NANOG Folks -
There is a fairly important ICANN consultation going on which seeks input
from
the Internet community regarding ICANN's accountability mechanisms and the
desirability of any potential enhancements (this is context of ICANN
operating in
the absence of a contractual relationship with the US Government.)
This topic has the potential for significant impact on the administration
of both
Internet DNS names and IP addresses, so those who have strong views in
these
matters might want to provide input accordingly (See the attached message
to
PPML providing pointers to the consultation) The RIRs, as coordinated
via the
NRO, have a draft response (attached) and input on that is welcome as well.
ICANN extended the deadline to the end of this week, which provides this
opportunity to obtain additional community input.
Thanks!
/John
John Curran
President and CEO
ARIN
Begin forwarded message:
From: ARIN <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Subject: [arin-ppml] Request for Community Input – Enhancing ICANN
Accountability
Date: June 2, 2014 at 12:03:44 PM PDT
To: <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
ICANN issued a call for community input regarding its continuing accountability
in the future in the absence of a contractual relationship with the U.S.
Government.
https://www.icann.org/public-comments/enhancing-accountability-2014-05-06-en
The Executive Council of the Number Resource Organization (NRO) has drafted a
response on behalf of the five Regional Internet Registry (RIR) communities.
(See below)
ARIN welcomes your feedback on this draft, and we will be accepting input
through 4 June 2014. Please send your comments to [email protected].
The community may also participate directly by providing feedback directly to
ICANN as described here:
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/enhancing-accountability-2014-05-06-en
Regards,
Communications and Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)
***
ICANN call for public comments on Enhancing ICANN’s Accountability
Response from the Number Resource Organization (NRO)
DRAFT ONLY - 29 May 2014
The NRO thanks ICANN for the opportunity to comment on means for improving its
accountability, and we provide the following responses to the questions
contained in the call for comments:
https://www.icann.org/public-comments/enhancing-accountability-2014-05-06-en
1. What issues does the community identify as being core to strengthening
ICANN’s overall accountability in the absence of its historical contractual
relationship to the US government?
Regarding ICANN's accountability with respect to IP addressing functions, we
believe that the ASO structure provides a necessary and sufficient separation
between policy formation and policy implementation. Global IP addressing
policy is developed by the RIR communities and passed via the ASO to ICANN, in
accordance with the ASO MoU; while policy is implemented by the IANA in the
form of services delivered to the RIRs under specific service agreements. While
these existing mechanisms have proven successful over the past 10 years, we
believe than a review is appropriate at this time, prior to the expected NTIA
transition, along with reviews by each of the RIRs of their own accountability
mechanisms.
Notwishstanding any improvements needed, these agreements must clearly define
appropriate dispute resolution, escalation and arbitration procedures. We note
that there is no agreement or expectation of any role for the USG NTIA in these
processes; therefore we do not view the historical contractual relationship
between ICANN and the US government as an accountability mechanism, and neither
do we consider the NTIA's role as a source of ICANN’s accountability with
respect to Internet number resources. In the hypothetical case that IANA had
ever failed to provide number allocation services to any RIR in accordance to
existing policies and agreements, we would have not relied upon the US
government to solve this issue. Rather we would have worked transparently with
ICANN, in accordance to the terms of existing agreements, to address the issue.
The NRO is committed to continue to work with ICANN to strengthen escalation
and dispute resolution mechanisms to allow the parties to work better in any
hypothetical case of failed expectations.
2. What should be the guiding principles to ensure that the notion of
accountability is understood and accepted globally? What are the consequences
if the ICANN Board is not being accountable to the community? Is there anything
that should be added to the Working Group’s mandate?
The NRO does not believe that the contract with the US government should be
replaced with a similar mechanism at a global level, therefore a guiding
principle is specifically not to create any "superior" structure or
organisation; rather ICANN's accountability should be defined in terms of
transparent agreements with ICANN stakeholders, in which roles and
responsibilities, and dispute resolution and arbitration mechanisms are fully
defined.
We believe that a failure by ICANN to abide clearly by established
accountability mechanisms, and in particular by defined dispute resolution and
arbitration mechanisms should have clear consequences, and therefore that
arbitration mechanisms should be binding. Furthermore, they must be
implementable and effective upon ICANN, regardless of its final structure or
locale.
The guiding principles for defining or strengthening these accountability
mechanisms should be: that they are transparent, implementable and open to
improvement; and that they operate in the interests of the open, stable and
secure operation of the Internet.
3. Do the Affirmation of Commitments and the values expressed therein need to
evolve to support global acceptance of ICANN’s accountability and so, how?
The NRO believes that the Affirmation of Commitments is a good umbrella
covering higher-level issues that may not be specifically included in existing
contracts, MoUs, accountability frameworks and documents that govern ICANN’s
relationships with its different stakeholder groups. While the most important
accountability of ICANN is with its respective stakeholders and community, the
Affirmation of Commitments and its evolution could support wider trust in
ICANN’s ongoing operations at the international level.
We believe that this evolution could take the form of a new affirmation into
which many more stakeholder communities, including Governments, would enter.
4. What are the means by which the Community is assured that ICANN is meeting
its accountability commitments?
The current contracts, MoUs, accountability frameworks and documents that ICANN
currently has with different parts of its community provide certain levels of
accountability. These documents can evolve and improve however this should be
an ongoing process which continues beyond the end of NTIA’s role, and
throughout the entire lifetime of ICANN.
5. Are there other mechanisms that would better ensure that ICANN lives up to
its commitments?
If ICANN can in time be incorporated as an international organization under
international law, this may provide the ICANN community with additional
mechanisms to solve disputes through mediation, arbitration or judicial
avenues; and added confidence in the ability to serve stakeholders uniformly
across the globe. While we would like this possibility to be actively explored
by ICANN, we do not believe it is a necessary prerequisite to any of the other
measures described in this response, but welcome continued engagement with the
global stakeholder community on this topic.
6. What additional comments would you like to share that could be of use to the
ICANN Accountability Working Group?
The NRO notes the present clarity of responsibility that exists with respect
ICANN's roles in administration of Internet protocol identifiers for the IETF
and Internet number resources for the Internet address community, and suggests
that it might helpful for the ICANN Accountability Working Group to examine
these successes in its efforts. The NRO expects to contribute and work
together with the ICANN Accountability Working Group, and other stakeholders in
the ICANN community, to improve mechanisms for enhancing accountability in the
years to come.
_______________________________________________
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