[ga] Community Comment Invited on Revised Proposal To Form A New GNSO Consumers Constituency 22 January to 13 February 2010

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

Community Comment Invited on Revised Proposal To Form A New GNSO Consumers 
Constituency

Please note and take some time to submit comments before 13 February 2010!

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-22jan10-en.htm
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22 January 2010
The ongoing GNSO Improvements process has created significant community 
interest in the formation of new GNSO constituencies. One of those proposals is 
for a new Consumers Constituency. Proponents of the Consumers Constituency 
originally submitted a New Constituency Petition and Charter to the ICANN Board 
on 14 April 2009. A revised version of the proposal, responding to several 
Board inquiries was submitted to the Board on 15 September 2009.

The Structural Improvements Committee of the ICANN Board has directed the Staff 
to post the revised (15 September) version of the proposed Consumers 
Constituency Charter for community review and comment. All members of the ICANN 
community and the public are now invited to review the petition and charter of 
the Consumers Constituency and share comments with the Board through 13 
February 2009. 

Background and Explanation: 

In June 2008, the Board of Directors endorsed a series of recommendations on 
how to improve the GNSO's structures and operations. One of the significant 
drivers of those recommendations was an interest in maximizing participation in 
the GNSO and its policy development processes. Among the various 
recommendations endorsed by the Board was that ICANN take steps to clarify and 
promote the option to self-form new constituencies. 

The ICANN Bylaws provide that any group of individuals or entities may petition 
the Board for recognition as a new or separate constituency, in accordance with 
Section 5(4) of Article X. Such a petition must explain (1) why "the addition 
of such a Constituency will improve the ability of the GNSO to carry out its 
policy-development responsibilities" and (2) why "the proposed new Constituency 
would adequately represent, on a global basis, the stakeholders it seeks to 
represent." Despite those Bylaw provisions, it has been many years since the 
organization has had formal requests for any new GNSO constituencies. Since the 
Board action last June, however, the Board has received four petitions for 
potential new GNSO Constituencies. In December, the Board chose not to approve 
three of those proposals (see 
http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/prelim-report-09dec09-en.htm) and the Consumers 
proposal is still under consideration. 

The ICANN bylaws do not provide specific procedural guidance for how interested 
parties should submit the petitions contemplated in Article X. Mindful that 
explicit steps, formats, and/or processes for expansion would take some time 
for the community to develop in the implementation of the improvements 
recommendations, the Board directed ICANN Staff to provide the community with 
some initial guidance, a structure and a specific procedural path for potential 
new constituencies to follow. At its 1 October 2008 meeting, the Board 
acknowledged Staff's development of a "Notice of Intent" document for potential 
new constituencies and directed Staff to develop a formal petition and charter 
template to assist new constituency applicants in satisfying the formative 
criteria (consistent with the ICANN Bylaws) to facilitate the Board's 
evaluation of petitions to form new constituencies.

The process subsequently developed by the Staff required interested groups to 
first submit a Notice of Intent to Form a New Constituency (NOIF). The 
proponents of the Consumers Constituency completed that first step on 28 
February 2009. The second step of the process is development of a New 
Constituency Petition and Charter. The proponent of the Consumers Constituency 
completed that effort on 14 April 2009.

In August 2009 the members of the ICANN Board developed a number of questions 
regarding the proposal. In response to those inquiries the Consumer 
Constituency proponents revised their original NOIF and updated their proposed 
charter document on 15 September 2009. 

Relevant Board Resolution, Bylaws and Constituency Submissions: 

•Minutes of 1 October 2008 ICANN Board Meeting: 
http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/minutes-01oct08.htm

•ICANN Bylaws Article X, Section 5, Subsection 4: 
http://www.icann.org/en/general/bylaws.htm - X-5.1

•Copies of the original and Revised Consumers Constituency Petition Documents 
can be found at this web page: 
http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/newco-process-en.htm

•Revised (15 Sept) Consumers Constituency NOIF; 
http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/consumers-constituency-noif-redacted-15sep09.pdf

•Revised (15 Sept) Consumers Constituency Charter Document; 
http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/consumers-constituency-charter-15sep09.pdf

•Public Comment Forum of this proceeding: 
http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-201002-en.htm#newco
The Process From Here: 

At the end of this Public Comment Forum period, the ICANN Staff will provide a 
summary/analysis of the comments submitted regarding the revised Consumers 
Constituency petition and charter. That summary/analysis will be shared with 
the community and the Board. The Board will ultimately make the decision on 
whether to authorize the new constituency.

It should be noted that the GNSO Improvements Report approved by the Board in 
June 2008 has additional guidelines and recommendations for the ongoing 
practices and processes of GNSO constituencies. This work is ongoing as part of 
the GNSO Improvements implementation efforts being coordinated by the GNSO 
Council (see http://gnso.icann.org/ and http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/).

Deadline and How to Submit Comments: 

The Staff is opening a 21-day public consultation forum, from 22 January 2009 
through 13 February 2010, and invites community comments on this matter.

The formal Public Comment Forum Box is located here: 
http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-201002-en.htm#newco

To submit comments: consumers-constituency-petition@xxxxxxxxx

To view comments: http://forum.icann.org/lists/consumers-constituency-petition/

Staff Responsible: Robert Hoggarth

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