[lac-discuss-en] At-Large Briefing on the Amended RAA - 20th December 2008

[Carlton Samuels]

Dear All:

Please follow the link to access an English-language recording of the
discussions at https://st.icann.org/alac/index.cgi?discussion_on_the_raa .

This information is especially useful to our ALAC representatives who will
vote by Jan 8 2009 on the ALAC Response to the RAA Amendments.

To my mind, the process is always important.  But it is the results that
matter.  So I take the position that in matters pertaining to the
contractual vehicle that is the RAA, the far more impactful problem is one
of weakness in ICANN's enforcement of the admittedly modest contractual
provisions that now protect registrants.

As I understand it, the objective here is a binding consensus policy that
would impact behaviors of registry/registrars for the better. So by design,
there is a ways to go in this process before that light dawns.

I will reach for the low-hanging fruit here. Speaking as the UWI ALS
representative and despite the assertions of the ALAC GNSO Liaison, I cannot
discern either an organisational indicator or a philosophical shift in ICANN
to suggest a sea change in enforcement operations. So this notion of
"refining" the RAA to give ICANN more enforcement powers is, at best, a PR
exercise which will not likely affect dissolute registrar/registry behaviors
in the near or mid term.

The end result will be a wash.

Carlton Samuels