[lir-wg] ICANN Reform

[ This message states my personal opinion and *not* the opinion of the RIPE NCC. 
I realise that NCC staff commenting on controversial"political" issues 
in a personal capacity can be considered inappropriate.
However I feel I have to speak up just *because* I personally invested 
a lot of energy into the RIR processes and also into the gestation of ICANN, 
the ASO and its processes. 
In other words: I think I earned the right and *have the obligation* to speak up.]


Hans Petter, 

I just read your messages analysing the legal prose.
While this is good work and highlights quite some symptoms,
it does not analyse the disease. 

A much more clear symptom of the desease is in the latest
amendment to the ICANN-USG agreement

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/agreements/amend5_09192002.htm


    "...
     ICANN agrees to perform the following activities 
     and provide the following resources ...

     Work collaboratively on a global and local level
     to pursue formal legal agreements with the RIRs, 
     and to achieve stable relationships 
     that allow them to continue their technical work, 
     while incorporating their policy-making activities 
     into the ICANN process.
     ..." 

This clearly shows that ICANN does not want to work the way 
the RIRs are successfully working. ICANN has no respect for,
and maybe still does not understand our long established,
well working, bottom-up, transparent way of making policies.

There are more symptoms of this in all areas of ICANN activity. 
A good example is the current "AXFR conflict" with some ccTLDs. 
They script for these problems is:

        - ICANN staff drafts or changes policies
          for reasons only apparent to ICANN staff 
          and, possibly, the US Government in some cases.
        
        - ICANN board ratifies changes without discussion.

          THIS MEANS THAT THERE IS NO PROCESS OTHER THAN ON PAPER.

        - ICANN staff applies policy 
        
        - 'victims' are surprised since they did not hear anything 
          via what they thought of as their part of the "ICANN Process".
        
        - ICANN staff says: "This is policy ratified by the board, please
          use the 'ICANN Process' to change it again. Meanwhile just comply."

          THIS MEANS THAT THOSE WHO DEPEND ON ICANN FOR SOMETHING ARE SCREWED.

In the particular 'AXFR conflictt' I refer to above,
ICANN has deliberately jeopradised the stability
of the DNS of some pretty large ccTLDs over an extended period
of time.

I have lost all confidence in ICANN as an organisation, 
the ICANN process and many of the people involved, 
both board and staff. 
I have the strong suspicion that I am not the only one.

*This* is the disease: Loss of confidence.
It cannot be addressed with adding paper "Core Values" 
and even more paper process while maintaining the level 
of substance at a minimum.

I personally think the RIRs should *now* 
walk away from ICANN for better or worse. 

This means we have to do our home work well:

- Create a process for global policy coordination.
  We have thes substance of it: the ASO. 
  We just need a legal shell outside of ICANN and
  -maybe- some minor adaptions to the substance.
 
- Create a process for 'process appeal', i.e. where someone 
  can go if the global policy coordination does not follow 
  its own rules. Maybe professional arbitrators can be
  used. Certainly not another politically loaded body.

- Make sure that those who look at ICANN for influcene into
  the process find their needs sufficiently addressed by the
  current regional processes plus the "new" global process.
  I suspect that this is largely a matter of educating people.

Hans Petter,

imagine you had invested the time it took to analyse the
ICANN generated legal prose into drafting this.
I think it would have been a much better investment.

We should have a very open discussion in this working group on 
how to proceed with address policy coordination on the global level.
If the RIPE NCC, and the other RIRs, should decide to walk away from ICANN
they need our full support. 

The RIPE NCC also needs help with doing the work outlined above 
together with the other RIRs.
      
Respectfully

Daniel