Tr : TR: AFRALO COMMENTS

[Aziz Hilali <hilaliaziz@xxxxxxxx>]

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 UTC.

Could yous Please correct.
Best Regards
Aziz
AFRALO Chair


Le Lundi 27 mars 2017 8h14, hilali <hilali@xxxxxxxxxx> a écrit :



 
 
 
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 (www.misoc.org)
B.P. 68 04, Medinat Al Irfane, 
Av. Allal Al Fassi Rabat - Maroc 
Téléphone: + 212. 6 61 40 15 15
=============================