[AFRI-Discuss] ALAC Committee - Liaisons to other constituencies and processes

ICANN At Large Staff staff at alac.icann.org
Wed Dec 13 08:35:20 CST 2006


Hello everyone!

An interesting discussion has started in the European At-Large  
community list and considering the nature of the conversation I  
thought it would be sensible to acquaint those of you not following  
this discussion (there are many from other regions listening in) with  
an element of it.

For those who are not aware, the At-Large Advisory Committee has the  
right to appoint a number of liaisons, and in the case of the NomCom,  
a number of actual members, who participate in the work of the other  
communities and key working groups and report back to ALAC on what is  
happening, as well as taking the view of ALAC, and by extension the  
At-Large community, back to those other constituencies. These  
positions therefore represent important opportunities for the point  
of view of the At-Large constituency to be represented, though there  
are various perspectives about how effective these positions can be,  
for a whole variety of reasons, which I hope those who have views  
will express for a more complete and rich debate.

A question was raised about who is eligible to fill these positions:  
members of the ALAC only, or anyone.  ICANN's legal staff were asked  
to provide a view on the subject, and have done so, making clear that  
since the Bylaws do not require membership in the ALAC in order to,  
for example, be the ALAC Board Liaison, it is for the ALAC to decide  
the manner in which these positions are appointed, elected, or  
otherwise filled. This is in line with ALAC practice, having had Bret  
Fausett, a non-ALAC member, as GNSO Liaison for some years now.

The discussion has moved on to a request that there should be set  
rules of procedure with respect to these appointments, so that the  
community could see transparently who was being nominated, how they  
were being nominated, and on what basis selected. The ALAC did  
resolve to compile draft procedures relating to these matters, with  
Vittorio Bertola volunteering to take on this task.

There are quite a few liaison positions. The posts are as follows:

(5) seats on the Nominating Committee (out of a total of 17 voting  
members)
(1) liaison to the ICANN Board
(1) liaison to the GNSO
(1) liaison to the ccNSO

Additionally the following ad-hoc appointments/liaison positions  
currently exist:

(1) liaison to the IDN Working Group
(1) liaison to the WHOIS Working Group
(1) liaison to the President's Advisory Committee on IDNs

The provisions of the Bylaws with respect to these matters can be  
found at: http://www.icann.org/general/bylaws.htm. Article XI,s2(4)  
contains provisions related to the ALAC.  Provisions related to the  
appointment, revocation of appointment, and/or reappointment appear  
in various places in the Bylaws in respect of the ccNSO and the GNSO,  
but in both cases, the ALAC may appoint, reappoint, or revoke an  
appointment, of its liaisons as it pleases and no term is defined for  
either.

Note that there are particular provisions for the Regional At-Large  
Organisations to provide input into the appointment of the five  
voting seats on the Nominating Committee - with RALOs in later stages  
of formation in many regions, you may wish to consider how to provide  
input to ALAC with respect to these positions in due course. There is  
one seat per Geographic Region as defined by ICANN.

I hope that this email has served to accurately convey the nature of  
the discussions and introduce (in particular) those who may be new to  
At-Large to this important subject.

-- 
Regards,

Nick Ashton-Hart
ICANN At Large
Main Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011]
USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460
Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135
mobile: +44 (7774) 932798
email: nashton at spamcop.net
Win IM: ashtonhart at hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart at mac.com /  
Skype: nashtonhart





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