[Nro-comments] FW: NRO Comments: Global Policy Formation

["Mark McFadden" <mcf@uwm.edu>]

The following comment is neither the position of my employer nor the
position of the Address Council, of which I am a member.

One of the most interesting sections of the NRO formation documents is
section 11. on a process for Global IP Resource Policy Formation.  I think
that this section is well thought out and an improvement over the current
situation the ASO Address Council finds itself in.

My comment regards section 11.b. which says:

"The NRO Number Council shall publicly post a last call for comments on the
proposed policy for a defined period (30 days) to assure itself that the
significant viewpoints of interested parties were adequately considered.
According to the results of this call, the NRO Number Council may then give
a recommendation to the NRO Executive Council on whether the policy can be
ratified. "

This seems reasonable if combined with either a mechanism for appealing
decisions made by the Executive Council or a requirement that the Number
Council recommendations are binding on the Executive Council.  I do not
think that, at this point in the global policy formation process, NRO Number
Council recommendations should be binding on the Executive Council.
Instead, the Executive Council -- taking in the advice of the bottom up
process in the RIRs and the advice of the Number Council -- should be free
to take action on the proposed policy.  Once done, as I have suggested in
other comments on the NRO documents, the Advisory Appeals Process should
provide an independent and binding mechanism for appeal.  This prevents the
possibility of capricious decisions in contravention of the RIR member
bodies and the Names Council.

Mark McFadden
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee