ICANN|ARCHIVES

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

>>KURT PRITZ: HELLO. OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE PEOPLE THAT ARE HERE, I THINK WE'LL GET STARTED.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS MEETING IS TO DISCUSS AND SOLICIT FEEDBACK ON ICANN'S OPERATIONAL PLAN. WOW, THIS IS A TOUGH ROOM, ISN'T IT, WITH THAT NOISE?

BUT AS WAY OF BACKGROUND, WE AGREED SEVERAL MONTHS AGO ON A CONSULTATIVE PROCESS TO BREAK ICANN'S PLANNING CYCLE INTO TWO SECTIONS, A SIX?MONTH STRATEGIC PLANNING CYCLE THAT ESSENTIALLY RUNS NOW TILL THE END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR, DECEMBER, AND THEN JANUARY 1st WOULD COMMENCE THE START OF ICANN'S OPERATIONAL AND BUDGET PLANNING CYCLE, WHICH WOULD EXTEND FOR THOSE SIX MONTHS. THAT WAY STAFF AND CONSTITUENCY GROUPS AND STAKEHOLDERS AND THE COMMUNITY COULD PROVIDE APPROPRIATE FOCUS TO THE TASK AT HAND AND ENSURE THAT ONE TASK, EITHER THE STRATEGIC PLANNING TASK OR AN OPERATIONAL AND BUDGET PLANNING TASK WOULD INFORM THE OTHER. SO WHEN WE HAD OUR MEETING IN MAR DEL PLATA ?? ARE YOU OKAY, MARK?

>>MARK McFADDEN: I WAS MAKING SURE THE SLIDES SHOW UP ON BOTH SCREENS.

>>KURT PRITZ: NO, NO. YOU GUYS HAVE GOT TO ALL MOVE OVER.

>>MARK McFADDEN: TIME OUT. IT IS TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE. AND IN THE INTEREST OF TIME, I THINK YOU SHOULD CARRY ON.

>>KURT PRITZ: IS IT GETTING FIXED?

IN MAR DEL PLATA WE HAD DEVELOPED SUBSTANTIAL PORTIONS OF THE OPERATIONAL PLAN, AND IN A MEETING THERE WE REVIEWED THOSE SUBSTANTIAL PORTIONS AND SOLICITED FEEDBACK AND AS A RESULT, CERTAIN ITEMS WERE PRIORITIZED, CERTAIN ITEMS WERE CHANGED IN THEIR CHARACTER, CERTAIN ITEMS WERE DEMOTED.

THAT OPERATIONAL PLAN WAS POSTED AS PART OF THE ICANN BUDGET ON THE 17th OF MAY. SO IF YOU READ THE BUDGET, IT'S REALLY TWO DOCUMENTS. AFTER THE INTRODUCTION, THE FIRST HALF OF THE DOCUMENT IS AN OPERATIONAL PLAN THAT PROVIDES QUITE A BIT OF DETAIL REGARDING, SAY, EIGHT KEY INITIATIVES BY ICANN, AND THEN THAT'S FOLLOWED BY A NUMBER OF REMAINING OBJECTIVES, I THINK ESSENTIALLY ANOTHER HUNDRED OR SO OBJECTIVES AFTER THAT.

THOSE OBJECTIVES ARE INTENDED TO BE MEASURABLE AND ARE ALL BACKED UP BY ?? OR WILL BE BACKED UP BY PROJECT PLANS THAT INCLUDE MILESTONES, COMPLETION DATES, AND RESOURCES REQUIRED TO ACCOMPLISH THEM.

I PUT THE URL THERE FOR THE ICANN BUDGET, BUT I'M SURE YOU CAN ALL FIND IT. EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM, ANYWAY.

SO I THOUGHT WHAT WE'D DO HERE AND WHAT WE'D TRY, AND I WAS KIND OF UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE MEETING WE HAD IN MAR DEL PLATA BECAUSE IT DIDN'T REALLY HAVE A STORY TO IT, AND IT WAS JUST SOME INFORMATION I BLUSHED BLURBED OUT SO WHAT I'LL DO HERE IS PROVIDE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ITEMS WE THINK ARE FULLY FUNDED IN THIS YEAR'S BUDGET. AND HOW WE'RE GOING TO PORTRAY THAT IS KAREN LENTZ HAS ALL THE WORDS IN THOSE OBJECTIVES, AND THOSE OBJECTIVES WILL APPEAR ON THE WIDE SCREENS, AND THEN I'VE BULLETED THEM, EVEN THOUGH YOU CAN'T SEE IT. THAT'S NOT THE RIGHT SCREEN.

ALL RIGHTY, THEN.

SO IN MY PRESENTATION, WHICH IS UP HERE NOW, WE'LL HAVE BULLETS WITH BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THOSE OBJECTIVES, AND THEN A BRIEF DESCRIPTION, TOO, OF THE TYPES OF RESOURCES WE INTEND TO EMPLOY TO ACCOMPLISH THOSE OBJECTIVES. SO SOME OBJECTIVES WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY ICANN STAFF, SOME WILL BE A COMBINATION OF SAY SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS AND ICANN STAFF, SOME WILL BE GIVEN OUT TO OUTSIDE EXPERTS TO DO.

WHAT WE THOUGHT AT THE TIME WE FORMULATED THE OBJECTIVE WOULD BE THE MOST ECONOMICAL, EFFICACIOUS WAY TO ACCOMPLISH THE OBJECTIVE. SO THE SORT OF FEEDBACK THAT I WOULD ENJOY HERE ARE OF TWO SORTS. ONE IS WHETHER CERTAIN OBJECTIVES SHOULD BE PROMOTED OR DEMOTED IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS, HOW IMPORTANT ARE THEY OR HOW NOT. AND THEN SECONDLY, DO WE THINK WE'RE GOING ABOUT THE RIGHT WAY OF ACCOMPLISHING THEM, RESOURCE?WISE. HAVE I LEFT OFF A CERTAIN CONTRIBUTOR TO THIS OBJECTIVE THAT NEEDS TO BE INCLUDED IN IT OR SHOULD I MORE NARROWLY TAILOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE WORKING ON IT.

AND THEN OF COURSE WE CAN WORDSMITH THE OBJECTIVE, ALSO.

NOW, BE MINDFUL, THERE'S A LOT OF MATERIAL HERE, AND SO WE'LL GO THROUGH THE OBJECTIVES IN FAIRLY ?? FAIRLY QUICKLY.

THE OBJECTIVES ARE BROKEN DOWN AS THEY ALWAYS ARE BY THE FOUR KEY PRIORITIES IN THE STRATEGIC PLAN, ENSURING STABILITY AND SECURITY OF THE DNS, PROMOTING COMPETITION, SUPPORTING THE BOTTOM?UP POLICY PROCESS, AND THE FOURTH ONE, ENSURING GLOBAL STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION. AND IN FACT, THERE'S A FIFTH ONE, TOO, AND THAT IS SOME OVERARCHING ADMINISTRATIVE OR INFRASTRUCTURE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE ACCOMPLISHED IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THOSE OTHER GOALS.

SO WHAT I'LL START WITH HERE, THEN, IS A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE GOALS. I'M GOING TO LIMIT THIS PERIOD OF THE DISCUSSION TO JUST THOSE GOALS, APPLYING ?? THAT PERTAIN TO ENSURING STABILITY AND SECURITY OF THE DNS. AND AFTER THAT BRIEF DESCRIPTION, I'LL INVITE COMMENT, IF ANY, TO TALK ABOUT THE CONTENT OF THE GOAL, ITS IMPORTANCE, AND HOW IT'S GOING TO BE ACCOMPLISHED.

SO JUST AS ANOTHER PREAMBLE, THAT'S THE GOAL AS IT'S WRITTEN IN THE OPERATIONAL PLAN, AS IT'S WRITTEN ON THE BIG SCREEN THERE AND LITTLE SCREEN THERE. AND THEN ON THE SCREENS I JUST DIDN'T MENTION, THERE IS BULLETED FORMS OF MORE THAN ONE OBJECTIVE. AND THE FIRST OBJECTIVE IS THE DEPLOYMENT OF IDNs AND, IN THE LONGER RUN, THE DEPLOYMENT OF FULL IDNs.

AND WE THINK THIS WILL BE A JOINT EFFORT AMONG SEVERAL GROUPS: ADVISORY COMMITTEES, SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS. WE'RE FORMING A PRESIDENT'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON IDNs. ICANN STAFF WILL CERTAINLY BE INVOLVED. AND THEN WE'LL ALSO RETAIN OUTSIDE TECHNICAL EXPERTISE IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS.

SO THIS IS SORT OF A ?? THIS IS A GOAL THAT WILL REQUIRE CONTRIBUTIONS ACROSS THE COMMUNITY.

THE NEXT OBJECTIVE WE HAVE IS TO ESTABLISH SOME SORT OF ?? YES?

>>MARILYN CADE: CAN YOU CLARIFY, YOU'RE GOING TO GO ALL THE WAY THROUGH THIS AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO GO BACK AND ??

>>KURT PRITZ: NO. I'M JUST GOING TO DO THE SECURITY AND STABILITY GOALS. SO AFTER THOSE 12 OR SO. THEN WE'LL STOP. SO WE'LL DO IT BY THAT.

THE SECOND GOAL IS TO ESTABLISH FRAMEWORKS OR ACCOUNTABILITY FRAMEWORKS WITH THE ROOT SERVER OPERATORS. AND WE SEE THAT AS THE RESOURCES WE WOULD APPLY TO THAT WOULD BE THE ICANN STAFF DIRECTLY WORKING WITH THE ROOT SERVER MANAGERS. I THINK SOME PEOPLE IN THE TECHNICAL COMMUNITY WOULD ALSO PLAY A ROLE IN HELPING GET THAT DONE.

THAT IS ALSO A DELIVERABLE FOR THE MOU THAT WE HAVE WITH THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.

A THIRD GOAL IS TO CREATE A TECHNICAL STANDING PANEL. IF YOU'RE ABREAST OF THE NEW FORMS OF REGISTRY AGREEMENTS THAT ARE BEING CREATED, IN ORDER TO FACILITATE THE CONSIDERATION OF NEW REGISTRY SERVICE SUGGESTIONS, WE WILL HAVE, NOT ON STAFF BUT ON STANDBY, A PANEL OF TECHNICAL EXPERTS THAT CAN CONSIDER WHETHER NEW REGISTRY SERVICES MIGHT HAVE A DENIGRATING EFFECT ON THE SECURITY OR STABILITY OF THE DNS.

SO WE'RE GOING TO CREATE THAT ?? THOSE STANDING PANELS IN CONSULTATION WITH THE REGISTRY CONSTITUENCY, AS IS CALLED OUT IN THE AGREEMENT.

WE'LL CONTINUE OUR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SECURITY PLAN. THIS IS ALSO A DELIVERABLE FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, AND WE PUBLISHED THAT PLAN. IMPLEMENTING THAT PLAN IS ANOTHER SUBJECT MATTER THAT TAKES INVESTMENT IN SOME INFRASTRUCTURE AND AGREEMENTS. AND SO CERTAINLY TECHNICAL AND LEGAL STAFF WILL BE INVOLVED AND THERE WILL BE SOME CAPITAL INVESTMENT IN ORDER TO FULLY IMPLEMENT THE CONTINGENCY PLAN.

AND FINALLY, WE WILL ENTER INTO SOME AGREEMENTS WITH OUTSIDE FIRMS, AND THOSE AGREEMENTS WILL PROVIDE FOR ONGOING BUSINESS OPERATIONS IN THE EVENT OF SOME SORT OF CATASTROPHIC EVENT, WHETHER IT'S OPERATIONAL, BUSINESS, OR NATURAL DISASTER.

ANOTHER GOAL IS TO FACILITATE DEPLOYMENT OF DNSsec. AND THIS IS ONE THAT NEEDS TO BE MORE FULLY FLESHED OUT BECAUSE IT'S CERTAINLY GOING TO BE A CONSULTATIVE PROCESS WITH SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS AND ESPECIALLY ADVISORY COMMITTEES.

AND THEN IN ORDER TO BE ECONOMICAL, IN OUR FIRST DEPLOYMENTS OF DNSsec, WE ARE LOOKING TO EMPLOY EXISTING REGISTRY SOFTWARE, AND WE HAVE HAD OFFERS FROM A COMPANY THAT'S DEVELOPING SOME FORMS OF REGISTRY SOFTWARE. WE HAVE HAD AN OFFER FROM .BR TO ADOPT THEIR EXISTING SOFTWARE, AND WE HAVE ONE OTHER OFFER. I FORGET WHERE THAT IS.

AND ANOTHER GOAL IS TO TRANSITION THE SIGNING OF THE AUTHORITATIVE ROOT, GIVEN CERTAIN CONDITIONS ARE TAKEN CARE OF. AND ICANN STAFF AND PROBABLY SOME OUTSIDE TECHNICAL HELP WOULD ASSIST US IN THAT.

WE WANT TO ENHANCE OUR L?ROOT OPERATIONS TO HARDEN THEM, AND WE'D CONSULT WITH THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THIS GOAL. AND THIS WOULD ALSO REQUIRE SOME CAPITAL INVESTMENT.

THE LAST TWO GOALS IN THIS AREA ARE TO PROVIDE 24?HOUR SUPPORT FOR TECHNICAL OPERATIONS. THIS WILL REQUIRE SOME STAFFING, BOTH LOCALLY IN MARINA DEL REY AND GLOBALLY.

AND THEN THERE'S DISCUSSION ELSEWHERE AT THIS MEETING ABOUT DEVELOPING A MODEL FOR THE POST?MOU ENVIRONMENT. AND THIS WILL BE A CONSULTATIVE PROCESS WITH MANY SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS.

THOSE ARE ESSENTIALLY THE GOALS THAT ARE FULLY FUNDED IN THE OPERATIONAL PLAN FOR THE UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR AND THE GROUPS THAT ARE GOING TO DO THEM. SO I WOULD INVITE ANYBODY THAT WANTS TO MAKE A COMMENT.

>>GRANT FORSYTH: MY QUESTION IS WHO IS THE (INAUDIBLE)?

>>KURT PRITZ: SUPPORT OF TECHNICAL OPERATIONS IN A FEW AREAS. SUPPORT OF ICANN INTERNAL OPERATIONS SUCH AS L?ROOT AND ALL THAT, BUT ALSO TO PROVIDE SOME FORMS OF CUSTOMER SUPPORT, EITHER REGISTRY OR REGISTRAR SUPPORT IF THERE'S TECHNICAL QUESTIONS THAT ARISE. AS ICANN BECOMES MORE GLOBAL, IT CAN PASS THE BATON AROUND THE GLOBE AS IT GOES.

>>MARILYN CADE: (INAUDIBLE).

>>KURT PRITZ:.

>>MARK McFADDEN: THIS IS THE MOMENT AT WHICH I USUALLY SAY MY TWO WORDS ABOUT DNSsec. CAN WE ACTUALLY GO BACK A SLIDE WITHOUT BREAKING THE PRESENTATION?

>>KURT PRITZ: I DON'T KNOW. HOW DO YOU DO IS THAT?

