February 2011 - ALAC - lists.icann.org

Comments required: ALAC Statement on GNSO Working Group Guidelines
by Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond Feb. 16, 2011

Feb. 16, 2011

Dear ALAC members, Due to our attention being focussed elsewhere, the comment period for the GNSO Working Group Guidelines, closed on 8 February 2011 without the ALAC filing a comment. However, the ALAC is also able to submit comments directly to the GNSO council. This needs to be done by 16 February 2011, as all documents for consideration need to be submitted 8 days in advance of the Council Meeting on February 24th. Several At-Large members contributed to the drafting of these guidelines, so there has already been much input from At-Large, but those members of At-Large who were involved in the working group drafting the guidelines did not comment for obvious reasons. Evan Leibovitch and I drafted some suggested text for the ALAC statement on GNSO WG Guidelines and shared it with the ALAC Executive Committee a few hours ago. This short statement follows, for your immediate review: --- cut here --- The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the GNSO Working Group Guidelines, as approved by the Policy Process Steering Committee (PPSC). The ALAC supports the recommendations included in this document, especially those for a Working Group Model, since this Model has the potential to enhance the policy development process by making it more inclusive and representative. We believe that thanks to this new model, the whole policy development process will be more effective and efficient. Specifically, we recommend that the GNSO involves active representation from other constituencies -- and in particular ICANN's standing Advisory Committees -- in policy development Working Groups, from the beginning. Such early involvement ensures widespread community investment in the policy process, especially from stakeholder representative groups that are strategically mandated by ICANN bylaws to be involved in policy. Early community participation in policy issues avoids the need to resort to corrective measures that are never as effective as "doing it right the first time". Such corrective measures, a number of which have proliferated to address deficiencies in the existing policy process, exact a significant cost in time delay, human resources, and monetary expense by both ICANN and third parties. --- cut here --- Please send any comments that you may have to the ALAC working list, by 16 Feb at 23:39 UTC. Warmest regards, Olivier -- Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond, PhD http://www.gih.com/ocl.html

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ISOC statement on ACTA
by Wolf Ludwig Feb. 16, 2011

Feb. 16, 2011

Dear all, as some of you may have realised already, I am deeply concerned about the on-going process of the ACTA negotiations (ACTA stands for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). In this context, I got to know the ISOC statement “Calling for an open and international dialogue …”. In the statement, ISOC refers to / “…wishes to take this opportunity to provide our preliminary perspective on those parts of the proposed agreement which pertain to the Internet, Internet governance, Internet technologies, Internet intermediaries and/or Internet users.” What is our concern as well. I would like to share (with all those who haven’t seen the statement already) this with you. Full text see: http://www.isoc.org/internet/issues/docs/acta-ustr_20110214.pdf Kind regards, Wolf comunica-ch phone +41 79 204 83 87 Skype: Wolf-Ludwig www.comunica-ch.net Digitale Allmend http://blog.allmend.ch - EURALO - ICANN's Regional At-Large Organisation http://euralo.org

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At-Large improvements update and call for more participants
by Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond Feb. 12, 2011

