Bret Fausett's blog has cast new light on the ICANN JPA question. Many of us had assumed that the JPA was a replacement for the earlier, more prescriptive Memorandum of Understanding between ICANN and the US Commerce Department. The MoU was first drafted in November 1998 and was amended six times from 1999 to 2003. Ending the JPA, it is widely assumed, would eliminate all forms of Commerce Department oversight over ICANN's policy making and leave in place only the more important IANA contract, which is completely separate from the JPA/MoU. Doubts are now raised about this assumption.

As IGP warned an uncomprehending press corps back in 2006, the shift from MoU to JPA was much less of a "dramatic step" away from US control than ICANN's PR effort made it out to be. Now, if Fausett is right, it appears that getting rid of the JPA is less important than ICANN is making it out to be.

It all depends on what we mean by "the JPA."   more »