[Ws2-jurisdiction] RES: RES: ISSUE - unilateral jurisdiction of one country over ICANN

Sat Aug 19 15:06:17 UTC 2017

Leaving aside that the netMundial statement is not an ICANN statement (and
therefore not a statement of ICANN’s accountability goals)  
 which
activities?  You say “certain of its activities” – which?  And immune from
which law?

Paul

Paul Rosenzweig

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paul.rosenzweig at redbranchconsulting.com

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From: ws2-jurisdiction-bounces at icann.org
[mailto:ws2-jurisdiction-bounces at icann.org] On Behalf Of Thiago Braz Jardim
Oliveira
Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2017 10:22 AM
To: Raphaël BEAUREGARD-LACROIX <raphael.beauregardlacroix at sciencespo.fr>
Cc: ws2-jurisdiction at icann.org
Subject: [Ws2-jurisdiction] RES: RES: ISSUE - unilateral jurisdiction of one
country over ICANN

Dear Raphael, 

Is my "stance of one seeking complete immunity"? No, that's not what I said.

Would ICANN's immunity from US jurisdiction in respect of certain of its
activities, which are performed in the global public interest, make it less
accountable? No, it would not. Instead, it would increase ICANN's
accountability as defined in the NETmundial multistakeholder statement, that
is accountability towards all stakeholders. Currently, ICANN's
accountability mechanisms do not meet all stakeholders expectations, for
ICANN is more accountable to one certain country and its citizens than to
others.

Can ICANN's accountability rank higher than treaty organisations in the
scenario ICANN is granted jurisdictional immunities? Yes, suffice it to
establish an independent and compulsory dispute settlement mechanism for the
activities and disputes that are then exempted from national jurisdictions.

Best,

Thiago

  _____  

De: Raphaël BEAUREGARD-LACROIX [raphael.beauregardlacroix at sciencespo.fr]
Enviado: sábado, 19 de agosto de 2017 9:46
Para: Thiago Braz Jardim Oliveira
Cc: ws2-jurisdiction at icann.org <mailto:ws2-jurisdiction at icann.org> 
Assunto: Re: [Ws2-jurisdiction] RES: ISSUE - unilateral jurisdiction of one
country over ICANN

Parminder: you seem to be wanting immunity from "US public law," but unless
you can define that more precisely than "all the laws that affect ICANN
except the CCC" I would not be inclined to see that in as a recommendation
in the final report. Yes, I have read all the materials that you have
submitted, and yes there are many NGOs that have obtained (some form of)
immunity under the said US act, but unless we can know immunity from what,
that does not tell us much. And even if we did, we are still stuck with the
problem of defining what we would want ICANN to be immune from. (except if
we go with what I understand to be Thiago's stance) "Public law" is
extremely ambiguous and equivocal and is not a category we can rely on. 

Thiago: is your stance one of seeking complete immunity? And besides, I am
not sure how granting ICANN immunity of any sort would foster more
participating in ICANN-related internet governance decision-making and
debate. And don't you think it would then make ICANN less accountable? If I
had to rank organisations in terms of accountability, to me ICANN ranks much
higher than any treaty organisation (UN or OECD for example) 

2017-08-19 14:03 GMT+02:00 Thiago Braz Jardim Oliveira
<thiago.jardim at itamaraty.gov.br <mailto:thiago.jardim at itamaraty.gov.br> >:

Dear All,

It is indeed difficult to deny that the authorities of a country where an
entity is based have a superior (and in many respects exclusive) claim to
jurisdiction over the activities of that entity. For example, the
territorial State is the one with exclusive enforcement jurisdiction, so
that only the local enforcement agencies have the necessary authority to
compel people in the country to comply with national laws and court rulings.
In the case of ICANN, if the argument is made that any country in the world
could pass legislation to compel ICANN to, say, shut down the DNS, the
enforcement of that legislation would still need go through action of US
enforcement agencies. In other words, US authorities would have to consent
to that (a veto power if you will) and they would have themselves to enforce
the required action (one could also think of the need for US courts to
recognise foreign judgments, in exequatur proceedings, for them to be
enforceable in the US, and the execution would have to be carried out
through US organs).