>>MARK McFADDEN: THIS IS GREAT. MANY THANKS TO WHOEVER DID THAT.

I AGREE WITH YOU THAT THIS HAS TO BE MORE FULLY FLESHED OUT BECAUSE THIS IS ONE OF THE ITEMS IN THIS PART OF THE OPERATIONAL PLAN THAT I THINK, FIRST OF ALL, NEEDS A LOT OF COORDINATION WITH PARTNERS. THAT COORDINATION WITH PARTNERS AND, IN FACT, THE ?? I GUESS ONE OF THE THINGS I WOULD SAY ABOUT IT, IS NOT SIMPLY COORDINATION WITH PARTNERS BUT RELIANCE UPON PARTNERS FOR CERTAIN PARTS OF THE TECHNICAL WORK, AS YOU MENTIONED, THE SOFTWARE. AND IF ONE OF THE THINGS YOU WERE LOOKING FOR WAS RELATIVE PRIORITIES, THIS IS A PLACE THAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT, BUT COMPARED TO SOME OF THE EARLIER ONES, I WOULD BE PUSHING THIS DOWN THE LIST. ESPECIALLY AS ?? WHAT I'D REALLY LIKE TO SEE HERE IS A CONCRETE PLAN IN FRONT OF THIS. I THINK THAT WOULD BE THE MOST HELPFUL THING. THAT'S SOMETHING PERHAPS STAFF AND THE COMMUNITY CAN WORK ON TOGETHER. BUT BEFORE WE COMMIT TO A LOT OF FUNDING FOR SOMETHING ?? FOR THIS ACTIVITY, WHICH I WANT TO SAY ONE MORE TIME I THINK IS VERY IMPORTANT WORK, A FULLY FLESHED OUT PLAN FOR ACTUALLY WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IS REALLY ESSENTIAL.

>>KURT PRITZ: SO CHANGING THE WORD DEPLOYMENT TO SOMETHING ELSE.

>>MARK McFADDEN: DEPLOYMENT, IT'S CERTAINLY WAY TOO EARLY TO START TALKING IN THOSE TERMS.

>>STEVE CONTE: I FEEL LIKE PHIL DONAHUE.

>>MARILYN CADE: SO MAYBE IT WOULD BE WORTHWHILE FOR US TO TALK FOR A MINUTE TOGETHER ABOUT THIS ISSUE ABOUT THE DETAIL THAT'S NEEDED TO BRIDGE GAPS OF MISUNDERSTANDING. BECAUSE WE'VE SEEN THE HIGH?LEVEL STATEMENT THAT SAYS WE WANT TO ?? THE PROPOSAL IS TO FACILITATE SUPPORT ?? LET ME SAY IT THIS WAY, FACILITATE AND SUPPORT THE ADOPTION OF DNSsec, AND THEN THAT'S BEEN TRANSLATE. AND THAT I THINK HAS BEEN AN OBJECTIVE THAT WOULD BE VIEWED AS SORT OF BROADLY ACCEPTABLE TO FOLKS, PARTICULARLY ?? MAYBE NOT THE REAL LAY USER BUT TO MOST FOLKS WHO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR THAT.

WHEN YOU GET INTO THE IDEA OF CREATING A NON?PROFIT DNS ORGANIZATION, WHATEVER ITS FUNCTION, THEN YOU'RE ALSO TAKING ICANN INTO NEW SPACE, AND YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH ALL SORTS OF THINGS LIKE ADDITIONAL LIABILITY, WHETHER YOU DO IT THROUGH PARTNERS, WHETHER YOU DO IT YOURSELF, ET CETERA, ET CETERA. AND I THINK THAT MAY BE ONE OF THE THINGS WE NEED TO BE SURE WE'RE IN AGREEMENT ON THE TOP?LEVEL GOAL; THAT IS, WE AGREE THAT ICANN CAN PLAY A FRUITFUL AND POSITIVE ROLE ALONG WITH OTHERS IN FACILITATING THE ADOPTION OF DNSsec. AND THEN THE QUESTION PROBABLY COMES DOWN TO HOW DO YOU DO THE EXPLORATION OF THE BEST WAY AND THE MOST SUSTAINABLE WAY TO DO THAT AND THE WAY TO DO THAT THAT GETS YOU THE MOST ADOPTERS, BECAUSE ICANN BY ITSELF IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS IS ?? I DON'T MEAN TO SAY WE'RE A NIT, BUT WE'RE KIND OF A NIT IN TERMS

OF THE LONG LIST OF PEOPLE WHO NEED TO ADOPT AND EMBRACE DNSsec. WE CAN BE PART OF THE CATALYST BUT THERE'S A WHOLE BIG COMMUNITY OUT THERE THAT'S GOT TO BE INVOLVED AS WELL.

THAT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE IT'S SOMETHING MORE DETAILED THAN A COUPLE OF HOURS THINKING.

SO I'M CONCERNED THAT WE HAVE ENOUGH DETAIL IN THE OPERATIONAL PLAN THAT I CAN LIVE BY IT. I WANT TO LOOK AT THE OPERATIONAL PLAN AS A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL, THE GNSO COUNCIL, AND SAY I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING IN THE COUNCIL, AND I KNOW WHAT THE ICANN STAFF IS DOING BECAUSE I'M READING THE OPERATIONAL PLAN, AND THIS IS MY WORK PLAN. AND I KNOW HOW MUCH IT'S COSTING ME BECAUSE IT'S IN THE BUDGET.

WE'RE KIND OF NOT THERE YET, KURT, ON THE LEVEL OF DETAIL. AND SO JUST AS A GENERAL COMMENT, HOW DO WE ADDRESS ?? HOW DO WE BRIDGE THAT GAP?

>>KURT PRITZ: THERE ?? THERE'S TWO ANSWERS. ONE IS THE OPERATIONAL PLAN AT THIS LEVEL OF DETAIL IS IN PARTS OR IS TO BE BACKED UP BY THE ADDITIONAL DETAIL IN THE FORM OF PROJECT PLANS THAT CONTAIN MILESTONE DATES AND ?? MILESTONES AND DATES AND RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS.

THE SECOND ANSWER ON THIS SPECIFIC ITEM, AND WHAT I'M HEARING YOU SAY IS, WE REALLY SHOULD BACK UP A LITTLE ?? BACK OFF A LITTLE BIT AS TO WHAT WE'RE GOING TO ACCOMPLISH AS FAR AS AN END GOAL. AND THE END GOAL IN THIS CASE ACTUALLY BECOMES A LITTLE MORE GENERAL BECAUSE WHAT WE NEED TO DO FIRST IS CREATE THE PLAN THAT IDENTIFIES THE RESOURCES, WHAT PARTNERSHIPS WILL BE CREATED TO ACCOMPLISH IT, AND THAT SORT OF THING.

>>MARILYN CADE: EXACTLY.

>>KURT PRITZ: YEAH.

>>DOUG BARTON: THANK YOU, KURT. HI, THIS IS DOUG BARTON FROM ICANN.

I'D LIKE TO AGREE WITH PART OF WHAT MARILYN SAID, WHICH IS THAT THERE ARE A LARGE NUMBER OF PLAYERS IN THIS PARTICULAR ARENA THAT NEED TO ADOPT DNSsec BEFORE IT CAN ACTUALLY BE EFFECTIVE AND USEFUL ON THE NETWORK. AND ICANN DOES RECOGNIZE THIS AND WE HAVE INITIATED DISCUSSION WITH SEVERAL OF THE APPROPRIATE PLAYERS IN THIS AREA.

I WOULD, HOWEVER, LIKE TO RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE WITH MY GOOD FRIEND MARK McFADDEN ABOUT THE PRIORITY OF THIS TOPIC. AND FROM THE STANDPOINT OF A DNS AND SECURITY GEEK, THERE'S TWO PARTS OF THIS THAT ARE CRUCIAL TO UNDERSTAND. ONE IS THAT IF, FOR SOME REASON, THERE WERE SOME THREAT TO THE NETWORK THAT AROSE SUDDENLY THAT REQUIRED DNSsec IN ORDER TO SOLVE, WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY IN A POSITION TO RAPIDLY DEPLOY DNSsec IN A MANNER THAT WOULD BE SECURE AND STABLE TO ADDRESS THIS SORT OF A NEED.

AND I'D LIKE TO BE CLEAR THAT I'M NOT SAYING THAT WE FEEL OR HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF SOME SORT OF IMMINENT THREAT ON THE HORIZON, BUT THE DNSsec PROTOCOL WAS DESIGNED BY PEOPLE WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH DNSsec AND WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH SECURITY AND RECOGNIZE THAT THERE IS A NEED FOR THIS SORT OF PROTOCOL IN THE LONG TERM TO ULTIMATELY SECURE THE END?TO?END CONNECTIVITY OF A CLIENT TO A HOST.

AND SO IN THAT SENSE, THERE'S A VERY IMPORTANT ARENA IN WHICH WE NEED TO BE PREPARED TO DEPLOY THIS AND AT LEAST BE MOVING WITH STEADY PROGRESSION TOWARDS THE GOAL OF BEING ABLE TO DEPLOY IT.

THE OTHER ASPECT OF THE THING THAT I THINK IS VERY IMPORTANT IS THAT WHILE THERE ARE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF PLAYERS IN THIS ARENA THAT NEED TO BE READY AND NEED TO HAVE SOFTWARE AND SYSTEMS IN PLACE IN ORDER TO MAKE DNS DEPLOYMENT EFFECTIVE, THE ROOT ZONE PLAYS A CRUCIAL AND UNIQUE ROLE IN THE DEPLOYMENT OF DNSsec. AND FOR THAT REASON, ICANN HAS A CRUCIAL AND UNIQUE ROLE IN THE LEADERSHIP ON THIS TOPIC.

AND I COULD GO INTO MORE TECHNICAL DETAIL IF THAT WAS DESIRABLE. I DON'T THINK IT NECESSARILY IS IN THIS FORUM. BUT THIS IS A TOPIC THAT HAS A LOT OF LAYERS. MARILYN'S ANALYSIS OF THAT IS EXTREMELY ACCURATE. AND YET AT SEVERAL LEVELS, MANY OF THOSE LAYERS AND MANY OF THOSE ISSUES POINT BACK TO ICANN. AND SO IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE PREPARED AND TO BE THOROUGHLY CAPABLE OF ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES NOW, SOONER, RATHER THAN LATER.

>>KURT PRITZ: ARE THERE ?? SORRY.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER COMMENTS ON ANY OF THESE OBJECTIVES?

>>BRET FAUSETT: ON THIS PAGE?

>>MARILYN CADE: YOU'RE GOING TO BACK THIS UP WITH PROJECT PLANS AND MILESTONES, ET CETERA, THAT GIVES ME THE DETAIL I'M LOOK FOR. AM I EXPECTED TO SAY TO THE BOARD THAT IT'S OKAY TO APPROVE THE OPERATIONAL PLAN IN WHAT I CONSIDER SKELETAL FORM OR AM I GOING TO HAVE LIKE A ?? TWO BITES AT THIS, HYPOTHETICALLY. HERE IS THE OPERATIONAL PLAN, WE ALL AGREE IT'S REALLY HIGH LEVEL, HERE'S THE BUDGET THAT GOES WITH IT, AND THEN THERE'S GOING TO BE THE DETAIL.

SO IS THE BOARD GOING TO BE ASKED TO APPROVE THIS AND THEN WILL THERE BE SOME ?? YOU KNOW, THE BOARD IS ALSO GOING TO BE GIVEN AND THE COMMUNITY IS ALSO GOING TO BE GIVEN SOME GLIDE PATH AS TO HOW THE REST OF THE DETAIL HAPPENS?

>>KURT PRITZ: WELL, THIS IS THE LEVEL OF DETAIL WE INTENDED TO PUBLISH FOR THE BOARD TO APPROVE THE BUDGET AND THE OPERATIONAL PLAN. AND THE PROJECT PLANS WERE INTENDED TO BE, YOU KNOW, INTERNAL MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR US TO BEAT UP PEOPLE WITH SO THAT ?? SO THAT WE COULD ACHIEVE OUR PROJECT GOALS, AND THEY WEREN'T NECESSARILY INTENDED TO BE TOOLS FOR OUTSIDERS TO BEAT UP EMPLOYEES WITH.

SO ?? BUT WHAT I'LL TAKE BACK IS ?? BUT WHAT I'LL TAKE BACK IS FURNISHING A LEVEL OF DETAIL, A PART OF THAT DETAIL REGARDING RESOURCES AND THE LIKE THAT WE CAN PUBLISH IN SUPPORT OF THAT.

THERE'S THE MICROPHONE.

>>ALEJANDRO PISANTY: KURT, ON THIS LINE OF QUESTIONING, I'M A LITTLE BIT CONCERNED. HAVE WE GOT VERY BROAD INPUT FROM THE COMMUNITY FROM A VERY DIVERSE SET OF STAKEHOLDERS ABOUT THE LEVEL OF DETAIL THAT IS ACTUALLY BEING ASKED FOR?

>>KURT PRITZ: ACTUALLY ?? I DIDN'T HEAR THE LAST PART.

>>ALEJANDRO PISANTY: THAT IS ACTUALLY BEING ASKED FOR, THAT IS NEEDED FOR THE COMMUNITY, THAT THE COMMUNITY WANTS TO KNOW BEFORE MAKING DECISIONS HERE? YOU KNOW, LIKE BROAD AND VERY ENCOMPASSING FOR MANY DIFFERENT CONSTITUENCIES.

>>KURT PRITZ: THIS IS THE SECOND MEETING ON THE OPERATIONAL PLAN THAT HAS HAD BROAD CONSTITUENCY REPRESENTATION. THERE'S BEEN AGREEMENT THAT ICANN HAS PROGRESSED IN THE AMOUNT OF DETAIL IT'S FURNISHED FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR AND THAT IT'S GROWN SIGNIFICANTLY IN WHAT IT'S PROVIDED AS FAR AS AN OPERATIONAL PLAN AND THE LEVEL OF DETAIL AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE MEASURABILITY OF THE OBJECTIVES.

AND THERE'S BEEN REQUESTS, YOU KNOW, IN CERTAIN QUARTERS FOR ADDITIONAL DETAIL. THAT'S VARIED FROM PERSON TO PERSON, AND THOSE PEOPLE REPRESENT CONSTITUENCIES.

I DON'T KNOW IF THAT....

>>PETER DENGATE THRUSH: KURT, I'M LOST, I'M. IT'S PROBABLY MY FAULT. YOU KEEP TALKING ABOUT AN OPERATIONAL PLAN AND YOU REFERRED TO A URL WHICH IS TO THE BUDGET.

IS THERE AN OPERATIONAL PLAN THAT'S BEEN PUBLISHED IN DRAFT OR ARE YOU PREPARING ONE AND ASKING US TO COMMENT ON IT ON A LINE?BY?LINE BASIS AS IT IS NOW?

