Below please find new information on the ICANN Board's plans for the transition into the new GNSO with 4 stake-holder groups and various constituencies. It includes 4 phases of implementation with the new GNSO Counsel seated at the June 2009 Asia-Pacific mtg. Anyone who is interested in this restructuring process and especially those interested in creating constituencies should read the below info for guidance. Robin Begin forwarded message: > From: "Denise Michel" <[log in to unmask]> > Date: October 15, 2008 2:01:38 PM PDT > To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>, liaison6c > <[log in to unmask]>, "Cheryl Langdon-Orr" > <[log in to unmask]>, "Janis Karklins" > <[log in to unmask]>, "Alan Greenberg" > <[log in to unmask]>, "Bertrand de La Chapelle" > <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: [council] Follow-up on GNSO Restructuring/Improvements > Reply-To: [log in to unmask] > > Dear Community Members: > > In advance of the 16 Oct. GNSO Council meeting, I wanted to provide > everyone with the follow-up action items from the Board's most > recent draft GNSO Restructuring Resolution (see draft resolution > below and at <http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/prelim- > report-01oct08.htm>). I'd be happy to elaborate on these during > the Council call, or feel free to email questions to <policy- > [log in to unmask]>. > > 1) COUNCIL CHAIR -- The Board adopted the WG-GCR recommendation > that the GNSO Council Chair be elected by a vote of 60% of both > voting houses and each voting house has the flexibility to create a > process for selecting its own Vice Chair. To address questions on > whether a "back-up" process was needed in the event that a vote did > not yield a Chair, the Board decided to ask the Council to consider > this matter. "The Board directs the Council to develop a process > for subsequent balloting, if needed, until a Council Chair is duly > elected. This process should be developed before the first Chair > election of the newly structured Council." > > *ACTION: As the Council moves forward with GNSO Improvements > implementation, this should be addressed and provided to the Board. > > 2) BOARD SEATS -- "The Board and General Counsel have outstanding > questions about the WG-GCR recommendations regarding Board seat > elections and directs Staff to share these with the community and > seek additional input." > > *ACTION: Staff will post outstanding questions and solicit input > shortly. > > 3) VOTING THRESHOLDS -- The Board adopted all voting thresholds > proposed by the WG-GCR Report. Concerns that implementation of GNSO > Improvements (e.g. new PDP, working group model, etc) might > necessitate additions to, or clarifications of, thresholds, the > Board requested that "the GNSO develop any additional voting > thresholds or categories that may be needed as part of its proposed > GNSO Improvements Implementation Plan to be submitted to the Board > for approval." (Note: this draft wording likely will be changed to > avoid confusion; the Board expects to receive an overall plan for > implementing restructuring; this is separate from the GNSO's effort > to create a structure of committees and teams to start the GNSO > Improvements implementation work.) > > *ACTION: As the Council moves forward with GNSO Improvements > implementation, this should be addressed and, if changes or > additions are deemed necessary, they should be provided to the Board. > > 4) NEW/EXISTING CONSTITUENCIES -- The Board acknowledged Staff > development of a "Notice of Intent" document for potential new > constituencies (*see attached) and directed Staff "to develop a > formal petition and charter template that will assist applicants in > satisfying the formative criteria (consistent with the ICANN > Bylaws) to facilitate the Board's evaluation of petitions to form > new constituencies. Staff also is directed to work with the > existing GNSO constituencies to design and develop a streamlined > process along with appropriate mechanisms that will assist with the > Board's timely recognition and approval of existing constituencies". > > *ACTION: Attached is a "Notice of Intent" to solicit and publicly > share information on entities interested in forming new > constituencies, along with a proposed petition and charter > template. Staff would appreciate receiving any input you may have > by 28 Oct. Staff also is developing for your consideration a draft > template for constituencies to use to enable the Board to "renew" > constituencies. Since this is a new endeavor, Staff is offering a > draft as a starting point for discussion. Staff will collect and > share input with the community during the Cairo ICANN meeting. > > 5) STAKEHOLDER GROUPS — The Board "reinforced its support for the > following principles pertaining to the formation of the new > Stakeholder Groups, and requests