ICANN Advances IANA Transition, Accountability Plans to NTIA

ICANN Board Chairman Steve Crocker confirmed to reporters that he had sent the IANA transition plan and the ICANN accountability recommendations on to NTIA, culminating almost two years of work on planning the transition. NTIA announced plans to transition its oversight of the IANA functions in March 2014 (see report in the March 17, 2014, issue). Retiring ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé cited ICANN’s approval of the IANA transition plan and the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability’s (CCWG-Accountability) proposal as a “key step” but said it’s “not the end of the process,” given NTIA’s review of the plans comes next. An NTIA spokeswoman confirmed the agency has received ICANN’s proposals.

The ICANN board ultimately approved both the IANA transition plan and CCWG-Accountability’s recommendations on a voice vote after minimal debate, a contrast to months of contention between CCWG-Accountability and the board over several of the working group’s accountability proposals(see 1512140055 and 1602190047). “We had ups and downs” throughout the planning process, said CCWG-Accountability co-Chairman Mathieu Weill during the news conference. “I can’t claim that everyone is happy” with CCWG-Accountability’s recommendations, but the fact that all parties are dissatisfied with elements of the proposal “means we have struck a good deal,” said working group co-Chairman Thomas Rickert. Five of ICANN’s six chartering organizations fully supported CCWG-Accountability’s recommendations, while the Governmental Advisory Committee said it had “no objection” to sending the proposal on to the ICANN board despite some members’ concerns about how the ICANN board would be allowed to treat GAC advice (see 1603090059).

Chehadé and Crocker said they're confident the IANA transition-related proposals fully track with the NTIA’s stated criteria for the transition, citing provisions in both the transition plan and CCWG-Accountability’s recommendations. “No one should be confident that the U.S. government will accept this proposal, but we are confident that we have met the criteria” NTIA set for the IANA transition, Chehadé said. “This proposal does not come as a surprise that requires a fresh start or a cold start” to NTIA or members, who have been closely following ICANN’s transition planning, Crocker said. ICANN isn't presuming NTIA will approve the IANA transition plan and its implementation of the transition is still only in the planning stages, said Global Domains Division President Akram Atallah. Atallah will be ICANN’s acting CEO until incoming CEO Göran Marby takes over in May.

NTIA’s consideration of the IANA transition-related plans will occur in tandem with U.S. congressional scrutiny of the IANA transition. The first test of Congress’ current view of the IANA transition will occur Thursday, when the House Communications Subcommittee will hold a hearing that will focus on the current status of the transition (see 1602260032). House Communications confirmed Thursday that its hearing will feature a panel of ICANN stakeholders, along with Cooper. Other witnesses to testify include NetChoice CEO Steve DelBianco, Wiley Rein telecom and Internet governance lawyer David Gross, Intel Director-Global Security and Internet Governance Policy Audrey Plonk, CDT Global Internet Policy and Human Rights Project Director Matthew Shears and Internet Society Vice President-Global Policy Development Sally Wentworth. The hearing begins at 10:15 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

House Communications is looking “forward to reviewing the proposal and to the thoughtful analysis from NTIA as we look to whether this proposal meets the U.S. government's requirements for the transition and the needs of the American people,” said House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., House Communications Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., in a joint statement. “This final step of removing U.S. government oversight of the IANA functions is irreversible and we must be sure the transition will not harm the Internet or the millions of Americans that rely on it. There are no do-overs.”

The ICANN board’s approval of the IANA transition plan is “historic, but all we have done is approve the blueprint,” said Phil Corwin, principal of e-commerce and IP law consultancy Virtualaw, in an interview. “We still have to build the house with bylaws changes and other implementation measures, and the timeline is very tight to get that done by” the current Sept. 30 expiration of NTIA’s contract with ICANN to administer the IANA functions. An ICANN-appointed legal team expects to produce a set of proposed bylaws by mid-April to implement the IANA transition plan and CCWG-Accountability recommendations, said ICANN Board Vice Chairman Bruce Tonkin during the board meeting. ICANN expects to post those proposed bylaws for public comment and then seek a late May or early June board vote on the bylaws changes, Tonkin said.

All of the accountability changes that CCWG-Accountability included in the ICANN board-passed version of its recommendations will be implemented as written, meaning ICANN won’t revisit GAC-related provisions in the recommendations despite some GAC members’ concerns, Rickert told reporters. Implementation of the CCWG-Accountability recommendations “is not a phase for relitigating” the recommendations, he said. A group of countries had objected to CCWG-Accountability’s recommendation that the ICANN board be allowed to reject consensus ICANN advice via a 60 percent majority vote. Those countries had also objected to a “carve-out” provision that would bar GAC from final consensus discussions on possible enforcement action when ICANN community members formally object to ICANN board implementation of GAC advice.