>>KURT PRITZ: THE BUDGET, HISTORICALLY AND THIS YEAR ALSO, REALLY CONTAINS TWO DOCUMENTS. ALL THE PROSE THAT PRECEDED THE NUMBERS IN THE PREVIOUS BUDGETS AND IN THIS BUDGET INCORPORATED THE ?? WELL, ENCOMPASSED THE OPERATIONAL PLAN. SO THAT'S THE OPERATIONAL PLAN.

IN PAST YEARS, THOSE OBJECTIVES WERE NOT VERY MEASURABLE. SO WHAT WE PUSHED FOR THIS YEAR WAS TO MAKE FINITE, MEASURABLE, CLEAR OBJECTIVES, AND MANY OBJECTIVES, AND PUBLISH THEM AS PART OF AN OPERATIONAL PLAN.

SOME, IF YOU READ THE BUDGET, THE EIGHT OR TEN FIRST OBJECTIVES, BROAD OBJECTIVES, ARE FAIRLY WELL DEFINED BECAUSE THEY'RE IMPORTANT, AND THEN THAT'S FOLLOWED BY A NUMBER OF OBJECTIVES THAT ARE CHARACTERIZED UNDER THE ?? OR CATEGORIZED UNDER THE FOUR MAJOR HEADINGS OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN. >>PETER DENGATE THRUSH: SO WHAT'S ON THE SCREEN AT THE MOMENT IS FLESHING OUT THE TEXT IN THE BUDGET THAT YOU'RE CALLING THE OPERATIONAL PLAN.

>>KURT PRITZ: RIGHT. AND HOW WE KICKED OFF THE MEETING IS THERE'S TWO SETS OF DOCUMENTS HERE. THE ONE ?? THE ONES ON MY LEFT, YOUR RIGHT, ARE BULLETIZED VERSIONS OF THOSE OBJECTIVES, AND THE SORTS OF RESOURCES WE THINK, WITHIN THE ICANN STAFF, ARE REQUIRED TO ACCOMPLISH THOSE.

ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THIS CONSULTATION IS TO GET FEEDBACK AS TO WHETHER THOSE ARE THE RIGHT SORTS OF RESOURCES OR WHETHER THEY NEED TO BE BROADER BASED OR MORE NARROW.

THE DOCUMENT ON THE LEFT ARE FOR PEOPLE'S REFERENCE, ARE THE PROSE AS IT APPEARS IN THE OBJECTIVE ?? IN THE OBJECTIVES ITSELF.

>>PETER DENGATE THRUSH: CAN I SUGGEST AS AN ABSOLUTE TRIVIAL SUGGESTIONS THAT YOU ADOPT A NUMBERING SYSTEM WHICH YOU ALREADY HAVE DONE FOR THE STRATEGIC PLAN, AND MANY OF US NOW ARE FAMILIAR WITH TALKING ABOUT ARTICLE, YOU KNOW, STRATEGIC ARTICLE II?A?3, THAT YOU TIE EACH OF THESE TO THOSE NUMBERS SO THEY'RE SORT OF TRACKABLE. THANKS.

>>MARK McFADDEN: THE WAY ?? I THINK THE WAY THIS IS WRITTEN IS THAT THERE ARE OBJECTIVES THAT ARE MARKED AS PLANNED AND OBJECTIVES THAT ARE MARKED AS IN DEVELOPMENT. AND AS A WAY ?? AS A SUGGESTION FOR THE FUTURE, AS A CONSTRUCTIVE SUGGESTION FOR THE FUTURE, NOT SO MUCH FOR SOMETHING TO DO NOW, IT'S THOSE PLANNED ONES THAT ACTUALLY PROBABLY DESERVE THE FURTHER ?? BECAUSE, FOR INSTANCE, I THINK THIS IS FROM THE PLANNED GROUP.

>>KURT PRITZ: YEAH.

>>MARK McFADDEN: AND THAT IS ALL WE GET. THAT TEXT IS ALL THERE IS IN TERMS OF TRYING TO GIVE US METRICS, FOR US TO TRY TO TEASE OUT THE METRICS AND SO FORTH.

AND I GUESS ?? I GUESS, IN ANSWER TO A QUESTION BEFORE, I'M GOING TO SAY, TOO, THAT FOR THOSE PLANNED ITEMS, THERE NEEDS TO BE A LITTLE MORE DISCUSSION THERE OF HOW IT'S ?? WHAT THE THOUGHT IS BEHIND THE PRIORITY AND THE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES DEDICATED TO IT. THAT'S A CONSTRUCTIVE SUGGESTION FOR THE FUTURE. THAT'S NOT A CALL TO GO INTO THAT NOW.

>>MILTON MUELLER: JUST A QUESTION FROM SOMEONE WHO HASN'T BEEN FOLLOWING THIS VERY CLOSELY.

IS THE OBJECTIVE HERE TO COMMIT TO DEPLOYMENT OF DNSsec IN ICANN'S OWN ACTIVITIES IN ADMINISTRATION OF THE ROOT ZONE?

OR IS IT TO PROMOTE EMPLOYMENT OF DNSsec THROUGHOUT THE INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE?

AND IF IT'S THE LATTER, ISN'T THAT STEPPING A BIT OUTSIDE OF YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION?

>>KURT PRITZ: YES, A LITTLE BIT.

BUT IT'S ?? I THINK YOU WORDED IT WELL, THOUGH.

BECAUSE PRIMARILY AND FIRST, IT'S TO DO THE FIRST THING YOU SAID.

AND THEN ??

>>MILTON MUELLER: DO YOU REALLY NEED A NEW ORGANIZATION TO DO THAT?

>>KURT PRITZ: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

>>MILTON MUELLER: I MEAN, DO YOU NEED TO CREATE A NEW NONPROFIT DNS DEPLOYMENT ORGANIZATION TO SIGN THE ROOT ZONE?

>>KURT PRITZ: THIS, IF IT COMES TO PASS ?? AND AS WE JUST DISCUSSED, THE FIRST EXERCISE WILL BE A PLANNING EXERCISE TO DETERMINE IF THIS IS THE RIGHT WAY TO GO ABOUT IT.

BUT IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY NEED TO BE A LARGE EFFORT.

BUT WE WILL ALSO WANT TO FACILITATE, NOT DO OR ACCOMPLISH, BUT FACILITATE THE DEPLOYMENT OF DNSsec THROUGHOUT THE INDUSTRY.

BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE ARE DOING IT.

BUT WE WANT TO FACILITATE IT.

AND WE WANT TO LEAD BY IMPLEMENTING IT IN OUR OWN AREA.

>>PAUL TWOMEY: MILTON, I WONDER IF I CAN FOLLOW UP ON THAT QUESTION.

THE ICANN INTEREST IN DNSsec IS AN INTEREST THAT COMES UP FROM A NUMBER OF THE KEY MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY AND CUTS AT THE HEART OF BUILDING A MORE STABLE AND SECURE DNS.

SO THAT'S THE FIRST PRINCIPLE.

SO WE GET GENERALLY STRONG FEEDBACK THAT SAYS DNSsec IS A GOOD THING BECAUSE IT'S ONE OF THE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP MEET THAT OBJECTIVE.

THERE'S SOME INITIAL WORK THAT'S BEEN HAPPENING IN VARIOUS PLACES ABOUT HOW TO ACTUALLY GO ABOUT ?? NOW THAT THE DNSsec WORK HAS FINISHED IN THE IETF, THEN HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY GO ABOUT IMPLEMENTATION.

SOME OF THAT WORK HAS STARTED, BUT IT'S SORT OF FOCUSED IN ONE COUNTRY OR THERE'S ONLY ONE SORT OF FUNDER ABOUT IT.

THE ORIGIN OF THIS IDEA IS BOTH THAT WE THINK WE OUGHT TO CONTRIBUTE TO HAVING THIS IMPLEMENTED, BECAUSE IT FITS VERY CLEARLY WITHIN OUR MISSION STATEMENT AND IT'S AN IMPORTANT THING.

BUT, SECONDLY, WE'RE TRYING TO CONTRIBUTE IDEAS FOR HOW BEST TO COORDINATE SUCH A GLOBAL INITIATIVE SUCH THAT IT DOES LOOK LIKE IT'S A GLOBAL AND MULTISTAKEHOLDER INITIATIVE, NOT SIMPLY SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE FUNDED BY ONE GOVERNMENT OR TWO GOVERNMENTS OR SOMETHING.

THERE'S ALREADY WORK BEING DONE FUNDED BY SOME GOVERNMENTS.

SO THE IDEA HERE IS TO TRY TO WORK TOWARDS ?? TRYING TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY ABOUT SPONSORING A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION OF LIMITED TENURE THAT'S AN APPROPRIATE ORGANIZATION TO TAKE FUNDING FROM A NUMBER OF SOURCES TO HELP THIS PROJECT PLANNING EXERCISE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS.

OKAY.

SO THAT'S THE ORIGIN OF THE THINKING.

AND IT'S ABOUT ?? IT'S NOT ABOUT A GREAT DESIRE OF ICANN TO GO CREATE A SUBSIDIARY NGO.

THAT'S NOT WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE AT ALL.

THAT'S NOT WHAT'S DRIVEN IT AT ALL.

IT'S REFLECTING SOME DISCUSSIONS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE ABOUT WHAT MAY BE THE BEST WAY FOR A NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVES TO COME TOGETHER AND HOW TO HELP HAVE A COMMON WAY OF FUNDING THAT GOING FORWARD.

JUST SOME BACKGROUND.

>>CHUCK GOMES: I WANTED TO RESPOND JUST BRIEFLY TO MILTON'S COMMENT ABOUT THE MISSION ISSUE.

IT'S MY BELIEF, AND I THINK IT'S THE BELIEF OF MOST REGISTRIES, AT LEAST ON THE gTLD SIDE, THAT THERE IS HUGE NEED TO HAVE A COORDINATING FUNCTION, A FACILITATING FUNCTION, DONE JUST WITH REGARD TO ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE ?? THAT DO HAVE CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH ICANN.

AND I'M SPEAKING OF REGISTRIES AND REGISTRARS.

AND SO I THINK IT'S ?? IT REALLY IS IN THEIR ?? THEIR MISSION.

NOW, WHEN IT GETS BEYOND ORGANIZATIONS WHERE THERE'S NOT CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENTS, IT'S MORE OF A FACILITATING ROLE, A COOPERATION ROLE.

AND I THINK THIS, IN MY OPINION, FITS VERY NICELY INTO ICANN'S MISSION WITH REGARD TO SECURITY AND STABILITY.

>>PETER DENGATE THRUSH: SO I'M STILL CATCHING UP.

CAN WE COME, THEN, TO THE DISCUSSION, IF I'VE MISSED IT, WHY ARE WE PROPOSING A SEPARATE ORGANIZATION, IF AT ALL?

AND THE THINKING ABOUT THAT, WHAT KIND OF ORGANIZATION HAS BEEN SUGGESTED?

AND IS IT, FOR EXAMPLE, GOING TO BE A SUBSIDIARY WHOLLY OWNED BY THE ICANN CORPORATION?

IS SHAREHOLDING GOING TO BE OFFERED TO OTHERS?

THIS IS A REALLY INTERESTING TOPIC.

WHERE IS THE THINKING BEHIND THAT, PLEASE?

>>PAUL TWOMEY: THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.

I THINK THE ?? I THINK THE WORDING SHOULD ACTUALLY BE "SUPPORT THE CREATION," RATHER THAN THE ?? THE WORDING THERE AT THE MOMENT IS VERY ACTIVE TOWARDS WHAT ICANN ITSELF WOULD DO RATHER THAN TO BE SUPPORTING WHAT OTHERS HAVE ?? ARE THINKING OF DOING.

>>PETER DENGATE THRUSH: (INAUDIBLE).

>>PAUL TWOMEY: THERE ARE PARTIES WHO ?? TO SOME OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES WHO ARE THINKING HOW TO REALLY MAKE THIS ??

>> SPEAK UP.

>>PAUL TWOMEY: I'M SORRY.

CAN YOU HEAR ME?

I'M SORRY.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

I WAS JUST SAYING THAT THE ?? THE FIRST THING IS, IT'S REALLY ABOUT SUPPORTING A ?? THE CREATION OF SUCH A THING RATHER THAN BEING THE FACILITATOR AND THE DRIVER.

I THINK THAT WAS THE KEY DIFFERENCE THERE.

IT'S PROBABLY NOT REFLECTED CORRECTLY IN THAT LANGUAGE.

AND THE IDEA OF THINKING OF IT, IT WAS COMING FROM A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ?? THERE ARE SOME CONTRACTORS WORKING FOR SOME U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES WHO ARE THEN BEING ENGAGED BY OTHER COUNTRIES AS WELL TO ASK THE QUESTION WHO ARE SAYING, "WE NEED A NEW MODEL FOR THIS. WE NEED A NEW MODEL FOR HOW WE'RE GOING TO INTERNATIONALIZE THIS PROJECT MANAGEMENT WORK WE'RE DOING."

AND WE'RE JUST SAYING WE THINK WE SHOULD BE SUPPORTIVE OF THEIR INITIATIVES AND MODELS, NOT THAT WE SHOULD BE FACILITATING CREATING A NEW SUBSIDIARY NGO.

THAT PRESENT USE OF THE VERBS IS A BIT MISLEADING, I THINK.

>>KURT PRITZ: OKAY.

I'M GOING TO GO ON TO OUR SET OF GOALS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH PROMOTING COMPETITION.

THERE'S A MIRROR GOAL IN THERE TO DO WITH PROMOTING COMPETITION OF IDNs THAT'S SIMILAR TO SECURITY AND STABILITY.

AND YOU CAN SEE WHY WE WROTE THIS GOAL IN BOTH AREAS, ALTHOUGH IT'S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT GOAL.

BUT I THINK THE PROMOTION OF COMPETENT IDNs IS A STABILITY ISSUE AS WELL AS A COMPETITION ISSUE.

AND THAT'S A BROAD?BASED EFFORT.

WE'RE WORKING WITH REGISTRARS, AND OUR GOAL TO gTLD REGISTRARS IS TO ESTABLISH A CONTRACTUAL COMPLIANCE PROGRAM TO MEASURE REGISTRAR COMPLIANCE AGAINST OUR EXISTING CONTRACTS AND OTHER STANDARDS.

AND THAT WILL INVOLVE ICANN'S OPERATIONAL AND LEGAL STAFF AND ALSO INVOLVE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOME TOOLS AND TEMPLATES.

WHETHER WE DEVELOP THOSE TOOLS IN?HOUSE OR OUTSIDE, IT'S SORT OF A MAKE/BUY DECISION AND BASED ON FIGURING OUT HOW TO GO ABOUT IT THE MOST ECONOMICAL WAY AFTER DOING SOME CIPHERING.

THERE'S BEEN DISCUSSION HERE IN LUXEMBOURG AND ACROSS ICANN MEETINGS RECENTLY ABOUT COMPLETING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGY FOR ESTABLISHING NEW gTLDs.

AND THERE'S BEEN QUITE A BIT OF DISCUSSION AT THIS MEETING OF ENSURING THE ?? AND BETTER DEFINING THE ROLES OF SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS AND DRAWING THE LINE ABOUT WHO IS TASKED WITH WHAT REGARDING THIS.

