[ncdnhc-discuss] Email on ICANN MoU 12 month renewal

[KathrynKL at aol.com]

To NCC:
I tried to post this email to NCC list on 9/20/02, but never saw it posted.   
-kathy/acm-igp

In a press release today (attached below), NTIA announced the one year 
extension of ICANN's authority and MoU.  In doing so, however, NTIA was quite 
candid about the shortcomings of ICANNs, including technical shortcomings.   

Assistant Secretary of the US Dept. of Commerce and head of NTIA, Nancy J. 
Victory, said: "The Department is frankly disappointed that ICANN's progress 
on the MOU tasks thus far has moved so slowly. Nevertheless, the Department 
considers the organization's recent broad reform efforts to be a substantial 
justification for affording ICANN a limited amount of additional time to 
achieve the MOU tasks."    She also said: "Although the MOU tasks have been 
augmented, ICANN should be a technical coordination body whose policy-making 
role is limited. ICANN should not be the government of the Internet."

Press release (below)
Revised MoU and separate statement posted at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/

Regards, Kathy Kleiman
ACM-IGP
-----------------------------------
> http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2002/icann_09192002.htm
> For Immediate Release
> September 20, 2002
> Contact: Clyde Ensslin or
> Ranjit de Silva, 202-482-7002
>
> Commerce Department, ICANN Amend Internet Domain Name
> System Management Agreement
> One year extension includes heightened scrutiny and
> mandates new quarterly reports
>
> The Commerce Department today announced that it is
> extending for one year its Memorandum of Understanding
> (MOU) with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
> and Numbers (ICANN). The current MOU is set to expire
> on September 30. The Department's agreement to extend
> the MOU comes at the end of a thorough examination of
> ICANN's performance of the transition responsibilities
> to date, as well as of ICANN's ongoing reform efforts.
>
> In announcing the Department's decision today,
> Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications &
> Information Nancy J. Victory said: "The Department is
> frankly disappointed that ICANN's progress on the MOU
> tasks thus far has moved so slowly. Nevertheless, the
> Department considers the organization's recent broad
> reform efforts to be a substantial justification for
> affording ICANN a limited amount of additional time to
> achieve the MOU tasks."
>
> In addition to extending the agreement, the amended
> MOU revises and augments the transition tasks in five
> areas where ICANN agrees to focus attention for the
> next year. These areas are:
>
> the scope of ICANN's mission;
> the transparency and accountability of its
> decision-making;
> ICANN's responsiveness to Internet stakeholders;
> an effective advisory role for national governments;
> and
> the security of Internet functions.
>
> In addition, the amended MOU specifically directs the
> Department to engage in certain activities to assist
> ICANN in addressing these tasks, such as consulting
> with foreign national governments.
>
> "Although the MOU tasks have been augmented, ICANN
> should be a technical coordination body whose
> policy-making role is limited," Assistant Secretary
> Victory said. "ICANN should not be the government of
> the Internet."
>
> The Department views the one-year term of the
> extension to be a critical period for ICANN to make
> substantial progress on the remaining MOU tasks. The
> Department will be closely monitoring ICANN's efforts,
> particularly through a quarterly reporting mechanism
> imposed by the new agreement.
>
> Assistant Secretary Victory noted that ICANN cannot
> achieve full success on the tasks unilaterally. "The
> Department is committed to doing its part to assist
> ICANN tackle the MOU tasks. Other governments and the
> various Internet constituencies also need to
> participate actively and constructively in this
> process."
>
> In the accompanying statement to the MOU, the
> Department "urges ICANN to avail itself of the
> expertise existing in the international community."
>
> Both the amended MOU and the Department's accompanying
> statement, which provides a detailed explanation of
> its decision, are available through the Department's
> Web site at http:// www.ntia.doc.gov/ .
>    


> 
> 
> I've mentioned this before offline to some people, but I should mention 
> also 
> here that while I can post to this list, I haven't received any list 
> postings since early August.  I don't know what the problem is.  I would 
> appreciate if someone could sent a URL that works for the list archives.  I 
> looked at one early from the web page it didn't see right.
> 
> 


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