[CWG-Stewardship] [CCWG-ACCT] IANA Stewardship Transition - Project Expenses - FY16 Q3 update

Wed Jul 20 00:48:08 UTC 2016

In the U.S. much of what used to be done by registered lobbyists is now performed by “strategic advisors” who walk right up to the line of what constitutes lobbying (and maybe a few inches over), and nonetheless facilitate door opening to key members of Congress and the Executive branch, and who “educate” rather than “lobby” members of both branches of government. So while the seven firms may not be engaged in what is considered lobbying under current U.S. law, they are still likely engaged in helping to assure officials outcomes desired by ICANN corporate.

It is for that reason – as well as for the exercise of effective oversight over ICANN budgeting and expenditures – that the community should have more data on this. If ICANN is prohibited by its contracts with these firms from disclosing its expenditures that is unfortunate – and in the future I would hope that ICANN would tell any firms being considered for such duties that its own transparency obligations to the community preclude it from agreeing to such restrictions (I’d wager that the majority of the firms would waive confidentiality rather than lose the contract).

At a minimum, ICANN should disclose the aggregate amounts spent with these seven firms since they were engaged – surely their contracts don’t bar such aggregate reporting.

Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal
Virtualaw LLC
1155 F Street, NW
Suite 1050
Washington, DC 20004
202-559-8597/Direct
202-559-8750/Fax
202-255-6172/Cell

Twitter: @VlawDC

"Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey

From: accountability-cross-community-bounces at icann.org [mailto:accountability-cross-community-bounces at icann.org] On Behalf Of Schaefer, Brett
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2016 1:04 PM
To: Xavier J. Calvez
Cc: cwg-stewardship at icann.org; CCWG-Accountability; icann-board at icann.org; Executive Team; COMMS Team; community-finance at icann.org; Finance Staff
Subject: Re: [CCWG-ACCT] IANA Stewardship Transition - Project Expenses - FY16 Q3 update

Xavier,

Are you saying that ICANN’s contracts for Education/Engagement/Advice with (1) Albright Stonebridge Group LLC, (2) Edelman, (3) Interface Media, (4) Rice Hadley Gates LLC, (5) Summit Strategies International LLC, (6) WBC Global, and (7) Wiley Rein LLP each contain confidentiality provisions that prohibit ICANN from disclosing the specific amount paid to each of these individual vendors?

Does this only apply to the CCWG and the public or does it also apply to other parts of the ICANN community, specifically the Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees?

Thank you for the link on lobbying disclosures. For those who are interested, here are ICANN’s lobbying expenditures based on the disclosure website of the U.S. Congress.

[cid:image001.png at 01D1E1FE.D8784B00]

I do have a couple of additional questions. Would this source capture lobbying exclusively directed toward the US Executive Branch? Has ICANN spent any funds during this period lobbying governments other than the US?

Thank you,

Brett

________________________________
Brett Schaefer
Jay Kingham Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs
Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy
The Heritage Foundation
214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-608-6097
heritage.org<http://heritage.org/>
From: Xavier J. Calvez [mailto:xavier.calvez at icann.org]
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2016 6:30 PM
To: Schaefer, Brett
Cc: community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>; cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>; CCWG-Accountability; Executive Team; COMMS Team; icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>; Finance Staff
Subject: Re: [CCWG-ACCT] IANA Stewardship Transition - Project Expenses - FY16 Q3 update

Brett,
Yes, the information I provided in my latest email had been included in some previous communication. I just wanted to make sure you had a clear visibility on this information, which provides for (i) categories of expenses, (ii) the individual names of the vendors grouped for each category, and (iii) the total value of the expenses for each category.
With respect to the contractual obligations of confidentiality in commercial contracts, ICANN is subject to them, like all business organizations. That said, we disclose what we can consistent with standard business confidentiality provisions in vendor contracts. We cannot disclose the specific amount of spend with each vendor but we were able to disclose the names of the service providers engaged.
Regarding the lobbying expenses, as you are aware, both organizations that hire lobbyists and firms that lobby on behalf of organizations are required under U.S. federal law to file lobbying disclosure reports. In addition to ICANN’s quarterly lobbying disclosures posted on our website, you can find the amounts ICANN has paid to individual outside lobbying firms at http://disclosures.house.gov/ld/ldsearch.aspx.
I hope this helps and clarifies.

