Registrar Constituency Position on Proposed Bylaw Revision

["Clarke D. Walton" <clarke.walton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Registrar Constituency Position on Proposed Bylaw Revision Concerning 
Nominating Committee's Geographic Diversity Calculation


October 23, 2008


BACKGROUND

In October 2008, the members of the Registrar Constituency ("RC") were asked to 
provide feedback regarding a proposed modification of the ICANN bylaws that 
would permit domicile, not just citizenship, to be considered by the Nominating 
Committee in the diversity calculation performed when filling ICANN Board 
seats.  This Position Paper captures the overall sentiment expressed by the RC 
members who provided feedback about this matter and seems to reflect the 
general sense of the RC.  However, due to time constraints, no formal vote 
regarding this Position Paper was taken.

RC POSITION

The RC supports the proposed modification of the ICANN bylaws permitting 
domicile, not just citizenship, to be considered by the Nominating Committee in 
the diversity calculation performed when filling ICANN Board seats.

The RC strongly agrees that it is in the best interests of the ICANN community 
to have an ICANN Board comprised of well-informed, geographically diverse 
members.  The most qualified candidates, however, do not necessarily need 
citizen status in their respective regions.  In the RC's view, a candidate who 
is domiciled in a region and has been actively involved in the ICANN community 
may be the most appropriate representative of that particular region, 
regardless of that candidate's citizenship.

CONCLUSION

The opinions expressed by the RC in this Position Paper should not be 
interpreted to reflect the individual opinion of any particular RC member.