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[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org; liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: regional-liaisons[at]icann.org] http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-05jun09-en.htm Public Comment: Proposed City Top-Level Domain (CTLD)
Constituency
5
June 2009 The ongoing GNSO Improvements
process has created significant community interest in the formation of new GNSO
constituencies and several groups have stepped forward to begin the process of
forming a new GNSO constituency. The ICANN Board has now
received a fourth formal petition from the prospective City Top-Level Domain
(CTLD) Constituency. All members of the ICANN community and the public are now
invited to review this petition and charter and share comments with the Board
through 10 July 2009. Background and
Explanation: In June 2008, the Board of
Directors endorsed a series of recommendations on how to improve the GNSO's
structures and operations. One of the significant drivers of those
recommendations was an interest in maximizing participation in the GNSO and its
policy development processes. Among the various recommendations endorsed by the
Board was that ICANN take steps to clarify and promote the option to self-form
new constituencies. The current ICANN Bylaws
provide that any group of individuals or entities may petition the Board for
recognition as a new or separate constituency, in accordance with Section 5(4)
of Article X. Such a petition must explain (1) why "the addition of such a
Constituency will improve the ability of the GNSO to carry out its
policy-development responsibilities" and (2) why "the proposed new
Constituency would adequately represent, on a global basis, the stakeholders it
seeks to represent." Notwithstanding those Bylaw provisions, it has been
many years since the organization has had formal requests for a new
constituency. Since the Board action last June, however, the ICANN Staff has
received inquiries from several interested parties about how to form a new GNSO
constituency and the first took place a little over three months ago when the
proposed new CyberSafety Constituency submitted its formal petition and Charter
documents (23 February 2009). Since then, formal petitio! ns have also been
filed by the proposed Consumers Constituency (10 April 2009) and the proposed
IDNgTLD Constituency (18 April 2009). The ICANN bylaws do not
provide specific procedural guidance for how interested parties should submit
the petitions contemplated in Article X. Mindful that explicit steps,
formats, and/or processes for expansion would take some time for the community
to develop in the implementation of the improvements recommendations, the Board
directed ICANN Staff to provide the community with some initial guidance, a
structure and a specific procedural path for potential new constituencies to
follow. At its 1 October 2008 meeting, the Board acknowledged Staff's
development of a "Notice of Intent" document for potential new constituencies
and directed Staff to develop a formal petition and charter template to assist
new constituency applicants in satisfying the formative criteria (consistent
with the ICANN Bylaws) to facilitate the Board's evaluation of petitions to
form new constituencies. The process subsequently
developed by the Staff required interested groups to first submit a Notice of
Intent to Form a New Constituency (NOIF). The proponents of the City TLD
Constituency completed that step on 15 February 2009. The second step of the
process is development of a New Constituency Petition and Charter, which the
proponents of the City TLD Constituency completed on 1 June 2009. Relevant Board
Resolution, Bylaws and Constituency Submissions:
The Process From
Here: At the end of this Public
Comment Forum period, the ICANN Staff will provide a summary/analysis of the
comments submitted regarding the CTLD Constituency petition and charter. That
summary/analysis will be shared with the community and the Board. The Board
will ultimately make the decision on whether to authorize the new constituency.
It should be noted that the
GNSO Improvements Report approved by the Board in June 2008 has additional
guidelines and recommendations for the ongoing practices and processes of GNSO
constituencies. It is expected that this work will be ongoing as part of the
GNSO Improvements implementation efforts. Deadline and How to
Submit Comments: The Staff is opening a 30-day
public consultation forum, from 6 June 2009 through 10 July 2009, and invites
community comments on this matter. The formal Public Comment
Forum Box is located here: http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-200907.html#city To submit comments: ctld-petition@xxxxxxxxx {Note: this
would be a new email address} To view comments (including
the various constituency submissions): http://forum.icann.org/lists/ctld-petition
Staff Responsible: Robert
Hoggarth Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://gnso.icann.org |