[discuss] [IANAxfer] Two accountability questions - help pls- Workshop 23 - ICANN accountability

Sun Aug 31 15:14:21 UTC 2014

a couple of thoughts for your consideration.

1)
the IANA functions are or should be in support of any of the networks that may interconnect to form parts of the greater Internet.
ICANN is responsible to …  those whom it selects to be accountable to.

so IMHO, the IANA steward has a responsibility to any/all who utilize the addresses, protocols, and perhaps names that are part of 
the Internet Protocol, regardless of any relationship (or not) with an ICANN defined group.

ICANN, on the other hand, is only accountable to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is based.   

2)
Until ICANN reinstates membership or other external accountability constructs as part of its bylaws, Internal accountability is the only thing
that exists.

/bill
PO Box 12317
Marina del Rey, CA 90295
310.322.8102

On 31August2014Sunday, at 8:00, Jordan Carter <jordan at internetnz.net.nz> wrote:

> Dear all
> 
> Apologies for cross-posting...
> 
> I am seeking some community feedback as part of prepping for the
> workshop on ICANN accountability scheduled for Wednesday 9am here at
> #igf2014.
> 
> The particular questions I have, two, are:
> 
> 1. Is ICANN's accountability a subject for the whole Internet
> community to resolve, or (as suggested by ICANN, in distinction from
> the iana stewardship transition) an internal ICANN community matter?
> 
> 2. Can *internal* accountability arrangements, of whatever sort, ever
> be adequate for an entity like ICANN that is intended (at least it
> looks like that is ICANN's intention) to be responsible for the
> stewardship of the iana functions?
> 
> 
> My view is that for the first, the clear answer is the broader
> community; for the second, most of the discussions in the ICANN
> community to date have been focused on internal arrangements except
> for the weird ban on discussion internal structural accountability
> measures.
> 
> I'd value any discussion on these to help inform the panel's work on Wednesday.
> 
> Thanks,
> Jordan
> 
> Ps - InternetNZ is the designated manager of the .nz ccTLD; it has a
> wider cause (a better world through a better Internet (which is an
> open and uncaptured Internet)) and so is in an interesting situation
> straddling parts of the Internet's technical and civil society
> communities.
> 
> 
> PPS - The session description is as follows:
> 
> Discussion of how accountability goals are achieved at ICANN under its
> multi-stakeholder governance processes. To whom is ICANN accountable
> and what are the mechanisms for ensuring that accountability is
> adequate? In what way do these mechanisms need strengthening or
> further improvements, particularly in light of NTIA's announcement to
> transition out its current role? How do checks and balances on power,
> such as structural separation of key DNS operations encourage
> accountability? How have ICANN's Affirmation of Commitments and the
> Accountability and Transparency Review Team fostered (or undermined)
> accountability goals at ICANN? What lessens were learned from the AoC
> and ATRT processes on achieving accountability under a
> multi-stakeholder governance regime? What is the role of ICANN's
> Ombudsman Office in achieving accountability for the institution?
> 
> -- 
> Jordan Carter
> Chief Executive, InternetNZ
> 
> +64 21 442 649
> 
> twitter.com/jordantcarter
> 
> 'Hope is the dream of a person awake' -- French proverb
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