So let us not overlook this fact with the argument, which is simply not
true, that all countries are in a similar position as the country of
incorporation of ICANN to impact on ICANN's activities. Other countries do
not have as much jurisdiction as the United States to influence and
determine the course of many of ICANN's activities (in fact, the core of
ICANN's activities), and it is with a view to ensure that they all
participate on an equal footing on all Internet governance-related issues
that immunities from US jurisdiction must be sought (N.b. jurisdiction
includes prescriptive, adjudicative and enforcement jurisdiction).

Best,

Thiago

  _____  

De: ws2-jurisdiction-bounces at icann.org
<mailto:ws2-jurisdiction-bounces at icann.org>
[ws2-jurisdiction-bounces at icann.org
<mailto:ws2-jurisdiction-bounces at icann.org> ] em nome de parminder
[parminder at itforchange.net <mailto:parminder at itforchange.net> ]
Enviado: sábado, 19 de agosto de 2017 3:21
Para: ws2-jurisdiction at icann.org <mailto:ws2-jurisdiction at icann.org> 
Assunto: Re: [Ws2-jurisdiction] ISSUE - unilateral jurisdiction of one
country over ICANN

Lest my response be mis-interpreted, I should clarify that:

The incidence of and accountability to US jurisdiction and public laws wrt
ICANN as US incorporated entity is not at all comparable to that of other
countries' jurisdiction. It is a simple and obvious fact (though I know
often contested here). 

In the circumstances, getting immunity from US jurisdiction/ public laws is
a much higher order problem that to obtain it from other countries. Right
now that is the key problem confronting us.

Having said this, I stand by the proposal for an international agreement
whereby all countries extend such immunity to it in one go...

parminder 

On Saturday 19 August 2017 09:56 AM, parminder wrote:

On Saturday 19 August 2017 04:06 AM, Paul Rosenzweig wrote:

Dear Parminder

Can you please provide a list?  That is, can you specify which US laws you
wish immunity from under your tailored approach?  And, can you also advise,
will you also argue (I assume the answer is yes) that ICANN should seek
immunity from the public law of other countries?  

Yes, ICANN very well should seek such immunity from all countries. As
immunity from US law can only be provided by US gov, immunities from public
law of all other countries will require consent of all other govs. The
normal way is to obtain such immunity at one time under an international
agreement singed at the same time but all countries, rather than go to about
200 countries one by one. I am very much for such an international agreement
providing such international status and corresponding immunity to ICANN. If
US were to agree I am sure all outer countries would quickly agree to such
an agreement..
parminder

Paul

Paul Rosenzweig

 <mailto:paul.rosenzweig at redbranchconsulting.com>
paul.rosenzweig at redbranchconsulting.com

O: +1 (202) 547-0660

M: +1 (202) 329-9650

VOIP: +1 (202) 738-1739

 <http://www.redbranchconsulting.com/> www.redbranchconsulting.com

My PGP Key:
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From: ws2-jurisdiction-bounces at icann.org
<mailto:ws2-jurisdiction-bounces at icann.org>
[mailto:ws2-jurisdiction-bounces at icann.org] On Behalf Of parminder
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2017 2:20 AM
To: Raphaël BEAUREGARD-LACROIX
<mailto:raphael.beauregardlacroix at sciencespo.fr>
<raphael.beauregardlacroix at sciencespo.fr>
Cc: ws2-jurisdiction at icann.org <mailto:ws2-jurisdiction at icann.org> 
Subject: Re: [Ws2-jurisdiction] ISSUE - unilateral jurisdiction of one
country over ICANN

Now for the secons point raised by you. 

On Thursday 17 August 2017 02:29 PM, Raphaël BEAUREGARD-LACROIX wrote:

2. How would being subject to the California Corporations Code articulate
itself with being immune? In fact this point is related to the first one.
The CCC serves as a basic framework of corporate governance, something which
is absent from most if not all international organisations. It imposes
duties on ICANN and its constituents (board, etc.) and gives to some persons
to sue ICANN over these. A blanket immunity would negate this. 

