April 2017 - ALAC - lists.icann.org

ICANN as a 501(c)(3) Organisation
by Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond May 8, 2017

May 8, 2017

Dear Alan, as a follow-up to my explanation on the ALAC mailing list about ICANN being a 501(c)(3) organisation, the relevant Article of Incorporation paragraph is: (Ref: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/articles-en ) /Article 2.I.II: This Corporation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any person. It is organized under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law for charitable and public purposes. The Corporation is organized, and will be operated, exclusively for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes within the meaning of § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “*Code*”), or the corresponding provision of any future United States tax code. Any reference in these Articles to the Code shall include the corresponding provisions of any future United States tax code. In furtherance of the foregoing purposes, and in recognition of the fact that the Internet is an international network of networks, owned by no single nation, individual or organization, the Corporation shall, except as limited by _Article IV_ hereof, pursue the charitable and public purposes of *lessening the burdens of government and promoting the global public interest *in the operational stability of the Internet by carrying out the mission set forth in the bylaws of the Corporation (“*Bylaws*”). Such global public interest may be determined from time to time. Any determination of such global public interest shall be made by the multistakeholder community through an inclusive bottom-up multistakeholder community process. Article 2.IV: Notwithstanding any other provision of these Articles: a. The Corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (i) by a corporation exempt from United States income tax under § 501(c)(3) of the Code or (ii) by a corporation, contributions to which are deductible under § 170(c)(2) of the Code. b. No substantial part of the activities of the Corporation shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the Corporation shall be empowered to make the election under § 501 (h) of the Code./ So what does the § 501(c)(3) tax code say? http://bit.ly/1Va1vVt To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must be organized <https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/organiza…> and operated <https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/operatio…> exclusively for exempt purposes <https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/exempt-p…> set forth in section 501(c)(3), and none of its earnings may inure <https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/inuremen…> to any private shareholder or individual. Exempt purposes: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/exempt-p… /The exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3) are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals. The term /charitable/ is used in its generally accepted legal sense and includes relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; *lessening the burdens of government*; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency./ So "lessening the burdens of government" is clearly the key reason for ICANN to operate as 501(c)(3), but as you can see there are other possible purposes. (As a side track, it is particularly important to note the "global public interest" part of the mission which is still undefined and unresolved.) With the new gTLD program generating a large income, ICANN needs to be very careful and show sustained support for "lessening the burdens of government" - thus support all sorts of Internet-related activities outside of ICANN. Not doing so, it could be accused of "excess benefit transactions" https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/intermed… and be sanctioned. ICANN needs to walk a very fine line on this. I am not a US tax attorney and have very little knowledge of the matter, but it is my understanding that if ICANN was to stop supporting initiatives in the wider Internet ecosystem space, activities related to ICANN but not *strictly* relating to Names and Numbers, it would risk losing its 501(c)(3) status. This loss of 501(c)(3) status is completely independent of the point of view that some are holding that ICANN is spending too much money outside ICANN core activities. It is also worth noting that adhering to the conditions for retaining 501(c)(3) status will be a key issue for the allocation of Auction funds. I really think that we should fully play this card when it comes down to use of funds in ICANN. The At-Large Community is part of this "promoting the global public interest" and we need to remind everyone about this regularly. Kindest regards, Olivier

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Call for Volunteers - Developing ALAC Comments for the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Community Comment 2 Questionnaire
by Ariel Liang May 1, 2017

May 1, 2017

(This message is sent on behalf of Maureen Hilyard. Dear Colleagues The ALAC has been invited to provide input to the Community Comment 2 (CC2) questionnaire developed by the GNSO's Policy Development Process Working Group that is evaluating what changes or additions need to be made to existing new gTLD policy recommendations. We need to provide feedback before May 20. It is quite a comprehensive questionnaire that is divided into 4 work tracks. We are seeking assistance from our ALAC and At-Large members to work together on the questions in a particular work track, or even a section of a work track, which will enable the ALAC to put together a cumulative response to the PDP WG. The work track topics are: 1. Overall Process, Support and Outreach 2. Legal, Regulatory and Contractual Requirements 3. String Contention Objections and Disputes 4. Internationalised Domain Names and Technical Operations If you are willing to assist with any of the questions within any of these work tracks, please contact Maureen Hilyard maureen.hilyard(a)gmail.com. Ariel Xinyue Liang Policy Analyst | Washington, DC Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