BUT CERTAINLY THE NEW gTLD DISCUSSION IS A BROAD?BASED EFFORT.

WE ALSO WANT TO FACILITATE ENFORCEMENT OF NEW CONSENSUS POLICIES AND, MORE PARTICULARLY, THE NEW INTER?REGISTRAR TRANSFER POLICY.

UP UNTIL NOW, THAT HAS BEEN LARGELY A STAFF FUNCTION, AND, ACTUALLY, STAFF HAS BEEN DOING THE ENFORCEMENT ITSELF.

AND WE'RE LOOKING TO FACILITATE WAYS TO PUSH THAT TO THE OTHER ?? APPROPRIATE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES.

A SMALL GOAL THAT ENGENDERED SOME CONVERSATION LAST TIME ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT IS IT, BUT WE WANT TO AT LEAST CONSIDER THE NEXT VERSION OF THE REDEMPTION GRACE PERIOD.

IT'S A ?? WELL, I WON'T GO INTO IT ANY MORE, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T JUSTIFY THAT.

AND THEN WE WANT TO COMPLETE THE sTLD PROCESS.

REMEMBER, WE GOT APPLICATIONS FOR TEN sTLDs IN A PROCESS THAT TOOK MUCH LONGER THAN WE EXPECTED AND RESULTED IN QUESTIONS THAT WERE VERY DIFFICULT FOR INDEPENDENT EVALUATORS AND FOR THE STAFF AND BOARD.

WE WANT TO FINISH THOSE APPLICATIONS.

AND THEN WE WANT TO ?? THE REGISTRAR ACCREDITATION AGREEMENTS HAVE ELAPSED FOR MANY REGISTRARS AND HAVE BEEN RENEWED.

BUT THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE ELAPSED HAS POINTED OUT THE NEEDS TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THEM.

THE DNS ENVIRONMENT SURELY HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS SINCE THEY WERE ORIGINALLY WRITTEN.

WHERE THERE WAS ONE OR TWO REGISTRARS, THERE'S NOW 500.

THERE'S MORE gTLDs.

THERE'S CERTAINLY MORE NAME HOLDERS.

AND THE WAY IN WHICH REGISTRARS CONDUCT THEIR BUSINESSES AND FIND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN THE DNS HAS BEEN VERY INNOVATIVE.

PEOPLE HAVE STRETCHED WHAT PEOPLE THINK ARE PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE DNS.

PEOPLE DON'T LIKE SOME OF THOSE ACTIVITIES, BUT THEY'RE NOT ?? THERE'S NOTHING IN THE CONTRACT TO PREVENT THOSE SORTS OF ACTIVITIES.

SO THIS WOULD BE A ?? CERTAINLY A POLICY?BASED DISCUSSION WHERE REGISTRARS IN PARTICULAR, AND THEN THE GNSO WOULD DEVELOP POLICY FOR HOW THE ACCREDITATION AGREEMENTS MIGHT BE AMENDED.

DIDN'T WE JUST TALK WITH ENFORCEMENT AND THE INTER?REGISTRAR TRANSFER POLICY?

AND THEN ICANN IS WORKING HARD TO IMPLEMENT A WORK FLOW MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES A TICKETING SYSTEM THAT'S ALREADY BEEN IMPLEMENTED FOR TRACKING TASKS WITHIN ICANN, AND THEN KEEPING TASKS AND PROJECTS VISIBLE TO THE ICANN STAFF AND THE ICANN MANAGEMENT STAFF AND ALSO PROVIDE A MEANS FOR PROVIDING MEASUREMENT OF EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE AND STAFF PERFORMANCE, AND THEN PROVIDING FEEDBACK FOR CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT OF THOSE PERFORMANCES.

SO ?? AND THEN THE LAST SET OF GOALS ARE TO AUTOMATE THE REGISTRAR ACCREDITATION TRACKING SYSTEM.

THIS YEAR ALREADY, WE HAVE HAD IMPLEMENTED AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR REGISTRARS RENEWING THEIR ACCREDITATION APPLICATION.

AND WE'RE GOING TO EXPAND THAT TO INCLUDE ALL NEW ACCREDITATIONS, TOO.

I'M REALLY SORRY.

WE ARE ALSO GOING TO PROVIDE A SORT OF REGISTRAR DASHBOARD TO REGISTRARS TO SEE HOW THEY'RE PERFORMING AGAINST THEIR TARGETS AND GOALS.

THEN A SET OF CUSTOMER SERVICE PROGRAMS IN ORDER TO BE RESPONSIVE TO VARIOUS CUSTOMERS OF OURS OR CLIENTS OF OURS, REGISTRARS, YOU KNOW, gTLD REGISTRARS, gTLD REGISTRIES, ccTLDs ASKING FOR IANA SERVICES, RIRs, SO THAT WE CAN MEASURE OUR RESPONSIVENESS AND FEED THAT INFORMATION BACK INTO IMPROVEMENTS.

AND THEN, FINALLY, WE WANT TO IMPLEMENT THE PROCESS FOR CONSIDERATION OF NEW REGISTRY SERVICES.

THIS IS A PDP PROCESS THAT'S BEEN DEVELOPED THROUGH THE GNSO AND IS IN ?? IT'S IN THE FINAL PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD.

AND THEN ICANN STAFF WILL BE IN CHARGE ?? CHARGED WITH IMPLEMENTING THAT POLICY DEVELOPMENT.

AND, YOU KNOW, OUTSIDE OF STAFF, WE'LL BE USING TECHNICAL EXPERTS TO IMPLEMENT THE PART OF THE POLICY THAT INVOLVES EVALUATION OF TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF NEW PROPOSED REGISTRY SERVICES AND ALSO OUTSIDE COUNSEL.

SO THOSE ARE THE SET OF GOALS HAVING TO DO WITH PROMOTING COMPETITION.

AND I'LL BE QUIET AND SEE IF ANYBODY HAS ANY COMMENTS.

>>MARK McFADDEN: THE FIRST THING I'LL SAY IS THAT ?? AND THIS IS SORT OF A LITTLE META COMMENT.

IN THIS PARTICULAR AREA, FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE FOLLOWING ALONG IN THE ACTUAL DOCUMENT, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT ALMOST ALL OF THE OBJECTIVES ARE PLANNED, AND THERE'S NONE ?? I'M GOING TO SUGGEST TO YOU THAT THERE ARE ACTUALLY NONE IN PROCESS.

THEY'RE NOT PRIORITIZED IN THE WAY THAT THE SECURITY AND STABILITY ONES WERE, APPARENTLY.

I DON'T KNOW THE BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHORING OF THE DOCUMENT.

SO SOMETHING HAPPENED THERE THAT THIS SET IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS.

I'LL ALSO SAY THAT THE ISP COMMUNITY IS VERY, VERY SUPPORTIVE AND WOULD BE VERY, VERY HAPPY TO SEE EMPHASIS PLACED ON CONTRACT COMPLIANCE.

THAT'S AN IMPORTANT PART OF KEEPING CUSTOMERS HAPPY.

ANOTHER COMMENT I'LL MAKE HERE ?? AND, AGAIN, IT'S JUST A POSITIVE COMMENT FOR THE FUTURE.

THE CONTRACT COMPLIANCE ITEM IN THIS PARTICULAR DOCUMENT HAS DETAIL IN IT.

AND ACTUALITY YOUR BULLET POINTS DON'T HAVE THE DETAIL.

YOU'VE CARVED THEM OUT.

AND THAT'S SORT OF THE MOVE TOWARDS A LITTLE MORE DETAIL THAT ?? IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE A HUGE AMOUNT, BUT A LITTLE MORE DETAIL THAT WOULD BE EFFECTIVE.

MY LAST COMMENT IS ABOUT IDNs HERE.

AND THE IDN PROJECT TEAM OBJECTIVE APPEARS IN BOTH THE PLAN PART, IT APPEARS AS THE FIRST OBJECTIVE IN THIS SECTION.

IT APPEARS AS THE OBJECTIVE IN THE SECURITY AND STABILITY.

AND IT ALSO APPEARS IN THE "IN PROGRESS" PART OF THIS ONE.

AND SO THAT SEEMS TO NEED TO BE CLEANED UP.

SO I GUESS FROM THE ISP COMMUNITY, THE CONTRACT COMPLIANCE STUFF IS VERY IMPORTANT.

THE LAST THING I MEANT TO SAY ABOUT THIS SECTION IS THAT ANY CLARITY THAT WE BRING TO THE PROCESS FOR STRATEGIES AND POLICIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW TLDs HAS TO INCLUDE NOT ONLY THE STAFFING COMPONENT TO ACTUALLY GET THE WORK DONE, BUT AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE WORKING RELATIONSHIPS ARE GOING TO BE BETWEEN THE STAFF THAT GET THAT WORK DONE AND THE EXISTING SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS AND SO FORTH.

>>KURT PRITZ: JUST TO RESPOND TO SOME OF YOUR COMMENTS, THE IDN ITEM APPEARS IN THREE PLACES BY DESIGN, ALTHOUGH THAT MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST DESIGN.

BUT WE WANTED TO RECOGNIZE SOMEHOW THAT WE THINK DEPLOYMENT OF IDNs SATISFIES OR PERTAINS TO STABILITY ISSUES AND ALSO PERTAINS TO COMPETITION ISSUES, AND WE WANTED TO FLAG THAT.

WE THINK THAT IMPLEMENTATION OF FULL IDNs IS A WAYS OFF.

AND THAT'S WHY THAT PARTICULAR GOAL IS IN THE "IN DEVELOPMENT" SECTION RATHER THAN IN THE FORWARD?LOOKING SECTION.

I THINK THAT MORE OF THESE GOALS ARE PLANNED RATHER THAN IN DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, THEY'RE MORE FINITE AND MANAGEABLE AND SOMETHING WE CAN ACCOMPLISH AND BE SUCCESSFUL AT AND HAVE A MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION FOR NOT A LARGE INVESTMENT.

AND ALSO, FRANKLY, THESE GOALS ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF THE gTLD REGISTRIES AND REGISTRARS.

AND THEY FUND 92% OF THE ICANN BUDGET IF THIS BUDGET IS IMPLEMENTED THIS YEAR.

AND CERTAINLY STAFF FEELS THE NEED TO BE RESPONSIVE TO THOSE CONSTITUENCIES.

MILTON, DID YOU SEE WHAT YOU NEEDED TO SEE?

>>MILTON MUELLER: (INAUDIBLE).

>>KURT PRITZ: OH, WHICH ONE DID YOU WANT TO GO TO?

>>MILTON MUELLER: TWO BEFORE THAT.

>>KURT PRITZ: CAN YOU GO BACK TWO.

THAT ONE?

WHAT GOAL WAS IT?

>>MILTON MUELLER: NEVER MIND.

THAT'S ALL RIGHT.

IT'S....

>>KURT PRITZ: REGARDING THE STRATEGIC INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT THE BOTTOM?UP DEVELOPMENT PROCESS, ICANN AIMS TO IMPROVE INTERACTIONS WITH THE ALAC.

THAT WILL INCLUDE THAT ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND ALSO ADVICE FROM SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS.

WE WILL WORK TO EVALUATE AND IMPROVE THE ICANN SUPPORT OF THE COUNTRY CODE PROCESS.

AND WE WANT TO PROVIDE EFFECTIVE POLICY SUPPORT FOR THE NEWLY FORMED ccNSO.

THERE'S A VERY EFFECTIVE GNSO EVALUATION PROCESS THAT WAS BEGUN LAST YEAR.

AND WE WANT TO WORK WITH THE GNSO TO TAKE THE FOLLOW?UP ACTIONS TO BRING THAT EFFORT TO CONCLUSION.

THE PDP FOR WHOIS INFORMATION IS JUST ABOUT COMPLETE, AND WE'LL WORK TO IMPLEMENT THE RESULTS OF THAT, WORK WITH THE SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION AND, IN PARTICULAR, THE REGISTRARS IN THAT IMPLEMENTATION.

AND WE ALSO WISH TO FACILITATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF IPv6 POLICY.

FINALLY, WE'LL CONTINUE OUR EFFORTS TO ENTER INTO FRAMEWORKS OF ACCOUNTABILITY.

HERE, WE HAVE VERY SPECIFIC NUMERICAL GOALS FOR ENTERING INTO A CERTAIN NUMBER OF AGREEMENTS THAT COVERS A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE OF THE CC REGISTRANTS.

AND I DON'T HAVE THE NUMBERS WITH ME NOW.

BUT YOU'LL SEE THEM UP THERE.

WELL, THERE THEY ARE.

AND THEN, FINALLY, WE WANT TO DEVELOP SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS WITH THE RIRs INDIVIDUALLY.

AND WE'LL WORK WITH RIRs AND THE STAFF.

SO THOSE ARE THE ?? YES.

>>MARILYN CADE: I HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE QUESTION I ASKED AT THE BEGINNING.

AND I APPRECIATE ALEX'S QUESTION OF WHETHER I WAS ASKING FOR MORE DETAIL OR THERE HAD BEEN CONSULTATION WITH A BROAD ENOUGH GROUP OF PEOPLE ABOUT DETAIL.

BUT HERE'S MY QUANDARY: HAVING SPENT AS MUCH TIME AS I HAVE AND OTHERS HAVE IN WORKING VERY ?? AS CLOSELY WITH YOU ?? AND YOU'VE BEEN SO WELCOMING OF THAT, AND I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THAT, BECAUSE I THINK FOR MANY OF US WHO HAVE WORKED WITH YOU, IT'S BEEN VERY, VERY WELCOME.

HOWEVER ??

>>KURT PRITZ: THAT'S BETTER THAN "BUT."

>>MARILYN CADE: ?? HERE'S MY PROBLEM.

I'VE GOT A BOARD MEMBER OR TWO HERE SOMEWHERE.

AND I'M GOING TO BE LOOKING AT THE ?? AT THIS AND LOOKING AT THE PUBLIC FORUM AND THINKING ABOUT HOW I DECIDE IF I HAVE ENOUGH DETAIL ??

>> MIKE!

>>MARILYN CADE: ?? IF I HAVE ENOUGH DETAIL TO LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE DECISIONS.

SO THIS SAYS THAT WE'RE GOING TO FULFILL THE MOU BY PURSUING FORMAL LEGAL AGREEMENTS WITH THE RIRs, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.

THIS IS AN INTERACTIVE ?? THIS IS OBVIOUSLY ONE OF THOSE JUST LIKE THE CC'S THAT'S VERY INTERACTIVE.

>>KURT PRITZ: THAT'S WHAT?

>>MARILYN CADE: INTERACTIVE.

IT'S A TWO?WAY STREET OR A MULTI?WAY STREET OR A SEVEN?CORNER INTERSECTION MAYBE, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

IN PUTTING THE RESOURCES AGAINST THAT AND THE BUDGET AGAINST THAT, HOW DO I DO THAT?

