TR: AFRALO COMMENTS

["hilali" <hilali@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello All,

We do not know why the AFRALO comments below do not appear in the list of
comments.

Please note that this email has been sent to

"Comments-atlarge-review-draft-report-01feb17@xxxxxxxxx"

 From my address "hilali@xxxxxxxxxx" on Thursday 23 March 2017 16:43 GMT.

Colud yous Please correct.

Cordialement

======================================

Abdelaziz Hilali

Directeur Adjoint Relations Entreprises

 <http://www.inpt.ac.ma/> www.inpt.ac.ma

Direct    : +212 5 38 00 27 60

Fax       : +212 5 37 77 30 44

Mobile : +212 6 61 40 15 15

E-mail   :  <mailto:hilali@xxxxxxxxxx> hilali@xxxxxxxxxx

=======================================

 

 

 

 

 

De : hilali [mailto:hilali@xxxxxxxxxx] 
Envoyé : jeudi 23 mars 2017 16:43
À : 'comments-atlarge-review-draft-report-01feb17@xxxxxxxxx'
Objet : AFRALO COMMENTS

 

Comments From AFRALO

----------------

 

While we support an important number of the report’s recommendations, such
as the limitation of the number of terms of the At-Large Advisory Committee
(ALAC) members, the definition of metrics of participation, the improvement
of outreach efforts, etc., we have a major concern with other
recommendations.

 

In the report, reviewers talk about reforming At-Large rather than reviewing
it, which is largely reflected in the various recommendations. Also, no
connection was established between the recommendations and the problems they
are supposed to address.

 

The report proposes a significant change in the structure of At-Large,
suggesting:

·         The replacement of the current “At-Large Structures (ALS)/Regional
At-Large Organization (RALO)/ALAC” structure with a new one called Empowered
Membership Model (EMM) and based mainly on individual members, RALOs, and
ALAC populated mainly by the RALO leaders.

-       Any individual from any region becomes an At-Large Member (ALM) as
soon as he/she signs up to an ICANN Working Group (WG)

-       Voting rights are given to ALMs after several months of active WG
participation

-       The 5 ALAC Members appointed by NomCom will be the Liaisons of ALAC
to the other ICANN constituencies.

·         The removal of all At-Large Working Groups

·         The modification of the Board member (Seat 15) selection process
in the following way:

-       Candidates to self-nominate 

-       Nominating Committee (NomCom) vets nominees to produce a slate of
qualified candidates 

-       Random selection from the slate produced by the NomCom

·         The replacement of the 5-yearly global At-Large Summit (ATLAS)
meetings with an alternative model of annual regional At-Large Meetings

·         Etc.

We believe that the proposed “reform” will cause a serious damage to
At-Large concept that was introduced in ICANN to balance the political and
commercial interests by a community that defends public interest only. 

 

At-Large is supposed to represent the interests of end-users as per the
ICANN Bylaws, and was designed (also by the ICANN bylaw) so that ICANN has a
presence on the ground in each country of the world representing the
interests of end-users. The At-Large Structures (ALS) ensure such presence.

 

While we fully agree that individual membership should be encouraged
together with ALSes, we think that well established ALSes with legal status
in their countries are the guarantee that At-Large is really reflecting the
interests of end-users. Furthermore, outreach and engagement efforts are
easier when handled by a recognized body as opposed to individuals.
Replacing ALSes with ALMs will reduce the legitimacy of At-Large to be the
representative of the interests of end-users. Turning At-Large into an
individual member (only) organization may convert it into an organization
whose members use the At-Large to campaign for anti-user issues instead of
supporting end-users within the principles of At-Large.  This also will
reduce diversity since individuals in the developing countries are not as
connected and as informed as those of the global north.

 

We could not understand the rationale behind removing At-Large Working
Groups (WGs). WGs constitute the base forum for end-users to voice their
thoughts, discuss their concerns in relation to any given policy being
discussed at ICANN, and frame agreements and strategies on how to positively
impact the policy development process to the benefit of Internet end-users. 


 


We strongly disagree with the recommendation to make the NomCom involved in
the selection of the Board member selected by At-Large (seat #15). The
NomCom already appoints two-thirds of the ICANN Board voting members, which
is half of the total number of directors, and should not be given any role
in the seat #15 selection process. Moreover, we wouldn’t accept that a Board
member be selected systematically by a random draw. For the record, the
other Supporting Organizations/Advisory Committees (SO/AC) appoint their
board member(s) as per their rules. At-large should not be different.

 

The recommendation of replacing the ATLAS summits by regional meetings is
not logical since it will prevent the At-Large community from meeting face
to face. Only members of the same region can dounder the so-called EMM. We
prefer the status quo that allows periodic regional meetings and ATLAS
global summits.

 

Finally, we would like to express our deep concern about the future of the
At-Large community if this report is accepted and implemented as is.
At-Large should remain the home of real and verifiable end-users defending
no other interest than the public interest. 

 

We regret that the At-Large community is now pushed to spend their volunteer
time and energy in defending their existence rather than accomplishing their
mission as stipulated in the ICANN bylaws.

 

Best Regards

============================

Aziz Hilali 
Chair of AFRALO(African At-Large Organization/ICANN) 

President of the Mediterranean Federation of Associations of Internet

Vice President of ISOC Morocco ( <http://www.misoc.org> www.misoc.org)

B.P. 68 04, Medinat Al Irfane, 
Av. Allal Al Fassi Rabat - Maroc 
Téléphone: + 212. 6 61 40 15 15

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