Thank you.

Best,
Xavier

Xavier Calvez
ICANN
CFO
12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90094
Office     : +1 (310) 301 5838
Mobile   : +1 (805) 312 0052
Fax                          : +1 (310) 957-2348

From: "Schaefer, Brett" <Brett.Schaefer at heritage.org<mailto:Brett.Schaefer at heritage.org>>
Date: Thursday, July 14, 2016 at 7:07 AM
To: Xavier Calvez <xavier.calvez at icann.org<mailto:xavier.calvez at icann.org>>
Cc: "community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>" <community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>>, "cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>" <cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>>, CCWG-Accountability <accountability-cross-community at icann.org<mailto:accountability-cross-community at icann.org>>, Executive Team <executive-team at icann.org<mailto:executive-team at icann.org>>, COMMS Team <commsteam at icann.org<mailto:commsteam at icann.org>>, "icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>" <icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>>, Finance Staff <finance-staff at icann.org<mailto:finance-staff at icann.org>>
Subject: Re: [CCWG-ACCT] IANA Stewardship Transition - Project Expenses - FY16 Q3 update

Xavier,

This is pretty much the same information that was provided before. I am asking for a breakdown of how much was paid to each vender in the lobbying category (Akin Gump, etc.) and the education/engagement/advice category (Albright Stoneridge, etc.).

Thank you,

 Brett

On Jul 13, 2016, at 8:13 PM, Xavier J. Calvez <xavier.calvez at icann.org<mailto:xavier.calvez at icann.org>> wrote:
Dear Brett,
In response to your question listed below on 22 June: the detailed information provided on Other professional fees (other than legal fees, detailed in a separate section of the “Transition project cost” expense webpage, on the IANA Stewardship Transition webpage) can be found in the section called “Professional Services – Expenses Breakdown”. Within this section, you will find a link to a document that provides the list of Professional Services (other than legal fees) incurred, by category, with the names of the vendors, and the total amount of expenditures for the category.
This link is copied below and was provided in my first answer to your question. I have also attached the file to which this link refers in case the link would not work for you.
https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/iana-stewardship-expenses-professional-vendor-01jun16-en.pdf
If this not addressing your question, please let me know.

Thank you.

Best,
Xavier

Xavier Calvez
ICANN
CFO
12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90094
Office     : +1 (310) 301 5838
Mobile   : +1 (805) 312 0052
Fax                          : +1 (310) 957-2348

________________________________
Brett Schaefer
Jay Kingham Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs
Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy
The Heritage Foundation
214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-608-6097
heritage.org<http://heritage.org/>
From: Xavier Calvez <xavier.calvez at icann.org<mailto:xavier.calvez at icann.org>>
Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 at 9:45 AM
To: "Schaefer, Brett" <Brett.Schaefer at heritage.org<mailto:Brett.Schaefer at heritage.org>>, "community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>" <community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>>, "cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>" <cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>>, CCWG-Accountability <accountability-cross-community at icann.org<mailto:accountability-cross-community at icann.org>>
Cc: Executive Team <executive-team at icann.org<mailto:executive-team at icann.org>>, COMMS Team <commsteam at icann.org<mailto:commsteam at icann.org>>, "icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>" <icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>>, Finance Staff <finance-staff at icann.org<mailto:finance-staff at icann.org>>
Subject: Re: [CCWG-ACCT] IANA Stewardship Transition - Project Expenses - FY16 Q3 update

Brett,
Thank you for following up.
I will make sure to respond no later than the end of this week.

