Dear all,

though I live at present in a region of Cambodia with no regular 
reliable Internet access, I continue to follow things. Robin will 
remember, from the time when we were both GNSO councilors, that we 
shared this concern about lip-service to bottom-up commitments by staff, 
combined with the strong role that staff took from time to time, 
forgetting the community voices or GNSO procedures.

If there will be a special working group on ICANN accountability, please 
allow me to be on the list, though I probably will not be able to 
participate always in a timely manner.

We should never give up to raise our concerns.


Norbert
Kep/Cambodia

=

On 8/8/2014 2:18 AM, Edward Morris wrote:
> Ditto. Thanks for your leadership on this Rafik. I know from past 
> conversations how close these issues are to your heart. Please count 
> me in,  in whatever form the group takes.
>
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: Robin Gross <[log in to unmask]>
>     To: [log in to unmask]
>     Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2014 10:34:39 -0700
>     Subject: Re: [council] FW: FYI - Recording and Transcript of 4
>     August 2014 ICANN Accountability Leadership Discussion
>
>     Thanks, Rafik.  I very much support your suggestion that we form a
>     dedicated work team to focus on ICANN accountability and
>     coordinate our efforts in the most effective way.   Should we set
>     up a dedicated email list and begin to formulate a response to
>     staff's proposal?
>     Best,
>     Robin
>     On Aug 7, 2014, at 3:58 AM, Rafik Dammak wrote:
>>     Hi ,
>>     @Robin yes you can share with me (and in the list) your questions
>>     and I will send them to staff.
>>     I attended the call and the tone and substance of the responses
>>     were quite concerning. my first question there was about the role
>>     and involvement of the board for selecting the experts and it was
>>     not really answered.
>>     At GNSO level, the different "leaders" of stakeholders group and
>>     constituencies are discussing what should be done and
>>     following-up the statement we made for the public forum in London
>>     ICANN meeting. I will send more updates soon.
>>     CEO, board and staff represent a stakeholder or interest group in
>>     this particular process and so we should design one where they
>>     can create less interference so we need specific suggestions here
>>     to mitigate the risks. the idea of cross-community group was also
>>     discussed but there are still open questions because it is not
>>     just about changing the label from community assembly. we are
>>     also still waiting for the summary of comments from the public
>>     comments period.
>>     what I suggest:
>>     - we as NCSG, should a setup an ad-hoc group to follow-up of our
>>     statement on accountability but also individual comments from
>>     members. we need to be responsive and following exclusively the
>>     process, lasting for months, with dedicated volunteers who can
>>     volunteer and keep other members updated. so this is proposal to
>>     be discussed and kind of call for volunteers. I welcome
>>     suggestions on how to implement this. Registries SG set up its
>>     own internal working group on accountability, we can adopt such
>>     best practices and experiment (not sure if ALAC has its group too)
>>     - as quick action : collecting and consolidating all questions
>>     and comments regrading the draft proposal from ICANN staff such
>>     as questions from Robin.
>>      Best Regards,
>>     Rafik
>>     2014-08-07 3:19 GMT+09:00 Robin Gross <[log in to unmask]
>>     <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>:
>>
>>         Yes, indeed.  I listened to the call and was disappointed by
>>         staff's proposal to control the accountability process and
>>         defensiveness when called on it.   We have been asking staff
>>         for information on what it would be proposing for a couple
>>         months (at GNSO mtg & last "leaders" call) and we were just
>>         told not to worry about it, that staff was busy compiling the
>>         input and would dialogue with us soon.  Finally, without
>>         seeing the "synthesis" of the community input, we get this
>>         half-baked proposal from Fadi that calls for a process of
>>         two-tier accountability groups in which board-staff controls
>>         the group that "prioritizes" issues and "solutions".  The 7
>>         "experts" board selects for this group aren't really part of
>>         a "community" coordination group.  Experts are great, but