Feb. 12, 2011

Dear ALAC members, Our ALAC/At-Large Improvements project has entered its final and most important phase, which will be one of our focuses in San Francisco. For that reason, I'd appreciate any of you not familiar with the Improvements work to please review the progress made. A good place to start is the summary update below. Primarily, I direct this request to our new ALAC members as well as Regional Leaders. Secondly, this is our last opportunity to add new members to the Improvements work teams. Any of you who would like, please volunteer for one or more of these teams. Again, while all are welcome, I particularly direct this request to our new members. The WTs have had, I'm pleased to report, the benefit of strong regional representation from the start. The co-chairs have, however, requested -- quite reasonably -- that anyone now volunteering for a WT be sure to familiarize him- or herself with its work thus far. This will ensure that any new member is truly an asset as the team begins the finalization of its work. Also, please feel free to discuss with the co-chairs which of the four WTs could most use help at this point. The teams' different areas of focus are described below. Kind regards, Olivier --- cut here --- *ALAC/At-Large Improvements Implementation Project: Update* /8 February 2011/// * * The current ALAC/At-Large Improvements project is now entering its most important stage. A brief history of the project: * The ALAC/At-Large Improvements project grew out of a 2008 ALAC/At-Large review, mandated by the ICANN Bylaws and conducted by an independent consultant. The review findings are summarized in a 25 July 2008 report (Independent Review of the At-Large Advisory Committee: Report to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers <http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-13aug08-en.htm>). * Using these findings and the input from two public comment periods, a BGC-appointed working group -- the Review Working Group on ALAC Improvements -- produced 13 recommendations (contained in the Final Report of the ALAC Review Working Group on ALAC Improvements <http://www.icann.org/en/reviews/alac/final-report-alac-review-09jun09-en.pdf>, 9 June 2009). These broad recommendations describe key improvements prescribed for the ALAC and At-Large, focusing on the groups' organization, effectiveness, participation, and relationship to other ICANN entities. The recommendations are described on the project's main Confluence page, the At-Large Improvements Workspace <https://community.icann.org/display/Improve/At-Large+Improvements+Workspace> and, as a practical matter, have been divided into manageable tasks listed in theSimplified At-Large Improvements Implementation Outline <https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?hl=en&key=tLWfIP-TYeKgrmqH6AW-Q9g&authk…>. Of the 13 recommendations, Recommendation 2 -- the need for an At-Large-selected ICANN Board member -- was separated out for completion by the At-Large ABSdt and BCEC. Its implementation resulted in ICANN's first Director selected by At-Large being seated during the recent Cartagena Meeting. More recently, the remaining 12 recommendations were grouped by topic and divided among four At-Large Improvements work teams. A summary of each team's topic, assigned recommendations, and meeting schedule follows: * *WT A on ALAC's continuing purpose * Meets every other Thursday at 18:00 UTC Rec 1: ICANN Bylaws to reflect ALAC's continuing purpose Rec 2: ICANN Bylaw changed related to At-Large-selected Director Rec 10: ALAC/At-Large is home of individual Internet users Rec 11: Board statement recognizing Rec 10 * *WT B on ALS participation * Meets every other Wednesday at 13:00 UTC Rec 3: Remove any obstacles in ALS-RALO-ALAC structure Rec 4: ALS education and engagement Rec 7: ALAC should choose its own communication/collaboration tools Rec 9: ICANN should strengthen its translation/interpretation tools * *WT C on ALAC planning processes * Meets every other Wednesday at 19:00 UTC Rec 5: ALAC should develop strategic/operational plans as part of ICANN's planning process Rec 6: At-Large should develop accurate cost models * *WT D on ALAC's policy advice processes * Meets every other Thursday at 19:00 UTC Rec 8: ALAC may request public comment period be extended to 45 days Rec 12: Consumer representatives should have input into decisions and policy advice Rec 13: ALAC/At-Large policy advice mechanisms should be strengthened Each Improvements WT began meeting in September 2010. Each includes representatives from At-Large's five regions. And the calls of each occur every other week for one hour in English. The tentative deadline imposed by the ALAC for the completion of each WT's mandate is the end of March 2011. While all of the WTs are now entering the final and perhaps most important phase of their work, each obviously has different tasks ahead of it. Other tasks, of course, will be similar for all of the teams; these include: * Refining the improvements under discussion; * Determining the practical steps needed to implement these improvements; * Turning their improvement plans into ALAC proposals; and * Presenting their proposals to the At-Large Community and ALAC for feedback during ICANN's San Francisco Meeting. For further details on the ALAC/At-Large Improvements project or any of the WTs, please see these additional resources: * The main workspace of each WT, which includes member/co-chair lists, meeting minutes, and WT-created documents: o Main WT A Workspace <https://community.icann.org/display/Improve/At-Large+Improvements+Work+Team…>; o Main WT B Workspace <https://community.icann.org/display/Improve/At-Large+Improvements+Work+Team…>; o Main WT C Workspace <https://community.icann.org/display/Improve/At-Large+Improvements+Work+Team…>; and o Main WT D Workspace <https://community.icann.org/display/Improve/At-Large+Improvements+Work+Team…>. * Status of ALAC Improvements Implementation (9 March 2010; Nairobi) <https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/2950348/Status+of+ALAC+Imp…>, including a detailed history of the project; * ALAC-At-Large Improvements Implementation Project Plan (7 June 2010)<https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/2950348/ALAC-At-Large+Impr…>; and * ALAC/At-Large Improvements Implementation: Update (5 Dec 2010, Cartagena) <https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/2950348/ALAC%2C+At-Large+I…>. Also, please feel free to contact the WT co-chairs (see the WT workspaces above) or the At-Large Improvements Project Manager, Seth Greene, at seth.greene(a)icann.org <mailto:seth.greene@icann.org>. -- Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond, PhD http://www.gih.com/ocl.html

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Members of the 2011 ALAC Finance and Budget Subcommittee
by ICANN At-Large Staff Feb. 10, 2011

