It’s official, the Board has
approved the new GNSO structure. Unanimously. We will need to know more about the
Board’s intentions to “encourage new constituencies” –
Board members and some others seem to be very naïve about what this
entails.
From:
[log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Denise Michel
ICANN's Board approved the following resolution at its 28 August
meeting by a vote of 13-0:
Whereas,
on 26 June 2008, the ICANN Board endorsed the set of "GNSO
Improvements" submitted by the Board Governance Committee's GNSO Review Working
Group (BGC-WG), with the exception of the BGC-WG's recommendation on GNSO
Council restructuring.
Whereas,
in postponing its decision on Council structure, the Board asked the GNSO to
convene a small working group to "Submit a consensus recommendation on
Council restructuring by no later than 25 July 2008 for consideration by the
ICANN Board ..." (see ICANN Board Resolution 2008.06.26.13).
Whereas,
that Working Group on GNSO Council Restructuring (WG-GCR) submitted a report to
the Board in late July detailing areas of consensus that it achieved during its
month-long deliberations.
Whereas,
the Board discussed the WG-GCR report at its 31 July meeting and directed the
ICANN Staff to thoroughly review the report and share its recommendations with
the Board prior to the 28 August Board meeting.
Whereas,
the Board will endeavor to work through the remaining issues during the next
Board meeting.
Resolved,
on balance, the WG-GCR report addresses many challenges facing the community in
a way that is consistent with the overarching goals of the GNSO Improvements
package and the BGC GNSO Review WG that developed it.
Resolved,
the Board endorses the direction of the WG-GCR report and supports the
bicameral voting structure of the new Council. The Board supports the
establishment of one house (described as the "contracted party house"
in the report) and directs that this house initially will have 3
representatives from each stakeholder group -- Registrars and Registries --
plus 1 voting NCA (Nominating Committee appointee). The second house (described
in the report as the "non-contracted party" house) will be composed
of 6 representatives from each stakeholder group -- Commercial and
Non-commercial -- plus 1 voting NCA.
Resolved,
as noted, the Board accepts the WG-GCR proposal to seat one voting NCA
representative in each of the two houses.
The Board
also directs that a third "independent" NCA representative continue
to serve on the Council.
Resolved,
the Board directs the GNSO Council to work with ICANN Staff on an
implementation plan for Board approval that creates a transition to this new
structure by the beginning of calendar year 2009. The Board requests that
existing constituencies confirm their status with the Board during the
intervening time period, and requires constituencies to formally confirm their
status every 3 years to ensure that they continue to meet the requirements of
Article X, Section 5, subsection 3 of the ICANN Bylaws. This will be an
opportunity for existing constituencies to demonstrate compliance with the
principles of representativeness, openness, transparency and fairness set forth
in the ICANN Bylaws. The Board also encourages new constituencies to submit
requests for certification, especially during this transition period.
Resolved,
the Board appreciates the significant amount of work performed by the WG-GCR
and extends its sincere appreciation to working group members Avri Doria, Chuck
Gomes, Alan Greenberg, Tony Holmes, Bertrand de La Chapelle, Steve Metalitz,
Milton Mueller, Jonathon Nevett, and Philip Sheppard for their efforts on this
matter.
--------------
The resolution has been posted as part of the preliminary report of last week's
Board meeting at <http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/>.
I will discuss the Board's action at tomorrow's Council meeting.
Regards,
Denise
--
Denise Michel
ICANN VP, Policy
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