Thank you.

Best,
Xavier

Xavier Calvez
ICANN
CFO
12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90094
Office     : +1 (310) 301 5838
Mobile   : +1 (805) 312 0052
Fax                          : +1 (310) 957-2348

From: "Schaefer, Brett" <Brett.Schaefer at heritage.org<mailto:Brett.Schaefer at heritage.org>>
Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 at 11:38 AM
To: Xavier Calvez <xavier.calvez at icann.org<mailto:xavier.calvez at icann.org>>, "community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>" <community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>>, "cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>" <cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>>, CCWG-Accountability <accountability-cross-community at icann.org<mailto:accountability-cross-community at icann.org>>
Cc: Executive Team <executive-team at icann.org<mailto:executive-team at icann.org>>, COMMS Team <commsteam at icann.org<mailto:commsteam at icann.org>>, "icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>" <icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>>, Finance Staff <finance-staff at icann.org<mailto:finance-staff at icann.org>>
Subject: RE: [CCWG-ACCT] IANA Stewardship Transition - Project Expenses - FY16 Q3 update

Xavier,

Thanks for promising to get this information to me in Helsinki. Do you have an estimate for when it will be provided?

Thanks,

Brett

________________________________
Brett Schaefer
Jay Kingham Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs
Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy
The Heritage Foundation
214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-608-6097
heritage.org<http://heritage.org/>
From: Schaefer, Brett
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2016 2:39 PM
To: 'Xavier J. Calvez'; community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>; cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>; CCWG-Accountability
Cc: Executive Team; COMMS Team; icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>; Finance Staff
Subject: RE: [CCWG-ACCT] IANA Stewardship Transition - Project Expenses - FY16 Q3 update

Xavier,

I appreciate the detailed breakdown on the legal fees That is indeed what I was looking for though I would think it useful to have the totals provided in the summary document.

However, I did not see similar information for lobbying or education/ engagement/advice in the links provided. In fact, the only specific information that I saw listed is for Jamie Hedlund at $200,000. No information on other individual firms or vendors is listed at all – only the top line budget expenditure in the summary document link originally sent around.

Could you provide that information?

Thanks,

Brett

From: Xavier J. Calvez [mailto:xavier.calvez at icann.org]
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2016 10:43 AM
To: Schaefer, Brett; community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>; cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>; CCWG-Accountability
Cc: Executive Team; COMMS Team; icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>; Finance Staff
Subject: Re: [CCWG-ACCT] IANA Stewardship Transition - Project Expenses - FY16 Q3 update

Dear all,
It appears that the first link in my email further below (detail of legal fees by firm) does not resolve correctly. Please use the below instead.
https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/iana-stewardship-expenses-legal-firm-fy16-01jun16-en.pdf

Thank you.

Best,
Xavier

Xavier Calvez
ICANN
CFO
12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90094
Office     : +1 (310) 301 5838
Mobile   : +1 (805) 312 0052
Fax                          : +1 (310) 957-2348

From: Xavier Calvez <xavier.calvez at icann.org<mailto:xavier.calvez at icann.org>>
Date: Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at 1:01 PM
To: "Schaefer, Brett" <Brett.Schaefer at heritage.org<mailto:Brett.Schaefer at heritage.org>>, "community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>" <community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>>, "cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>" <cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>>, CCWG-Accountability <accountability-cross-community at icann.org<mailto:accountability-cross-community at icann.org>>
Cc: Executive Team <executive-team at icann.org<mailto:executive-team at icann.org>>, COMMS Team <commsteam at icann.org<mailto:commsteam at icann.org>>, "icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>" <icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>>, Finance Staff <finance-staff at icann.org<mailto:finance-staff at icann.org>>
Subject: Re: [CCWG-ACCT] IANA Stewardship Transition - Project Expenses - FY16 Q3 update

