[ALAC] Briefing note: Use of gTLD Auction Proceeds for ICANN Reserve

[Alan Greenberg]

Thanks Seun.

There is no question of the "legality" of ICANN using the auction find to top up the reset. Or at least I have never heard mention of such a concern.

Whether operating costs are reasonable and justified is an ongoing issue. It might be addressed in the current public comment, or in the one to be opened on the FY19 Plan and Budget.

Alan
 
-- 
Sent from my mobile. Please excuse brevity and typos.

On October 25, 2017 4:49:51 AM GMT+01:00, Seun Ojedeji <seun.ojedeji at gmail.com> wrote:
>Hello Alan,
>
>On the assumption that ICANN can legally use part of the proceeds to
>fund
>reserve, I'd be also can live with up to a 20% of whatever is the
>accessible amount of the AP.
>
>However on a related note, I do personally think ICANN operating cost
>is
>quite on the high side in the first place and while effort is being
>made to
>get a 1 year reserve, i will be interested to know how much effort the
>Board is putting on 2 specific items:
>
>1. Avoid continuous increase on the operating cost which could then
>make a
>year target meaningless.
>
>2. Minimize operating cost as much as possible (of course without
>affecting
>the SO/AC part of things) so a 1 year reserve could end up sufficient
>for
>many more months when the need arises.
>
>Regards
>
>Sent from my mobile
>Kindly excuse brevity and typos
>
>On Oct 25, 2017 2:07 AM, "Alan Greenberg" <alan.greenberg at mcgill.ca>
>wrote:
>
>> This is a briefing note in preparation for the discussion in AbuDhabi
>> current scheduled for 9:30 am, local time, on Sunday.
>>
>> As is common for non-profit organizations, and particularly ones
>where
>> their income or expenses might be subject to unexpected fluctuations,
>ICANN
>> maintains a "Reserve Fund" to allow it to cover unexpected expenses
>or
>> below expectations income. Currently the target for the fund is one
>year's
>> regular expenses, but due to unexpected expenses (primarily
>associated with
>> the IANA transition and accountability exercise), it is below that.
>There
>> is an open Public Comment where you can find out more about the fund
>-
>> https://community.icann.org/x/GJNEB.
>>
>> It has been suggested that some portion of the proceeds of the new
>gTLD
>> Auctions (currently about $235m, although there is some chance it
>could be
>> as low as $105m) be used to help build back the reserve.
>>
>> Excluding this possibility, the target use of the Auction Funds will
>be
>> projects that are aligned with ICANN's mission and enhance the
>Internet
>> (wording still under debate).
>>
>> This brief discussion will be to solicit thoughts on whether this
>would be
>> a good idea or not.
>>
>> Alan
>>
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