that all constituency members and > other relevant parties comply with the principles included in the > BGC Working Group's GNSO Improvements Report approved by the Board > in establishing the newly formed structures, including: the need to > better represent the wide variety of groups and individuals that > compose the global ICANN community, in a structure that can change > more easily with the gTLD environment and stakeholders; and the > inclusion of new actors/participants, where applicable, and the > expansion of constituencies within Stakeholder Groups, where > applicable." Further, Staff was directed to work with the GNSO > community to develop "a set of streamlined processes (along with > appropriate templates, tools, or other mechanisms) that will assist > in the formation of these new Stakeholder Groups and also > facilitate the Board's subsequent review and approval of those > structures." The Board directed that plans for each of the four > new Stakeholder Groups be submitted to the Board for consideration > at the ICANN Mexico City Board meeting, and the plans "must be > reviewed and approved by the Board before a newly structured GNSO > Council is seated in June 2009. The Board will consider the need > for interim action to fill Council seats in the event that it finds > any Stakeholder Group plans to be deficient or delayed." > > *ACTION: Staff will provide some initial draft material shortly to > support community consideration and discussion. > > 6) ROLE/REPRESENTATION OF USERS — The Board requested additional > community "dialogue and input on the appropriate role and > representation of individual Internet users, including individual > commercial and non-commercial Internet users, in the GNSO. Input > from the GNSO, the ALAC and At-Large community, and any relevant > applicants for new constituencies, would be particularly helpful > and should address the inclusion of registrants and individual > users in the GNSO in a manner that compliments the ALAC and its > supporting structures, and ensures that registrants' and individual > Internet users' gTLD interests are effectively represented within > the GNSO." > > *ACTION: Staff will post a public comment solicitation and will > provide background information to encourage community consideration > and input to the Board. > > 7) IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE — The Board amended its previous > implementation timetable and directs that the transition to a new > bicameral GNSO Council voting structure take place over a phased > implementation schedule that begins immediately and ends in June > 2009 with the seating of the new Council. The implementation phases > will be as follows: > > -Phase 1 - GNSO Council restructuring implementation plan > submitted in > advance of the December 2008 Board Meeting; > > - Phase 2 - Existing Constituencies submit confirmation documents > to the > Board for review in advance of the February 2009 Board Meeting; > > - Phase 3 - Stakeholder Groups submit formal plans for Board > approval for > consideration at the ICANN Mexico City Board meeting; and > > - Phase 4 - Stakeholder Groups with plans approved by the Board select > Council representatives, and the newly structured GNSO Council is > seated > by the June 2009 Asia-Pacific ICANN Meeting. > > *ACTION — Staff will assist the GNSO in developing a restructuring > implementation plan that the Board expects to receive later this year. > > =================== > > > -- GNSO Restructuring -- (Membership and Leadership Selection:) > > It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.06), as recommended by the WG-GCR, the > Board > authorizes a third Council-level non-voting Nominating Committee > Appointee to serve on the Council whose presence could preserve an > independent aspect on the Council and could provide useful management > support as the Council moves toward a working group management > function. > > > It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.07), the Board authorizes the GNSO Council > to elect a Chair consistent with the recommendation of the WG-GCR - > that > the GNSO Chair be elected by a vote of 60% of both voting houses and > each voting house has the flexibility to create a process for > selecting > its own Vice Chair. The Board directs the Council to develop a process > for subsequent balloting, if needed, until a Council Chair is duly > elected. This process should be developed before the first Chair > election of the newly structured Council. > > It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.08), the Board and General Counsel have > outstanding questions about the WG-GCR recommendations regarding Board > seat elections and directs Staff to share these with the community and > seek additional input. > > > -- GNSO Restructuring -- (Operational/Voting Considerations:) > > It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.09), the