HOW DO I LOOK AT THE BUDGET AND SAY, OKAY, YEAH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT ?? WE'VE GOT 300,000, WE'VE GOT 700,000, WE'VE GOT FIVE PEOPLE, WE'VE GOT 17 PEOPLE, WE'VE GOT WHATEVER, IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH ?? BECAUSE THAT'S A GOALS STATEMENT, TO ME.

AND BY THE WAY, I AGREE WITH THAT GOAL STATEMENT.

>>KURT PRITZ: I THINK, CONCEPTUALLY, THIS IS NOT A GOAL THAT IF WE HAVE A PERSON WORKING ON IT AND WE THINK IT'LL TAKE A YEAR FOR A PERSON WORKING HALF TIME ON IT, THAT IF WE PUT SIX PEOPLE TO WORK ON IT THAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH IT IN TWO MONTHS.

SO IN CERTAIN GOALS, I THINK THAT'S A VERY VALID QUESTION, BECAUSE THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GOALS TO BECOME A SINK HOLE.

AND YOU WANT SOME SORT OF INSURANCE THAT ICANN IS MANAGING THAT IN AN ECONOMICAL MANNER.

AND IN SOME CASES, IT MAKES SENSE THAT, YOU KNOW ?? I DON'T THINK THIS WOULD BE ONE OF THEM.

THE OTHER GOVERNOR ON THAT IS THE BUDGET ITSELF.

SO CERTAINLY THERE'S GOING TO BE SOME MOVING BACK AND FORTH OF RESOURCES ACROSS OBJECTIVES AS THEY BECOME EASIER TO ACCOMPLISH OR MORE DIFFICULT TO ACCOMPLISH.

BUT, IN AN OVERARCHING WAY, YOU KNOW, THE SPENDING WILL BE LIMITED BY THAT.

AND THEN, YOU KNOW, FINALLY, IN AN OPERATIONAL SENSE, PART OF THIS RELATIONSHIP HAS GOT TO BE, YOU KNOW, INTERACTIONS BETWEEN US AND BETWEEN ?? AND AMONG THE ICANN STAFF AND THE COMMUNITY, AND LOOKING EACH OTHER IN THE EYE AND SAYING, "WELL, HE'S NOT SOMEBODY WHO'S GOING TO GO SPEND A MILLION DOLLARS ON THIS GOAL JUST SO HE CAN GET IT ACCOMPLISHED."

AND GIVEN THE TIME BUCKETS OF ?? THESE TIME BUCKETS GO BY REALLY FAST, BUT FROM YEAR TO YEAR, THE COMMUNITY WILL MEASURE THE EFFICACY OF ICANN IN ACCOMPLISHING THESE GOALS AND SAY, WELL, THEY GOT IT DONE, BUT THEY REALLY WASTED A LOT OF MONEY, OR, YOU KNOW, THEY REALLY WENT ABOUT THAT IN THE RIGHT WAY.

SO I CAN'T GIVE YOU A 100% ASSURANCE THAT ?? OR WHO I PERFECT INFORMATION TO YOU THAT WILL ENSURE ?? ASSURE YOU ON EACH GOAL THAT THE SPENDING LEVELS WILL BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH WHAT YOUR EXPECTATIONS ARE.

>>MARILYN CADE: ACTUALLY, LET ME JUST CLARIFY.

MY QUESTION WAS (INAUDIBLE) MY QUESTION WAS, HOW DO I ?? HOW DO I, AS THE COMMUNITY, MAKE SURE THAT THE RESOURCES ?? BECAUSE YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SUPPORT FOR THE BUDGET.

SO HOW DO I, AS THE COMMUNITY, ?? THERE IS THE QUESTION OF AM I PUTTING TOO MUCH MONEY INTO SOMETHING.

THERE CAN ALSO BE THE QUESTION OF AM I PUTTING ENOUGH INTO SOMETHING AND DO I HAVE ENOUGH REVENUE, ENOUGH INCOME TO COMPLETE THE TASK.

>>KURT PRITZ: RIGHT.

AND ?? OH, OKAY.

AND SO THE WAY WE'VE BUILT UP THE BUDGET IN THIS BOTTOM?UP FASHION, GIVEN THE FUNDING THAT'S AVAILABLE TO US, WHICH IS A GOOD THING, BECAUSE FUNDING IS GOING UP, BUT IT'S ALSO CONSTRAINED, IS THAT WE ECONOMICALLY ALLOCATED MONEY ACROSS THE OBJECTIVES AND DETERMINED THEY COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED FOR THAT MUCH MONEY.

AND THAT IS, IN FACT, THE COMMITMENT WE'RE MAKING TO THE COMMUNITY, TO ACCOMPLISH THOSE OBJECTIVES FOR THAT.

SO, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, IT'S A COMMITMENT.

>>PAUL TWOMEY: MARILYN, IT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.

AND THE ?? I THINK WHAT'S HERE IN THE OPERATIONAL PLAN IS ?? UNDER THESE FUNDS IN THE PREVIOUS ONE WHICH HAD THE CC AGREEMENTS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE, IS THESE SORTS OF DISCUSSIONS ARE BOTH TWO WAYS, AS YOU SAY.

BUT THEY'RE ALSO MULTI?SOURCED, IF YOU LIKE, FROM THE ICANN STAFF PERSPECTIVE.

IF YOU TOOK EACH ONE OF THESE, THERE'S NORMALLY SOMEONE, IF I CAN USE THESE GENERIC TERMS, THERE'S SOMEONE FROM THE BUSINESS SIDE AND THERE'S SOMEONE FROM THE LEGAL SIDE WHO HAS TO BE INVOLVED IN ANY DISCUSSION WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS.

I EXPECT THIS MIGHT BE ONE OF THE THINGS ?? WE HAVE DONE THIS BOTTOM?UP PROCESS, WE HAVE ASKED EACH OF THE SORT OF BUSINESS UNITS, WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO THESE THINGS AND WHERE AND NOW AND THAT'S HOW WE'VE COME UP WITH THE FUNDS.

BUT WE MAY COME BACK TO THE COMMUNITY AND THE BOARD AT SOME STAGE DURING THE YEAR AND SAY, EITHER IT'S TAKING LONGER, BECAUSE THAT'S JUST THE NATURE OF THE DISCUSSIONS, OR WE MIGHT COME BACK AND SAY WE'VE UNDERESTIMATED THE MIX OF RESOURCES THAT WE DO NEED FOR THAT.

BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION YOU'RE ASKING.

BECAUSE WE ARE DEALING WITH SOME AREAS AT ICANN IN AREAS WHICH ARE NATURAL BOTTLENECKS, LEGAL AREAS.

OUR DEMAND ON LEGAL SERVICES IS PHENOMENAL.

AND IT STILL SURPRISES ME HOW MUCH WE NEED LEGAL SERVICES.

IT'S THINGS LIKE THAT, I AGREE WITH YOU.

YEAH.

>>BRET FAUSETT: BRET FAUSETT. ONE OF THE THINGS WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IN THE AT?LARGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE IS THE IMPORTANCE OF INCREASING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN ICANN AND HOW TO MAKE THE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION MORE EFFECTIVE. AND TO THAT END, THE 2002?2003 REFORM PROCESS THAT WE WENT THROUGH CONTEMPLATED A MANAGER OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. IN FACT, IT WAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT POSITION THAT IT WAS WRITTEN INTO THE BYLAWS THAT ICANN SHOULD HAVE ONE.

RIGHT NOW, I KNOW WE HAVE BEEN COVERING POSITIONS, WE'VE GOT THAT POSITION STAFFED, I THINK, WITH A ?? THE SAME PERSON WHO IS COVERING PUBLIC RELATIONS. BUT WE ARE GOING TO RECOMMEND TO THE BOARD IN A STATEMENT THAT WE'RE GOING TO RELEASE AT THE PUBLIC FORUM THAT IT CREATE A NEW FULL?TIME POSITION FOR MANAGER OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. AND THIS IS A PERSON WHO WOULD, AS CONTEMPLATED BY THE REFORM PROCESS, SUMMARIZE THE PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ANY ISSUE, SEND THEM TO THE BOARD, MAKE A REPORT ON WHAT THE PUBLIC IS SAYING, FACILITATE THAT SORT OF COMMENT, HELP WITH THE OUTREACH. AND WE CAN'T UNDERSCORE ENOUGH THAT WE THINK THAT'S A VERY IMPORTANT POSITION FOR ICANN, AND WE'D LIKE TO SEE IT FILLED WITH A FULL?TIME PERSON.

>>GRANT FORSYTH: IT'S GRANT FORSYTH HERE.

SIMILARLY, I WOULD SUPPORT THE DESIRABILITY OF HAVING ICANN EXPLICITLY WORK TO FACILITATE THE GREATER INVOLVEMENT OF THE ?? OF A GREATER SECTOR OF SOCIETY ACROSS THE BOARD.

THE CONCERN I HAVE IN READING A NUMBER OF ASPECTS OF THE OPERATIONAL PLAN, IT APPEARS, AND I AM FULLY ?? AWAIT TO BE INFORMED OTHERWISE, BUT IT APPEARS TO ME THERE SEEMS TO BE AN OBJECTIVE TO STRUCTURE ICANN AND TO FACILITATE PROCESSES SUCH THAT ICANN, THE ORGANIZATION, INTERFACES AND FACILITATES INTERFACE TO INDIVIDUALS. AND THAT CONCERNS ME, BECAUSE I THINK PART OF THE REFORM PROCESS SET OUT TO ?? TO DEFINE AND AGREE A SET OF ORGANIZATIONS, CONSTITUENCIES, CALL THEM WHAT YOU WILL, THROUGH WHICH INDIVIDUALS AND ?? AND ORGANIZATIONS CAN PARTICIPATE WITH AND IN THE ICANN PROCESSES.

AND I JUST WANT ?? I GUESS IT'S A QUESTION, KURT, WHETHER MY INTERPRETATION IS CORRECT. AND IF SO, I'M FEARFUL.

BUT WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO URGE IS THAT THIS PROCESS THAT WE TALK ABOUT AND WHICH BRET HAS REFERRED TO IS, AND I'D ENCOURAGE THAT THAT ROLE BE TO ENCOURAGE INDIVIDUALS AROUND THE WORLD, ACROSS THE BOARD TO PARTICIPATE IN ICANN THROUGH ONE OF THE VARIOUS ORGANS AND ORGANIZATIONS AND CONSTITUENCIES THAT WORK WITH ICANN. CAN YOU MAKE ANY COMMENT ON THAT?

>>PAUL TWOMEY: NO; I THINK THAT IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT AT LEAST THE STAFF DO TRY TO DO. WE COULD BE MORE ?? WE COULD ALWAYS DO MORE OF IT. AND I THOUGHT BRUCE TONKIN'S IDEA OF A POSITION FOR OUTREACH IS A VERY INTERESTING IDEA. THAT MIGHT ALSO INTERACT WITH THIS.

SO ??

>>MARILYN CADE: (INAUDIBLE).

>>PAUL TWOMEY: SORRY, THE IDEA THAT BRUCE TONKIN HAD OF A SENIOR POSITION FOR OUTREACH COULD ALSO COMPLEMENT THE SORT OF THING THAT BRET IS TALKING ABOUT, AND THAT SHOULD TRY TO ENGAGE PEOPLE INTO THE DIFFERENT CONSTITUENCIES AND SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS.

I ONLY MAKE THIS FURTHER OBSERVATION IS THAT PEOPLE INTERACTING WITH ICANN OFTEN CHOOSE HOW TO INTERACT WITH THIS AND EVEN THOUGH WE SUGGEST ?? HANG ON, LET ME FINISH.

THE SORT OF THING I'M TALKING ABOUT IS WE GET, FOR INSTANCE, A LOT OF INDIVIDUAL COMPLAINTS THAT ARISE. THAT'S THE SORT OF THING I'M TALKING ABOUT. WE GET A LOT OF ?? TIM IS NODDING HIS HEAD HERE. WE GET A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BE BUSINESSES THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE IN THE BUSINESS CONSTITUENCY BUT THEY'RE ONLY GETTING CONTACT ABOUT A COMPLAINT ABOUT A REGISTRAR.

SO I'M JUST SAYING IF YOU THINK THERE IS A SENSE WE DEAL INDIVIDUALS, I THINK THAT'S THE SORT OF BEHAVIOR THAT TENDS TO DRIVE INDIVIDUAL INTERACTION. THAT'S ALL.

>>BRET FAUSETT: AND MAYBE I CAN MORE CLEAR. WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT WITH THE MANAGER OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, BECAUSE WHEN IT WAS IN THE REFORM PLAN, IT WAS CONTEMPLATED THAT THIS PERSON WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MANAGING THE PUBLIC COMMENT AND PARTICIPATION PROCESS FOR ICANN ON ALL SUBSTANTIVE MATTERS; WILL RECEIVE, REVIEW, AND SOLICIT AND REPORT TO THE BOARD ON ALL PUBLIC INPUT ON MATTERS PUT OUT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT. RESPONSIBLE FOR MANAGING ALL ICANN PUBLIC FORUMS, ALL ICANN PUBLIC E?MAIL LISTS, ET CETERA. PROVIDE NECESSARY ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO PUBLICIZE THOSE FINDINGS, ALL OF WHICH WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC, AND PROVIDED WITH APPROPRIATE STAFF REPORT AS NECESSARY TO CARRY OUT THESE RESPONSIBILITIES.

SO WHENEVER ICANN PUTS SOMETHING OUT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT, AND .NET WAS A PERFECT EXAMPLE, THERE WERE A LOT OF PUBLIC COMMENTS THAT WERE SUBMITTED AROUND THAT, CONTEMPLATE THIS PERSON WOULD PREPARE A REPORT TO THE BOARD, GO DIRECTLY TO THE BOARD, THIS IS WHAT THE PUBLIC IS SAYING ABOUT THE REPORT THAT IS OUT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT, TO FACILITATE, I THINK, THE BOARD UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS OUT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT. AND I WOULD HOPE THAT THOSE BOARD REPORTS WOULD ALSO BE PUBLIC THEMSELVES SO WE CAN GET GREATER TRANSPARENCY AROUND WHAT'S GOING ON WITH PUBLIC COMMENT TO THE BOARD.

>>GRANT FORSYTH: IF I MIGHT JUST FOLLOW UP ON THAT AND PROVIDE A COMMENT IN RESPONSE TO PAUL.

FIRSTLY, THANKS, BRET, FOR CLARIFYING THAT AND I SUPPORT THAT FUNCTION.

MY RESPONSE TO PAUL THAT, YES, CUSTOMERS AND THE PUBLIC WILL INTERACT WITH AN ORGANIZATION AS THEY SEE FIT, ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH THAT. BUT I DO THINK IT IS WITHIN THE CONTROL AND EFFORTS OF AN ORGANIZATION SUCH AS ICANN TO SEEK TO ENCOURAGE INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS TO INTERACT WITH IT IN A MANNER WHICH IT FINDS MOST USEFUL.

