I can't tell you how many times over the last week I've heard members of the ICANN Board ask for "specific" or "concrete" comments on the new .COM Registry Agreement and the proposed settlement. It only occurred to me at the airport why that's not possible. First, this is a bilateral agreement which needs Verisign's consent. I can make a lot of "specific" comments and revisions, but unless I know what Verisign will accept, if anything, my comments aren't worth a lot. Second, and more importantly, the contract represents a shift in the way ICANN thinks about itself, registries and registrars, and its method of funding. Those are conceptual issues. The "specific comments" one would make turn on how those conceptual issues are resolved.

When members of the community ask for more time, they're not asking for additional days to read and red-line the posted agreements. That's easy. They're asking for more time to consider the conceptual issues ICANN has posed in the new contract and the proposed settlement. The fact that the Board seems not to understand that it has asked a complex question is troubling.