ICANN participation

Comments from Karl Auerbach

<http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00003.html>

(Response also located at <http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00008.html>)

Inquired about public posting of comments and asked for public posting
during the comment period.

• The comment period was extended to enable additional comments and responses
  to these postings.

Objected to use of the phrase ICANN's technical management
responsibilities, and to the requirement that organizations demonstrate
that their concerns/activities relate to this.

• The ALAC intended to simply reference the basic mission of ICANN. This
  phrase has been deleted. The ALAC believes that, to help achieve informed
  participation in ICANN of the At-Large community, At-Large Structures need
  to involve individual Internet users in at least one issue or activity that
  relates to ICANN's mission. This seems like a reasonable and necessary
  criteria to help reach our goal.

Thinks that the proposed criteria should not be imposed on the At-Large
community until similar criteria are imposed on other ICANN stakeholders
(and their constituent organizations).

• The ALAC proposed the criteria in a pragmatic approach to comply with ICANN
  s bylaws and launch the building of an effective network of At-Large
  Structures. We attempted to balance the need to minimize the rules and
  simplify the At-Large Structure designation process with the need to provide
  guidance and assurances that At-Large Structures would be credible groups
  that facilitate informed participation by users in ICANN. The ALAC has no
  authority over, nor position on, imposing criteria on other stakeholders or
  their constituent organizations.

Comments from Bret Fausett

<http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00000.html>

(Response also located at <http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00009.html>)

Suggested deleting proposed At-Large Structure criteria #5 ("Be open and
participatory) so closed communities of users could be At-Large
Structures, as long as individuals have the ability to participate in
another At-Large Structure.

• The ALAC has adopted this suggestion. The openness requirement cited has
  been removed to clarify that organizations with specific membership
  requirements (or closed memberships) may participate as At-Large
  Structures, so long as these groups are participatory in terms of involving
  individual constituents/members in policy development, discussions and
  decisions, and so long as the regions At-Large Structures *in aggregate*
  are open. To ensure that all interested individuals in each region have an
  opportunity to participate, the ALAC has added language to the RALO MOU
  guidelines that RALOs should demonstrate that every citizen or resident in
  its region is welcome to join at least one of its At-Large Structures.

Comments from YJ Park

<http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00001.html>

(Response also located at <http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00010.html>)

Believes the proposal makes it impossible for individuals who are not
associated with any specific qualified organization from participating in
ICANN, and the proposal reminds her of building another version of the
NCUC.

• On the contrary, the proposal mandates that interested individuals be
  allowed to participate and that RALOs be structured to ensure this.
  Further, the ALACs proposal must comply with the bylaws which state that
  RALOs "shall include provisions designed to allow, to the greatest extent
  possible, every individual Internet user who is a citizen of a country
  within the RALO's Geographic Region to participate in at least one of the
  RALO's At-Large Structures. A RALO may elect to also directly include
  individual Internet users who are citizens or residents of countries within
  the RALO's Geographic Region." RALOs can be structured to include
  individuals directly, or to include a "general At-Large Structure" through
  which any individual in the region could participate -- to name just two
  ways an individual could participate without becoming a member of an
  existing organization.
• The ALAC is not attempting or proposing "to build another version of the
  NCUC." The NCUC involves non-commercial organizations. The ALAC and the
  proposed At-Large infrastructure is aimed at involving *individual Internet
  users,* whatever the nature of their activities (whether commercial, social,
  political, purely personal or other) -- and uses organizations to enable
  individuals to be involved at the local/issue/regional level. The ALAC
  believes that, without the ability to globally organize and interact in a
  structured manner, At-Large and its members will not be able to achieve full
  or effective ICANN participation.

Suggests use of the concept of five geographic regions be reconsidered.

• The bylaws require a structure and representation for At-Large based on
  the existing ICANN definition of "geographically diverse" (involving five
  regions). This is consistent with how ICANN approaches geographic
  diversity for various entities. ICANN could decide in the future to take a
  different approach to geographic diversity, of course, but until it does,
  the ALAC must use with the existing definition.

Believes ICANN should prepare some detailed mechanism such as financial
support to make At-Large members meaningfully participate in the ICANN.

