[At-Large] TR: Une "Fondati on DNS" ali ment ée par l'ICANN ?

[Evan Leibovitch]

Adam Peake wrote:
> I would like to see more transparency from ISOC regarding how it 
> spends the money. ISOC publishes it budget on the web and also draft 
> plans are made available for comment, etc, and this is commendable, 
> but I think more detail is possible and appropriate. The "good works 
> part" was a major element of the bid and consequently I think ICANN 
> should monitor for compliance just as it does technical criteria. 
> Yes, it would make ICANN a bit of a regulator, but that goes with the 
> responsibility of awarding a contract worth tens of millions of 
> dollars.
If the contract specified deliverables and metrics related to
transparency and "good works", measurement of compliance should be
reasonable. If such deliverables and metrics do not exist, then it's
nothing more than feel-good mush language whose level of compliance is
in the eye of the beholder -- meaning unenforceable.

The extent to which ICANN must monitor begins and ends with _enforcable_
components of the contracts it makes. Monitoring behaviour outside the
(enforceable components of) contracts is as much the role of third-party
watchdog groups as ICANN, since the only recourse to extra-contract bad
behaviour is embarrassment from bad publicity.

> I am not trying to suggest ICANN is a govt agency, or that confidence in it is shaky.
That's OK. Others are quite capable of asserting that. ;-)

> On the contrary, given ICANN's recent letter to the US government about ending the joint project agreement and gaining independence (brilliant and brave decisions by the board -- has my  complete support, surprised no discussion on the ALAC list),

What's so brave? Where is the risk?

ICANN has lots of sustaining revenue, and a governing process that
denies direct end-user input into decision making. Of course it makes
(internal) sense for ICANN to divest itself from binding oversight by
any outside body that might assert a public interest seen to be
otherwise lacking.

- Evan