Hi,

I agree with Robin.  If there are any inherently problematic elements in the
proposed structure I¹m not seeing them.  Of course, one could amplify a few
of the points procedurally, e.g. how elections are to be conducted and
constituency charters formulated and assessed, but people don¹t feel that
level of details is needed here, ok.  In any event I would add my yeses to
Milton¹s two questions about exclusion on criteria and joining more than one
constituency.

Cheers,

Bill


On 10/11/08 5:17 PM, "Robin Gross" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Milton,
> 
> Thanks for posting this.  It looks like a solid direction for us to head in to
> manage this transition.
> 
> So should all existing members of NCUC "join" (or "form") a constituency
> within the new stake-holder group?
> 
> Thanks much,
> Robin
> 
> 
> On Oct 9, 2008, at 1:13 AM, Milton L Mueller wrote:
> 
>> Hello, all
>> Important news about the GNSO Improvements. First, we have no official notice
>> yet but the Board has voted to delay the full implementation of the
>> Improvements by 3-4 months. This is supposed to have happened at the Sept 30
>> meeting, but we have no description of what they decided yet so cannot
>> provide details.
>>  
>> This has implications for our GNSO Council seat elections. It would mean that
>> there would be 2 open Council positions instead of 5, although one ICANN
>> staff has suggested that we go ahead and elect all 5 and keep them ³in
>> reserve² (don¹t shoot the messenger, I am just relaying what I know).
>>  
>> More important, we need to start thinking about the new structure for the
>> Noncommercial Stakeholders Group (NCSG). Below is a sketch of what I think
>> would work. Please let us know what you think.
>>  
>>  
>> NCSG structure sketch
>>  
>> Membership
>> Eligibility criteria same as before, except we allow individuals according to
>> current provisional regime
>> Individuals and representatives of organizations join NCSG directly
>>             Social networking site for interactions and records
>>             NCUC discuss list retained (but renamed) as NCSG discuss list
>> 3 categories of membership:
>>             Large organization ­ 4 votes
>>             Small organization ­ 2 votes
>>             Individuals ­ 1 vote
>> No membership dues, but renewal required bi-annually
>> Chair and GNSO Council reps elected by NCSG members
>>  
>> Officers
>> Chair ­ same duties as NCUC chair
>> 6 GNSO Council representatives elected by NCSG
>> Executive Committee (EC)
>> Consists of Chair, 1 delegate from each constituency, Council representatives
>>             Constituencies represented by their own chair/delegate
>>  
>> Constituencies
>> Constituencies are self-defined groups organized around some distinctive
>> policy perspective (e.g. consumer protection, privacy); shared identity
>> (e.g., region or country of origin, gender, language group); a type of
>> organization (e.g., research networks, philanthropic foundations) or any
>> other grouping principle that might affect its stance on gtld policy.
>> Each constituency sets its own eligibility criteria
>> Constituencies have a right to:
>> x    Place one rep on the executive committee
>> x    Delegate members to working groups
>> x    Issue statements on PDPs which are included in the official NCSG
>> response, but marked as constituency positions, not necessarily the position
>> of NCSG as a whole
>>  
>> To be recognized as a constituency a group must be supported by at least 5
>> people who are already NCSG members, appoint an organizer (chair) and submit
>> a charter. Steps:
>> 1)      A prospective constituency organizer issues a notification of intent
>> to form a constituency to the entire NCSG via its email list
>> 2)      When 5 or more NCSG members volunteer to join the NCSG on the public
>> list it becomes eligible to schedule a meeting (which can be either in person
>> or online)
>> 3)      The eligible constituency holds a meeting(s) to draft a charter. The
>> charter defines its grouping principle, eligibility criteria, and procedures.
>> The meetings also designate a constituency chair, and other officers if so
>> desired.
>> 4)      The charter is submitted to the NCSG EC for ratification.
>> Ratification is based exclusively on due diligence whether there are really
>> at least 5 members, whether the constituency¹s eligibility rules or
>> procedures contravene NCSG charter in some way
>>  
>> Current members of NCUC are automatically made members of NCSG, but NCUC
>> dissolves as a constituency once this proposal is adopted.
>>  
>> NCSG members can join any constituency, provided that they meet the
>> constituency¹s own eligibility criteria.
>> Should we allow constituencies to exclude based on criteria? I propose yes ­
>> otherwise constituencies are meaningless
>> Should we allow members to join more than one constituency? I propose yes, as
>> long as voting for council seats and chair is NCSG-wide.
>>  
>> Constituencies keep track of their own membership, but members should reflect
>> their status on the official NCSG social network site. Status is reviewed by
>> the EC bi-annually to see if they still exceed the 5-member threshold.
>>  
>>  
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 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]
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 


***********************************************************
William J. Drake  
Center for International Governance
Graduate Institute of International and
  Development Studies
Geneva, Switzerland
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