Re: [atlarge-discuss] ALOC Draft 3.0

[Sotiris Sotiropoulos <sotiris@hermesnetwork.com>]

Hans Klein wrote:

> Sotiris,
>
> The draft that you posted is out of date, I believe.  There have been three
> revisions since then (2.0, 2.1, 3.0).
>
> The biggest change was to add a "Part I" that restates the ALAC's support
> for election of At Large directors.

Hans,

Thanks for the heads up!  Apologies to all.  Below is the latest version.
Comments are welcome and will be submitted.

------
VERSION 3.0 (Proposed Final Draft)

At-Large Organizing Committee (ALOC)
Submission to the ICANN Evolution & Reform Committee On the Design of An At
Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)

25 July 2002



PREAMBLE

The At Large Organizing Committee (ALOC) was set up by ICANN to guide and
encourage bottom-up efforts to organize At-Large mechanisms for meaningful,
informed participation in ICANN.  The membership list of the ALOC can be seen
at: http://www.at-large.org/at-large-members.htm

This interim report offers recommendations on the organization of an At Large
Advisory Committee (ALAC).

The ALOC finds itself faced with an inherent contradiction, and therefore the
ALOC comments are organized in two parts.  On the one hand, the ALOC offers
comments on how to implement certain features of the Evolution and Reform
Committee's Blueprint for ICANN reform.   However, the ALOC does not support
all portions of that Blueprint, especially the elimination of the elected At
Large directors.  There is widespread support in the ICANN community for
elected At Large Directors.  Pending final resolution of the election issue,
however, the ALOC offers advice on what the Evolution and Reform Committee
should do and how it should operate
within ICANN now.

With ICANN's authority over the DNS up for review and renewal in September
2002, we hope that a way can be found to preserve the representation of users.
User representation will ensure a foundation of legitimacy for ICANN to enable
it to survive and prosper as an institution.

We urge the ERC and ICANN to proceed on these issues along a timetable that
permits sufficient time for the At-Large Structures within ALOC to engage in
genuine deliberation with their constituencies on these important issues.



PART I
SUPPORT FOR THE TERMS OF INTERNET PRIVATIZATION

The At Large Organizing Committee (ALOC) supports the original terms of
Internet privatization, most notably the principle of balanced representation
of users and industry experts on the ICANN board.  The ALOC also supports the
implementation mechanisms developed for At Large users, most notably the direct
elections of directors.

This support has been articulated in numerous documents, including:
? Esther Dyson's letter of 6 November 1998 to the US Dept. of Commerce on
behalf of the ICANN board.  That letter noted that the ICANN Board has an
unconditional mandate to create a membership structure that will elect nine At
Large Directors.   (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/ICANN111098.htm)
? The NGO and Academic ICANN Study, which concluded that ICANN should retain
balanced representation of users and industry experts on its board and should
continue to employ global elections. (http://www.naisproject.org/)
? ICANN's At Large Study Commission, which found that ICANN's policies affect
users and that users should be elected to the ICANN board.
(http://www.atlargestudy.org/)

The ALOC therefore prefers that ICANN not implement the recommendations in the
ERC Blueprint and instead work to implement the conditions of privatization.
Only an ICANN whose legitimacy is beyond dispute can work in the long run.




PART II
WORKING WITHIN THE ERC BLUEPRINT

Whether the ERC blueprint will be the basis for a new ICANN will not be known
before the end of this year.  Despite the reservations about that Blueprint, we
offer here some suggestions about how its terms might be implemented.

1. Background
a. Need for At-Large: ICANN needs a mechanism for individual users'
participation in ICANN.  This provides a formalized role in the policy
development process for users that ensures that user views are seriously taken
into account.
2. Role and Responsibilities
a. ALAC is a standing advisory committee of the Board
b. Provides advice and guidance to the Board and to other organizations within
ICANN on the needs of, and the impact of proposed policies on, the Internet's
individual users – addressing pending issues and introducing new issues
relevant to Internet issues and within ICANN's purview.
c. Serves both as a resource for ICANN to pursue specific issues/questions and
solicit user information, and as a meeting point for individual Internet users
and their organizations.
d. All ICANN policy-making entities will provide ALAC with appropriate notice
of upcoming and pending policy discussions and impending policy decisions to
ensure adequate opportunity for At-Large input
e. Through At-Large Structures, ALAC will engage in outreach to, and education
of, individual Internet users about ICANN/ICANN issues and will involve users
and their representatives in decision making, aggregation of
views, and identification of relevant Internet user priorities
f. ALAC will work with other ICANN stakeholders to address issues and develop
positions on relevant issues
g. ALAC will use on-line mechanisms as focal points for discussions and
information dissemination, ensuring broad public access to ALAC activities
h.
3. Structure/Membership
a. Should be structured so as to:
i. Provide effective, broadly inclusive mechanism for involving and
representing individual Internet users in ICANN's policy and decision-making
activities
ii. Demonstrate that the organizations of which the ALAC is composed actually
do represent the populations they claim to represent.
iii. Have membership that is geographically diverse, and is selected through a
process which includes each At-Large Structure (group) that meets specified
criteria.
4. Involvement w/ Board, other entities
a. ALAC should have a liaison seat on the ICANN Board
b. It should have liaisons to other ICANN policy-making bodies as appropriate
[To be defined.]
c. Appointment of four delegates to the Nominating Committee
5. "At-Large Structures" Criteria – new or existing organizations that:
a. Are open, participatory, and self-sustaining
b. Engage in outreach to, and education of, individual Internet users about
ICANN and ICANN issues
c. Involve individual Internet users in policy and decision-making and
activities related to involvement in ICANN, including soliciting opinions of
their members and having participatory mechanisms for the discussion and/or
development of policies, aggregating views, and identifying relevant Internet
user priorities concerning ICANN
d. Maintain transparent and publicly accessible processes for input, policy
development, and decision-making
e. Post current information about the organization's aims, structure,
membership, working mechanisms and current leadership
f. Are open for new individual members
g. Are able to maintain themselves without requiring funding from ICANN
h. Are able to guarantee and demonstrate the real identity of their members and
to provide the relevant anagraphical data in electronic form.
6. At-Large Structure Designation/Development
a. ICANN should post and distribute a call for At-Large Structures, providing
organizations with an appropriate period of time apply to be eligible to
participate in the initial ALAC.
b. Organizations fulfilling the criteria can apply to become At-Large
Structures at any time and participate in the ALAC as appropriate (immediately
or during next selection cycle depending on process).
c. It will be the ALAC's responsibility:
i. to alter or update the admission criteria for new Structures;
ii. to exclude from itself any Structure which, after appropriate verification,
fails to meet the current criteria;
iii. to state whether any prospective Structure meets the criteria and thus can
be accepted in the process. Deliberations of type i) and ii) require a majority
vote of 2/3 of the ALAC.
d. At Large Structures will not be required to fund ICANN or the costs of the
ALAC, even if partially.

7. ALAC Composition (options)
a. (Variable membership) One member from each At-Large Structure
b. (Fixed membership) Fixed number from each region (ICANN has traditionally
addressed geographic diversity based on five regions of the world) (the
"Alexander plan")
c. Fixed membership, half appointed and half elected.
8. ALAC Funding and Staffing ALAC (options)
a. The ALAC could be funded either by its members, by ICANN, or by some
combination of the two.

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