To the members of the
Review WG - a resolution for your consideration:Whereas, during the 15 July 2000,
Public Forum discussions held in Yokohama the ICANN Board requested a "working group
to address the DNSO Review process";
Whereas, the ICANN Board designated ICANN
Executive Committee member Pindar Wong to act as Board liaison for the DNSO Review;
Whereas,
on 9 August 2000, it was advised that Alejandro Pisanty, also an ICANN Executive
Committee member, will be replacing departing Board member Pindar Wong in the capacity
of liaison to the DNSO review project;
Whereas, on 17 October 2000 Roberto Gaetano,
speaking in his capacity as Chair of the General Assembly, reiterated to the Names
Council the mandate of the ICANN Board to establish a Working Group to pursue the
DNSO Review process;
Whereas, on 14 November 2000 the DNSO Names Council motioned
to make Ms.Y.J. Park the chair of a Working Group "to address certain DNSO specific
issues";
Whereas, during the 15 November 2000 Public Forum discussions held in
Marina del Rey, plans for a "comprehensive review of the DNSO" were confirmed;
Whereas,
on19 December 2000, subsequent to another reminder by the Chair of the General Assembly,
the Names Council finally takes the decision to set up the Working Group Review;
Whereas,
on 23 December 2000, the Review Working Group accepted the Terms of Reference provided
by its Chair, Ms. Y.J. Park;
Whereas, beginning on 29 January 2001, members of
the Review Working Group posted their reports independently as public comments to
the Report from the DNSO Review Task Force;
Whereas, beginning on 19 February 2001,
members of the Review Working Group again posted their independent unfiltered conclusions
to the Public Comment Forum on the Report from the DNSO Review Task Force;
Whereas,
the Review Working Group has abided by the need for bottoms-up consensus-based decision-making
processes, providing a written report and supporting materials that (i) document
the extent of agreement and disagreement among impacted groups, (ii) document the
outreach process used to seek to achieve adequate representation of the views of
groups that are likely to be impacted, and (iii) document the nature and intensity
of reasoned support and opposition to the proposed changes;
Whereas, the Review
Working Group process has generated over 3100 comments and has maintained a level
of membership far in excess of any other working group to date;
Whereas, the ICANN
Board has received the DNSO Review Report from the Names Council, and "other materials
on the subject";
Whereas, the Review Working Group has responded to ICANN Board
resolution 01.28 by preparing a proposal "which may result in changes in the structure
of the DNSO and/or major changes in its functioning";
Whereas, the Review Working
Group has responded to ICANN Board resolution 01.29 by providing "input related to
changes that improve operations of the DNSO as it is constituted today no later than
April 16, 2001";
It is therefore
RESOLVED by the Review Working Group that the
ICANN Board consider striking Article VI-B of the Bylaws for Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers, and replacing it with the following text:
ARTICLE
VI-B: THE DOMAIN NAME SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION
Section 1. DESCRIPTION
(a) The
DNSO shall advise the Board with respect to policy issues relating to the Domain
Name System.
(b) The DNSO shall consist of a General Assembly ("GA"), consisting
of all interested individuals and entities.
Section 2. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
(a)
The GA shall be an open forum for participation in the work of the DNSO, and open
to all who are willing to contribute effort to the work of the DNSO. The participants
in the GA should be individuals who have a knowledge of and an interest in issues
pertaining to the areas for which the DNSO has primary responsibility, and who are
willing to contribute time, effort and expertise to the work of the DNSO, including
work item proposal and development, discussion of work items, draft document preparation,
and participation in research and drafting committees and working groups.
(b) The
GA shall at a minimum meet in conjunction with regularly scheduled meetings of the
Board. To the maximum extent practicable, all meetings should be available for online
attendance as well as physical attendance.
(c) Administrative and operational costs
of GA meetings shall be the
responsibility of ICANN. There shall be no other fees
required to
participate in the GA.
(d) Participants in the GA shall nominate,
pursuant to procedures approved by the Board, persons to serve on the Board in those
seats reserved for the DNSO.
(e) The GA is responsible for the consensus building
process of the DNSO. It shall adopt such procedures and policies as it sees fit to
carry out that responsibility, including the designation of such research, drafting
committees, or working groups of the GA as it determines are appropriate to carry
out the substantive work of the DNSO. ALL GA members shall be invited to participate
in each of such bodies. Each of such bodies shall provide appropriate means, as determined
by the GA, for input and such participation as is practicable under the circumstances
by other interested parties. Any
reports or recommendations presented to the GA
by such bodies shall be
posted on a web site accessible by the public for public
review and comment; absent clear justification, which shall be publicly stated at
the time of any action, the GA shall not act on any report or recommendation until
a reasonable time for public comment has passed and the GA has reviewed and evaluated
all public comments received. The GA is responsible for ensuring that all responsible
views have been heard and considered prior to a decision by the GA.