AND SO WHILE ACCEPTING THAT CUSTOMERS WILL DO WHAT THEY WILL, I DO THINK IF THE ORGANIZATION FINDS IT MORE EFFECTIVE FOR INDIVIDUALS, FOR INSTANCE, TO INTERACT WITH IT THROUGH AN ALAC, A NONCOM, A BC, WHATEVER ELSE, THEN I THINK THAT'S A MESSAGE AND A PATH AND WHATEVER ELSE THAT ICANN SHOULD ENGAGE IN FACILITATING AND EDUCATING INDIVIDUALS RATHER THAN SIMPLY SAYING BECAUSE WE RECEIVE A LOT OF PHONE CALLS AND E?MAILS AND WHATEVER ELSE, THEN WE MUST GEAR UP TO RECEIVE AND DEAL TO THOSE AND IN FACT MAYBE SET INAPPROPRIATE EXPECTATIONS FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT SOME RESPONSE AND ACTIVITY IS GOING TO OCCUR JUST BECAUSE THEY'VE PICKED UP THE PHONE AND GRISTLED

TO YOU ABOUT SOMETHING ON THE INTERNET WHICH HAS BOTHERED THEM. AND I'M TRIVIALIZING AND I KNOW, BUT THAT'S MY POINT.

>>KURT PRITZ: ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU.

I'M GOING TO MOVE ON TO THE FOURTH KEY STRATEGIC PRIORITY, THAT IS ENSURING GLOBAL PARTICIPATION BY STAKEHOLDERS.

THE FIRST IS TO ESTABLISH A COST?EFFECTIVE OUTREACH MODEL TO EXPAND PARTICIPATION, AND WE WOULD WORK WITH SEVERAL COMMUNITIES ON THAT.

PART OF THIS IS PROVIDING TRAINING AND EDUCATION TO USERS OF ICANN SERVICES. SO AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IS WHERE ISOC LEADS AND WE TEAM WITH THEM TO PROVIDE TRAINING OF IANA SERVICES FOR CC MANAGERS.

WE WANT TO FACILITATE THE BUILDING OF AT?LARGE NETWORKS AND OTHER ?? OTHER ALAC ORGANIZATIONS LEADING TO THE FORMATION OF RALOs.

AND THEN WE ?? A VERY SPECIFIC GOAL IS TO FACILITATE COMMUNICATION OF UPDATES TO INTERESTED STAKEHOLDERS. SO SOME SORT OF RSS OR SOME SORT OF NOTIFICATION MECHANISM, SO WHEN ITEMS OF INTEREST ARE POSTED OR HAPPEN WITHIN ICANN, THOSE PEOPLE THAT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THOSE THINGS UNDERSTAND THEM.

AND THEN FINALLY, WE WANT TO DETERMINE THE MOST EFFICACIOUS MANNER OF INTRODUCING REGIONAL PRESENCES, SO THERE'S MONEY IN THIS YEAR'S BUDGET FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL LIAISONS AND DEFINING ?? WE'VE DEFINED THEIR ROLE FOR THEM AND WE WANT TO MAKE THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THAT ROLE AND THEIR GOALS ECONOMICAL. AND SO WE'LL CONTINUE TO STUDY AND CONSULT WITH THE COMMUNITY ON THE BEST WAY OF ACCOMPLISHING THAT.

THOSE ARE THE GLOBAL PARTICIPATION GOALS.

>>>: COULD WE SEE THE SLIDE WE JUST SKIPPED ON THE TRANSLATIONS. THANK YOU.

>>KURT PRITZ: HANG ON. EVERYBODY STOP. CAN YOU GO BACK TO THAT SLIDE?

WELL, I DON'T HAVE THAT ONE DOWN THERE. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? OKAY, GO AHEAD. DID YOU HAVE A COMMENT ABOUT THAT?

YES, SIR, ICANN TWO YEARS AGO HAD ALL ITS DOCUMENTS IN ENGLISH. NOW, THIS YEAR, AS OF NOW, WE'VE TRANSLATED DOCUMENTS AND SELECTED WEB POSTINGS IN UP TO 17 ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES.

THERE'S CONSIDERABLE DISCUSSION TO BE HAD ABOUT THE COST BENEFIT OF TRANSLATIONS AND HOW BEST TO MOVE FORWARD ON THAT. BUT CERTAINLY WE THINK WE NEED TO TRANSLATE IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE.

>>FRANCK MARTIN: JUST A COMMENT. (INAUDIBLE) FROM THE PACIFIC ISLAND INTERNET SOCIETY, AND I THINK YOUR NEXT ONE WILL BE IN WELLINGTON, WHICH IS VERY CLOSE FROM MANY PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES TO OUTREACH WITH ALL THE ccTLDs IN THE PACIFIC REGION AND GOVERNMENTS.

I KNOW VERY FEW OF THEM ARE PARTICIPATING TO ICANN. VERY FEW OF THEM HAVE BEEN MADE AWARE OF WHAT IS ICANN. I THINK I'VE GOT MORE OF AN ITU FOCUS FROM THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SIDE AND, AND I AM LOOKING AT ALL THE OCEANS.

WE'VE GOT SEVERAL MEETINGS HAPPENING DURING THE YEAR. WE HAVE ONE AT THE END OF AUGUST IN

KIRIBATI, SO I'M WILLING TO DISCUSS WITH YOU HOW WE CAN GET THERE.

>>KURT PRITZ: GREAT. WHAT'S THE ?? WE SHOULD CAPTURE YOUR INFORMATION, YOUR CONTACT.

>>FRANCK MARTIN: OKAY. FRANCK MARTIN, VICE?CHAIRMAN OF THE PACIFIC ISLAND CHAPTER OF THE INTERNET SOCIETY.

>>KURT PRITZ: THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

>>IZUMI AIZU: IZUMI AIZU, AT?LARGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, ASIA PACIFIC. I'M GLAD THAT I HEAR FROM THE PACIFIC ISLAND PEOPLE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN AT?LARGE ACTIVITIES AS WELL AS THE WHOLE ICANN PROCESS.

MY QUESTION IS, I APOLOGIZE IF I HAVEN'T REALLY STUDIED WELL WITH YOUR PLAN IN ADVANCE. IS THERE A TIME LINE FOR THESE VARIOUS MEASURES, LIKE THE ?? WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOU CREATING A REGIONAL PRESENCE, WHICH I UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE CONSTITUENCIES MAY NOT BE WILLING TO PUT TOO MUCH MONEY, SET ASIDE FOR THAT.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PLAN FOR THIS TRANSLATION OR OTHER MEANS IN RELATION TO THE TIME FRAME SO THAT WE CAN SORT OF ALSO COORDINATE OUR ACTIVITY?

WE ARE STRUGGLING, HONESTLY, FOR THE RALO SETUP, AND WHEN SHOULD WE CREATE IT. BY WHEN. AND WE HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS AMONGST THE ALAC OR ALAC COMMUNITY MEMBERS AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, AND THE FIVE REGIONS HAVE ALL DIFFERENT CONDITIONS.

BUT FOR US TO FULFILL OUR MANDATE, WE REALLY WOULD LIKE TO SEE A SET OF GOALS IN LINE WITH THESE CERTAIN TIMES AND, YOU KNOW.

SO IF YOU COULD PROVIDE THAT.

>>KURT PRITZ: THE TRANSLATION GOALS ARE LAID OUT IN TWO WAYS. IN ORDER TO BE EFFECTIVE AND ECONOMICAL, WE TARGET OUR TRANSLATION EFFORTS USUALLY WITH EXISTING FORA. SO IF THERE IS AN EXISTING EVENT OR COMMUNITY WHERE WE CAN BE EFFECTIVE IN COMMUNICATING WITH THAT COMMUNITY BY TRANSLATING IN THAT PARTICULAR EVENT OR FORUM, WE TARGET THAT. SO THERE ARE SORT OF TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR TRANSLATION EFFORTS. AND WE THINK THAT PROVIDES THE MOST BENEFIT FOR THE COST INVOLVED.

AND THEN CERTAINLY WE WOULD ?? TRANSLATION IS PART OF THE ALAC EFFORT ?? TRANSLATION TARGETS THE ALAC EFFORT, AND WE WILL COORDINATE THE EXPENDITURE OF SOME OF THAT EFFORT WITH DENISE.

>>IZUMI AIZU: I MEANT LIKE YOU SPENT THIS AMOUNT THIS YEAR TO ACHIEVE THIS AND THE NEXT YEAR AND THREE?YEAR PLAN, OR DO YOU HAVE THAT KIND OF PLANS, EXPLICIT?

>>KURT PRITZ: WELL, THERE'S A LINE ITEM IN THE BUDGET OF $300,000 FOR TRANSLATION FOR THIS YEAR.

>>IZUMI AIZU: BUT YOU DON'T HAVE THAT THE NEXT?YEAR THING. IT'S JUST ONE?YEAR LINE ITEM.

>>KURT PRITZ: THAT'S RIGHT. AND I THINK IN THE STRATEGIC PLAN, THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSLATION IS POINTED OUT. THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES FOR DOING TRANSLATION COST EFFECTIVELY BY UTILIZING MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY AND LOWERING COSTS, AND THERE'S ALSO ??

>>IZUMI AIZU: WE ARE AWARE OF THAT PART.

>>KURT PRITZ: WHAT?

>>IZUMI AIZU: WE ARE AWARE OF THAT PART, YES.

>>KURT PRITZ: SO OUR STRATEGY IS TO CONTINUE OUR TRANSLATION EFFORTS AS LONG AS IT ?? AS LONG AS IT IS A TOOL FOR EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATING AND IMPROVING OUR MESSAGING. BUT WE DON'T WANT TO ?? WE DON'T WANT TO TIE DOLLARS TO ANYTHING GREATER THAN A YEAR BECAUSE THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES FOR SPENDING MONEY AND THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES FOR SPENDING IT WELL.

>>IZUMI AIZU: HOW ABOUT REGIONAL PRESENCE, LIKE OFFICES? WHEN PAUL VERHOEF CAME TO THE POSITION OF THE VICE PRESIDENT, HE SPELLED OUT SOME OF THE SORT OF TARGET, HE PUT PRIORITY TO THE AFRICA, I BELIEVE, AFTER EUROPE. BUT THEN THE REST OF THE REGIONS, WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHEN EXACTLY YOU'RE AIMING AND STUFF LIKE THAT.

>>PAUL TWOMEY: ON THAT QUESTION, WHAT'S PROPOSED HERE I THINK IS LISTENING VERY CAREFULLY TO THE FEEDBACK THAT WE HAVE HAD FROM THE COMMUNITY, WHICH AS YOU POINTED OUT, THERE IS SOME DIFFERENCE OF OPINION HERE. BUT THERE IS VERY STRONG VIEWS, OPINIONS OF VARIOUS PEOPLE, ABOUT HAVING SOME REGIONAL INTERACTION. AND THERE IS ?? IT'S PART OF THE DICHOTOMY OF AN ORGANIZATION THAT DOES FUNCTIONS THAT ARE GLOBAL, AND AS A CONSEQUENCE, REALLY COULD ONLY BE DONE ?? COULD ONLY BE DONE IN ONE PLACE. COULD YOU ACTUALLY DO THE GLOBAL THINGS IN ONE PLACE BECAUSE IT IS TRULY A GLOBAL FUNCTION.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME THE PEOPLE IT INTERACTS WITH LIVE IN REGIONS AND TIME ZONES AND INCREASINGLY WE FIND THEY WANT TO BE DEALT WITH BY PEOPLE LIKE ME. PUT IT AS BLUNTLY AS THAT.

SO THERE IS THAT CHALLENGE.

WHAT IS PROPOSED HERE IN THE OPERATIONAL PLAN, THERE IS NO PLAN HERE INITIALLY FOR OFFICES OR ANY PHYSICAL PRESENCE. WHAT IS PROPOSED HERE AND WHAT'S BEING MOVED TOWARDS NOW IS ACTUALLY RECRUITMENT OF PEOPLE. AND THE MODEL THAT'S BEEN USEFUL HAS BEEN ANNE?RACHEL INNE WHO DOES A LOT OF WORK THROUGHOUT AFRICA AND LINKS WITH AFRICA. ANNE?RACHEL, ONE OF THE ?? LESS THAN UNSPOKEN HEROES, ONE OF THE TRUE SPOKEN HEROES OF ICANN HAS PLAYED AN INCREDIBLE INFLUENTIAL ROLE AND LISTENING ROLE IN THE AFRICAN INTERNET COMMUNITY.

ANNE?RACHEL IS BASED IN BRUSSELS BUT IS ABLE TO DO THAT WORK FROM THERE. WE ARE TARGETING PARTICULAR REGIONS FOR STAFF PURPOSES. WE ARE GETTING APPROACHED IN CERTAIN REGIONS ?? I GOT ANOTHER ONE THIS MORNING FROM A PART OF A REGION WHICH CAME AND SAID "WE REALLY THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE A REGIONAL OFFICE AND, BY THE WAY, HERE IS A PROPOSAL WE WANT TO PUT TO YOU OF HOW WE WOULD ACTUALLY FUND IT FOR YOU AND SET IT UP FOR YOU." AND I'VE ASKED THESE PEOPLE PLEASE PUT IT TO US IN THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS.

BUT WHAT WE THINK IS BEST TO DO IS A LITTLE BIT LIKE ANNE?RACHEL'S EXPERIENCE, IS TO WORK ?? HAVE PEOPLE WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY. THAT'S THE FIRST THING THEY WANT. AND THEN FROM THAT EXPERIENCE, I THINK THE COMMUNITY WILL TELL US IN PARTICULAR PARTS WHAT SORT OF ?? WHAT SORT OF PRESENCE OR OTHERWISE THEY WANT TO HAVE. AND WE'LL BRING THAT BACK TO THE COMMUNITY.

SO I THINK IT'S ?? THAT'S WHY THERE'S NO PLAN UP THERE, THERE'S NO OPEN OFFICE ONE, OPEN OFFICE THREE. WE MAY END UP WITH NO OFFICES AT ALL. WE MIGHT END UP WITH SOME PHYSICAL PRESENCE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'LL END UP BEING. WE'RE WAITING FOR THAT FEEDBACK.

IN TERMS OF TARGETING OF PEOPLES FOR THOSE THINGS, ONE OF THE MAIN TARGETS IS THE MIDDLE EAST, LATIN AMERICA, SOUTH ASIA, AND SOME PACIFIC CAPACITY SORT OF PEOPLE.

BUT AT THE MOMENT, THAT'S THE ONLY TARGETING.

IT'S A LONG ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION, I'M AFRAID.

>>MARILYN CADE: THANK YOU, JOHN.

I WANT TO EXPRESS MY APPRECIATION FOR THE CHANGES THAT I SEE REFLECTED IN THE OVERVIEW THAT'S PRESENTED HERE BASED ON THE INPUT THAT YOU ALL HAVE RECEIVED BOTH IN MAR DEL PLATA AND SINCE THEN.

AND I THINK THAT WE ALL REALLY OUGHT TO SAY THANK YOU FOR THAT AND HOW MUCH WE APPRECIATE THAT.

IT'S REALLY ?? IN SOME AREAS I THINK WE'RE SEEING A LOT MORE POTENTIAL FOR UNDERSTANDING THAT CAN BE ?? WE CAN BUILD ON.

