[ga] Public Comment: The Role Of Individual Internet Users in the GNSO

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org; liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org]
[To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org]
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http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-28oct08-en.htm
Public Comment: The Role Of Individual Internet Users in the GNSO

Please note that Public comments must be submitted by 28 November 2008.

28 October 2008

The ICANN Board has asked for additional community input on the appropriate 
role and representation of individual commercial and non-commercial Internet 
users in the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO). Faced with a number 
of different recommendations stemming from various independent reviews and GNSO 
and user-community group efforts, the Board continues to consider this issue 
and believes that comments from the community, especially stakeholders in the 
GNSO, ALAC and At-Large groups, and any relevant applicants for new 
constituencies, would be particularly helpful.

Potential commenters are asked to consider addressing the inclusion of 
registrants and individual users in the GNSO in a manner that compliments the 
ALAC and its supporting structures and ensures that registrants' and individual 
Internet users' gTLD interests are effectively represented within the GNSO. A 
summary document has been prepared by the ICANN Staff to provide background on 
this issue and to outline a number of potential options being considered by the 
Board.

Background:

The independent reviews of the GNSO, the ICANN Nominating Committee (NomCom), 
the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), and the ICANN Board of Directors 
(Board) have revealed a number of high-level issues that extend across the 
organization and represent fundamental issues for the Board to clarify and 
resolve in its responsibility for setting the strategic direction of the 
corporation. These various "meta-issues" require Board resolution in order to 
reconcile overlaps, conflicts, and differences of perspective among the GNSO, 
NomCom, and ALAC independent reviews as well as potential issues in the 
soon-to-be-completed Board review process.

One of the most immediate of those issues is the need to clarify the proper 
strategic approach to representation of individual Internet user interests 
within ICANN and, specifically, the GNSO. The GNSO Improvements process, 
currently in the implementation phase and under active Board consideration, is 
driving the urgency of the issue as it affects implementation of the GNSO 
restructuring efforts. In recognition of this fact, the ICANN Board resolved at 
its 1 October 2008 meeting to open a community dialogue on this issue. The 
Board resolution states:

It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.14), The Board requests additional community 
dialogue and input on the appropriate role and representation of individual 
Internet users, including individual commercial and non-commercial Internet 
users, in the GNSO. Input from the GNSO, the ALAC and At-Large community, and 
any relevant applicants for new constituencies, would be particularly helpful 
and should address the inclusion of registrants and individual users in the 
GNSO in a manner that compliments the ALAC and its supporting structures, and 
ensures that registrants' and individual Internet users' gTLD interests are 
effectively represented within the GNSO.

The original English version of the document is being posted now and additional 
translations into Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish will be posted 
as soon as they are available.

The Process From Here:

Public comments will be available to the ICANN Board for review and evaluation. 
The ICANN Staff will prepare a summary of the comments for the Board and the 
community.

Deadline and How to Submit Comments

The Staff is opening a 30-day public consultation forum, from 28 October 2008 
until 28 November 2008, and invites community comments on this topic.

Staff Member responsible: Robert Hoggarth

To submit comments: gnso-users@xxxxxxxxx

To view comments: http://forum.icann.org/lists/gnso-users/

The formal Public Comment Forum Box is located here:
http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-200811.html#gnso-users

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