ICANN ICANN Email List Archives

[gnso-operating-procedures-2009]


<<< Chronological Index >>>    <<< Thread Index    

Summary and Analysis of Public Comments on Recommendations For Updated GNSO Council Operating Procedures

  • To: "gnso-operating-procedures-2009@xxxxxxxxx" <gnso-operating-procedures-2009@xxxxxxxxx>
  • Subject: Summary and Analysis of Public Comments on Recommendations For Updated GNSO Council Operating Procedures
  • From: Robert Hoggarth <robert.hoggarth@xxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:01:32 -0700

Summary and Analysis of Public Comments on Recommendations For Updated GNSO 
Council Operating Procedures

Comment period ended: 16 October 2009
Summary published: 18 September 2009

Prepared by: Robert Hoggarth, Senior Policy Director

I.  BACKGROUND

The newly-restructured GNSO Council is scheduled to be seated during the 
upcoming ICANN meeting in Seoul, South Korea. Establishing updated operating 
procedures consistent with the new ICANN Bylaws is a key step toward seating 
the new Council.

The GNSO Council Operations Work Team was tasked with a cross-constituency 
effort to review the existing GNSO operating rules and procedures and to 
recommend changes consistent with the new GNSO Council's goal to become a 
strategic manager of the policy process.  The Work Team developed a package of 
those recommendations and the GNSO Council directed the Staff to post them for 
public review and comment.

Community members were invited to review the recommendations and comment on all 
aspects of the recommended procedures. The recommended procedures address a 
number of areas including the selection of officers, the conduct of meetings 
and how Council votes are cast and counted.

In authorizing the release of the recommendations for review and comment, ICANN 
Staff was directed to note a specific area of discussion regarding the 
treatment of instances where Council members may choose to abstain from a 
particular vote (see - 
http://gnso.icann.org/meetings/minutes-council-24sep09.htm).

Treatment of vote abstentions (the original work team recommendation and 
potential substitute language) was specifically noted in the recommended 
procedures in Section 4.2 of the package. Commenters were asked which version 
of the abstention language they prefer - the original language recommended by 
the work team or the substitute clarifying language contributed by the Staff.

The Staff was also asked by Council members to prepare an analysis of how 
potential Council votes would be tabulated based on different treatments of 
Councilor abstentions. That Staff analysis was provided as a submission to the 
comment forum.

Document Links:

The recommended operating procedures were provided to the community at the 
following links:

http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/draft-gnso-operating-procedures-24sep09-en.pdf
http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/draft-gnso-operating-procedures-24sep09-en.doc

II.  GENERAL COMMENTS and CONTRIBUTORS

As of the 16 October 2009 deadline only one substantive and relevant community 
submission had been made to this comment forum. The comment was submitted by 
Clarke Walton on behalf of the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RSG).[1]

III.  SUMMARY & ANALYSIS

The RSG recognized in its comments that establishing updated operating 
procedures consistent with the ICANN Bylaws is a key step toward seating the 
new GNSO Council and expressed appreciation for the work of the GNSO Council 
Operations Work Team in drafting the Recommended GNSO Operating Procedures. The 
RSG noted its support for the Recommended GNSO Operating Procedures provided 
that the suggested substitute language regarding Voting Thresholds in Section 
4.2 is the text adopted for the procedures.

The RSG reiterated the suggested substitute language as follows:

"Unless otherwise specified in these procedures or in the ICANN Bylaws, to pass 
a motion or other action, greater than 50% of the eligible voters in each House 
must cast affirmative votes. For all votes taken, the number of eligible voters 
in each House shall be fixed to the number of seats allocated in the Bylaws 
(a.k.a. the denominator) and is not affected by the number of members present 
or absent at the meeting in which the motion or other action is initiated. 
Council members are permitted to abstain in any vote, but must provide a reason 
which shall be recorded in the minutes along with the abstention."

IV.  NEXT STEPS

This Summary Analysis document will be shared with GNSO Council members.  
Consistent with the Transition Implementation Plan approved by the GNSO Council 
at its 24 September meeting (see 
http://gnso.icann.org/meetings/minutes-council-24sep09.htm), the updated 
operating procedures will be the first substantial item on the new Council's 
meeting agenda of 28 October in Seoul. The new Council members will discuss and 
vote on the updated procedures. Approval of the procedures will require a 
majority of the voting members of each voting house of the Council for approval.

Pursuant to Article X, Section 3(4) of the ICANN By Laws, Council Operating 
Procedures are effective upon the expiration of a twenty-one (21) day public 
comment period, and are subject to Board oversight and review.[2]  It is not 
yet known if Board members will have any comments on the recommended procedures.


# # #
________________________________
[1]As noted above, ICANN Policy Staff submitted a comment regarding the 
treatment of instances where Council members may choose to abstain from a 
particular vote.  That submission is a part of the permanent forum record and 
will also be shared with the GNSO Council Operations Work Team.

[2]As drafted, that Bylaws provision did not require prior Board approval of 
the procedures.

Attachment: Summary and Analysis of Comments on Recommended GNSO Council Operating Procedures Oct09.doc
Description: Summary and Analysis of Comments on Recommended GNSO Council Operating Procedures Oct09.doc



<<< Chronological Index >>>    <<< Thread Index    

Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Cookies Policy