IMPORTANT NOTICE - The statement below is provided by individuals and organizations working to self-organize a DNSO Constituency Group.  It is posted here to assist the self-organization process.  It has not been approved by ICANN and its posting here does not indicate that the group under formation will necessarily be officially recognized by the ICANN Board of Directors. 

Submitted to ICANN by Bret Fausett (baf@fausett.com), April 26, 1999
Posted April 27, 1999
 

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Constituency Application
Trademark, Intellectual Property and Anti-Counterfeiting Interests

1.      Constituency Definition.

        a. Purpose.

The DNSO's Trademark Constituency will be an open discussion forum within the DNSO where issues relating to the interface between domain names and intellectual property may be discussed and proposals for the DNSO developed and refined.

        b. Membership.

Any person or entity using a name, in any form, in commerce or the domain name system is eligible for membership.

2.      Constituency Operations.

        a.      Online Presence.
 
To the greatest extent possible, the Trademark Constituency will conduct all of its discussions and perform all of its work on and over the Internet.
 
        b.      Moderators.
 
To facilitate the work of the Trademark Constituency, the members shall elect three Moderators who will over oversee the debate and discussions in the Trademark Constituency and, as appropriate, prepare reports, discussion summaries, and proposals to circulate to the other DNSO constituencies and the General Assembly. Reports and other documents prepared by the Moderators shall fairly reflect the views of the various constituency members and the degree of consensus in the constituency.

The three elected Moderators also will serve as the constituency's representatives on the DNSO's Names Council. Moderators will serve for a term of one year. Any constituency member who does not serve on the Elections Committee is eligible to serve as a Moderator.

        c.      Participation by Organizations.

In commenting on any issue or proposal under consideration by the constituency, members may choose to identify their comments as coming from an organization to which they belong. Such organizational comments may be used by the constituency moderators to determine what weight to give a particular point of view. To assist the moderators in determining what weight organizational comments should be given, organizations are required to report (1) the specific steps, if any, by which they have polled their subordinate members on the question at issue and (2) the terms of any express grant to them by their membership of authority to state the member's views on the question at issue.
 
3.      Elections

To the greatest extent possible, the Trademark Constituency will conduct all of its elections on and over the Internet. An Elections Committee shall be formed for the purpose of maintaining a membership role, verifying constituency eligibility, and conducting fair and verifiable elections.

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