• The bylaws state that Each RALO shall be comprised of self-supporting
  At-Large Structures The ALAC, however, will continue to explore ways of
  addressing financial barriers to At-Large participation in ICANN.

Believes the ALAC working language for this process should be diversified,
and that the At-Large Structure application/designation process should be
publicly archived, and that RALO MOUs should be posted for public comment
before being signed.

• English is used by the ALAC to conduct its business and we believe
  expediency necessitates that the At-Large Structure applications be
  submitted in English. We do attempt to translate ALAC communications (ALAC
  members volunteer translations) to make our work more accessible to
  non-English speaking communities. The ALAC agrees that information on the
  At-Large Structure designation process should be publicly available, and
  that proposed MOUs should be published for comment. Language to this effect
  has been added. (However, it is worth noting that any language diversity
  requirements make achievement of the goal above financial sustainability
  more difficult.)

Asked What if RALO does have minimum of 500 individual members in at least
2 different countries within the RALO's geographica Region?

• The ALAC proposed a minimum requirement of 3 At-Large Structures based in
  at least 2 different countries within the RALO's Geographic Region
  participate before an MOU is signed (and the RALO becomes official). This
  is intended to help ensure broad representation and cooperation among
  organizations in a region, and to help prevent one organization or one
  country from dominating a RALO. However, this requirement may need to be
  revisited, and it would be addressed in the proposed periodic review of
  At-Large.

Comments from L. Gallegos

<http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00002.html

(Response also located at <http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00012.html>)

Believes that the process is too burdensome and is unnecessary to
communicate a view to ICANN. Also feels that As long as the public is
excluded from meaningful participation in the election of directors, full
membership and all rights thereof, the ALAC is meaningless.

Comments from another individual to ALAC members (not authorized for posting
on the ALAC forum) echoed this theme, objecting to what he described as the
ALACs attempt to replace individuals rights to representation with
benefits of participation, stating that the ALAC is not supporting
workable mechanisms for informed participation, and proposing a Supporting
Organization for the At-Large that elects half of the ICANN Board.

• The ALAC has attempted to comply with the bylaws and propose appropriate
  criteria, processes and guidelines to help launch a global At-Large
  infrastructure. We will continue working on this with an eye towards
  simplification (including creating a simple, easy to understand and complete
  At-Large Structure applications form). Individuals have a right to
  communicate freely. The ALAC is trying to help them communicate more
  effectively and influentially with ICANN. A certain amount of process and
  protocol is necessary to achieve this goal.
• The ALAC is committed to achieving informed participation in, and
  representation of, the At-Large community in ICANN. Working with existing
  groups (and anyone else who is interested) throughout the world to
  substantively involve individual Internet users seems like a practical,
  expedient way of jump-starting an engaged At-Large community. The ALAC
  (and this proposal) should be viewed as a critical first step towards
  structured involvement of the individual user community in ICANN and towards
  a formalized role in ICANN's policy development process that ensures
  individual users' views are taken into account. This is the ALAC's goal.
• The need for a structured process to bring to ICANN the individual user
  communitys opinions and input is further reinforced by the following
  observations by an ALAC member:
  1. The only way to extract a homogenous idea form the "big audience" is
     to work it through different levels of discussions. To have regional-level
     organizations that encourage these discussions is unquestionably useful.
  2. Posting comments in an e-mail list doesn't seem to be a better way to
     handle massive public participation. There are very few who can afford to
     invest all their time writing opinions in mailing lists (or even posting on
     websites expressing their disagreement).
  3. Indirect representation is a system commonly used in modern
     democracies all around the world. Dictators often present themselves as
     liberators and claim to express the public interest. The differences and
     similarities of populism and democracy apply here.
  4. A workable mechanism for participation and representation is
     unavoidable.
  5. To find support in existing organizations that represent Internet user
     interests seems to be the best way to foster the development of a public
     participation process in the ICANN community.
  6. You certainly don't need a card that states "director" to be heard and
     considered when bringing a good idea to the table. However, to have user
     representation on the Board, is, eventually, a highly desirable idea.
• The ALAC views this proposal as a workable mechanism for participation and
  representation. The ALAC has been structured to make sure that the voice of
  different sectors of the Internet community will be heard and that their
  representation can be effectively taken into account. The ALAC, and this
  proposal, give At-Large a role in the selection of Board members and provide
  At-Large with meaningful involvement in the development of policy within
  ICANN (in addition to providing mechanisms for commenting on proposed
  policies). For example, ALAC activities to date include:
  1. Outreach to At-Large communities in various regions, and proposing
     criteria, processes, and guidelines for creating an At-Large infrastructure;
  2. Appointing five delegates to the Nominating Committee (more than other
     stakeholder groups), and recruiting candidates with At-Large experience;
  3. Publicizing and analyzing proposed policies and their potential effect
     on the At-Large community, and providing mechanisms and processes for
     At-Large input and discussions a website, forum, and announce list have
     been created, and ALAC liaisons are active on the GNSO Council, WHOIS task
     force, and the new gTLD committee; and
  4. Providing advice on ICANN issues, proposals, and activities that are
     relevant to individual Internet users the ALAC has solicited input and
     provided guidance on the WHOIS database, new gTLDs, internationalized domain
     names, and WIPO recommendations (to name a few issues).

