[council] Re: [announce] NCtelecon 9 May 2001, minutes

[Karl Auerbach <karl@CaveBear.com>]

> Agenda item 5: Budget Committee recommendation
>
>      Decision D2: R. Cochetti moved the following resolution, seconded by P.
>      de Blanc:
>
>           The Council authorizes the Budget Committee to:
>
>           (1) conclude a memorandum of understanding with ICANN management
>           on behalf of the DNSO, under which ICANN management will serve as
>           a custodian for the funds raised by voluntary donations to the
>           DNSO; In such a custodial role, ICANN management will deposit and
>           disburse funds as directed by the Council or its Budget Committee,
>           unless ICANN management reports to both that doing so would in
>           ICANN management's view either be illegal or jeopardize ICANN's
>           own tax status; and

As a member of the Board of Directors I find this to be somewhat
inadequate.  We can not forget that the board retains the ultimate
discretion over these funds.  Thus any suggestion as to disbursement is
just that, merely a suggestion, it can have no mandatory effect.  Of
course, it is likely that such requests will be accepted as a matter of
course.  But it is important to not lose sight of the fact that the DNSO
is part of legal entity known as ICANN, the ultimate direction of which,
financial and otherwise, including all of its sub-elements, including the
DNSO, is vested in the Board of Directors.

I understand that efforts are underway to investigate creating a distinct
entity for these funds.  I encourage and support that effort.  But as long
as the DNSO is legally part of ICANN everything that it does and
everything that it has are ultimately the responsibility of the Board of
Directors of ICANN.

In the meantime, I see no reason to disrupt or change the way the DNSO's
funds are handled or any reason to not give the DNSO the lead in making
recommendations (ones that will, without doubt, carry significant
persuasive force and which will probably be disregarded only in the most
compelling of circumstances) over those funds.  We, of course, ought to
make sure that the DNSO funds are properly and clearly identified on
ICANN's ledgers and financial reports.  There is no "us vs them" here;
rather we are all part of one single corporate entity.

		--karl--