Dear colleagues, During the Prague meeting, several Board members have asked ICANN communities to think about the impact of the new gTLDs on the overall ICANN Structure. Below is an email from Bertrand de la Chapelle detailing such enquiry. Comments are welcome from the whole community. Please add your comments at the bottom of the WIKI page created on: https://community.icann.org/x/XAUeAg The ExCom will summarise in order to provide a single input from At-Large. *At-Large Comments open*: 3 August 2012 *At-Large Comments close*: 3 September 2012 -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Call for input on: "Impact of new gTLDs on ICANN's structure" Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2012 12:24:46 +0200 From: Bertrand de La Chapelle <bdelachapelle@gmail.com> To: CC: Dear all, The new gTLD program will have a significant impact on the functioning of ICANN and its structure. An in-depth community discussion is needed to identify early the corresponding challenges and possible evolutions. It should be conducted while the gTLD program itself is being implemented, without waiting for the completion of this round. This should in particular be taken into account in the upcoming gNSO review, planned in 2013. As you probably remember, this issue was therefore put on the agenda of the various Board interactions with SOs, ACs and constituencies during the Prague meeting. Several issues were identified during these discussions, pertaining both to scalability factors (due to the number of applications) and qualitative impact (including the diversity of the new gTLDs and the potential overlapping of the constituencies they could belong to). At the end of each such session, *Steve Crocker invited participants to share a one-pager on this topic* to gather preliminary views and help prepare a dedicated session in Toronto. I am writing to you as Chairs of the respective SOs, ACs, Stakeholder Groups or Constituencies to renew this call for input. The Board Structural Improvements Committee (SIC), chaired by Ray Plzak, will discuss the topic during the Board Workshop mid-September and your perspective is eagerly sought after. The contributions can be very synthetic at that stage, for instance merely listing bullet points of identified potential impacts. The objective is to get as complete a picture as possible of the different dimensions of the issue. I know the summer period is not the easiest to gather views in you respective groups but I also understand that this has already been discussed before Prague and you probably are in a position to share the concerns already identified, if not the possible solutions. This is only a preliminary stage and further consultations will take place to prepare the Toronto session. Thank you in advance for your contribution, *if possible before September 10*, and don't hesitate to share this call for input with people I might have inadvertently overlooked or you think might be good contributors from your group. Best Bertrand -- ____________________ Bertrand de La Chapelle Internet & Jurisdiction Project Director, International Diplomatic Academy (www.internetjurisdiction.net <http://www.internetjurisdiction.net>) Member, ICANN Board of Directors "Le plus beau métier des hommes, c'est d'unir les hommes" Antoine de Saint Exupéry ("there is no greater mission for humans than uniting humans")