closed ICANN Community Participant Code of Conduct on SOIs and General Ethics Policy

Outcome

ICANN organization (org) received fifteen submissions providing input on the draft ICANN Community Participant Code of Conduct Concerning Statements of Interests (“Code”), which is intended to support ethical practices of disclosures when participating across the ICANN community. Many commenters expressed support for the draft Code, which would be the first step towards addressing the ICANN community’s requests to better guide ethical and transparent participation within the ICANN community. Even among those in favor of the Code, commenters requested more clarity around how the Code will be enforced uniformly across the ICANN community and stressed the importance of training after the Code is adopted. A few commenters expressed objection to the draft Code, disagreeing that there was a documented need for a Code that requires disclosure of interests as a condition for participating in ICANN processes. Those objecting to the Code stressed their beliefs that the proposed requirements under the Code are unworkable and unenforceable, and that the requirements may violate ICANN Bylaws.

ICANN will review the input received and will facilitate a dialogue among the community, particularly focusing on how enforcement paths can be better defined within an updated version of the Code. Once adopted, the Code will become part of the ICANN Community Ethics Policy. 

What We Received Input On

The draft ICANN Community Participant Code of Conduct Concerning Statements of Interest (“Code”) is the first step in addressing ICANN community requests to better guide ethical and transparent participation within the ICANN community. The draft Code embraces the reality that ICANN’s multistakeholder model is vibrant because of the variety of interests that are present within community deliberations, while expressing an expectation that those interests are clearly and fully disclosed among participants. ICANN is seeking community inputs on the draft Code, including the Enforcement Guidance set forth within the Code.

ICANN also provides an explanation of how the Code will become part of an ICANN Community Ethics Policy, which is a collection of documents that includes the Expected Standards of Behavior and the Community Anti-Harassment Policy and Terms of Participation and Complaint Procedure, which already guide behavior within and among the ICANN community.

Key questions:

• Does the ICANN Community Participant Code of Conduct Concerning Statements of Interest adequately address the issue of setting clear expectations for community disclosures of interests?
• Are there items you believe are missing from the Code or that should be removed from the Code, and why?
• Are there other ethical issues you wish to see addressed as part of the broader ICANN Community Ethics Policy?

Background

The ICANN Community Participant Code of Conduct Concerning Statements of Interest ("Code") stems from recent community conversations regarding how those participating in ICANN community processes can better understand the interests present in those processes. It is an evolving collection of documents, including the draft ICANN Community Participant Code of Conduct, the Expected Standards of Behavior, Community Anti-Harassment Policy, and other documents.

ICANN community conversations have shed light on the fact that the current Statement of Interest processes do not appear to be comprehensive enough. ICANN’s multistakeholder community thrives on the variety of perspectives and interests that shape community deliberations, and the Statements of Interest conversations reveal an opportunity to provide more clarity for the community on enhancing disclosure practices. To provide that clarity, ICANN org produced a draft of ICANN Community Participant Code of Conduct Concerning Statements of Interest, intended to support ethical practices of disclosures when participating across the ICANN community.

Supporting Information