Proposed new structure Noncommercial Stakeholders Group by M Mueller
NCSG structure sketch
Membership Eligibility criteria same as before, except we allow individuals according to current provisional regime Individuals and representatives of organizations join NCSG directly Social networking site for interactions and records NCUC discuss list retained (but renamed) as NCSG discuss list 3 categories of membership: Large organization – 4 votes Small organization – 2 votes Individuals – 1 vote No membership dues, but renewal required bi-annually Chair and GNSO Council reps elected by NCSG members
Officers Chair – same duties as NCUC chair 6 GNSO Council representatives elected by NCSG Executive Committee (EC) Consists of Chair, 1 delegate from each constituency, Council representatives Constituencies represented by their own chair/delegate
Constituencies Constituencies are self-defined groups organized around some distinctive policy perspective (e.g. consumer protection, privacy); shared identity (e.g., region or country of origin, gender, language group); a type of organization (e.g., research networks, philanthropic foundations) or any other grouping principle that might affect its stance on gtld policy. Each constituency sets its own eligibility criteria Constituencies have a right to: x Place one rep on the executive committee x Delegate members to working groups x Issue statements on PDPs which are included in the official NCSG response, but marked as constituency positions, not necessarily the position of NCSG as a whole
To be recognized as a constituency a group must be supported by at least 5 people who are already NCSG members, appoint an organizer (chair) and submit a charter. Steps: 1) A prospective constituency organizer issues a notification of intent to form a constituency to the entire NCSG via its email list 2) When 5 or more NCSG members volunteer to join the NCSG on the public list it becomes eligible to schedule a meeting (which can be either in person or online) 3) The eligible constituency holds a meeting(s) to draft a charter. The charter defines its grouping principle, eligibility criteria, and procedures. The meetings also designate a constituency chair, and other officers if so desired. 4) The charter is submitted to the NCSG EC for ratification. Ratification is based exclusively on due diligence whether there are really at least 5 members, whether the constituency’s eligibility rules or procedures contravene NCSG charter in some way
Current members of NCUC are automatically made members of NCSG, but NCUC dissolves as a constituency once this proposal is adopted.
NCSG members can join any constituency, provided that they meet the constituency’s own eligibility criteria. Should we allow constituencies to exclude based on criteria? I propose yes – otherwise constituencies are meaningless Should we allow members to join more than one constituency? I propose yes, as long as voting for council seats and chair is NCSG-wide.
Constituencies keep track of their own membership, but members should reflect their status on the official NCSG social network site. Status is reviewed by the EC bi-annually to see if they still exceed the 5-member threshold.