Hello; Please accept the attached application and organizing principles for the ccTLD Constituency of the DNSO. This alternative application is submitted by the International Association of Top Level Domains (IATLD) for consideration by ICANN and by the initial meeting of the future members of the ccTLD Constituency who will be meeting in Berlin on May 24 and 25, 1999. We have greatly simplified the structure of the ccTLD Constituency in this application, compared to currently-posted application by .CA and RIPE, and expect the regional ccTLD organizations to play a stronger role as facilitators than is proposed in other constituency applications. This application also recognizes RFC 1591 as the current policy-setting document for ccTLDs, as recently reasserted by IANA. It is our hope that this application will receive a positive response during the meetings in Berlin. Respectfully submitted, International Association of Top Level Domains (IATLD) Antony Van Couvering, President (avc@iatld.org) J. William Semich, Secretary/Treasurer (bsemich@iatld.org) IATLD Member ccTLDs: Brian Cartmell .CC - Cocos & Keeling Islands Juan Edgar Nunez .DO - Dominican Republic Nigel Roberts .GG (Guernsey and others) Edward Sweeney .HM (Heard and McDonald Islands) Sisomphet Nhoybouakong .LA (Lao People's Democratic Republic Brian Tombleson .MM (Myanmar) Daniel Camacho .MP (Northern Mariana Islands) Yann Kwok .MU (Mauritius) Oscar A. Robles Garay .MX (Mexico) Dr. Eberhard W. Lisse .NA (Namibia) J. William Semich .NU (Niue) Joel Disini .PH (Philippines) Clint Mole .KY (Cayman Islands) Dr. Patrick Hosein .TT (Trinidad and Tobago) Sean Jackson .VG (British Virgin Islands and others) Peter DeBlanc .VI (US Virgin Islands) 77 Supporting ccTLDs (Supporting continuation of RFC 1591; includes IATLD member-ccTLDs): .AI - Anguilla .AG - Antigua and Barbuda .AM - Armenia (RIPE/CENTR Member) .BI - Republic of Burundi .BO - Bolivia .BR - Brazil .CC - Cocos & Keeling Islands .CD - Democratic Republic of the Congo .CG - Republic of the Congo .CL - Chile .CN - China .CR - Costa Rica .CV - Cape Verde Islands .DO - Dominican Republic .DZ - Algeria .EG - Egypt .ER - Eritrea .FK - Falkland Islands (Malvinas) .GD - Grenada .GF - French Guiana .GG - Guernsey .GH - Ghana .GM - The Gambia, West Africa .GP - Guadeloupe .GS - South Georgia and Sandwich Islands .GT - Guatemala .HM - Heard and McDonald Islands .HN - Honduras .ID - Indonesia .JE - Jersey .JO - Jordan .KW - Kuwait .KY - Cayman Islands .KZ - Kazakhstan .LA - Lao People's Democratic Republic .LB - Lebanon .LC - Saint Lucia .LR - Liberia .LS - Lesotho .LY - Libya .ML - Republic of Mali .MM - Myanmar .MP - Northern Mariana Islands .MS - Montserrat .MT - Malta .MU - Mauritius .MW - Malawi .MX - Mexico .NA - Namibia .NU - Niue. .NZ - New Zealand .PE - Peru .PG - Papua New Guinea .PH - Philippines .PN - Pitcairn .QA - Qatar .RW - Republic of Rwanda .SB - Solomon Islands .SC - Seychelles .SG - Singapore .SV - El Salvador .SZ - Swaziland .TC - Turks and Caicos Islands .TF - French Southern Territories .TJ - Tajikistan .TO - Tonga .TT - Trinidad and Tobago .UA - Ukraine .UG - Uganda .UY - Uruguay .UZ - Uzbekistan .VE - Venezuela .VI - US Virgin Islands .VU - Vanuatu .VG - Virgin Islands (British) .YU - Yugoslavia .ZW - Zimbabwe ------------------------------------------------------------- Proposal to Form the Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) Constituency of the DNSO Sumitted to ICANN on May 19, 1999. Definitions. In this Statement, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below: 1. "ccTLD" means country code Top Level Domain, as defined in RFC 1591. 2. "Chair" means the leading officer or other person authorized to represent one of the ccTLD organizations covering ccTLDs within a Region as defined below. 3. "DNSO" means the Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO) to be established pursuant to Article VI-B, Section 2 of the ICANN bylaws, 4. "ICANN" means the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. 5. "Region" means one of the Geographic Regions defined in Article V, Section 6 of the ICANN bylaws. 6. "RFC 1591" means the information and policy statement describing the Domain Name System Structure and Delegation, issued by Jon Postel in March 1994 and entitled Request for Comments: 1591. ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES of the CCTLD CONSTITUENCY Purpose of Organization. The primary purpose of this organization of the ccTLD Constituency is (i) to elect three members of the Names Council, the decision-making unit of the DNSO, and (ii) to provide a forum for the membership to formulate positions on policies within the purview of the DNSO. Membership. a) Eligibility. Eligibility for membership in the ccTLD Constituency shall be limited to ccTLD Registries and to organizations dedicated to promoting the activities and welfare of ccTLD's generally (a "Related Organization"). ccTLD Registries shall automatically become members upon registration as a member in accordance with the procedures outlined in this Statement; Related Organizations shall become members only upon the affirmative vote of at least 1/2 (one-half) of all the Members. To register as a member, a ccTLD Registry must certify in form and substance satisfactory to the Chair of the applicable regional organization that the Registry is in good standing as a ccTLD as designated by IANA, and shall provide its contact information including the name of the person with authority to represent the ccTLD, address and communications information, and a description of the legal structure of the organization. (the "Contact Information"). For the purpose of facilitating this process, the initial Members of the ccTLD Constituency shall be defined as those currently listed