I have said this repeatedly, that I do not seek full but tailored immunity
alone, which allows the operation of california corporations code over
ICANN, and also any other such law that is required for ICANN to work in
terms of its organisational or technical processes. I quote from the
'solution" part of my email to which you respond

"This immunity should be tailored/customised in a manner that ICANN still
remains subject to non profit law of the state of California under which it
is registered, and its organisational processes function, and other such US
laws and institutions that are strictly required for ICANN to be able to
satisfactorily carry out its organisational, policy and technical functions
(an assessment with respect to which should be undertaken asap)."

Does this not already answer your point? And I also did give a link to an
ICANN commissioned report
<https://archive.icann.org/en/psc/corell-24aug06.html> which provides
examples of US based NPOs still subject to corresponding state's corporation
law but provided partial immunity under the mentioned US act. 

parminder 

2017-08-16 10:36 GMT+02:00 parminder <parminder at itforchange.net
<mailto:parminder at itforchange.net> >:

Issue:

Various branches and agencies of the United States of America - from
judicial and legislative to executive, including its many regulatory
agencies - have exclusive (like no other country's) direct legal remit and
power over ICANN, as a US non-profit organisation, with respect to
practically every aspect that can conceivably be affected by state power
(their range is so enormous that it is vain to begin listing them). These
agencies/ y can and do exercise them at any time in pursuance of US law and
policies, that have the primary purpose to uphold US public interest and US
constitution. Many examples of such powers and their possible use have been
given in various public submissions
<https://community.icann.org/display/WEIA/Jurisdiction+Questionnaire>  to
this group, including this one
<https://community.icann.org/display/WEIA/Jurisdiction+Questionnaire?preview
=/64066898/64948025/ICANN_jurisdiction_questionaire_-_JNC_response-0001.pdf>
, and also this
<https://www.itforchange.net/sites/default/files/Jurisdiction%20of%20ICANN.p
df> . Since ICANN is supposed to make policies and implement them with
regard to the global DNS in the global public interest and not just US
public interest, such unilateral availability and use of legal state power
with one country, the US, over ICANN is untenable, and goes against basic
principles of democracy including of "no legislation/ policy without
representation". These principles are recognised by UN instruments as human
rights, and most countries today including the US are built over them. 

Proposed solution:

ICANN be granted immunity under the International Organisations Immunities
Act of the US. This immunity should be tailored/customised in a manner that
ICANN still remains subject to non profit law of the state of California
under which it is registered, and its organisational processes function, and
other such US laws and institutions that are strictly required for ICANN to
be able to satisfactorily carry out its organisational, policy and technical
functions (an assessment with respect to which should be undertaken asap).

Additional notes: 

If I may add, this has been "THE" jurisdiction question since the WSIS days
if not earlier ( actually since the time ICANN was formed). Whether or not
we are able to agree to recommending any solution to this jurisdiction
question, it will be an unacceptable travesty of facts and history if this
group does not accept this as an important, if not "THE", jurisdiction
question in relation to ICANN. 

Whether or not this group is able to contribute to global public interest by
making any positive progress on the question of ICANN's jurisdiction,
following the principles of good governance and democracy, let it not
regress and actually serve to obfuscate what is seen and known as the
"ICANN's jurisdiction" question by everyone, by the global public at large.
(For instance, in ICANN's own internal discussions like when the ICANN chair
commissioned this report
<https://archive.icann.org/en/psc/corell-24aug06.html> on the jurisdiction
issue). 

If we can accept that this is a key jurisdiction (even if not "THE")
question, but are not able to agree on a proposed solution, let us just
write that in our report. But let us not contribute to alt-truth, a very
dangerous phenomenon that is often spoke of nowadays. Both as a group, and
individually as responsible persons - given an important global political
responsibility -- we owe at least that much to ourselves. 

As for myself, and the groups that I work with, we will stand resolutely
till the end in the path of any such synthesis of artificial reality - when
a global group tasked to address the decades old democratic question of
unilateral jurisdiction of one country over the global governance body,
ICANN, comes up with a report that asserts that this is not a jurisdiction
issue at all, or at least not an important one.  

parminder 

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Raphaël Beauregard-Lacroix 

Sciences Po Law School 2014-2017

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Raphaël Beauregard-Lacroix 

Sciences Po Law School 2014-2017

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