.ca registry (CIRA) withdraws from the ICANN process in protest

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Suresh Ramasubramanian <suresh () hserus net>
Date: March 24, 2006 10:23:14 AM EST
To: dave () farber net
Cc: declan () well com
Subject: .ca registry (CIRA) withdraws from the ICANN process in protest

http://www.cira.ca/news-releases/171.html

Surprisingly, this hasn't hit any headlines at all - a major registry  
(for
Canada) withdrawing from the ICANN process in protest, with a stinging
criticism of ICANN's governance

regards
suresh

quoting from that page -

March 17, 2006
Open letter to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and  
Numbers (ICANN)
from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA)

CIRA is a respected and influential player in global Internet  
governance. This
has been especially true when it comes to ICANN, where CIRA's  
involvement has
included: participating actively in events leading to the creation of  
ICANN;
helping create the Country Code Names Supporting Organization  
(ccNSO); chairing
the ccNSO working group on IANA; voluntarily contributing funds to  
ICANN;
hosting the ICANN Montreal meeting; supporting the ICANN Vancouver  
meeting in
many ways including being its main sponsor; and generally promoting  
the value
and benefits of ICANN to the world community.

CIRA remains committed to global Internet governance. Notwithstanding  
this
commitment, CIRA, including its Board of Directors, has grown  
increasingly
concerned with ICANN's departure from a number of its core values.  
The process
by which ICANN renewed its dot-com agreement with VeriSign is  
illustrative of
this departure.

It is in this context that CIRA, wishing to see ICANN succeed, and  
expecting
ICANN to follow accountable, transparent and fair processes, makes the
following recommendations to the ICANN Board:

1. Accountability

ICANN's accountability to its stakeholders, including to the global  
Internet
community is critical because ICANN's legitimacy is premised on  
stakeholder
trust. When ICANN is seen to be unaccountable it loses stakeholder  
trust and
therefore its legitimacy.

ICANN must change its structures, formally and publicly (including its
by-laws), to ensure that ICANN and its Board are accountable to  
stakeholders,
and that Board decisions are subject to formal checks and balances. A  
veto of
Board decisions by a super-majority of Supporting Organisations would  
be an
acceptable change.

2. Transparency

Many important Board discussions are held and many decisions are made  
behind
closed doors. There is little or no formal record kept of these  
meetings beyond
publishing the agenda and reporting the decisions made.

We accept that the ICANN Board should be able to hold non-public  
meetings if
necessary and should be able to meet in camera to discuss specific  
issues.
However, the basis for any such action must be justified and that  
justification
reported publicly.

More importantly when reporting significant matters, in minutes or  
otherwise,
ICANN must provide sufficient information on the deliberations  
leading to a
particular decision. This includes summarizing the discussions, the  
questions
asked, the answers provided and the rationale for following a  
particular course
of action. These reports must be publicly available in a timely manner.

3. Fair Processes

In order to build and maintain trust and legitimacy, ICANN must  
establish and
follow publicly documented and formally approved processes. These  
processes
must be created in consultation with its stakeholders, in an  
accountable and
transparent manner. It is important that ICANN adhere to, and be seen  
to adhere
to, these processes at all times.

While the ICANN Board considers these concerns, and until they are  
remedied,
CIRA will as of this date:

    * Suspend its voluntary contribution of funds to ICANN;
    * Hold in trust CIRA's voluntary contributions to ICANN;
    * Suspend consideration of any Accountability Framework;
    * Decline to host or be a major sponsor of any ICANN event; and
    * Cease chairing the ccNSO's IANA Working Group.

We remain optimistic that ICANN can live up to the multi-stakeholder,
bottom-up, principles on which it was established. We welcome ICANN's  
efforts
to reform and will make ourselves available to assist ICANN in this  
regard.

Yours very truly,

Canadian Internet Registration Authority

Clyde Beattie                   Bernard Turcotte
Board of Directors, Chair       President and Chief Executive Officer


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