Changes

===Draft Final Report===

===Draft Final Report===

The IE's draft final report identified three core themes within their findings:  

Following receipt of feedback from the limited-distribution draft, JAS published its Draft Final Report for public comment on February 16, 2009.<ref name="dashboard" /> The IE's draft final report identified three core themes within their findings:  

* Lack of organizational clarity and charter;

* Lack of organizational clarity and charter;

* Lack of formality leading to concerns about transparency; and

* Lack of formality leading to concerns about transparency; and

* Perceived and actual conflicts of interest.<ref name="draftfr" />

* Perceived and actual conflicts of interest.<ref name="draftfr" />

In particular, the longstanding relationships of SSAC members, most of which predated ICANN involvement, led to a collegial and informal culture that affected both the outside perception of the SSAC's modes of business and internal understanding of the SSAC's role within the ICANN ecosystem. As an example, JAS noted that policies and procedures around conflicts of interest were nearly nonexistent.

In particular, the longstanding relationships of SSAC members, most of which predated ICANN involvement, led to a collegial and informal culture that affected both the outside perception of the SSAC and internal and external understanding of the SSAC's role within the ICANN ecosystem. As an example, JAS noted that policies and procedures around conflicts of interest were nearly nonexistent:

<blockquote>An unreleased internal draft SSAC policies and procedures document provided to JAS contains the following language regarding perceived and actual conflicts of interest:

<blockquote>An unreleased internal draft SSAC policies and procedures document provided to JAS contains the following language regarding perceived and actual conflicts of interest:

''The committee does not ordinarily concern itself with conflicts of interest. All members are always permitted to participate in all activities. However, the committee may elect to state potential conflicts of interest as an integral part of any publication if it deems this to enhance the final result. An individual may elect not to participate in any activity of the committee at his or her own discretion.''

''The committee does not ordinarily concern itself with conflicts of interest. All members are always permitted to participate in all activities. However, the committee may elect to state potential conflicts of interest as an integral part of any publication if it deems this to enhance the final result. An individual may elect not to participate in any activity of the committee at his or her own discretion.''

We observe that this is an accurate characterization of SSAC's current views on perceived or actual conflicts of interest; in practice, we find little to no formal attention to the issue.<ref name="draftfr" /></blockquote>

We observe that this is an accurate characterization of SSAC's current views on perceived or actual conflicts of interest; in practice, we find little to no formal attention to the issue.<ref name="draftfr" /></blockquote>

==References==

==References==