Dear All, We would like to invite you to join a Briefing Session on the Public Consultation on Geographic Regions WG Initial Report scheduled to take place TOMORROW Wednesday 09 September 2009 at 20:00 UTC. 13:00 PDT, 16:00 EDT, 17:00 Buenos Aires, 21:00 London, 22:00 CEST, 23:00 Nairobi, 04:00(+1) Singapore/Hong Kong, 06:00(+1) Sydney The purpose of this call is to discuss the report, answer questions, and help foster an At-Large comment on the draft. Call details as well as the Adobe Connect link for this call can be found at: https://st.icann.org/alac/index.cgi/index.cgi?briefing_session_public_consul tation_on_geographic_regions_wg_initial_report If you require dial-outs, please let us know at staff@atlarge.icann.org. Thank you Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart, Heidi Ullrich, Matthias Langenegger, Gisella Gruber-White ICANN At-Large Staff email: staff@atlarge.icann.org ------ Forwarded Message From: At-Large Staff <staff@atlarge.icann.org> Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 06:55:07 -0700 To: <icann-future-wg@atlarge-lists.icann.org>, <engagement-wg@atlarge-lists.icann.org> Cc: At-Large Staff <staff@atlarge.icann.org> Subject: Public Consultation on Geographic Regions WG Initial Report / Revisión de las Regiones Geográficas para Comentario Público / Rapport initial du groupe de travail sur les régions pour commentaires publics Para Espanol: http://www.icann.org/es/announcements/announcement-31jul09-es.htm Version Francais: http://www.icann.org/fr/announcements/announcement-31jul09-fr.htm Dear Working Group members: We wish to advise both working groups of a public consultation that falls under the remit of your working group - Initial Report of Geographic Regions Review Working Group (http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-31jul09-en.htm) Geographic diversity is a fundamental component of the ICANN organization. The ICANN Bylaws (Article VI Section 5) currently define five geographic regions as Africa, North America, Latin America/Caribbean, Asia/Australia/Pacific and Europe. As you know, the RALOs of At-Large are based upon these very same geographic regions, and any chance to the regions will change the membership of the RALOs. The Geographic Regions don't just affect At-Large, though - they are a core element of how geographic diversity works across ICANN, from the composition of the ICANN Board, the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO), and in some respects also the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO). Over time, community members have developed concerns about the implementation of the ICANN Geographic Regions and related representational issues. For example, in At-Large, some Eastern European countries are currently a part of the Asia-Pacific region, one EU member state (Malta) is a part of Africa, and various small island territories in the Caribbean are not a part of NARALO, but of EURALO. As a result, the ICANN Board appointed a community-wide working group to further study and review the issues related to the definition of the ICANN Geographic Regions, to consult with all stakeholders and submit proposals to the Board to resolve the issues relating to the current definition of the ICANN Geographic Regions. The working group includes At-Large members Cheryl Langdon-Orr (APRALO) and Carlton Samuels (LACRALO) as members. The consultation closes on 4th September 2009. You are kindly requested to review the report; the staff have been asked to arrange a teleconference to discuss the report, answer questions, and help foster an At-Large comment on the draft. We will circulate more information on this subject shortly. -- Regards, ICANN At-Large Staff Nick Ashton-Hart, Heidi Ullrich, Matthias Langenegger, Gisella Gruber-White staff@atlarge.icann.org