Feb. 10, 2011

Dear All, During its meeting of 25 January, the ALAC decided to expand the Finance and Budget Subcommittee with non-ALAC representatives from the regional At-Large organisations (see https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/ALAC+Meeting+-+25.01.2011+-+Minu tes). Following the recent call for RALO volunteers which ended on 7 January, we can confirm the following membership list: Cheryl Langdon-Orr (APRALO/ALAC) Charles Mok (APRALO) Dave Kissoondoyal (AFRALO/ALAC) Tijani Ben Jamaa (AFRALO/ALAC) Fatimata Seye Sylla (AFRALO) Olivier Crépin-Leblond (EURALO/ALAC/Chair of F&B SC) Rudi Vansnick (EURALO) Sylvia Herlein Leite (LACRALO/ALAC) Cintra Sooknanan (LACRALO) Jessel Ackbarali (LACRALO) Gareth Shearman (NARALO/ALAC) Darlene Thompson (NARALO) The new members have been added to the mailing list for the Finance and Budget Subcommittee (finance-sc(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org) The F&B Subcommittee workspace is available at: https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/ALAC+Sub-Committees Additional relevant documents will be added to the workspace shortly. Please contact staff(a)atlarge.icann.org if you questions about the F&B Subcommittee. -- Regards, Heidi Ullrich, Matthias Langenegger, Seth Greene, Gisella Gruber-White, Marilyn Vernon, Kristina Nordström ICANN At-Large Staff email: staff[at]atlarge.icann.org website: www.atlarge.icann.org

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ALAC Statement on the Interim Report of the Geographic Regions WG
by Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond Feb. 7, 2011

Feb. 7, 2011

Dear Rob, This is to inform you that the ALAC vote on the ALAC Statement on the Interim Report of the Geographic Regions Working Group resulted in the ALAC endorsing the Statement with 13-0 votes and no abstentions. You may review the result independently under: https://www.bigpulse.com/pollresults?code=1549IurTvFzFztCDWPZQyGrW The attached Statement was submitted to the public consultation process on the Geographic Regions Review WG Interim Report on 31 January 2011 with a note indicating that it was currently undergoing the internal ratification process. It was initially drafted by Mohamed El Bashir, member of the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), on 26 January 2011 and sent to the ALAC Working list for comments that same day. No additional comments were received. The Appendix to the Statement consists of the contributions from the five At-Large Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs). It reflect the views of the RALOs with their diverse historical, linguistic, cultural and geographic differences. Please inform the members of the Geographic Regions Review Working Group of the outcome of the ALAC ratification process. Thank you. Kind Regards, Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond ALAC Chair

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Proposed statement of ALAC regarding current situation in Egypt / formal call for objections
by Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond Feb. 2, 2011

Feb. 2, 2011

Dear members of the ALAC, a few hours ago, I sent an email out to the At-Large and the ALAC lists, to ask for feedback about a possible official statement to be made by ALAC. The statement is as follows: --- cut here --- Statement of the ALAC regarding current situation in Egypt The ALAC is concerned by the impact of developments in Egypt on the ordinary Internet user. In the light of ICANN's responsibility for Internet Protocol (IP) address and Autonomous System (AS) number policy, and its core value of 'preserving and enhancing the operational stability, reliability, security, and global interoperability of the Internet', we endorse the ISOC statement and Q&A as expressed at http://isoc.org/wp/newsletter/?p=3100 Signed: The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) --- cut here --- Much support was received from ALSes, RALOs and ALAC members. Some comments were received about making this a stronger statement, but I have also received comments in private, asking for the statement *not* to be stronger. Whilst there appears to be consensus on this statement, there is no consensus on making it stronger. With consensus on this statement, I should now call for a 5 day ALAC vote, using normal procedures. However, time is of the essence and with the amount of support which has already been expressed on the discussion lists and by email, an expedited procedure would be to ask for any objections from ALAC members. I therefore ask if there are any objections from voting members of the ALAC, for them to be sent to staff(a)atlarge.icann.org *before* Wednesday 2nd February 2011, 22:00 UTC. If no objections are received, I have asked At-Large Staff to email the Board through official correspondence channels shortly after the deadline. Kind regards, Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond ALAC Chair

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Re: [ALAC] DSSA WG At-Large Representatives and endorsement of additional applicant requested
by ICANN At-Large Staff Feb. 2, 2011

