RE: [ga] UPDATE: Berkman Center will not webcast ICANN's Accra meetings

["Ben Edelman" <edelman@law.harvard.edu>]

David wrote:

> Are you able to be more explicit about the reasons for this Ben?

I can't say for sure why ICANN declined the Berkman Center's proposal --
indeed, their staff didn't give me a reason when notifying me that they had
declined the Berkman Center's Accra meeting tech proposal.  But certainly
Berkman Center staff and ICANN staff have, over the past three years and
past twelve meetings, at times had different ideas about the appropriate and
optimal scope, technical sophistication, and robustness (backup systems,
etc.) of meeting webcasts, as well as the associated costs that such
facilities entail.  I actually haven't had the sort of back-and-forth
negotiation with ICANN that would lead me to well understand their
motivations and concerns here, but my sense is that they thought they could
get a better service -- perhaps one that they perceive to better match their
needs, or that they find to feature a lower total cost -- elsewhere.


> Is
> this just a one off absence due to cost or a permanent disengagement?

My understanding is that ICANN may have tentatively made arrangements with
another organization to offer webcast services at Accra.  I wouldn't want to
presuppose how that that relationship will develop, but it seems to me
likely that if the new organization proves satisfactory in that context,
ICANN will stick with them going forward.


Ben Edelman
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Harvard Law School

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