Hi,

Sorry, I misunderstood your proposal.  I thought you were recommending
that the NCSG-EC just change the charter as an executive action.  Not
that they recommend charges to the charter that would then be put to a
vote as per the charter.

avri



On 14-Aug-16 06:19, Edward Morris wrote:
> Hi Avri,
>  
>  
>  
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> /Interesting idea./
>  
> Thanks very much for that.
>
>
> /I question that the NCSG EC is empowered to make such a change. I
> rather believe that the process defined in the Charter needs to be
> followed. We will soon have a voting. Get the required signatures, and
> this can go on the ballot./
>  
>  
> I believe the NCSG EC has the power to propose such a change although,
> of course, any such proposal would be subject to approval by the full
> membership. I could be wrong - you, not me, are the expert on these
> things - but the way I read the Charter there appear to be a few ways
> to activate a proposal for Charter change:
>  
> ----
>  
> /5.0 Amendments to the NCSG Charter./
>  
> /Proposals to amend this charter may be submitted by five (5) percent
> of the then-current members eligible to vote, based on the weighted
> voting as defined in section 4.0. Proposals may also be put forward by
> the NCSG-EC or the ICANN Board of Directors or one of the Board's
> committees.
>       
> Amendments proposed by the NCSG members or the NCSG-EC will only take
> effect after there has been a membership review, approval by 60% vote
> of NCSG members using the weighted voting defined in section 4.0 and
> final review/approval by the ICANN Board of Directors. Amendments
> proposed and approved by the ICANN Board of Directors or one of its
> Committees will only take effect after membership review and approval
> by 60% vote of the NCSG members using the weighted voting defined in
> section 4.0. The ICANN Board may require proposed amendments to be
> posted for public comment prior to taking its decision on the proposal./
>  
>  
> ----
>  
> The way I read our Charter, a  petition by members, a proposal by the
> NCSG EC or a proposal by the ICANN Board or one of it's committees
> appear to be the four options for commencing a proposal to change the
> Charter.
>  
> It certainly is not easy to change the NCSG Charter - that's why I
> thought an effort led by the NCSG EC would have the best chance of
> success. We would have to be largely united on this for it to succeed
> and if the EC wanted it to happen I'd assume it would have a decent
> chance. There are also some new administrative requirements for
> Charter change imposed by ICANN in 2013 that a structure like the EC
> is perhaps better equipped  to handle than would an ad hoc group of
> volunteers.
>  
> Nevertheless, if a petition is the way to go I'm happy to work with
> others to try to make it happen. I'm not wedded to any particular
> approach or specific textual change. I just thought that the situation
> highlighted by the recent conflict in the NCUC illustrated a potential
> problem with our Charter that could be best met proactively and
> positively going forward by Charter change of this type. Happy to hear
> and consider other ideas and perspectives.
>  
> Kind Regards,
>  
> Ed
>  
>
>
>
>
> On 13-Aug-16 08:15, Edward Morris wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > As many of you are aware, the Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC)
> > is currently dealing with a very delicate situation concerning the
> > membership eligibility of a member of it's Executive Committee. While
> > offering no opinion at this time on the substance or procedural
> > validity of the ongoing situation at the NCUC, I do want to thank the
> > NCUC Executive Committee for directing our attention to the issue of
> > membership criteria not only of the NCUC but also of the NCSG.
> >
> > Preferring to look forward rather than backwards, I believe the NCSG
> > EC has identified a potential problem regarding the NCSG's
> > membership criteria that we need to fix immediately. Failure to do so
> > could, in the worst case scenario, result in the NCSG being captured
> > by the special interest groups we traditionally have opposed and
> > combatted in ICANN.
> >
> > I hereby propose an amendment to the NCSG Charter that will ensure
> > that applicants and members of the NCSG are truly individuals and
> > institutions dedicated to the advancement of noncommercial interests
> > in ICANN.
> >
> > *PROBLEM DEFINED*
> >
> > The issue at hand concerns membership criteria applicable to
> > individual members and applicants of and to the Noncommercial Users
> > Stakeholder Group (NCSG). Although this issue pertains to membership
> > requirements both of the NCSG and NCUC my proposal herewith applies
> > only to the NCSG. As the Not-for-Profit Operational Concerns
> > Constituency (NPOC) admits only institutional members it does not have
> > the same challenges the NCUC and the NCSG face in this regard. I have
> > been informed that the NCUC EC is currently revising their Bylaws and
> > trust that this membership criteria problem will be addressed in their
> > internal reforms.
> >
> > Section 2.2.5 of the NCSG Charter, concerning Individual Members,
> > reads as follows:
> >
> > ---
> >
> > Individual persons who agree to advocate for a noncommercial
> > public-interest position within the Stakeholder group and who fall
> > within one of the following three categories are eligible to join as
> > an “Individual Member”:
> >
> > 1. An Individual who has registered domain name(s) for personal,
> > family or other noncommercial use; or
> >