Comments from Marc Schneiders

<http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00004.html>

(Response also located at <http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00007.html>)

Asked where/how international organizations (covering more than one region)
fit in.

• Under the draft criteria, an international organization could be designated
  as an "At-Large Structure" within the region in which it has a majority of
  participants ("Participation by individual Internet users who are citizens
  or residents of countries within the Geographic Region in which the ALS is
  based will predominate in the ALS' operation.) This is consistent with
  ICANNs bylaws, which state that The criteria and standards for the
  certification of At-Large Structures shall be established in such a way that
  participation by individual Internet users who are citizens or residents of
  countries within the Geographic Region (as defined in Section 5 of Article
  VI) of the RALO will predominate in the operation of each At-Large Structure
  within the RALO, while not necessarily excluding additional participation,
  compatible with the interests of the individual Internet users within the
  region, by others. Another possibility is for an international
  organizations "sub-organizations" (e.g. local or regional chapters) to seek
  "At-Large Structure" designation in each region in which they are located.
  In addition, under the proposal, RALOs would have the flexibility to allow
  for some level of participation by international organizations (e.g. by
  creating a special category, in addition to "At-Large Structures," to
  accommodate international organizations' involvement in an advisory
  capacity).

Comments from Richard Henderson

<http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00005.html>

(Response also located at <http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00011.html>)

Does not recognize the ALACs authority to organize on his behalf and
believes an Internet users organization should be created outside ICANN to
operate critically and independently.

• The purpose of the ALACs work is to propose a framework for individual
  user participation using existing and newly-formed organizations. It is our
  expectation that the At-Large infrastructure envisioned by this proposal
  will operate critically and independently. Although Internet user
  organizations can have constructive roles both inside and outside ICANN,
  we believe that by developing an At-Large infrastructure to involve and
  represent inside ICANN a broad set of individual user interests, we are
  helping to ensure that ICANN's policies reflect the interests of a full
  range of stakeholders. Bringing individual user interests to bear as DNS
  policies are being developed and decided upon requires the type of informed
  participation and representation that the ALAC is working towards. In short,
  consider the ALAC a channel *into* ICANN rather than just a part of ICANN.
  It will become such a channel only if those *outside* take advantage of this
  mechanism. They are free to ignore it, but then they risk not being heard.

Comments from Jeanette Hofmann

<http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00006.html>

(Response also located at <http://forum.icann.org/alac-forum/criteria/msg00013.html>)

Objects to requiring individuals to found or join an organization in order
to participate in At-Large, and expressed doubts regarding the 5 regions
model.

• As noted above, the ALAC proposal complies with the bylaws and uses organizations to enable individuals to be involved at the local/issue/regional level. The proposal also allows for RALOs to include
  individuals directly and to propose other ways individuals could
  participate. Regarding basing the At-Large infrastructure on 5 regions,
  this is required by the bylaws and is ICANNs basic approach to diversity.
  We will note this issue as something to examine during review of the
  At-Large Structures and Regional At-Large Organizations.