Dear Brett,
Thank you for your interest and question.
We currently publish the list of all vendors from whom ICANN obtain services in relation to the IANA Stewardship transition. The $$ value of the services received is aggregated by category of expenses, which you mention below (US Government affairs, Education/engagement/advice,…). This presentation is driven by 2 factors: providing clarity as to the type of services received, and abiding by the contractual obligation of confidentiality in force with each of the vendors (resulting from standard business sensitive information).
We do publish however the detail of the legal advice, by firm and by working group, on this same page (see for example the link to the report of fees by firm: https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/iana-stewardship-expenses-legal-firm-fy16-01jun16-en.pdf).
You will also find more information relative to ICANN’s lobbying in the following blog published a few months ago. In this blog, you will also find links to the disclosure reports that ICANN makes on lobbying activities.
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/lobbying-disclosures-contributions-2015-11-18-en.
Lastly, further information on lobbying appears in ICANN’s form 990 (Schedule C, Part II-B. On page 33/73 of the FY15 form 990 published at the following link):
https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/fy-2015-form-990-10may16-en.pdf
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have further questions.

Thank you.

Best,
Xavier

Xavier Calvez
ICANN
CFO
12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90094
Office     : +1 (310) 301 5838
Mobile   : +1 (805) 312 0052
Fax                          : +1 (310) 957-2348

From: "Schaefer, Brett" <Brett.Schaefer at heritage.org<mailto:Brett.Schaefer at heritage.org>>
Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 9:54 PM
To: Xavier Calvez <xavier.calvez at icann.org<mailto:xavier.calvez at icann.org>>, "community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>" <community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>>, "cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>" <cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>>, CCWG-Accountability <accountability-cross-community at icann.org<mailto:accountability-cross-community at icann.org>>
Cc: Executive Team <executive-team at icann.org<mailto:executive-team at icann.org>>, COMMS Team <commsteam at icann.org<mailto:commsteam at icann.org>>, "icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>" <icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>>, Finance Staff <finance-staff at icann.org<mailto:finance-staff at icann.org>>
Subject: RE: [CCWG-ACCT] IANA Stewardship Transition - Project Expenses - FY16 Q3 update

Xavier,

Thank you. Could you please provide a more detailed breakdown of legal advice, US government affairs, and educations/engagement/advice? In each category, there are multiple firms/vendors listed (https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/iana-stewardship-expenses-professional-vendor-01jun16-en.pdf). I would appreciate the amount provided to each individual vendor. If it is provided somewhere, I would appreciate you letting me know where to find it.

Much appreciated,

Brett

________________________________
Brett Schaefer
Jay Kingham Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs
Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy
The Heritage Foundation
214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-608-6097
heritage.org<http://heritage.org/>
From: accountability-cross-community-bounces at icann.org<mailto:accountability-cross-community-bounces at icann.org> [mailto:accountability-cross-community-bounces at icann.org] On Behalf Of Xavier J. Calvez
Sent: Saturday, June 18, 2016 12:10 AM
To: community-finance at icann.org<mailto:community-finance at icann.org>; cwg-stewardship at icann.org<mailto:cwg-stewardship at icann.org>; CCWG-Accountability
Cc: Executive Team; COMMS Team; icann-board at icann.org<mailto:icann-board at icann.org>; Finance Staff
Subject: [CCWG-ACCT] IANA Stewardship Transition - Project Expenses - FY16 Q3 update

Dear all,
You find at the link below the updated project’s expenses as of FY16 Q3 (from July 2014 to March 2016). As indicated a few months ago, we have added new detailed information on the staff support with the individual positions, names and percentages of effort over the period.

https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/iana-stewardship-project-costs

Thank you.

Best,
Xavier

Xavier Calvez
ICANN
CFO
12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90094
Office     : +1 (310) 301 5838
Mobile   : +1 (805) 312 0052
Fax          : +1 (310) 957-2348

<iana-stewardship-expenses-professional-vendor-01jun16-en.pdf>
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