in the InterNIC Whois Database for each active ccTLD Domain, as designated by the Internet Assigned Names Authority (IANA) under RFC 1591. Termination of Membership. The membership of a ccTLD shall be automatically terminated if a ccTLD Registry ceases to be authorized to serve as a ccTLD Registry by IANA or any successor of IANA. Such membership shall also be terminated if the Contact Information shall be found to be inaccurate and is not made accurate within a reasonable time as determined by the Chairs. The membership of a Related Organization may be terminated upon the affirmative vote of 2/3rds of all the members. Management. The coordination and facilitation of the activities of the Constituency shall be managed by the respective Chairs of the ccTLD organizations representing the five Regions, in which role the Chairs may be known as the Coordinating Committee. The Chairs of any member Related Organizations may also serve on the Coordinating Committee upon agreement of at least three of the Chairs of the five Regions. The Coordinating Committee shall serve a facilitating and organizing role, and not a policy making role, for the ccTLD Constituency. The Coordinating Committee shall maintain the records of the organization, determine membership and voting procedures with input from the members themselves, raise funds from among their regional organizations where such funding is available, propose budgets and other methods of financing to the membership, and generally manage the operations of the organization. It is the intent of this paragraph to allocate the operational activities of the ccTLD Constituency as much as possible to the existing and emerging regional-based organizations and not to create an additional structure or funding requirement for the ccTLD Constituency's operations. Expenses. The Coordinating Committee shall propose a budget of expenses to the membership and a means for funding the expenses if needed. The proposals shall require an affirmative vote of the Members at a meeting called for the purpose on no less than fifteen days notice, which notice shall contain the proposals substantially in the form to be voted upon, and which meeting can take place electronically. The Names Council. The members shall elect three representatives to the Names Council. One representative shall be elected for an initial term of three years, one for an initial term of two years and one for an initial term of one year, and their successors shall be elected for terms of three years commencing at the expiration of the initial terms. After the expiration of any term a representative shall be ineligible for further election as a representative for a period of two years, except that the representative elected initially for a term of one year shall be eligible to serve one additional term. Not later than 30 days prior to any election, the Chairs shall each nominate one candidate for election to the Names Council and not later than 10 days prior to any election, any member may also nominate one candidate. Nominees to the Initial Names Council may be made by the Regional Chairs not later than 10 days prior to the election. Nominees need not be members of the Constituency. To insure diversity of regional representation within the Constituency, only one Representative with citizenship in a Region may be elected to serve as the Constituency's representative on the Names Council at any one time. In addition to the foregoing citizenship requirements, nominations for any successor to a Representative whose term has expired shall be limited to persons with either citizenship or a principal place of business in a Region which has been underrepresented by the Constituency on the Names Council for the longest period of time. Each member shall have one vote for each Representative to be elected, and may distribute such votes for one or more candidates as the member determines .If nominees with overlapping citizenship in the same Region receive the highest number of votes, the nominee with the highest number of votes shall be elected and the other nominees with overlapping citizenship in the same Region shall be disqualified. The Coordinating Committee shall manage the conduct of the election according to procedures it deems appropriate and consistent with this Statement. Meetings; Voting. Meetings of the members, including meetings for elections if required, may be conducted electronically, provided that each party is able to participate in the meeting on a full and equal basis with respect to hearing or reading all of the communications of the other parties and with respect to having its own communications heard or read by all of the other parties. Meetings of the members may be called by a majority of the Chairs acting as the Coordinating Committee or by any five members. Decisions of the members, except where otherwise expressly provided, shall be by majority vote of the members voting at a meeting where a quorum is present, with a quorum consisting of not less than 50% of the members, provided that votes concerning election of Representatives shall require a plurality, votes for approval of expenses or budgets shall require a vote of the majority of the entire membership, and votes to remove members and to amend this Statement shall require a vote of 2/3rds of the entire membership. The Coordinating Committee shall give priority to assuring that as many meetings as practical are conducted electronically under circumstances and arrangements that assure the active participation of the maximum feasible number of members as is reasonably possible, including allowing sufficient time for votes to be submitted from remote locations with limited Internet connectivity.
cctld-constits-organizing-principles-ver4.doc