[ALAC] Proposed motion for the Thursday wrap-up meeting

[Alan Greenberg]

You may recall that we made a comment a while ago on the .com 
contract renewal with Verisign. The substance of that comment is not 
relevant to this note, but for the record, it was that the we were 
pleased with many of the changes, particularly those that will 
enhance security and consumer trust and had no substantive comment on 
the other changes. However, the we were disappointed that thick Whois 
was not added as a requirement.

There was no expectation that the draft agreement would change as a result.

There is a 20 minute slot of time allocated to discussion of the .com 
agreement during the Thursday afternoon Public Forum.

It is therefore rather disturbing that the contract was approved at 
last Saturdays Board meeting.

The GNSO is likely to approve a motion expressing their displeasure. 
The statement will not question the content of the contract, but 
rather just the process that has been followed.

Following is a statement for ALAC consideration. It is patterned on 
the GNSO statement. I may suggest a revision of it if the GNSO 
substantively changes theirs, but otherwise I strongly suggest that 
the ALAC pass this motion.

=================

The At-Large Advisory Committee wishes to express its disappointment 
with the Board's decision to meet in a closed session on Saturday 23 
June to adopt the draft .com renewal agreement: 
http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/resolutions-23jun12-en.htm#2.

ICANN staff had placed this on the Thursday public forum agenda some 
time ago, and the .com renewal item remains on the public forum 
agenda tomorrow.  Although we were aware that the .com agreement was 
on the Board's agenda, we were not aware of the intent to approve the 
agreement at its closed session.

This comment is not with regard to the merits of the Board's action. 
The ALAC finds the process followed by the Board to be objectionable 
at a time when ICANN is subject to increased scrutiny. It is 
therefore imperative that the Board hold itself to the highest 
standards of transparency and accountability that it is mandated to uphold.