[gtld-council] Recommendation 20: updated text
Good evening everyone A small group met this evening to further refine the language for Recommendation 20. The following text is an amalgamation of work from Philip, Chuck, Mawaki and others on the call. The small group supported the following formulation and have included suggestions from Becky Burr about the burden of proof upon an objector. This can be discussed in tomorrow afternoon's call. Recommendation 20 An application will be rejected if an expert panel determines that there is substantial opposition to it from a significant portion of the community to which the string may be explicitly or implicitly targeted. The remainder of the discussion focussed on the following items but is not yet complete. Process § Opposition must be objection based. § Determination will be made by a dispute resolution panel constituted for the purpose (perhaps like the RSTEP pool of panelists from which a small panel would be constituted for each objection) § The objector must provide verifiable evidence that it is an established institution of the community and that the legitimate rights or interests of the group would be materially harmed by the introduction of the TLDs Implementation Guideline -- A small information paper is coming out from the Implementation Team on the place of public comments in the application evaluation process but there may be an automatic response to public comments that will alert public commenters to the objection process.
The task of the panel is the determination of substantial opposition. a) substantial In determining substantial the panel will assess the following: § significant portion § community § explicit or implicit targeting § established institution § formal existence. b) significant portion: In determining significant portion the panel will assess the balance between: § the level of objection submitted by one or more established institutions and § the level of support provided in the application from one or more established institutions. The panel will assess : § significance proportionate to the explicit or implicit targeting. c) community Community should be interpreted broadly and will include for example an economic sector, a cultural community, or a linguistic community. It may also be a closely related community which believes it is impacted. d) explicitly targeted Explicitly targeted means there is a description of the intended use of the TLD in the application. e) implicitly targeted Implicit targeting means that the objector makes an assumption of targeting or that the objector believes there may be confusion by users over its intended use. f) established institution An institution that has been in formal existence for at least 5 years. In exceptional cases, standing may be granted to an institution that has been in existence for fewer then 5 years. Exceptional circumstance include but are not limited to re- organisation, merger, or an inherently younger community. The following ICANN organizations are established institutions: GAC, ALAC, GNSO, ccNSO, ASO (but this element requires further discussion) g) formal existence Formal existence may be demonstrated by: § appropriate public registration, § public historical evidence, § validation by a government, intergovernmental organization, international treaty organisation or similar. ..................................................... Liz Williams Senior Policy Counselor ICANN - Brussels +32 2 234 7874 tel +32 2 234 7848 fax +32 497 07 4243 mob |