(f) GA participants
may propose that the GA consider domain name policies or recommendations. If the
GA undertakes consideration of a domain name topic, the GA shall designate one or
more research or drafting committees, or working groups of the GA, as appropriate
to evaluate the topic, and shall recommend a time frame for the report of such committee
or working group each of whom shall be availed of a public mailing list for as long
such group requires . Following the receipt of a report or recommendation from such
a body, the GA shall vote to either accept the report or recommendation for submission
as a consensus recommendation to the Board, or shall return the report or recommendation
to the body from which it originated for
further work.
(g) If two-thirds (2/3)
of the members of the GA participating in such a vote determine that the DNSO process
has produced a community consensus, that consensus position shall be forwarded to
the Board as a consensus recommendation, along with all materials or other information
that could reasonably be relevant to the Board's review of that determination, including
(but not limited to) the dissenting statement(s) of any member(s) of the GA. If more
than one-half (1/2) but less than two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the GA participating
in the vote determine that the DNSO process has produced a community consensus, that
position may be forwarded to the Board as a GA recommendation, along with statements
of majority and minority
views, and any separate or dissenting statement(s) of
any member(s) of the GA. Any proposed recommendation that is not supported by an
affirmative vote of one-half (1/2) of the members of the GA participating in the
vote may be returned to the body from which it originated, or may be assigned to
a new body, for further work. In such a case, the GA may report to the Board the
lack of a consensus and the steps, if any, it plans to take from this point forward
with respect to this particular recommendation. The GA is responsible for ensuring
that the Board is informed of any significant implementation or operational concerns
expressed by any responsible party.
(h) The GA shall forward to the Board, from
among those persons nominated by the GA, its selection(s) for the Director(s) to
fill any open Board position(s) reserved for the DNSO. Any such selection(s) must
have the affirmative votes of at least one-half (1/2) of all the members of the GA
participating in such vote. At any given time, no two Directors serving on the Board
selected by the GA shall be citizens of the same country or of countries located
in the same Geographic Region.
(i) The term of office for each officer of the GA
shall be one year.
Officers of the GA shall be the Chair and Co-Chair of the GA,
and the
elected Chair of each research or drafting committee, working group or
other body of the GA.
(j) No more than one officer, director or employee of a corporation
or other organization (including its subsidiaries and affiliates) shall serve as
an officer of the GA at any given time.
(k) Meetings of the GA may be held (i)
in person or via teleconference, at the discretion of the GA, so long as all members
of the GA participating can speak to and hear one another or (ii) via electronic
video screen communication or other communication equipment; provided, that (a) all
members of the GA participating in such a meeting can speak to and hear one another,
(b) all members of the GA are provided the means of fully participating in all matters
before the GA and (c) the GA adopts and implements means of verifying that (x) a
person participating in such a meeting is a member of the GA or other person entitled
to participate in the meeting and (y) all actions of, or votes by, the GA are taken
or cast only by the members of the GA or other persons entitled to cast votes. A
majority of the total number of GA members then in office shall constitute a quorum
for
the transaction of business, and the act of a majority of the GA members present
at any meeting at which there is a quorum shall be the act of the GA, unless otherwise
provided herein. Advance notice of such meetings shall be posted on a web site that
is available for public access and, if reasonably practicable, at least 14 days in
advance of the meeting. Meetings shall be open to physical or electronic attendance
by all interested persons. The GA shall post minutes of its meetings to a web site
that is available for public access as soon as practicable following the meeting,
and no later than 21 days following the meeting.
Section 3. THE GA BODIES
(a)
Each Body shall self-organize, and shall determine its own criteria for participation,
except that no individual or entity shall be excluded from participation in a Body
merely because of participation in another Body, and Bodies shall operate to the
maximum extent feasible in an open and transparent manner and consistent with procedures
designed to ensure fairness. Each Body will be provided with its own public
mailing list, and will provide a status report to the GA at each meeting.
(b) Each
Body shall select one individual to represent that Body.
(c) Any group of individuals
or entities may petition the GA for recognition as a new or separate Body. A Body
of the GA shall be deemed formed when at least 10% of the GA members listed in the
GA voting registry offer to the GA Chair or Co-Chair a charter for such GA body.
Any such petition and charter will be posted for public comment. The GA will
create new Bodies in response to such petition.
(d) The initial Bodies shall consist
of: individuals, ccTLD registries, commercial and business entities, gTLD registries,
ISP and connectivity providers, non-commercial domain name holders, registrars, trademark
and other intellectual property and anti-counterfeiting interests. The veto
of any two such bodies will thwart a declaration of consensus by the GA.