> > 2. An Individual Internet user who is primarily concerned with the
> > noncommercial public-interest aspects of domain name policy, and is
> > not represented in ICANN through membership in another Supporting
> > Organization or GNSO Stakeholder Group; or
> >
> > 3. An Individual who is employed by or a member of a non-member
> > noncommercial organization (universities, colleges, large NGOs) can
> > join NCSG in his or her individual capacity if their organization has
> > not already joined the NCSG. The Executive Committee shall, at its
> > discretion, determine limits to the total number of Individual members
> > who can join from any single organization (provided the limit shall
> > apply to all Organizations, of the same size category, equally).
> >
> > An individual who is a member of or employee of a noncommercial
> > organization, which is itself a member of the NCSG, may apply for, or
> > retain membership, in the NCSG only under the first criteria for
> > individual membership, i.e. be an individual noncommercial registrant.
> > Such membership is subject to Executive Committee review.
> >
> > ---
> >
> > The problem, which has been highlighted by the recent actions of the
> > NCUC EC, is that our membership criteria does not preclude individual
> > NCSG membership under §2.2.5.1 from individuals who may be conflicted
> > for any reason (such as employment) if they meet the basic test of
> > domain name ownership, nor under §2.2.5.2 does our current membership
> > criteria explicitly prevent membership by those whose employers may be
> > members of another SO/SG. Left unchanged these provisions leave the
> > NCSG susceptible to a hostile takeover by another SO/SG or, frankly,
> > by any organised group which may not have the best interests of
> > noncommercial users at heart.
> >
> > *PROPOSED SOLUTION*
> >
> > I propose modifications to NCUC Charter §2.2.5., §2.2.5.1 and
> > §2.2.5.2 so that they read (changed wording in bold):
> >
> > NCSG Charter §2.2.5
> >
> > Individual persons who agree to advocate for a noncommercial
> > public-interest position* (DELETE: within the Stakeholder group*) and
> > who fall within one of the following three categories are eligible to
> > join as an “Individual Member
> >
> >
> > NCSG Charter §2.2.5.1
> >
> > An Individual who has registered domain name(s) for personal, family
> > or other noncommercial use, *is concerned with the noncommercial
> > public-interest aspects of domain name policy, and is not represented
> > in ICANN through membership, personally or by his or her employer,
> > through membership in another Supporting Organisation or GNSO
> > Stakeholder Group.*
> >
> > NCSG Charter §2.2.5.2
> >
> > An Individual Internet User who is primarily concerned with the
> > noncommercial aspects of domain name policy, and is not represented in
> > ICANN *personally or by his or her employer* through membership in
> > another Supporting Organisation or GNSO Stakeholder Group.
> >
> > *WAY FORWARD*
> >
> > NCSG Charter §5.0 contains several ways in which the NCSG Charter may
> > be amended. In 2013 ICANN instituted changes in their procedures for
> > approving and recognising charter revisions that are not explicitly
> > reflected in the current NCSG Charter. Things are a bit more
> > procedurally complex now.
> >
> > Although a petition approved by five per cent of our Members, based
> > upon our weighted voting procedure, is certainly an option for
> > initiating a change to our Charter, at this time I would prefer to
> > defer to the NCSG EC on this matter. I respectfully request that full
> > consideration be given to this proposal by the NCSG EC at their next
> > regularly scheduled meeting.
> >
> > I hope we can all agree that membership in the NCSG should be reserved
> > for those whose primary interest in domain name policy is reserved for
> > those non conflicted parties dedicated to our Mission, as stated in
> > §1.1 of the NCSG Charter. That is, to provide:
> >
> > ---
> >
> > ...a voice and representation in ICANN processes to: non-profit
> > organizations that serve noncommercial interests; nonprofit services
> > such as education, philanthropies, consumer protection, community
> > organizing, promotion of the arts, public interest policy advocacy,
> > children's welfare, religion, scientific research, and human rights;
> > public interest software concerns; families or individuals who
> > register domain names for noncommercial personal use; and Internet
> > users who are primarily concerned with the noncommercial, public
> > interest aspects of domain name policy.
> >
> > ---
> >
> > We need to fix this membership loophole.
> >
> >
> > *QUALIFICATION*
> >
> > I certainly am not wedded to any particular statutory language to fix
> > this problem. I welcome any and all ideas. I also recognise that in
> > the changing ICANN environment we very well may wish to be creative
> > and receptive to a more flexible and adaptive membership criteria.
> > That, however, I would submit is fodder for a larger and more long
> > term discussion.
> >
> > For now I do believe it is essential that we immediately fix the
> > loophole in our Charter that could conceivably allow, in an extreme
> > case, members of another Supporting Organisation to join and even
> > become the majority voice in our SG. That simply is too big a risk to
> > take. I look forward to working with the fine members of the NCSG EC
> > and our wider membership to ensure the continued independence and
> > noncommercial orientation of the NCSG, both in theory and in practice.
> >
> > Respectfully,
> >
> > Edward Morris
> >
> >
>
>
>
> ---
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