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Re: [ga] legal document historical facts


After years of experience with USG contracts, (one of my companies sold
computers and software to the Dept. of Energy)  they look at the lowest,
"best" bid.  In this case ICANN bid $0.00 and other good "consideration".
Item (7) was some of the other "consideration".  Most contracts are written
as $10.00 and other good "consideration".

As a non-profit corp., ICANN must receive 51%+  in "public" donations to
maintain its 501(c)(3) status. That is why the new ICANN contract has some
donations.

/Bruce



----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Froomkin - U.Miami School of Law" <froomkin@law.miami.edu>
To: "Roeland Meyer" <rmeyer@mhsc.com>
Cc: "Eric Dierker" <ERIC@hi-tek.com>; <ga@dnso.org>
Sent: Monday, April 02, 2001 11:23 PM
Subject: RE: [ga] legal document historical facts


I'm not a government contract expert, but they sometimes, even often, play
by different rules.

In any case, there are many non-monetary things one can exchange.  I
contract with you for an hour of my labor in exchange for an hour of
yours.  Binding contract.  So money isn't everything.

In any case, 'binding'-ness is a red herring here, since that comes into
play only if a party breaches and the other seeks damages or other
remedies, which is not going to happen in this contract.

On Mon, 2 Apr 2001, Roeland Meyer wrote:

> Hello Michael,
>
> I was under the impression that a contract had to be an exchange of fair
> valur for it to be binding. I $0.00 contract exchanges nothing.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Michael Froomkin - U.Miami School of Law
> > [mailto:froomkin@law.miami.edu]
> > Sent: Monday, April 02, 2001 6:20 PM
> > To: Eric Dierker
> > Cc: ga@dnso.org
> > Subject: Re: [ga] legal document historical facts
> >
> >
> > In the past, ICANN charged a fee of $0 for this service. (That's not a
> > typo: it is "zero dollars".)  The contract is, however, of enormous
> > signficance, as it is one of the three legs on which ICANN's
> > power rests,
> > and also a portion of its claim to "government contractor" status (and
> > immunities).
> >
> > I assume that ICANN again charged $0, making this one of the oddest
> > "procurment" contracts I ever heard of.  But I have not seen
> > a copy of the
> > renewed agreement.
> >
> > On Mon, 2 Apr 2001, Eric Dierker wrote:
> >
> > > Contract Between ICANN and the United States
> > >  Government for Performance of the IANA Function
> > >
> > > 5. ESTIMATED PURCHASE ORDER VALUE
> > >
> > > At the time of purchase order award, the estimated value of this
> > > purchase order is under $10,000.
> > >
> > > I am sure that this representation is appropriate. Could
> > someone explain
> > > why.  I find it very difficult to believe that all the
> > services listed
> > > in this Contract are only worth $10,000. I am also sure that it is
> > > classification threshold.
> > >
> > > Just these salaries alone shed some light on actual value of the
> > > services;
> > >
> > > 7. KEY PERSONNEL
> > >
> > >      (a) The Contractor shall assign to this purchase order, the
> > > following key personnel:
> > >
> > >           1. Michael M. Roberts
> > >           2. Louis Touton
> > >           3. Joyce K. Reynolds
> > >           4. Suzanne Woolf
> > >
> > >     Here are some facts that indicate, that silly USG
> > thinks they own
> > > the Internet, even though we all know they do not.
> > >
> > >      (f) Termination for the Government's convenience. The
> > Government
> > > reserves the right to terminate this contract, or any part hereof,
> > >      for its sole convenience. In the event of such termination, the
> > > Contractor shall immediately stop all work hereunder and shall
> > >      immediately cause any and all of its suppliers and
> > subcontractors
> > > to cease work. Subject to the terms of this contract, the Contractor
> > >      shall be paid a percentage of the contract price reflecting the
> > > percentage of the work performed prior to the notice of termination,
> > >      plus reasonable charges that the Contractor can
> > demonstrate to the
> > > satisfaction of the Government, using its standard record
> > >      keeping system, have resulted from the termination.
> > The Contractor
> > > shall not be required to comply with the cost accounting
> > >      standards or contract cost principles for this purpose. This
> > > paragraph does not give the Government any right to audit the
> > >      Contractor's records. The Contractor shall not be paid
> > for any work
> > > performed or costs incurred that reasonably could have been
> > >      avoided.
> > >
> > > For you legal beagles, is Versign a subcontractor for these
> > puposes?  If
> > > they are there are some serious issues.
> > >
> > > As for Policy,
> > >
> > >           -This purchase order, in itself, does not authorize the
> > > contractor to make substantive changes in established policy
> > >           associated with the performance of the IANA functions.
> > > Procedures for policy development will remain the subject of a
> > >           Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between DOC and
> > ICANN. The JPA
> > > contemplates that the policy-development
> > >           procedures developed under the JPA may result in
> > adoption of
> > > new or changed policies concerning Internet technical
> > >           management functions. To the extent those policies require
> > > alterations in the manner in which the IANA functions are
> > >           performed, those alterations may be implemented
> > upon mutual
> > > agreement of the parties.
> > >
> > > See I told you it is a lot more fun ignoring the facts.
> > >
> > > Sincerely,
> > >
> > > --
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> > >
> > >
> >
> > --
> > Please visit http://www.icannwatch.org
> > A. Michael Froomkin   |    Professor of Law    |   froomkin@law.tm
> > U. Miami School of Law, P.O. Box 248087, Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA
> > +1 (305) 284-4285  |  +1 (305) 284-6506 (fax)  |  http://www.law.tm
> >                        -->It's warm here.<--
> >
> > --
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> > Send mail to majordomo@dnso.org to unsubscribe
> > ("unsubscribe ga" in the body of the message).
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> >
>

--
Please visit http://www.icannwatch.org
A. Michael Froomkin   |    Professor of Law    |   froomkin@law.tm
U. Miami School of Law, P.O. Box 248087, Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA
+1 (305) 284-4285  |  +1 (305) 284-6506 (fax)  |  http://www.law.tm
                       -->It's warm here.<--

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