[NA-Discuss] Changes to OP

Thu Jul 12 13:52:41 EDT 2007

My recollection of events is that we purposely left Spanish off because
we decided to stick to "official languages".  The thinking being that if
we included Spanish, we would have to include Hindi, Cantonese, etc.,
etc.  Of course, we had completely missed the point that Puerto Rico was
part of our region and one of its official languages is Spanish.

DOH!

D

Darlene A. Thompson
Community Access Program Administrator
Nunavut Department of Education/N-CAP
c/o P.O. Box 1000, Station 910
Iqaluit, NU  X0A 0H0
Phone:  (867) 975-6531
Fax:  (867) 979-8870
dthompson at gov.nu.ca

-----Original Message-----
From: na-discuss-bounces at atlarge-lists.icann.org
[mailto:na-discuss-bounces at atlarge-lists.icann.org] On Behalf Of Bret
Fausett
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 1:44 PM
To: NA Discuss
Subject: Re: [NA-Discuss] Changes to OP

My recollection of events, and forgive me for not going back right  
now to the archives to confirm this, is that we have had widespread  
agreement on the inclusion of Spanish as an official language of the  
NA-RALO since our first discussions. I recall that it was mentioned  
specifically in one of the earlier drafts. I don't recall when or why  
it was deleted.

Nick, please help me on this, but I seem to recall that you or  
someone from ICANN said that we were covered for Spanish translations  
because official ICANN documents would be translated into Spanish as  
part of ICANN's work with the LAC-RALO. Am I remembering correctly?

I'll check in more detail on the history here, but if Spanish was  
agreed earlier and deleted from the OP in error, I would recommend  
simply adding it back in as a correction of a "scrivener's error," as  
we call these things in the law. If it was removed deliberately and/ 
or never there in the first instance, then let's put it on the agenda  
for a vote in the next month. This is an important omission and we  
should correct it as early as feasible.

         Bret

On Jul 12, 2007, at 8:56 AM, Eduardo Diaz wrote:

> Evan:
>
> I can agree with you to hold-up changes to our core documents for  
> another
> six month but if there is no opposition (meaning a lot of  
> discussion is
> generated around this), then we should do it now.
>
> Regarding the Spanish language, it was included in the original MOU  
> and
> ICANN requested to eliminate the specific languages from it and  
> relinquish
> them to the Ops document. I though the language part was to be  
> included as
> it was in the original MOU since that was the document that got  
> signed by
> everybody.
>
> Like I said, I did not want to bring this issue during our meeting  
> in San
> Juan to help focus in getting the MOU finalized.
>
> Spanish is the language that I use in Puerto Rico and the one that  
> we use to
> outreach to other organizations regarding NARALO matters, ICANN,  
> etc. We
> need other organizations in Puerto Rico to start getting involved  
> with the
> NARALO. However, not all of them understand English that well.
>
> One of the NARALO goals is to increase the membership by 50% in  
> 2008. I am
> already working on it.
>
> -ed
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: na-discuss-bounces at atlarge-lists.icann.org
> [mailto:na-discuss-bounces at atlarge-lists.icann.org] On Behalf Of Evan
> Leibovitch
> Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 11:30 AM
> To: Thompson, Darlene
> Cc: NA Discuss
> Subject: Re: [NA-Discuss] Changes to OP
>
> Thompson, Darlene wrote:
>
>> Further to the thoughts below, I would like to propose that we  
>> need to
>> make some changes to our Operating Principals.  Things are coming  
>> up now
>> that we never envisioned when we agreed to the OP.
>> [...]
>> This is what I would like to suggest, anyways.
>>
> My personal response to this is an enthusiastic "yes, but...". Every
> single one of Darlene's points is valid, however...
>
> We've barely voted on the original MOU/OP. While it's natural that we
> will find flaws and accidental omissions, I am scared to death of  
> being
> locked into forever debating our core documents while our actual  
> reasons
> for being here (policy, increasing the voice and influence of at- 
> large)
> threaten to get sidelined (or at least at a lower priority than they
> should be IMO).
>
> Frankly, I was stunned to see that the ALAC -- with a long head start
> over NARALO -- is still debating things such as "how to pick a  
> chair" or
> "how to conduct a proper vote for its Board rep". THIS IS  
> ADMINISTRATIVE
> TRIVIA that must not consume the group for it to be effective.
>
> To this end, I suggest a semi-annual review of the OP as a standing
> agenda item. We collect the various issues that come up, and debate  
> them
> every six months as a single set of amendments. This allows for a
> (reasonably) timely and regular review of how we work, while giving  
> the
> review a fixed context that prevents operational details from  
> dominating
> the day-to-day work.
>
> This is just a suggestion, that has worked for me in other groups.  
> In no
> way am I belittling Darlene's suggestions, but would like to at least
> have the ink dry on the existing documents before we start changing
> them. A little forced pause between OP modifications may even help  
> help
> the debate, by forcing extra thought on changes that may be too  
> hasty or
> based on short-term problems.
>
> If there are issues that MUST be dealt with immediately, let's do it.
> I'm not convinced that anything on Darlene's list can't wait until a
> review. (If having Spanish as an official language was time-sensitive,
> it should have been raised in the original doc.) Let's try to make the
> existing OP work before demonstrating that it needs fixing.
>
> - Evan
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> NA-Discuss mailing list
> NA-Discuss at atlarge-lists.icann.org
> http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/na-discuss_atlarge- 
> lists.ica
> nn.org
> ---
> Draft MoU with ICANN:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_MOU
>
> Draft Operating Principles:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_OP
>
> Draft Code of Conduct:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NARALO_Code_of_Conduct
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> NA-Discuss mailing list
> NA-Discuss at atlarge-lists.icann.org
> http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/na-discuss_atlarge- 
> lists.icann.org
> ---
> Draft MoU with ICANN:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_MOU
>
> Draft Operating Principles:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_OP
>
> Draft Code of Conduct:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NARALO_Code_of_Conduct

_______________________________________________
NA-Discuss mailing list
NA-Discuss at atlarge-lists.icann.org
http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/na-discuss_atlarge-lists
.icann.org
---
Draft MoU with ICANN:
http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_MOU

Draft Operating Principles:
http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_OP

Draft Code of Conduct:
http://www.icannwiki.org/NARALO_Code_of_Conduct