AND TO SAY ?? SO NOW I'M GOING TO SAY SOMETHING WHICH IS, I THINK, AS MUCH ABOUT US AS IT IS ABOUT ANYONE ELSE.

AND THAT IS THAT LEAVING MAR DEL PLATA AND LUXEMBOURG, I HAD HOPED THAT WE WOULD FIND TIME AS A COMMUNITY TO HAVE PEOPLE PARTICIPATE IN A DIALOGUE ABOUT EXAMINING MORE EFFECTIVE WAYS TO EXPAND PARTICIPATION.

BUT WE DIDN'T.

AND SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT JUST TO COMMENT THAT WE ACTUALLY PLAN SOME KIND OF A PROCESS FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SPEND SOME TIME BRAINSTORMING OR THINKING ABOUT IT OR ENTERTAINING HOW TO DEVISE FRAMEWORKS FOR PROPOSALS OR ET CETERA, OR HOW TO IDENTIFY GROUPS THAT COULD BE PARTNERED WITH, THAT WE TRY TO SEE IF WE COULD FIND A WAY TO QUICKLY GATHER SOME OF THOSE IDEAS, BECAUSE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TRYING TO ESTABLISH COST?EFFECTIVE OUTREACH MODELS BUT WE DON'T ?? WE HAVEN'T REALLY THOUGHT AS A COMMUNITY ABOUT WHAT WE'VE CONTRIBUTED.

IT'S KIND OF THE RIRs, ccTLDs, ET CETERA, SO THAT, I THINK, IS SOMETHING THAT COULD BE THOUGHT ABOUT NOT IN THIS PLAN, BUT IN FOLLOW UP.

BUT I JUST WANT TO MAKE A FOLLOW?ON COMMENT ABOUT THE OTHER THING THAT I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO DO, AND WE DIDN'T DO, AND I DO USE THE WORD "WE" HERE IS WE ALSO DIDN'T DO ANY FURTHER THINKING ABOUT THE ROLE OF UNRESTRICTED FUNDS, THE MANAGEMENT OF UNRESTRICTED FUNDS, THE PROS AND CONS OF UNRESTRICTED FUNDS, THE SCOPE OF UNRESTRICTED FUNDS, ET CETERA.

AND I THINK WE PROBABLY NEED TO DO THAT AS WELL.

IT DOES REPRESENT A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE.

IT MAY REPRESENT EXACTLY THE RIGHT CHANGE.

BUT I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER AREA THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO KIND OF GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF.

AND, FINALLY, I WOULD ?? ACTUALLY, I HAVE ONE MORE POINT.

I ALSO WANT TO REALLY REINFORCE TO ME THE IMPORTANCE OF BULLET NUMBER TWO UP THERE.

I THINK THAT PUTTING MORE RESOURCES INTO HELPING TO STRENGTHEN THE ACCELERATION OF THE CONCEPT OF THE ALAC AND TO SEE IF THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO HELP TO ACCELERATE THAT OR TO STRENGTHEN IT WILL GO A LONG WAY, PERHAPS, TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE PARTICIPATION OBJECTIVE, MAYBE.

BUT IT'S WORTH THINKING ABOUT.

IN THE STRATEGIC PLAN, THERE IS A SUGGESTION ABOUT DEVELOPING A VISION FOR THE GAC ROLE.

I THINK THAT THAT IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE A VERY INTERESTING OPPORTUNITY.

BUT IT ALSO SUGGESTS THAT ICANN MAY BE LOOKING AT ITS ROLE IN PROVIDING SUPPORTIVE FUNDING TO THE GAC.

IT MAY BE A BIG CHALLENGE FOR THE GAC TO THINK ABOUT ACCEPTING MONEY TO OPERATE A SECRETARIAT OR MONEY TO FUND MEETINGS OR THINGS OF THAT NATURE.

BUT I THINK THAT THAT ALSO IS GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE A LITTLE MORE DETAIL FROM MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO FEEL TOTALLY COMFORTABLE WITH THAT.

THAT IS A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT SHIFT AND ONE THAT HAS BEEN UNEXAMINED IN THE PAST WITH PERHAPS ENOUGH DETAIL IN TERMS OF THE IMPLICATIONS THAT IT MIGHT MEAN, BECAUSE IT IS A MAJOR SHIFT.

YOU DON'T GET THAT.

JOHN GETS IT.

>>PETER DENGATE THRUSH: YOU WOULDN'T GET AWAY WITH THIS IN NEW ZEALAND.

THE PUBLIC WOULD RIP YOU TO BITS.

WHAT YOU'RE DOING, I THINK, IS GETTING ?? YOU'VE DESCRIBED WHAT YOU MEAN BY THESE THINGS.

BUT THERE IS ALMOST NO WAY WE CAN RESPOND TO THIS, PARTLY BECAUSE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE THINGS AREN'T NUMBERED.

HOW DO YOU PROPOSE THAT WE NOW GO THROUGH, FOR EXAMPLE, THE ITEMS IN THE PLAN UNDER THE HEADING OF "ENCOURAGING OUTREACH," WE HAVE A GLOBAL ?? A STRATEGIC GOAL OF ENCOURAGING OUTREACH.

THERE ARE 11 DIFFERENT THINGS THAT APPEAR AS BEING DONE AND THEN THERE IS ANOTHER EIGHT OR TEN WHICH ARE IN DEVELOPMENT.

CAN YOU GO TO THE SLIDE WHICH COVERS, FOR EXAMPLE, THE ITEM "HIRE REGIONAL LIAISONS AND EXPLORE MODELS TO ESTABLISH REGIONAL PRESENCES."

HOW IS IT THAT WE CAN RANK THAT IN RELATION TO THE OTHER 20 OR 30 UNDER THAT GOAL?

AND CAN YOU SHOW ME HOW I CAN GO TO THE BUDGET TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH THAT'S GOING TO COST TO HELP ME IN MY RANKING IN RELATION TO ALL OF THOSE GOALS?

>>KURT PRITZ: I THINK ??

>>PETER DENGATE THRUSH: THAT'S THE FEEDBACK THAT THE COMMUNITY IS ENTITLED TO PROVIDE.

IT NEEDS TO KNOW ?? IT NEEDS TO DECIDE AMONGST ITSELVES WHAT THE PRIORITY OF THESE ITEMS ARE.

AND IT CAN ONLY DO THAT, OR REALLY ONLY DO THAT PROPERLY WITH INFORMATION ABOUT HOW MUCH THEY'RE LIKELY TO COST.

>>KURT PRITZ: WELL, CERTAINLY IN THE MANNER WE'RE ?? THEY'RE PRESENTED, THEY'RE PRIORITIZED WITH REGARD TO THAT THEY'VE BEEN FUNDED UNDER THE CURRENT BUDGET.

SO WHAT WE'RE PROVIDING IN THIS MEETING AND PREVIOUS MEETINGS ARE A LIST OF GOALS THAT WE THINK ICANN CAN ACCOMPLISH IN THE FISCAL YEAR.

AND THOSE GOALS THAT WERE LEFT THAT WILL NOT BE ACCOMPLISHED THIS FISCAL YEAR.

AND SO PART OF THIS CONSULTATION IS TO PROMOTE OR DEMOTE CERTAIN ?? A DISCUSSION OF WHETHER WE SHOULD PROMOTE OR DEMOTE CERTAIN OF THOSE GOALS FROM PLANNED TO ?? YOU KNOW, DOWN TO "IN DEVELOPMENT."

SO WE WANTED TO GATHER FEEDBACK ON THAT.

IN ACCOMPLISHING THE GOALS, THEY DO COST MONEY, AND PART OF THE FEEDBACK WE WANTED TO GET IN THIS MEETING WAS SOME DISCUSSION OF THE RESOURCES REQUIRED AND WHAT SORT OF ORGANIZATIONS NEED TO CONTRIBUTE ON THOSE GOALS.

SO AS I KICKED ?? AS YOU REMEMBER, WHEN I KICKED OFF THE MEETING, I SAID LOOK AT THOSE PARTICIPATING OR WE THINK ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THOSE GOALS AND TELL ME IF YOU THINK MORE BROAD PARTICIPATION IS ADVISED OR WHETHER OTHER PEOPLE NEED TO BE A PART OF IT.

NOW, WHEN WE WENT THROUGH THE BUDGETING PROCESS, THERE ARE CERTAIN LARGE PROJECTS THAT WE COSTED OUT, AND THEY'VE GOT SUFFICIENT CRITICAL MASS THAT THEY CAN BE COSTED OUT FAIRLY ACCURATELY BECAUSE THEY'LL ABSORB THOSE RESOURCES.

WHAT WE FOUND IN OUR BUDGETING TASK IS THAT COSTING OUT EACH ONE OF THESE SMALLER PROJECTS WAS SORT OF LIKE BUYING A CAR PART BY PART.

AND NOW WHEN WE ADDED UP THE SUM OF THE WHOLE, WE REALLY GOT TO A BUDGET OR A COST NUMBER THAT WAS FAR IN EXCESS OF WHAT WE WOULD WANT TO ?? WHAT WE COULD SPEND OR WHAT WE WOULD WANT TO SPEND TO ACCOMPLISH THAT AMOUNT OF WORK.

AND SO PART OF MANAGEMENT, PART OF GOOD MANAGEMENT, IS INTUITIVE.

SO, THEN, EACH ?? THE MANAGERS OF EACH DEPARTMENT WERE TASKED WITH PUTTING TOGETHER A DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET THAT WOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO ACCOMPLISH THE GOALS IN THOSE AREAS.

SO EACH ONE OF THESE GOALS, ESSENTIALLY, GOES OUT TO DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS, DIFFERENT CHAMPIONS THAT WILL LEAD THEM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

AND THE BUDGET IS FORMULATED IN A WAY THAT EACH DEPARTMENT IS GIVEN ENOUGH RESOURCES IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THOSE GOALS.

AND THE DEPARTMENTAL MANAGERS HAVE COMMITTED TO WORK ON THESE GOALS WITH THE RESOURCES THEY'VE ASKED FOR IN THEIR BUDGET.

AND THEN, OF COURSE, THOSE BUDGETS WERE NEGOTIATED WITH MANAGEMENT, YOU KNOW, AND TAILORED BACK.

SO, YOU KNOW, I FOUND IT TO BE NOT A GOOD WAY TO MANAGE THESE GOALS, BECAUSE ADDING UP THE SUM OF EACH OF THOSE PROJECTS TENDED TO BE TOO MUCH MONEY.

AND IN ORDER TO TAILOR BACK THE EXPENDITURES, WE COMBINED EFFORTS ACROSS THE GOALS.

>>PETER DENGATE THRUSH: I'M NOT SURE THAT AT ALL ANSWERS THE QUESTION.

LET ME MAKE IT EASIER.

LET'S ASSUME THAT AMONGST OTHER PEOPLE, I DECIDE THAT I DON'T WANT, AS A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY, TO HAVE TRANSLATING DOCUMENTS INCLUDED IN IMPLEMENTATION OF PARALLEL WEB SITES IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AS ONE OF OUR GOALS OR I WANT IT TO BE A VERY LOW PRIORITY.

FIRST OF ALL, HOW WILL YOU KNOW OR IS THIS ONE OF THOSE INTUITIVE THINGS THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, THAT THAT'S IN FACT A COMMUNITY DECISION?

WHAT IS THE STANDARD BY WHICH SOMETHING WILL BE REMOVED FROM THIS?

DO WE HAVE TO HAVE PEOPLE AT THE GATES WITH PITCHFORKS OR IS IT TWO OR THREE PEOPLE IN THE ROOM WHO DON'T LIKE IT?

SO WHAT'S THE STANDARD AGAINST WHICH THAT'S GOING TO BE DONE?

AND IF YOU REACH THE DECISION THAT THAT TRANSLATION GOAL WAS TO BE REMOVED, TAKE ME TO THE BUDGET AND SHOW ME HOW YOU WOULD CHANGE THE BUDGET AS A RESULT OF REMOVING THAT GOAL.

>>KURT PRITZ: IN THE PAST, ICANN WOULD FORMULATE GOALS AND PUBLISH A BUDGET AND NOT HAVE PUBLIC CONSULTATION, AND SO THERE WASN'T ANY NEED TO REALLY CALCULATE THE NUMBER OF VOTES THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED OR THE WEIGHTED AVERAGE THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED TO MOVE SOMETHING AROUND.

AND WHAT WE'RE ATTEMPTING TO DO IN THESE MEETINGS IS TO GAUGE FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITIES TO SEE WHAT HAS A LOT OF SUPPORT AND WHAT MIGHT NOT HAVE A LOT OF SUPPORT.

SO AS FAR AS A HARD NUMBER, REACHING THAT TO WHAT WOULD BE REQUIRED TO REMOVE IT, YOU KNOW, THE ANSWER IS, I DON'T KNOW.

AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS MEETING IS TO EXPLORE HOW WE WORK TOGETHER TO DETERMINE WHAT THE GOALS ARE.

I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, AT THE END OF THE DAY, THERE'S GOING TO BE PROMOTION OF GOALS AND DEMOTION OF GOALS AND SOME MOVING AROUND OF ?? SOME MOVING AROUND OF RESOURCES TO ACCOMPLISH THOSE GOALS.

AND THEN AFTER THAT, WE WOULD LOOK AT IF THERE ?? IF THOSE CHANGES ARE MATERIAL ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY MAKE A DECREASE IN THE BUDGET AFTER MOVING ALL THOSE GOALS AROUND.

>>VINT CERF: I SORT OF WANT TO REINFORCE WHAT PETER IS TRYING TO DO HERE, EVEN THOUGH IT'S HARD.

WHEN YOU TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT PRIORITIES ARE, YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ASSOCIATING COST IN THE EQUATION.

YOU KNOW, IF I SAID THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR US TO GET A MAN ON MARS, IF ICANN WERE IN THAT BUSINESS, AND IT'S VERY HIGH PRIORITY, THE NATURAL QUESTION WOULD BE, CAN WE AFFORD TO DO THAT.

AND I THINK WHAT PETER IS SAYING IS THAT IS THERE ANY WAY THAT WE CAN GET A BETTER SENSE ?? PRECISION, I THINK, IS VERY HARD.

BUT WE HAVE A TOTAL NUMBER OF STAFF.

YOU COULD EVEN ASK YOURSELF WITH THE EXISTING RESOURCES, HOW FAR CAN I GO?

WHAT THINGS CAN I ACCOMPLISH?

I KNOW HOW MUCH MY STAFF COSTS.

I KNOW HOW MUCH ?? I MAYBE HAVE HISTORICAL INFORMATION ABOUT TRAVEL AND SO ON.

I THINK THAT ALL PETER IS SAYING IS, IS THERE SOME WAY THAT WE CAN GET A BETTER ESTIMATE OF THE COST OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF OUR WORK SO THAT ALONG WITH THE DESIRE TO GET SOMETHING DONE, WE HAVE SOME IDEA OF WHAT IT MIGHT COST?

BECAUSE IF IT WAS TOO EXPENSIVE, WE MIGHT VERY WELL DECIDE THAT IT DOESN'T DESERVE THE PRIORITY THAT WE OTHERWISE WOULD GIVE IT.

