Summary and Analysis of Public Comments for: Proposed Permanent NCSG Charter
Summary and Analysis of Public Comments for: Proposed Permanent Charter of GNSO Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group Comment period: 6 May 2010 – 5 June 2011 Summary published: 7 June 2011 Prepared by: Robert Hoggarth, Senior Policy Director, ICANN Staff I. BACKGROUND As part of the comprehensive Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Improvements effort, in July 2009 the ICANN Board approved (see ICANN Board Resolution 2009.30.07.09<http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/prelim-report-30jul09.htm>) the Charters of four new GNSO Stakeholder Groups (SGs). These SG structures represent a new concept for the GNSO that was envisioned by the Board Governance Committee GNSO Review Working Group (BGC WG) on GNSO Improvements (see the BGC WG's February 2008 Report<http://www.icann.org/en/topics/gnso-improvements/gnso-improvements-report-03feb08.pdf>). The Charter<http://gnso.icann.org/improvements/ncsg-approved-charter-30jul09.pdf> document approved by the Board for the NCSG was "transitional" through no later than the ICANN annual meeting in 2011. The Board expected the NCSG (see Sections 5 and 8) to develop a permanent Charter document that would take effect upon the expiration of the transition period. Over the past several months, NCSG members have been working with the Board's Structural Improvements Committee and have developed a proposed permanent NCSG Charter<http://gnso.icann.org/improvements/proposed-ncsg-charter-05may11-en.pdf>. All members of the ICANN community were invited to review the Charter and share comments and observations with the Board and the wider community through 5 June 2011. Relevant Board Resolutions and Bylaws: * Adopted Board Resolutions 18 March 2011: #13. Non-Commercial Users Constituency Charter: Posting for Public Comment<http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-18mar11-en.htm#13> * Preliminary Report of Special Board Meeting 30 July 2009<http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/prelim-report-30jul09.htm> (See Item: B. Regular Agenda for GNSO Improvements) * ICANN Bylaws Article X, Section 5<http://www.icann.org/en/general/bylaws.htm#X-5> Document/Page Links: * The general GNSO Stakeholder Group process and historical charter documents can be accessed at: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/stakeholder-process-en.htm II. GENERAL COMMENTS & CONTRIBUTORS At the time this Summary and Analysis was prepared, a total of two (2) community submissions had been posted to the Forum. Contributors, grouped by organizations and individuals, are listed below in chronological order by posting date with initials noted. To the extent that quotations are used in the foregoing narrative (Section III), such citations will reference the contributor’s initials. Organizations and Groups: Contributor Submitted by Initials None Individuals: Contributor Initials Wolf-Ulrich Knoben WUK Roberto Gaetano RG III. SUMMARY & ANALYSIS General Disclaimer: This document is intended to broadly and comprehensively summarize the comments submitted to this Forum, but not to address every specific position stated by each contributor. Staff recommends that readers interested in specific aspects of any of the summarized comments, or the full context of others, refer directly to the specific contributions at: http://forum.icann.org/lists/ncsg-charter/. The two contributors’ comments are subdivided into the following two categories: 1) Procedural Concerns 2) Typographical Errors 1) Procedural Concerns WUK noted that under Section 2.2.7-Participation Rights, NCSG members are entitled to join up to 3 Constituencies (see bullet #7). WUK wonders (a) why the number 3 was selected; (b) whether “members” refers to individuals or organizations or both; and (c) whether the ICANN Bylaws support such a policy. WUK infers that one member may represent 3 different Constituencies – with voting rights -- on various executive bodies. WUK believes that this concept should “be reviewed carefully.” RG compliments the NCSG on a “good document,” but is confused by language in Sections 3.3 and 3.4 that outlines a “mechanism of having multiple votes combined with the obligation of assigning these multiple votes to a single candidate.” RG believes the procedure would be “clearer” if the language specified that individuals, small organizations, and large organizations each have voting weights [emphasis added] of 1, 2, and 4, respectively. At the top of Section 4.0, the Charter states, “All NCSG votes will use the weighted voting standards defined in this section…” and RG wonders if there is a specific reason that Sections 3.3 and 3.4 avoid using the term "weighted voting." If there is not a reason, RG “would find the charter much clearer if we use a weight rather than a multiple vote with constraints.” WUK observes that the last paragraph on page 10 (Section 2.2.3), “binds the NCSG to a constituency review every 2 years.” WUK is concerned that that the NCSG may find this cycle challenging “taking into consideration all the ICANN reviews in parallel which may influence this process.” 2) Typographical Errors WUK notes that the last paragraph on page 9 (Section 2.3) contains a “small typo ‘Non-Contracted-SG’ instead of ‘Non-Commercial-SG.’” IV. NEXT STEPS The ICANN Board will evaluate the proposed "Proposed Permanent Charter of GNSO Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group" along with community’s comments, consistent with the ICANN Bylaw principles. Attachment:
Summary and Analysis-Proposed Permanent NCSG Charter (Final).doc |