GAC and ICANN Board- The re-written but basically unchanged GAC agenda for its May 25th meeting has been posted at http://www.noie.gov.au/docs/gacmtg2_agenda.htm., and is reproduced below. Jay Fenello's well-posed questions of last week remain unanswered. Specifically: 1) What is this "report from Mike Roberts" concerning changes in gTLD registrations, legality of delegations, and litigation over the Infrastructure Trust Fund monies? 2) How is it that these ccTLD policy matters are being discussed in camera, and before the formation of the ccTLD constituency of the DNSO, which according to ICANN's bylaws has prerogative over them? 3) Why is there no report, to counterbalance that of Francis Gurry, from the broad opposition to the WIPO recommendations? 4) Why has this meeting, at which major issues regarding the future of the DNS and the Internet are apparently being discussed if not implemented, been scheduled for the same time that the much-contested DNSO constituencies are being formed, thus effectively eliminating any possibility of attendance at it by the interested parties? The on-going manipulation of this process, as implied in the secret activities of this committeee and its agenda, parallels what has been done with regard to the registrar/registrant relationship: policy decisions made in camera in disregard of the prerogatives of the DNSO and any effective input from the Internet community. The questions posed by Jay Fenello and others, when this agenda first appeared, have not been answered by Mr. Roberts, the ICANN board, or Mr. Twomey, apparently because they cannot be answered honestly without admitting, at the same time, that this committee and its agenda are designed to circumvent public and popular decision-making. Furthermore, as the issues on the GAC's agenda concern international trade and commerce, we believe that the scope of debate on them must be broadened to include not only the internet comunity that will be affected by policy decisions concerning them but also by the World Trade Organization, which has a mandate under international law to participate in the regulation of such cross-national activities, and to that end we are sending this information to the WTO and asking for their intervention. The ICIIU has participated in this process in the spirit of the United States Government's White Paper. However, it has become clear that neither Beckwith Burr, the representative of the U.S. Department of Commerce, emitting agency of that document, nor the unelected and synthetic board of ICANN has any intention of following the provisions and exigencies of the White Paper; we therefore believe that the time has come for supervision of the supervisors, and are communicating with the World Trade Organization, and may communicate with UNCTAD, the OECD, UNCITRAL, and other organizations concerned with world trade, to that end. Michael Sondow ============================================================ International Congress of Independent Internet Users (ICIIU) http://www.iciiu.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] ============================================================ ................................................... GOVERNMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Meeting II 9:00am to 6:00pm 25 May 1999 Hotel Adlon, Unter den Linden 77 Berlin, Germany DRAFT AGENDA 1.Welcome 2.Internal Communications - Practices and procedures 3.Draft Operating Principles - Revision 2 4.Report from ICANN / EU / ITU on current administrative arrangements concerning ccTLDs, including: Access to information for users Basis of delegation decisions 5.Report from Mike Roberts, President of ICANN, on: The legal delegation and practical relationship between ICANN, governments and ccTLD administrators, Changes in policy for registrations under a gTLD (for example, as occurred in .edu and as undertaken by NSI), Infrastructure Trust Fund - Update on progress and the litigation process. 6.Funding for ICANN 7.Report from Francis Gurry (WIPO) on Intellectual property issues - in particular, issues with regard to "cybersquatting, " the speculation of domain names as property and establishment of ownership rights, and GAC advice to the ICANN Board on the WIPO Report. 8.Report from USA and ITU on applicability of specific business rules / regimes to ccTLD's which are classified as "open" or "restricted" 9.Report from France, UK and Australia on Jurisdiction and Territories 10.Discussion on Registrar Accreditation Agreements 11.Communique / Media Release 12.Any Other Business 13.Next meeting 14.Open Meeting - Dialogue with interested members of the Internet community