Feb. 2, 2011

Dear All, John R. Levine has been endorsed by the ALAC as a NARALO representative to the DSSA WG as no opposition was indicated. Andre Thompson, from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, has volunteered to serve as the LACRALO representative to the DSSA WG. His SOI is available at: https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/DSSA+WG+-+At-Large+Members. Olivier Crépin-Leblond, ALAC Chair and co-Chair of the DSSA WG, has requested the ALAC to indicate any opposition to the endorsement of Andre Thompson by Friday, 4 February. Regards, Heidi Ullrich, Matthias Langenegger, Seth Greene, Gisella Gruber-White, Marilyn Vernon ICANN At-Large Staff From: ICANN At-Large Staff [mailto:staff@atlarge.icann.org] Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 10:16 PM To: 'alac(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org' Cc: Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond; ICANN At-Large Staff Subject: DSSA WG At-Large Representatives and endorsement of additional applicant requested Dear All, During the ALAC monthly meeting of 25 January, the ALAC endorsed the following applicants to serve as At-Large representatives on the DSSA WG (in alphabetical order by surname): Eric Brunner-Williams (NARALO) Edmon Chung (APRALO) Mohamed El Bashir (AFRALO) Cheryl Langdon-Orr (APRALO) ALAC Liaison to the DSSA WG Patrick Vande Walle (EURALO) An additional applicant is John R. Levine (NARALO). Olivier Crépin-Leblond, ALAC Chair and co-Chair of the DSSA WG, has requested the ALAC to indicate any opposition to the endorsement of John R. Levine by Monday, 31 January. The SOI of John, as well as those of the At-Large representatives to the DSSA WG, are available at: https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/DSSA+WG+-+At-Large+Members. An At-Large representative from the LACRALO region is still being sought. Regards, Heidi Ullrich, Matthias Langenegger, Seth Greene, Gisella Gruber-White, Marilyn Vernon, ICANN At-Large Staff

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Proposed statement of the ALAC regarding the current situation in Egypt
by Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond Feb. 2, 2011

Feb. 2, 2011

Dear all, sustained discussions have recently taken place on one of the RALO lists, whether the ALAC should comment on the current political situation in Egypt, focussing in particular on the suspension of Internet service in the country. I have personally monitored the discussion and members of the ALAC ExCom have held daily discussions about the matter. I have also discussed the possibility of a statement with other constituency Chairs and some Board members. Rod Beckstrom has published a Blog post on: http://blog.icann.org/2011/01/status-report-on-the-dns-in-egypt/ He has steered away from making any kind of political statement, and I suspect that this was for a reason. Egypt's GAC representative is Ms. Manal Ismail. She works for the Telecom Regulation Authority (TRA) - but their Internet is cut too. The ccNSO representative is EGregistry.eg - and they are cut from the Internet as well. The ICANN manager for relations in the Middle East, Mr. Baher Esmat, is also based in Cairo - and he's also off-line. Many more participants in ICANN Supporting Organisations and Advisory Committees, including ICANN fellows are also based in Egypt. I have managed to speak to a couple of my own friends in Cairo. They explained that, like all Egyptians, they are worried about the security situation, their own personal security included. This is particularly important. Whilst I understand that the current action by Egypt breaks ICANN's Core Value #1, it is my firm view that any statement might bring more harm that good to ICANN and its friends at the present moment, if it is not crafted with caution. This is a complex political situation which surpasses ICANN's sphere of influence, and I should seriously recommend that ALAC keeps a low profile about this because of the political implications for our friends on the ground. That said, the Internet Society has released a Q&A document focussing primarily on the technical implications of the shut-down of Internet services in Egypt. It is very useful, and I propose that for the time being, we support this Q&A and point our members to it. I am therefore asking the ALAC to endorse the following statement in an accelerated vote and procedure: --- cut here --- Statement of the ALAC regarding current situation in Egypt The ALAC is concerned by the impact of developments in Egypt on the ordinary Internet user. In the light of ICANN's responsibility for IP address and AS number policy, and its core value of 'preserving and enhancing the operational stability, reliability, security, and global interoperability of the Internet', we endorse the ISOC statement and Q&A as expressed at http://isoc.org/wp/newsletter/?p=3100 Signed: The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) --- cut here --- I hope that this will receive support and in this case, Heidi will swiftly follow-up with regards to voting procedures. In the meantime, and until the situation on the ground gets resolved, we wish all the Best to our Egyptian friends in this time of troubled politics in their country. Best regards, Olivier Crepin-Leblond ALAC Chair

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WG: [IRP] Final statement
by Wolf Ludwig Feb. 1, 2011