Board adopts all voting > thresholds > proposed in the WG-GCR Report. The Board requests that the GNSO > develop > any additional voting thresholds or categories that may be needed as > part of its proposed GNSO Improvements Implementation Plan to be > submitted to the Board for approval. > > > -- GNSO Restructuring -- (Stakeholder and Constituency Organizational > Concerns:) > > It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.10), the Board acknowledges Staff's > development of the "Notice of Intent" documentation for potential new > constituencies and directs Staff to develop a formal petition and > charter template that will assist applicants in satisfying the > formative > criteria (consistent with the ICANN Bylaws) to facilitate the Board's > evaluation of petitions to form new constituencies. Staff also is > directed to work with the existing GNSO constituencies to design and > develop a streamlined process along with appropriate mechanisms that > will assist with the Board's timely recognition and approval of > existing > constituencies. > > It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.11), the Board reinforces its support for > the following principles pertaining to the formation of the new > Stakeholder Groups, and requests that all constituency members and > other > relevant parties comply with the principles included in the BGC > Working > Group's GNSO Improvements Report approved by the Board in establishing > the newly formed structures, including: > > - The need to better represent the wide variety of groups and > individuals that compose the global ICANN community, in a structure > that > can change more easily with the gTLD environment and stakeholders. > > - The inclusion of new actors/participants, where applicable, and the > expansion of constituencies within Stakeholder Groups, where > applicable. > > > It is, further Resolved (2008.10.01.12), that the Board further > directs > Staff to work with existing constituencies to develop a set of > streamlined processes (along with appropriate templates, tools, or > other > mechanisms) that will assist in the formation of these new Stakeholder > Groups and also facilitate the Board's subsequent review and > approval of > those structures. > > It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.13), the Board directs that plans for each > of the four new Stakeholder Groups, that are consistent with the above > principles, be submitted to the Board for consideration at the ICANN > Mexico City Board meeting. The plans must be reviewed and approved by > the Board before a newly structured GNSO Council is seated in June > 2009. > The Board will consider the need for interim action to fill Council > seats in the event that it finds any Stakeholder Group plans to be > deficient or delayed. > > > -- GNSO Restructuring -- (The Role of Individual Internet Users in the > GNSO:) > > It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.14), The Board requests additional > community > dialogue and input on the appropriate role and representation of > individual Internet users, including individual commercial and > non-commercial Internet users, in the GNSO. Input from the GNSO, the > ALAC and At-Large community, and any relevant applicants for new > constituencies, would be particularly helpful and should address the > inclusion of registrants and individual users in the GNSO in a manner > that compliments the ALAC and its supporting structures, and ensures > that registrants' and individual Internet users' gTLD interests are > effectively represented within the GNSO. > > > -- GNSO Restructuring -- (Implementation Timing:) > > It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.15), the Board amends its previous > implementation timetable and directs that the transition to a new > bicameral GNSO Council voting structure take place over a phased > implementation schedule that begins immediately and ends in June 2009 > with the seating of the new Council. The implementation phases will be > as follows: > > Phase 1 - GNSO Council restructuring implementation plan submitted in > advance of the December 2008 Board Meeting; > > Phase 2 - Existing Constituencies submit confirmation documents to the > Board for review in advance of the February 2009 Board Meeting; > > Phase 3 - Stakeholder Groups submit formal plans for Board approval > for > consideration at the ICANN Mexico City Board meeting; and > > Phase 4 - Stakeholder Groups with plans approved by the Board select > Council representatives, and the newly structured GNSO Council is > seated > by the June 2009 Asia-Pacific ICANN Meeting. > > >  IP JUSTICE Robin Gross, Executive Director 1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA p: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451 w: http://www.ipjustice.org e: [log in to unmask]