Historical Resolution Tracking Feature » Approval of Fundamental Bylaws Amendment to composition of the IANA Naming Functions Review
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Approval of Fundamental Bylaws Amendment to composition of the IANA Naming Functions Review
Whereas, Article 18 of the ICANN Bylaws requires ICANN to cause periodic reviews of the performance of the IANA Naming Function.
Whereas, the first IANA Naming Function Review was commenced by the Board in September 2018 and the appointing entities began the work to comprise the IANA Naming Function Review Team (IFR Team).
Whereas, due to changing composition of the ccNSO in the years since the IANA Stewardship Transition, the ccNSO Council had difficulty locating a non-ccNSO ccTLD representative as required by Section 18.7(b) of the ICANN Bylaws. As a result, this significantly delayed the completion of composition of the IFR Team, and this same difficulty is anticipated to arise for future IANA Naming Function Reviews.
Whereas, on 12 April 2019 the ccNSO Council, through its Chair, requested the ICANN Board to initiate an amendment to the ICANN Bylaws to remedy this situation, and proposed language for such amendment.
Whereas, on 31 May 2019, following a recommendation from the Board's Organizational Effectiveness Committee, responsible for coordinating the Board's oversight of the IANA Naming Functions Review, the ICANN Board directed ICANN org to post the proposed amendments for public comment and initiate the Fundamental Bylaws Amendment Process under Section 25.2 of the ICANN Bylaws.
Whereas, the proposed amendment to Section 18.7 of the ICANN Bylaws was posted for public comment from 10 June – 9 August 2019. Six comments were received, and no commenters were opposed to the amendment.
Whereas, the OEC recommends that the Board approve the amendments to Section 18.7 of the ICANN Bylaws, as posted for public comment, and direct ICANN org to continue with the Fundamental Bylaws Amendment process.
Resolved (2019.09.08.05), the ICANN Board approves the amendments to Section 18.7 of the ICANN Bylaws as posted from public comment. The Board directs the President and CEO, or his designee(s), to continue with the Fundamental Bylaws Amendment Process under Section 25.2 of the ICANN Bylaws.
Moving forward with the Fundamental Bylaws Amendment Process is in direct response to the request of the ccNSO Council, and also supports the new accountability and oversight mechanisms designed by the community in the IANA Stewardship Transition Process. The IANA Naming Function Review is an important part of the accountability and oversight of IANA's performance of the Naming Function and was a key aspect of the Transition proposal. During the pendency of Bylaws' change process to date, the ccNSO Council was eventually, was eventually able, through considerable effort and perseverance, to locate a non-ccNSO member ccTLD manager to serve on the current IANA Naming Function Review Team However the ccNSO Council is likely to be unable to complete the required composition of the IANA Naming Function Review Teams in the future unless we continue with this change. Taking this action today is a step forward to making sure that the IANA Naming Function Reviews can proceed in a manner that the ICANN community collectively supports, as will be identified through the Fundamental Bylaws process.
This action is based on a review of the ccNSO's initial request to change the Bylaws and a review of the public comments received on the proposed amendments, including the Staff Report of the Public Comment Proceeding. There were six unique comments submitted, including from the ccNSO Council, the Business Constituency, the Registries Stakeholder Group, the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group, the At-Large Advisory Council, and an individual affiliated with Nominet. The ccNSO, BC, RySG, ALAC and individual commenter all supported the Bylaws change as proposed. The NCSG, while not opposing the recommendation, suggested that a requirement for best efforts to identify a non-ccNSO should also be incorporated into the Bylaws. The individual commenter, who participates in ccNSO processes, warned against being too proscriptive in the Bylaws regarding the ccNSO processes. None of the commenters opposed the proposed language. No other commenter, including the ccNSO, supported the NCSG's recommendation for further change the proposed language.
The Board recognizes that the RySG, which is also responsible for the appointment of two members to the IFR, included in its comment a suggestion for further amendment of the composition requirements so as to relax some of the RySG's obligations as it relates to geographic diversity of its selected members. The action today on the amendments proposed by the ccNSO does not preclude further amendment to this section of the Bylaws and does not make any assessment of the RySG's proposal. The Board looks further to continued dialogue with the RySG and the broader community if additional issues are identified through the running of the IFR, and to considering issues of geographic diversity alongside the work that is arising out of the impending implementation of the diversity recommendations from Work Stream 2 of the Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability.
Today's action does not pose any identified fiscal impact, nor does it impact the security, stability or resiliency of the Internet's DNS. This action serves ICANN's mission of coordinating the allocation and assignment of names in the root zone, as it will allow continued oversight over how ICANN serves that naming function. It is in the public interest as following the Bylaws-mandated amendment process supports ICANN's multistakeholder community and allows ICANN to remain accountable to its Bylaws-mandated mechanisms.
This is an Organizational Administrative Function for which public comment was received.