ALAC statement in support of Consumer Constituency

[Beau Brendler <beaubrendler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

As it did during its meeting of 28 April 2009, the At-Large Advisory Committee 
(ALAC) states its support for the creation of the Consumers Constituency in the 
non-commercial stakeholder group in the GNSO. 

Given that one of the goals of the ALAC is to support the interests of all 
individual Internet users, we strongly believe that consumer and public 
interest groups must have a representative voice in the GNSO policy-making 
environment. 

We applaud the organizers' efforts to recruit additional organizations, 
including most recently the Greek consumer group EKPIZO, and to obtain formal 
commitments from those who have already expressed interest. Supporters of the 
Consumers Constituency include consumer organizations and consumer 
representatives in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Greece, Slovenia and the United 
States. We understand that consumer organizations in France and Mexico have 
indicated their interest in joining the Consumers Constituency. We see this 
support as representing an impressive starting point for obtaining broad 
geographic representation. 

Therefore, we strongly encourage the Board to approve the Consumers 
Constituency so its organizers can continue to recruit new members to ensure 
the most solid foundation possible at this early stage of a constituencies’ 
progress and give consumer and public interest groups a voice in the GNSO 
policy development process.