SO ?? AND I'M NOT TRYING TO STAND UP HERE TO, YOU KNOW, BEAT ANYBODY UP OR ANYTHING, BUT I REALLY DO THINK THAT FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY SAYS THAT WE NEED TO HAVE SOME SENSE FOR THE BALANCE BETWEEN THINGS WE WANT TO DO AND WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO COST. AND THAT WILL HAVE SOME EFFECT ON THE PRIORITY THAT WE GIVE THEM.

>>PAUL TWOMEY: I THINK THEY'RE VERY USEFUL COMMENTS.

AND POOR KURT'S HERE GOING THROUGH IT ONE BY ONE, NEED TO WEAR THE KEVLAR JACKET. BUT I THINK IT'S ALSO A LEARNING EXPERIENCE.

AND CAN I PUSH THE LEARNING BOUNDARY HERE ON THIS TOPIC?

THE ICANN BUDGETS ?? AND THIS ONE STILL IS A BUDGET ?? ARE VERY SIMILAR TO BUDGETS, SAY, IN UNIVERSITY.

THEY'RE BASICALLY RATIONING EXERCISES.

THEY'RE NOT ?? HOW TO PUT IT.

THEY'RE NOT, I SUSPECT, WHAT GOOGLE FACES AT THE MOMENT, IF I CAN JUST THINK OF SOME COMPANY THAT PROBABLY HAS ACCESS TO A VERY LARGE AMOUNT OF CAPITAL IF IT WANTS IT.

IT'S NOT AN EXERCISE IN, YOU KNOW, ABSOLUTE SAVINGS.

IT IS MUCH CLOSER TO THE EXAMPLE IN A UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT.

YOU'VE GOT $2 MILLION THIS YEAR AND YOU'LL JUST DO AS MUCH AS YOU CAN WITH $2 MILLION.

AND THIS BUDGET IS LIKE THAT.

IT TAKES A CERTAIN PROPORTION OUT AND PUTS IT IN THE RESERVES.

AND THEN IT SAYS, YOU KNOW, FOR ALL THE OTHER ACTIVITIES BY THESE DIFFERENT UNITS, THIS IS ?? THESE ARE THE SORT OF PRIORITIES, THIS IS WHAT TAKES UP THE RATION, IF YOU LIKE.

NOW, WE COULD PUT UP THE AMOUNTS, SO WE COULD PUT UP THESE ARE THINGS THAT DIDN'T QUITE MAKE IT AND IF YOU THINK THESE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE THINGS BELOW IT, WE'LL SHIFT THINGS AROUND.

AND THAT'S ANOTHER WAY TO DO IT.

WE'RE NOT IN A POSITION TO DO IT THIS AFTERNOON.

BUT IT'S GOOD FEEDBACK.

WE'RE STILL TRYING TO LEARN ON THIS.

MAY I MAKE THE ONLY PITCH ?? NOT PITCH, BUT REQUEST, AND I MADE THIS REQUEST TO THE FINANCE COMMITTEE.

I'M GOING TO BE HERETICAL HERE.

IN SOME RESPECTS ?? AND THIS IS NOT A STATEMENT OF LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY ?? BUT IN A PHILOSOPHICAL SENSE, IN SOME RESPECTS, I THINK WE'RE IN FANTASY LAND HERE.

AND THIS IS ?? BY THAT I MEAN THIS IS THE TRADITIONAL LINEAR BUSINESS PLANNING MODEL, ALL RIGHT, WHICH HAS AT THE HEART OF ITS PHILOSOPHY THAT YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR FUTURE BY WHAT YOU SPEND ON.

NOW, THAT'S ALWAYS BEEN A BIT OF A FANTASY.

IT'S A DISCIPLINE ONE SHOULD DO.

I'M NOT SAYING WE SHOULDN'T DO IT. BUT IT'S ALWAYS A BIT OF A FANTASY.

IF ONE TOOK THE MINDSET WHICH SAID CHAOS THEORY OR UNCERTAINTY IS WHAT ACTUALLY DRIVES A LOT OF ACTIVITY, AND NETWORK ENVIRONMENT, THERE ARE CERTAINLY NETWORK EFFECTS OF THINGS, YOU END UP WITH DIFFERENT VIEWS OF IT.

NOW, I THINK WE SHOULD STICK TO THIS.

ALL I'M GOING TO SAY TO PETER IS, WE CAN PUT OUT THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL.

WE CAN ACTUALLY GO THROUGH THAT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.

THE NEXT STEP WILL NATURALLY BE SOME (INAUDIBLE) TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU SPENT AGAIN THIS? AT THE END OF THE YEAR, HOW MUCH DID YOU SPEND AGAINST THESE ITEMS?

THIS HAS BEEN BAD MANAGEMENT BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T MEET THESE TARGETS, IT'S BEEN BAD MANAGEMENT BECAUSE YOU OVERSPENT ON THIS OR UNDERSPENT ON THAT.

IT MIGHT NOT BE BAD.

BUT I CAN GUARANTEE YOU SOMETHING LIKE 30 TO 40% AT THE END OF THE YEAR WILL NOT BE SPENT THE WAY WE THINK IT WAS GOING TO BE SPENT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF THE ENVIRONMENT WE'RE IN.

I'M NOT TRYING TO WALK AWAY FROM ACCOUNTABILITY.

I'M JUST TRYING TO FLAG THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THAT PART OF THE PLANNING.

>>PETER DENGATE THRUSH: THAT'S EXACTLY, WHAT YOU JUST DESCRIBED, WHAT YOU SHOULD DO, WITH ALL RESPECT, BECAUSE IT'S WHAT THE MEMBERS ARE ENTITLED TO.

YOU CANNOT TAKE 25, $50 MILLION OF PEOPLE'S MONEY OFF THEM AND NOT EXPLAIN WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO WITH IT AND AT THE END SAY WHERE IT WENT.

YOU DO HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS AND YOU HAVE TO PUT IT UP.

AND WHAT YOU DO IS YOU GET BETTER AT MANAGING THAT PROCESS AND BETTER AT EXPLAINING IT AT THE END OF THE YEAR.

AND PEOPLE GET BETTER AT ASKING THE QUESTIONS.

IF YOU DO IT LIKE THIS WITH NO DATA AND TRY AND STOP THAT QUESTIONING PROCESS, THAT'S JUST IMPLAUSIBLE.

>>PAUL TWOMEY: WELL, THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M ?? THAT WAS NOT WHAT I SAID.

I WAS AGREEING WITH YOU.

I WAS JUST TAKING THE LEARNING FURTHER IN WHAT SHOULD WE DO IN THE NEXT STEP.

THAT WAS ALL.

>>VINT CERF: I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE, PETER, BUT I'VE DONE LOTS OF BUDGETS, AND ALMOST INVARIABLY AT THE END OF THE YEAR, MY SPENDING PATTERN DIDN'T LOOK THE SAME AS WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO LOOK LIKE.

>>PETER DENGATE THRUSH: WELL, OF COURSE.

>>VINT CERF: AND EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS THAT.

AND THE IMPORTANT PART IS AT THE END OF THE YEAR KNOWING WHAT YOU DID SPEND AND WHAT YOU SPENT IT ON SO YOU CAN TELL PEOPLE, "HERE'S WHAT WE ENDED UP WITH."

AND I THINK THAT'S ALL PAUL IS SAYING.

BUT IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE COMMIT TO BEING ABLE TO, A, SAY WHAT OUR PLAN IS; AND THEN DURING THE YEAR, IF SOMETHING REALLY SIGNIFICANT HAPPENS, THEN THERE'S A SHIFT IN THE SPENDING PLAN, WE NEED TO SAY THAT.

AND AT THE END OF THE YEAR, WE NEED TO DESCRIBE WHAT IT WAS WE SPENT.

AND I THINK WHAT PEOPLE ARE ALSO ASKING IS SOME RECKONING BETWEEN WHAT OUR OBJECTIVES WERE AND WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED.

BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THEY WON'T ALWAYS BE THE SAME.

YOU KNOW, CONTINGENCIES WILL HAPPEN, OPPORTUNITIES WILL ARISE, EVEN COST SAVING OPPORTUNITIES WILL ARISE.

BUT WHAT ?? I THINK WHAT PEOPLE ARE ASKING FOR HERE IS PART OF THE GENERAL TRANSPARENCY NOTION, WHICH IS BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE PLAN IS, DOES IT SEEM RATIONAL.

DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR, ARE THERE THINGS THAT MAKE A MATERIAL DIFFERENCE?

AND AT THE END OF THE YEAR , A KIND OF RECKONING TO THE ?? NOT THE ACCOUNTING ?? WHAT IS THE RIGHT WORD? ?? NOT THE AUDIT KIND OF RECKONING.

JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE SPENT $26 MILLION, AND DID WE REALLY SPEND 26 MILLION AND WERE ALL THE RECORDS CORRECT.

WE NEED TO DO THAT.

THAT'S A FISCAL REQUIREMENT.

BUT WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING IS CAN WE TIE IT BACK TO WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH AND HOW FAR DID WE GET IN IT?

ALL OF THOSE SEEM LIKE PRETTY REASONABLE THINGS TO ME.

>>MARK McFADDEN: I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE REFRESHING FOR TO YOU GET SOME POSITIVE FEEDBACK.

BUT BEFORE I DO THAT ??

(LAUGHTER.)

>>MARK McFADDEN: ?? WEIGHING IN ON THIS, WHAT I ?? VINT IS EXACTLY RIGHT ON END POINTS, AND I THINK THAT WAS WELL SAID.

WHAT'S IMPORTANT FOR ME IS THAT THERE BE CLEAR, ALMOST CRYSTALLINE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE STRATEGIC PLAN, THE OBJECTIVE ON OPERATIONAL PLAN THAT MEETS THOSE STRATEGIC PLANS AND THE BUDGET THAT SUPPORTS IT.

AND SOMEONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GO AND NOT TO FORCE SOMETHING ON YOU, BUT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO GO THROUGH SORT OF NUMBERED ITEMS AND ACTUALLY SEE HOW THESE OBJECTIVES AND OPERATIONS FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR MEET THESE OBJECTIVES, AND ALMOST IN A ?? I'M ALMOST THINKING IN OUTLINE FORMAT, MAKE THOSE CONNECTIONS.

IT'S THE NETWORK THAT MATTERS, AFTER ALL.

AND AS A POSITIVE SUGGESTION FOR THE FUTURE, I THINK THOSE RELATIONSHIPS OUGHT TO BE CLEAR.

WE'RE LEARNING TO DO A BETTER JOB AT THE STRATEGIC PLANNING.

WE'RE JUST IN THE START OF THE SECOND PART OF THAT PROCESS.

AND I THINK IN TERMS OF OPERATIONAL PLANNING, WE'RE LEARNING HOW TO DO THAT.

AND THAT WOULD BE A SUGGESTION FOR DOING THAT TRACKING IN THE FUTURE.

AND IT HAS TO BE CONSISTENT BETWEEN BOTH OF THOSE PLANS.

MY POSITIVE ?? I LOVE HOW THIS PARTICULAR ITEM HAS BEEN REWRITTEN.

AS YOU KNOW, MY CONSTITUENCY AND MYSELF IN PARTICULAR HAVE BEEN VERY SUSPICIOUS OF THIS PARTICULAR ITEM THAT SITS IN THE STRATEGIC PLAN.

AND I THINK THAT THE INPUT THAT ICANN, THE BOARD AND THE STAFF, GOT FOR THIS PARTICULAR ITEM THAT APPEARS IN THE STRATEGIC PLAN HAS BEEN REDRAFTED AND REORIENTED IN A VERY POSITIVE WAY.

I LIKE A LOT OF THE WAY THAT THINGS HAVE BEEN REWORDED HERE IN TERMS OF THE LIAISONS AND THE WAY THAT THE EMPHASIS IS ON PRESENCE, THE PRESENCE IN THOSE PLACES.

I'D LIKE TO COMBINE THEM.

THERE'S ANOTHER ITEM THAT'S ACTUALLY ?? ANOTHER OBJECTIVE THAT'S IN HERE ?? COMBINE THEM WITH THE INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH OBJECTIVES THAT SIT JUST A FEW BELOW THIS THAT ACTUALLY SPECIFY WAYS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS.

BUT I THINK THIS IS ACTUALLY A ?? FOR ME, AND I THINK FOR MY CONSTITUENCY, A REAL BREAKTHROUGH IN THE THINKING ABOUT HOW TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT REGIONAL PRESENCE.

AND I REALLY THINK THIS IS WELL ?? VERY WELL REWRITTEN.

>>CHUCK GOMES: JUST A BRIEF COMMENT BECAUSE I KNOW WE'RE LATE.

BUT ONE OF THE THINGS I'VE BEEN IMPRESSED WITH WITH MANY OF THE COMMENTS HERE TODAY HAS BEEN HOW SIMILAR THEY ARE TO THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT ON THE BUDGET ADVISORY GROUP A FEW WEEKS AGO.

I THINK THEY'RE REALLY HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS, AND IT WOULD BE GREAT NEXT YEAR TO SEE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MANY OF THESE THINGS.

AND I THINK IT WILL REALLY FACILITATE THIS PROCESS EVEN MORE AS WE GO ON.

ONE COMMENT, THOUGH.

I THINK PROBABLY MOST EVERYBODY HERE IS IN AGREEMENT WITH THIS.

I KNOW LOTS OF PEOPLE IN THE REGISTRY GROUP AS WELL AS OTHER PEOPLE I WORK WITH IN THE BUDGET ADVISORY GROUP, WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT MICROMANAGEMENT.

WE DON'T THINK THAT THE COMMUNITY NEEDS TO MICROMANAGE WHAT YOU DO.

YOU HAVE TO HAVE SOME FLEXIBILITY AND FREEDOM TO RUN YOUR ORGANIZATION MICROMANAGEMENT.

AND I JUST WANT TO END MY COMMENT BY SAYING, I DON'T THINK ANYBODY INTENDS THAT.

IF THEY DO, THEY CAN SPEAK UP.

AND SO JUST WANTED ?? I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT TO BALANCE ALL THIS WITH THAT STATEMENT.

>>KURT PRITZ: THANK YOU.

I WANT TO BRING THE MEETING TO A CLOSE BECAUSE IN 20 MINUTES, THE BUSES ARE LEAVING THE HOTEL FOR THE GALA DINNER.

SO THOSE OF US WHO ARE RIDING THE BUS AND WANT TO GET ON IT SHOULD CONTEST FOR TAXIS OUTSIDE AND SEE HOW WELL YOU DO.

I'D REALLY LIKE TO THANK EVERYBODY.

I KNOW EVERYBODY'S TIME IS VERY VALUABLE AND EVERYBODY IS TIRED AT THE END OF THE DAY.

SO THE STAFF AND BOARD ARE VERY APPRECIATIVE OF THE TIME EVERYBODY HAS DEVOTED TO THIS, ME IN PARTICULAR.

SO THANKS VERY MUCH. AND THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENTS.

(APPLAUSE.)