[IOT] thoughts on agenda for today's IOT call - dealing with Sam's question

[McAuley, David]

Dear members of the IRP IOT:



As you will have seen by now, Sam Eisner of ICANN Legal sent us a draft Expression of Interest document last night seeking our input prior to ICANN releasing it to get prospective members of the standing panel to submit applications. Thank you for that Sam.



I am hoping we can turn our attention to most of the substance of the document in the call next week but in the meantime I will ask on our call at 19:00 UTC today if we can take a look at the specific question ICANN asks us about staggered terms for panelists.



I suggest we take this on right after the admin part of the call and prior to the timing issue. If members feel unprepared to take it on today then we can reset to next week.



The question ICANN asks us is in footnote 3 on page 1, saying:



While the Bylaws state a 5-year term, ICANN would like to recommend that there be some staggering of terms among the first group installed as the panel, so that there is continuity in panel membership and there is not a risk of losing all panelists every five years.  An example of staggering could be that ½ the panelists are selected for an initial 3-year term, and the remainder for a 5-year term.  Upon the expiration of the initial 3-year term, the panelists returned or selected anew would then be seated with 5-year terms.  Does the IOT agree with the concept of staggering terms? If so, what staggering would be acceptable to the IOT?



In my personal opinion this is a sensible suggestion, both as to staggering terms and as to the manner of staggering suggested by ICANN.



The Bylaw at section 4.3(j)(iii) says, in part, "Appointments to the Standing Panel shall be made for a fixed term of five years ..."



And the bylaw in section 4.3(j)(i) makes it clear to me that knowledge about ICANN is an important part of panelist qualification and service. I see ICANN's suggestion as a way to avoid the potentially unwelcome effect of empaneling a whole new panel every five years.



Maybe we can start discussion on this aspect of the draft EOI tonight, let's see.

David



David McAuley

International Policy Manager

Verisign Inc.

703-948-4154



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