[council] GNSO Council resolution 13 November 2014

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Councillors,

Ahead of the official Council minutes, the following resolution was passed at 
the GNSO Council meeting on 13 November 2014.

Adoption of a Charter for a Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN 
Accountability

Whereas,

1. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has 
requested that ICANN "convene a multistakeholder process to develop a plan to 
transition
 the U.S. government stewardship role" with regard to the IANA Functions and 
related root zone management.

2. During discussions around the transition process, the community raised the 
broader topic of the impact of the change on ICANN's accountability given its 
historical
contractual relationship with the United States and NTIA. Accountability in 
this context is defined, according to the Netmundial multistakeholder 
statement[1], as the
existence of mechanisms for independent checks and balances as well as for 
review and redress.

3. The concerns raised during these discussions around the transition process 
indicate that the level of trust into the existing ICANN accountability 
mechanisms does
not yet meet some stakeholder's expectations. Considering that the NTIA has 
stressed that it was expecting community consensus regarding the transition, 
this gap
between the current situation and stakeholder expectations may prevent the 
transition to proceed.

4. A DT was formed with participants, amongst others, from the ccNSO, GNSO, ASO 
and ALAC to develop a charter for a Cross Community Working Group on
Enhancing ICANN Accountability.

5. The DT delivered the proposed charter for consideration to all the ICANN 
Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees for consideration
(see: 
http://gnso.icann.org/en/drafts/enhancing-accountability-charter-03nov14-en.pdf)

Resolved,

1. The GNSO Council approves the Charter
(http://gnso.icann.org/en/drafts/enhancing-accountability-charter-03nov14-en.pdf)
 and appoints Thomas Rickert as the GNSO Council liaison and GNSO
co-chair to the CWG.

2. Each GNSO Stakeholder Group will identify one member for the CWG by 20 
November taking into account the charter requirement that best efforts should be
made to ensure that members:

·        Have sufficient expertise to participate in the applicable subject 
matter
       (see for example 
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/enhancing-accountability-faqs-2014-08-22-en#12
 for areas identified for expertise);

·        Commit to actively participate in the activities of the CWG on an 
ongoing and long-term basis; and

·        Where appropriate, solicit and communicate the views and concerns of 
individuals in the organization that appoints them.

3. The GNSO will collaborate with the other SOs and ACs to issue a call for 
participants to join the CWG, each in accordance with its own rules.

[1] 
http://netmundial.br/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/NETmundial-Multistakeholder-Document.pdf
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you.
Kind regards.
Glen

Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat
gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://gnso.icann.org