Re: [Comments] ALS and RALO, from YJ Park

["ALAC" <alac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thank you for your comments.

1.  Regarding your belief that the proposal makes it “impossible” for
individuals who are not associated with “any specific qualified
 organization” from participating in ICANN, and the proposal reminds her “of
building another version of” the NCUC:

On the contrary, the proposal mandates that interested individuals be
allowed to participate and that RALOs be structured to ensure this.
Further, the ALAC’s proposal must comply with the bylaws which state that
RALOs "shall include provisions designed to allow, to the greatest extent
possible, every individual Internet user who is a citizen of a country
within the RALO's Geographic Region to participate in at least one of the
RALO's At-Large Structures. A RALO may elect to also directly include
individual Internet users who are citizens or residents of countries within
the RALO's Geographic Region."  RALOs can be structured to include
individuals directly, or to include a "general At-Large Structure" through
which any individual in the region could participate -- to name just two
ways an individual could participate without becoming a member of an
existing organization.

The ALAC is not attempting or proposing "to build another version of the
NCUC."  The NCUC involves non-commercial organizations.  The ALAC and the
proposed At-Large infrastructure is aimed at involving *individual Internet
users,* whatever the nature of their activities (whether commercial, social,
political, purely personal or other) -- and uses organizations to enable
individuals to be involved at the local/issue/regional level.   The ALAC
believes that, without the ability to globally organize and interact in a
structured manner, At-Large and its members will not be able to achieve full
or effective ICANN participation.

2. Regarding your suggestion that the use of the concept of five geographic
regions be reconsidered:

The bylaws require a structure and representation for At-Large based on the
existing ICANN definition of "geographically diverse" (involving five
regions).   This is consistent with how ICANN approaches geographic
diversity for various entities.  ICANN could decide in the future to take a
different approach to geographic diversity, of course, but until it does,
the ALAC must use with the existing definition.

3. Regarding your belief that ICANN should “prepare some detailed mechanism
such as financial support to make At-Large members meaningfully participate
in the ICANN…”:

The bylaws state that “Each RALO shall be comprised of self-supporting
At-Large Structures…”  The ALAC, however, will continue to explore ways of
addressing financial barriers to At-Large participation in ICANN.

4.  Regarding your belief that the ALAC working language for this process
should be diversified, and that the At-Large Structure
application/designation process should be publicly archived, and that RALO
MOUs should be posted for public comment before being signed:

English is used by the ALAC to conduct its business and we believe
expediency necessitates that the At-Large Structure applications be
submitted in English.  We do attempt to translate ALAC communications (ALAC
members volunteer translations) to make our work more accessible to
non-English speaking communities. The ALAC agrees that information on the
At-Large Structure designation process should be publicly available, and
that proposed MOUs should be published for comment. Language to this effect
has been added. (However, it is worth noting that any language diversity
requirements make achievement of the goal above – financial sustainability –
more difficult.)

5. Regarding your question “What if RALO does have minimum of 500 individual
members in at least 2 different countries within the RALO's geographica
Region?”:

The ALAC proposed a minimum requirement of 3 At-Large Structures based in at
least 2 different countries within the RALO's Geographic Region  participate
before an MOU is signed (and the RALO becomes official).  This is intended
to help ensure broad representation and cooperation among organizations in a
region, and to help prevent one organization or one country from dominating
a RALO.  However, this requirement may need to be revisited, and it would be
addressed in the proposed periodic review of At-Large.

We look forward to hearing from you again.

The Interim At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)