Statement of support of Consumer Constituency from the Constituency's co-chairs

[Beau Brendler <beaubrendler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

As co-chairs of the proposed Consumer Constituency, we would like to make a 
statement of support on its behalf, and to encourage the ICANN board to 
immediately make formal its creation.

Our commitment to this constituency has not wavered in the year since it was 
first proposed. Our intent remains the same: To create a venue for 
international organizations, whose primary duty is to advocate on behalf of 
consumers in matters of purchase and trade, to have a strong voice in the GNSO, 
the most active of ICANN's policy making bodies.

Despite that the constituency has been in a holding pattern for several months, 
we have made a solid start in outreach and recruiting of organizations. Those 
that have made a formal (written) commitment to join the constituency include:

Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) / Australia
Telecom and Internet Klantenvereniging (TIK) / Belgium
EKPIZO ["The Quality of Life"] Consumers Association / Greece
ZPS Slovene Consumers' Association / Slovenia

It should be noted EKPIZO and ZPS are full members of Consumers International, 
a 50-year-old member organization with 220 member organizations in 115 
countries, and a likely ally in communication and recruitment for the larger 
organization.

In addition, the following organizations have been contacted more than once and 
are in the process of considering membership in the Consumer Constituency:

Consumers Association of Canada (CAC)

In addition, two consumer organizations in France and Mexico have been 
contacted by our ICANN board-appointed representative, and their status should 
be clear by the Nairobi meeting. Should the organization from Mexico choose to 
join, the proposed constituency would have representation from the North 
American, European, Asia-Pacific, and Latin American/Caribbean regions. We 
believe this is a remarkable start for a proposed and not formally approved 
organization. We seek to remind the board of the significant challenge involved 
in recruiting any volunteers, let alone whole institutions with limited 
resources and full policy plates, to a "constituency" yet to actually be 
approved, whose representational structure is untested, and whose role within a 
larger group (NCSG) remains unclear.

We also wish to remind the board that, as promised in Seoul, we have continued 
to recruit organizations despite a lack of clarity on the proposed 
constituency's future. EKPIZO joined us a short time ago, quite some time after 
the SIC's meeting with the Consumer Constituency's co-chairs. In addition, 
since Seoul we have prepared various Consumers Constituency briefing papers. 

Based on this support from a growing number of consumer organizations, we 
believe the board should be strongly compelled to approve the Consumers 
Constituency.

We remain committed to the principles and goals outlined in the revised Notice 
of Intent to Form and look forward to renewed and more effective outreach as 
soon as the board makes the decision to formalize the constituency's existence.

Beau Brendler
Holly Raiche
Co-chairs