1999-07-26 - PRESIDENT'S TASK FORCE ON FUNDING

Interim President and Chief Executive Officer Roberts briefed the Board on the Corporation's efforts to obtain a permanent and stable funding source. It was noted that in its July 8, 1999, letter to Interim Chairman Dyson the U.S. Department of Commerce suggested that the Corporation suspend collection of the $1 variable component of the registrar accreditation fee until Directors selected by Supporting Organizations are seated so that a Board including those Directors can consider and approve an appropriate long-term funding mechanism. While agreeing that the $1 per-registration component of the registrar accreditation fee is a rational and appropriate approach to long-term funding that was the result of full notice and comment, is consistent with the White Paper, and is fully authorized by the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Commerce and the Corporation, the July 8 letter noted that the $1 component had become controversial. After the July 16, 1999 Board meeting, Ms. Dyson wrote the Department of Commerce on July 19, 1999, indicating that the Board had decided to defer the collection of the $1 registrar fee and to appoint a task force made up of name and address registry administrators and gTLD name registrars, the entities that will bear primary responsibility for ICANN's cost-recovery needs, to make recommendations for a permanent funding structure.

Upon motion made by Mr. Crew and seconded by Ms. Dyson, the Board unanimously approved the following resolutions:WHEREAS, the budget adopted on May 27, 1999, by Resolution 99.55 established the variable component of the registrar accreditation fee at $1 per registration-year;

WHEREAS, that $1 component has recently been the subject of controversy, causing the U.S. Department of Commerce to request that ICANN suspend collection of the fee until the matter can be considered by a Board including directors selected by ICANN's supporting organizations;

WHEREAS, various accredited registrars have announced that they intend to voluntarily pay the $1 component in the event its collection is suspended;

WHEREAS, that Board would benefit from additional views from name and address registry administrators and registrars, which will provide a principal source of ICANN's funding on an ongoing basis;

RESOLVED [resolution 99.61], the Interim President and Chief Executive Officer is authorized to suspend collection of the $1 variable component of the registrar accreditation fee until further action by the Board;

FURTHER RESOLVED [resolution 99.62], the Interim President and Chief Executive Officer is directed to convene a President's Task Force on Funding, chaired by him and also consisting of representatives chosen by him from IP address registries, domain-name registrars, and administrators of gTLD and ccTLD registries, and charged with formulating recommendations on cost-recovery mechanisms that fairly apportion ICANN's funding needs, as reflected in the budget that has been adopted, among the Internet name and address registry administrators and registrars and possibly other parties;

FURTHER RESOLVED [resolution 99.63], based on the input of the President's Task Force on Funding and such consultation with staff and legal counsel as he deems appropriate, the Interim President and Chief Executive Officer is directed to have posted a preliminary report on funding alternatives on the ICANN web site in advance of the Board meeting scheduled for August 25 and 26, 1999, in Santiago, Chile, with further consideration of this matter to be as directed by Board resolution at that meeting or otherwise.