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

[kent at songbird.com]

On Thu, Sep 26, 2002 at 11:39:00AM -0400, KathrynKL at aol.com wrote:
> 
>    To NCC:
>    I  tried  to  post this email to NCC list on 9/20/02, but never saw it
>    posted.   -kathy/acm-igp

It was posted:

  Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 18:34:17 EDT
  Subject: [ncdnhc-discuss] NTIA renews ICANN MoU for one year.
  From: KathrynKL at aol.com
  To: discuss at icann-ncc.org
 
     In a press release today (attached below), NTIA announced the one year
     extension  of  ICANN's  authority and MoU.  In doing so, however, NTIA


>    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.