain that this does not represent the opinion of a wide range
>     of other stakeholders.
>
>      
>
>     Also, I suggest that it is time to call a halt to the vast volume
>     of impenetrable legalese that has been generated in the matters of
>     the PTI Bylaws, the licensing of IANA IPR, and the so-called
>     Annexe C. Most of which is unnecessary for the Transition at this
>     stage when  - apparently - time is of the essence. Particularly as
>     some of this material purports to address aspects of Internet
>     management about which there are  - to the best of my knowledge -
>     no current concerns. Specifically, all discussion of the legal
>     aspects of eventual separation, severance or separability, should
>     be deferred until the Empowered Community has effectively taken a
>     decision that we wish to move in that direction, the procedures
>     for which having been defined in the Transition proposal.
>
>      
>
>     More generally, the Empowered Community, the PTI Board, and - dare
>     I say so - CWG's Legal Counsel have, perforce to date, no
>     experience in the implementation of the proposed Transition.
>
>     I suggest that it would be prudent to let the Transition function,
>     as proposed and approved, for 12 to 18 months before going any
>     further. Meanwhile we should avoid proposals that are so detailed
>     and abstract that they engender at best mistrust and at worst a
>     fear of opportunism.
>
>      
>
>     Regards
>
>      
>
>     Christopher Wilkinson
>
>      
>
>      
>
>      
>
>     On 09 Aug 2016, at 17:30, Jonathan Robinson
>     <jrobinson at afilias.info <mailto:jrobinson at afilias.info>> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>     Hi Sharon.
>
>
>     The IOTF was simply put in place to provide a high-frequency touch
>     point for ICANN staff as they worked on the implementation. The
>     context for the introduction of the IOTF was the “secondment
>     issue” whereby ICANN staff got too far ahead of the community in
>     their implementation work. The IOTF had no decision making
>     capabilities, these remained reserved for the CWG. Therefore, I am
>     not sure it is necessary to reference the IOTF.
>
>      
>
>     Accordingly, I would suggest rewording the below as:
>
>      
>
>     ·       */CWG-Stewardship Comment/*:  The CWG recognized that the
>     Nominating Committee process for selecting the PTI Nominating
>     Committee Directors would not be in place prior to the transition
>     and therefore recommended that the two directors be identified
>     prior to the transition to serve in the interim until the first
>     election of PTI directors.  It was proposed that the Co-chairs of
>     the CWG-Stewardship, Lise Fuhr and Jonathan Robinson, serve as the
>     initial Nominating Committee Directors until the first election of
>     the PTI directors.  The CWG-Stewardship supports this proposal. 
>     Should these individuals be unable to serve, the CWG-Stewardship
>     would select qualified alternate nominees, and appointment of
>     these alternate nominees would be subject to ICANN’s approval (not
>     to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed).  The
>     CWG-Stewardship proposes that Section 5.5.1 of the Draft PTI
>     Bylaws be modified as set forth below to describe the process for
>     selecting the initial Nominating Committee Directors to be in
>     place at the time of transition.          
>
>      
>
>     Any comment from others?
>
>      
>
>     Thanks,
>
>      
>
>     Jonathan
>
>      
>
>     *From:* Flanagan, Sharon [mailto:sflanagan@
>     <mailto:sflanagan@>sidley.com <http://sidley.com>] 
>     *Sent:* 09 August 2016 06:12
>     *To:* Client Committee <cwg-client at icann.org
>     <mailto:cwg-client at icann.org>>
>     *Subject:* [client com] FW: CWG Comment Letter - PTI Bylaws
>
>      
>
>     Dear Client Committee,
>
>      
>
>     Attached is a revised draft of the CWG comment letter to the PTI
>     bylaws.  This reflects revisions to #4 and #5 of the comment
>     letter.  Specifically, we have revised the draft to address the
>     appointment of Lise and Jonathan as the initial non-ICANN PTI
>     directors. 
>
>      
>
>     In particular, we would appreciate a review of the description of
>     the IOTF work below for accuracy since we were not directly
>     involved in those discussions.
>
>      
>
>     Given the tight timing (comments are due on Thursday), we are
>     sending this to you and ICANN legal simultaneously, and they may
>     have further comments.
>
>      
>
>     Best regards,
>     Sharon
>
>      
>
>      
>
>     *1.*     *Initial Directors (Section 5.5.1)*
>
>     * *
>
>     ·       */Text from Draft PTI Bylaws/: *For the appointment of the
>     initial directors of PTI, Section 5.5.1 of the Draft PTI Bylaws
>     provides as follows: “Other than Directors initially appointed by
>     the incorporator of the Corporation (which Directors shall hold
>     office until the first election of Directors) and the President of
>     the Corporation, the Directors shall be elected by the Member at
>     the annual meeting of the Corporation….” 
>

>      
>
>     ·       */CWG-Stewardship Comment/*:  In connection with the work
>     of the Implementation Oversight Task Force, it was noted that the
>     Nominating Committee process for selecting the PTI Nominating
>     Committee Directors would not be in place prior to the transition
>     and recommended that the two directors be identified prior to the
>     transition to serve in the interim until the first election of PTI
>     directors.  It was recommended that the Co-chairs of the
>     CWG-Stewardship, Lise Fuhr and Jonathan Robinson, serve as the
>     initial Nominating Committee Directors until the first election of
>     the PTI directors.  The CWG-Stewardship supports this
>     recommendation.  Should these individuals be unable to serve, the
>     CWG-Stewardship would select qualified alternate nominees, and
>     appointment of these alternate nominees would be subject to
>     ICANN’s approval (not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or
>     delayed).  The CWG-Stewardship proposes that Section 5.5.1 of the
>     Draft PTI Bylaws be modified as set forth below to describe the
>     process for selecting the initial Nominating Committee Directors
>     to be in place at the time of transition.          
>
>      
>
>     “_Each initial Director of the Corporation shall hold office until
>     the first election of Directors for such Director’s seat.  _Other
>     than _The initial _Directors initially _shall be_ appointed by
>     the_Member_ incorporator of the Corporation (which Directors shall
>     hold office until the first election of Directors)_, with the
>     Cross Community Working Group to Develop an IANA Stewardship
>     Transition Proposal on Naming Related Functions selecting two
>     qualified nominees for appointment as the initial Nominating
>     Committee Directors by the Member.  Other than the initial
>     Directors_ and the President of the Corporation, the Directors
>     shall be elected by the Member at the annual meeting....”
>
>      
>
>      
>
>      
>
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>
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> -- 
>  
> --------------
> Matthew Shears
> Global Internet Policy and Human Rights
> Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT)
> + 44 771 2472987
>
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