Dear NCSG Member,
The numbers are staggering; 221+ calls or meetings, 3
public consultations, more than 13,900 email messages. This
has been the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing
ICANN Accountability. Today we have released our final
report:
NCSG Member and co-founder Milton Mueller has termed the
report "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". I can tell you
there has been a lot of the Ugly the past few days. I can
also tell you that your NCSG members who have fought for you
day after day after day the past fourteen months on the CCWG
were there again today, at 1 in the morning in America and 6
in the morning in the U.K., fighting for your interests. We
didn't win today but we have won more than our fair shares
of battles in the past and if this proposal is even half
acceptable it is largely due to hard unending unceasing work
of the finest volunteers in ICANN: those of the
Noncommercial Stakeholders Group.
A special shout out goes to our Member on the CCWG: Ms.
Robin Gross. I don't know how Robin did all she did. Her
unfortunate time zone meant she often had biweekly calls at
4 a.m. Yet she was always there, always awake, always
fighting for you and for me. In the early days we didn't
have many volunteers and Robin and I were covering
everything ourselves. I remember one evening we had just
finished our seventh call that day on something called the
Legal sub-team and I wished Robin a good night. Night? She
had an eighth call coming up on something called Work Area 2
(not to be confused with Work Stream 2, Work Party 2, or the
many Sub-team 2's we've all been a part of). I felt like
such a slacker. Seven calls, that was nothing. Robin had
eight.
Where are we now, you may ask, in the process?
The final report goes to the GNSO Council where your six
Councillors (myself, Amr Elsadr, David Cake, Stephanie
Perrin, Stefania Milan and Marilia Maciel) will by March 8th
cast votes on all twelve recommendations. As we are the
folks who represent you in this process we need your input,
we need you to tell us what you think, we need your help. We
also understand it won't be easy. This Report is in the
hundreds of pages and it is not easy reading. I'd like to
offer to help.
If you have any questions about the Final Report please
ask them here. One of our many CCWG participants will be
sure to see it and will answer it. If not I pledge to go
through this list every 24 hours and if there is an
unanswered question about our Report here I will either
answer it or I will find someone who can. If you'd prefer to
ask me something privately my e-mail address is
[log in to unmask]. You can reach me on the Wire app
using the address
[log in to unmask]. You can Skype me at
ejmorris. I want each and every one of you to have every
opportunity to view, understand and question any aspect of
this Final Report that is of interest to you. This is the
most important change in ICANN in over a decade. I want our
members to be the best informed of any group in this
community.
Let the questions and the discussion begin. Is this the
ICANN you want, going forward? If not, why not. If so, what
do you like about the proposal. Don't understand something?
Ask it here. How do you want me to vote on each of the
twelve recommendations? I ask for your guidance.
Thanks for considering - and thanks for being part of the
largest and most diverse group in all of ICANN: the
Noncommercial Stakeholders Group. Thanks as well for
trusting me to represent you on the GNSO Council: it is a
distinct honour that I cherish each and every day.
Kind Regards,
Ed Morris