2000-03-10 - At Large Membership

Whereas:1. The Board adopted resolutions 99.87, 88, 89, 90, and 91 on August 26,1999 directing the staff to prepare amended Bylaws, and resolution 99.116 on October 29,1999, adopting amended Bylaws, that established, in Article II, an At Large membership and procedures for the selection of At Large Directors; and
2. The Board has received a significant amount of input from the Internet community relating to both the practical and conceptual bases underlying new Article II as adopted; and

3. The Board has observed that there remains, despite considerable efforts by the Board, ICANN staff, and other entities and individuals, and the limited technical mission of ICANN, a considerable diversity of views concerning the purpose of and rationale for the At Large membership and Council, and the advisability of the various electoral structures and procedures now set forth in Article II; and

4. The Board has observed that these widely divergent views have the effect of creating fundamentally different perspectives about the expected or desired results of the continuation of the At Large processes now underway; and

5. As a result, the Board has concluded that the concept and execution of the At Large membership requires careful and thorough reconsideration.
Whereas:1. The Board believes that, notwithstanding this conclusion, it is important that the various stakeholders that do not or cannot easily participate in the ICANN process through the Supporting Organizations have a voice in the development of ICANN policy; and

2. The Board believes that such opportunity should not await the results of that reconsideration;

3. The Board believes that any solution to this problem pending the outcome of that reconsideration should ensure that, as is the case with the Directors selected by any single Supporting Organization, the At Large Directors should not be able to by themselves acting in the aggregate control the actions of the Board; and

4. The Board believes that it can accomplish all these objectives with the following set of actions.

Therefore it is resolved that the staff is directed to draft and present to the Board for its review and subsequent posting for public comment prior to adoption proposed amendments to Article II of the Bylaws and other resolutions that accomplish the following objectives:

1. Establish a deadline for the initial selection of five (5) At Large Directors (one each representing each ICANN region) by a direct ballot of qualified ICANN members in each region by no later than November 1, 2000 to serve a term to expire at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting of the Corporation in 2002;

2. Extend the terms of four (4) of the Initial At Large Directors, identities to be determined on the basis of willingness, geographic, and other factors, to expire at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting of the Corporation in 2001, and extend the terms of the other five (5) Initial At Large Directors to expire at the conclusion of the annual meeting in 2000;

3. Establish a Nominating Committee consisting of members appointed by the Board to accept recommendations and nominations from the Internet community as a whole, and to nominate five or more candidates for consideration by the At Large membership for selection to the ICANN Board;

4. Establish a petition process for additional nominations from the At Large membership that meet certain minimum qualifying criteria; and

5. Initiate a comprehensive study of the concept, structure, and processes relating to the At Large membership, on the following schedule:a. The study to begin promptly following the selection of the five At Large Directors (to take place no later than 11/1/00), with such initial design as is feasible to be done prior to that time;

b. Results of the study to be presented to the Board no later than the second ICANN quarterly meeting in 2001;

c. The ICANN Board to consider the results of the study, and propose for public comment whatever actions it deems appropriate as a result on a schedule that would permit taking final actions no later than the Annual Meeting of the Corporation in 2001; and

d. Implementation of any actions taken so that any subsequent At Large selections can take place on a schedule that would allow any new At Large Directors to be seated by the conclusion of the ICANN Annual Meeting in 2002;
6. Extend an open invitation to organizations worldwide to assist in the comprehensive study; and

7. Suspend those provisions of Article II of the Bylaws that deal with the structure and process of the selection of At Large Directors pending the completion of the study referenced above and any subsequent actions by the Board.