[ga] ICANN reimburse $75,000 to GAC for GAC secretariat

["Joe Sims" <jsims@JonesDay.com>]

The angst over this is interesting, and it shows how some have forgotten
the basic idea here.  The reason for ICANN was to create an organization
that could avoid the bureaucratic problems of treaty organizations.  What
we have here is a great example of the difference between governmental
bodies and more flexible bodies.  Up to now, Australia has been the
volunteer funding source for the GAC Chair and Secretariat, and no GAC
members had to worry about funding other than to travel to meeting.    Now
that source has gone away (Australia reasonably concluding it had carried
more than its fair share of the load), and the GAC representatives have to
figure out, for the first time, how to fund the Chair and Secretariat.  It
is hardly surprising that, being governments, this takes some time.  Now,
someone has to come up with a plan (the GAC has created a committee to do
this), and then the GAC reps go back to their governments, and get whatever
approval is necessary.  This also takes some time.  At this stage in the
ICANN reform process, unfortunately, we don't have any time; we are in the
middle of the process, and it will end in October.  So if there is going to
be any GAC activity between now and Shanghai, someone has to pay for it.
Of course governments have the money, but it takes time to go through their
processes.  The ability of ICANN to make a quick decision to deal with an
immediate issue is a great example of the advantages of a private sector
body over a governmental body -- or in other words, the justification for a
body like ICANN.

The difference between the DNSO request and this is that the former was
intended to be permanent funding, while this is a short-term, one time
issue.  The general issue of funding for ICANN units is part of the reform
process, and the Blueprint assumes that the ICANN constituent units will be
staffed through ICANN funding.  So these are apples and oranges.



Joe Sims




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