Feb. 1, 2011

Hi again, sorry for any cross posting but below you can see the Final IRP statement mentioned before. Best, Wolf Lisa Horner wrote Tue, 1 Feb 2011 16:42: >Thanks for all the comments on the statement. The final version is below and PDF attached. Please send far and wide to all of the contacts that you can....and thank you for the offers to translate it - that'd be fantastic. > >We've been trying to find someone in Egypt (or at least with close connections!) who might be able to make a statement, but haven't managed to yet. If you can help with this, please let us know! I unfortunately have to be offline for a couple of hours, but Dixie is here on my email and on her own email too! > >All the best, >Lisa > > >[cid:image003.jpg@01CBC22E.FD1DE4B0] > > > >1st February 2011 > > > >The Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition urges the Egyptian government to end the violation of the Egyptian people's rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly by lifting restrictions on access to the Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies. > > > >Internet access has been shut down in Egypt. Mobile phone networks have also been severely disrupted. Restrictions have also been placed on Egyptian and international media, including the blocking of Al Jazeera's broadcast signal and seizure of its equipment. > > > >These actions are direct and serious violations of the rights of the Egyptian people to freedom of expression and assembly. The right to freedom of expression is enshrined in international law in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Egypt has ratified. The right includes freedom to seek, receive and impart information through any media, regardless of frontiers. In modern society, the Internet is fundamental for the fulfilment of the right to freedom of expression. It is also an essential tool for peaceful assembly, whether online or offline, as protected by Article 21 of the ICCPR. > > > >These restrictions on communications access are a disproportionate and unnecessary response to legitimate political protest. The UN Human Rights Council Resolution 12/16 states that it is never permissible for any government to restrict peaceful demonstrations and political activities, including those for democracy. It also states that placing restrictions on access to, or use of, information and communication technologies is never permissible. This includes access to radio, television and the Internet. > > > >The explosion of information and communication technologies across the world has brought with it unprecedented opportunities for the fulfilment of human rights, social and economic development and democracy. These opportunities must not be lost through misguided efforts to control online communication. > > > >The Dynamic Coalition calls on the Egyptian government to restore the right to freedom of expression and assembly in Egypt through removing all restrictions on communication. All professional and citizen journalists in Egypt must be free to report on unfolding events through any media platform, to national and international audiences. All people must have full access to the Internet, to mobile phones and SMS, and to national and international media. > > > > > >About the Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition > >The IRP DC is an international network of people who are working to uphold human rights on and through the Internet. The coalition is currently undertaking a major project to draft a Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet. This applies international human rights standards to the Internet environment. It outlines what human rights people have when operating online, and what elements of Internet architecture need to be protected in order to realise human rights to the fullest extent possible. The Charter is currently released as a beta version, and we welcome comments and contributions. > >Join us online at: > >http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/ > >http://www.facebook.com/internetrightsandprinciples > >http://twitter.com/netrights > > > >For more information, contact Lisa Horner (coalition chair) - lisah(a)global-partners.co.uk<mailto:lisah@global-partners.co.uk> , or Dixie Hawtin - Dixie(a)global-partners.co.uk<mailto:Dixie@global-partners.co.uk>. Phone: +44(0) 207 2398251. > > > > > > >___________________________________________________________ >Lisa Horner >Head of Research & Policy Global Partners and Associates >338 City Road, London, EC1V 2PY, UK >Office: + 44 207 239 8251 Mobile: +44 7867 795859 >LisaH(a)global-partners.co.uk<mailto:lisah@global-partners.co.uk> www.global-partners.co.uk<http://www.global-partners.co.uk/> > > > comunica-ch phone +41 79 204 83 87 Skype: Wolf-Ludwig www.comunica-ch.net Digitale Allmend http://blog.allmend.ch - EURALO - ICANN's Regional At-Large Organisation http://euralo.org

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FOLLOW UP on Draft At-Large Budget Proposal for FY12
by ICANN At-Large Staff Feb. 1, 2011

Feb. 1, 2011

Dear All, Further to our earlier message, please note that additional text is still needed under subheading 5 of the At-Large Budget Proposal on Key At-Large and ALAC Priorities for the coming Financial Year. The section is highlighted with bold text: [ add here a short paragraph about our key priorities ] The document is available at: https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/At-Large+FY12+Budget+Proposal+Ma ster+Document The intention is to provide guidance to ICANN on the key priorities of the At-Large community in the coming year. Please use the ³add comment² button at the bottom of the page to submit your input. The comment period will close tomorrow, 2 February at 1700 UTC. -- Regards, Heidi Ullrich, Matthias Langenegger, Seth Greene, Gisella Gruber-White, Marilyn Vernon, Kristina Nordström ICANN At-Large Staff email: staff[at]atlarge.icann.org website: www.atlarge.icann.org

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