Who needs ICANNWatch in the weeks when Bret Fausett is energized? See Pigs and Cows and New gTLDs:

At a recent meeting ICANN's Generic Names Supporting Organization asked ICANN Staff to prepare a report on whether the ICANN-Verisign agreement posed policy issues that should be addressed by the GNSO's policy council. The report is in, and I don't anyone was surprised to learn that the folks who negotiated the deal don't think it's wise to have ICANN's policy organizations involved. Here's the recommendation: "ICANN Staff does not recommend that the GNSO launch a policy development process directed at one specific registry agreement." And the General Counsel's opinion: "The General Counsel’s opinion is that 'the dot COM proposed agreement in relation to the various views that have been expressed by the constituencies' is not 'properly within the scope of the ICANN policy process and within the scope of the GNSO.'"

So this brings us to the ICANN equivalent of a constitutional moment. What's a policy issue and, perhaps more importantly, who decides what's a policy issue?

If nothing is a policy issue, I say we all go home.