>>         they should be selected by and report to the community (not
>>         board-staff) and not pretend like they represent stakeholders
>>         in the community.  Also, staff's proposal doesn't quite say
>>         who will be making final decisions regarding the output of
>>         the groups proposed.   Also, staff should be in this group in
>>         an informational / support / liaison sort of role, not as an
>>         equal participant with the community members.
>>
>>         Rather than try to design the whole accountability process
>>         internally to create a process that board-staff could control
>>         the output of, the community should have been engaged in the
>>         formulation of this proposal, as we've been asking every time
>>         we get to speak to them.
>>
>>         It seems like the input staff will now take is minor, around
>>         the edges and relating to the community assembly / working
>>         group -- and NOT the more important decisional body it is
>>         proposing.  Hopefully we can get some significant changes and
>>         clarifications to this staff proposal for accountability at
>>         ICANN before Fadi declares that the community is aligned in
>>         support of his plan.
>>
>>         Rafik, can you relay my concerns back to staff? (or if there
>>         is a mechanism for me to do that, I'd be glad to do it
>>         myself).  But this accountability plan is half-baked and
>>         needs more input from the community before it should go forward.
>>
>>         When will staff learn that trust must be earned and these
>>         sorts of constant shenanigans only hinder confidence and
>>         trust in ICANN's legitimacy to govern?
>>
>>         Thanks,
>>         Robin
>>
>>
>>         On Aug 6, 2014, at 8:06 AM, Avri Doria wrote:
>>
>>         > Interesting reading
>>         >
>>         > avri
>>         >
>>         >
>>         > -------- Original Message --------
>>         > Subject:      [council] FW: FYI - Recording and Transcript
>>         of 4 August 2014
>>         > ICANN Accountability Leadership Discussion
>>         > Date:         Wed, 6 Aug 2014 07:34:10 +0100
>>         > From:         Jonathan Robinson <[log in to unmask]
>>         <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
>>         > Reply-To:     <[log in to unmask]
>>         <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
>>         > Organization:         Afilias
>>         > To:   <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
>>         >
>>         >
>>         >
>>         > All,
>>         >
>>         >
>>         >
>>         > FYI.
>>         >
>>         >
>>         >
>>         > Audio not attached (its 16MB). All available at the link below.
>>         >
>>         >
>>         >
>>         > Jonathan
>>         >
>>         >
>>         >
>>         > *From:*Robert Hoggarth [mailto:[log in to unmask]
>>         <mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
>>         > *Sent:* 05 August 2014 18:30
>>         > *To:* Theresa Swinehart; David Olive; Byron Holland;
>>         > [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>;
>>         Jonathan Robinson; Louie Lee; Olivier MJ
>>         > Crepin-Leblond; Patrik Fältström; Jun Murai; Lars-Johan
>>         Liman; Elisa
>>         > Cooper; tony holmes; Kristina Rosette; Rafik Dammak;
>>         William Drake; Rudi
>>         > Vansnick; Michele Neylon :: Blacknight; Drazek, Keith
>>         > *Cc:* Susie Johnson; Tina Shelebian; Global Leadership;
>>         Duncan Burns;
>>         > Samantha Eisner; Bart Boswinkel; Marika Konings; Heidi
>>         Ullrich; Steve Sheng
>>         > *Subject:* FYI - Recording and Transcript of 4 August 2014
>>         ICANN
>>         > Accountability Leadership Discussion
>>         >
>>         >
>>         >
>>         > Hi All,
>>         >
>>         >
>>         >
>>         > Attached please find the recording of yesterday's
>>         discussion along with
>>         > the call transcript and the AC Room chat transcript.  All three
>>         > documents are now posted on the CEO-SO/AC/SG Leadership
>>         Connect page
>>         > at
>>         https://community.icann.org/display/soaceinputfdback/Event+Calendar
>>         .
>>         >
>>         >
>>         >
>>         > Best regards,
>>         >
>>         >
>>         >
>>         > Rob
>>         >
>>         >
>>         >
>>         > <Transcript - Special ICANN Acctblty
>>         Session_20140804_SOACSG_Fadi.pdf><August 4 2014 Chat Special
>>         Session.pdf>
>>