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Fwd: [UA-discuss] IDN Response Blog
by Andrei Kolesnikov April 28, 2017

April 28, 2017

Hi! There is a serous side activity in universal acceptance community, which is connected to the IDN implementation guidelines. We may expect there will be public comments, but nothing radical. --andrei ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Don Hollander <don.hollander(a)icann.org> Date: чт, 27 апр. 2017 г. в 23:05 Subject: [UA-discuss] IDN Response Blog To: ua-discuss(a)icann.org <ua-discuss(a)icann.org> Thanks to all for the contributions to the IDN Response blog and the generally associated discussion. Good stuff indeed. Attached is the final result that will be published in the morning UTC. There has been enough other good material shared to make several other interesting blog posts in different forums, so I encourage you to do so and make yourself famous. Don -- -- {ak}

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PLEASE REVIEW: Comments on the FY18 Draft Operational Plan and Budget
by Alan Greenberg April 28, 2017

April 28, 2017

Please see https://community.icann.org/x/37XRAw for the two comments to be submitted (subject to final editing) to the Public Comment on the FY18 Operational Plan and Budget. The first one is our comment on the draft document. The original draft authored by Tijani has been posted for several days. It was modified based on comments received and the final contents were discussed during today's Finance and Budget Subcommittee meeting. There was one comment suggesting a stronger caveat to the approval of the extension of the CCWG Accountability budget to FY18 (there is no additional allocation but the change allows unspent FY17 funds to be carried over to FY18). At the ALT meeting today, the ALT discussed this suggestion and unanimously is recommending to the ALAC that the form of condition in the current version be unchanged (specifically that the CCWG monitor progress and ensure that there be no further such extensions). We are also submitting a second comment (again present in an earlier form from Tijani and discussed and agreed upon in the FBSC) will be submitted requesting travel funding for the GAC Liaison as well as for (as a pilot program) five additional traveller who are active workers in At-Large or other ICANN WGs. This is patterned after the At-Large Review analysis which correctly identified the need for such travellers (although we did not agree on how they made such slots available). The comment period closes at 23:59 today (Friday, 26 April 2017). IF YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS OR NOTICE ANY ERRORS, PLEASE LET US KNOW IN TIME FOR CHANGES TO BE CONSIDERED AND MADE PRIOR TO THE DEADLINE. Alan

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Re: [ALAC] ICANN as a 501(c)(3) Organisation
by Gbruen April 25, 2017

April 25, 2017

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Re: [ALAC] ICANN as a 501(c)(3) Organisation
by Gbruen April 25, 2017

April 25, 2017

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Elise Gerich retiring
by Rinalia Abdul Rahim April 20, 2017

April 20, 2017

FYI Elise Gerich to Leave ICANN After Seven Years of Service - ICANN Blog by Akram Atallah https://www.icann.org/news/blog/elise-gerich-to-leave-icann-after-seven-yea… Best regards, Rinalia Rinalia Abdul Rahim

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Statement on ICANN Transparency
by Alan Greenberg April 20, 2017

April 20, 2017

The CCWG Accountability WS2 group on ICANN Transparency has issued a set of recommendation which were out for public comment. The ALAC is very late in providing its input (the official deadline was 10 April) but a draft comment is now posted at https://community.icann.org/x/9KXRAw. It is quite short and should not long to review. Please provide any comment on the wiki by Saturday, 22 April at 23:59 UTC. In particular, if ALAC Members feel that they will not be able to support this statement, please post an objection and rationale. Alan

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Re: [ALAC] Elise Gerich retiring
by Seun Ojedeji April 17, 2017

April 17, 2017

Wow! This is with mixed feelings for me. Apart from ICANN world, I will particularly miss her within the numbers (RIR) community. I look forward to bidding her farewell physically. Thanks for the share Rinalia. Regards On Apr 17, 2017 21:27, "Rinalia Abdul Rahim" <rinalia.abdulrahim(a)gmail.com> wrote: FYI *Elise Gerich to Leave ICANN After Seven Years of Service - ICANN Blog by Akram Atallah* https://www.icann.org/news/blog/elise-gerich-to-leave- icann-after-seven-years-of-service Best regards, Rinalia Rinalia Abdul Rahim _______________________________________________ ALAC mailing list ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac At-Large Online: http://www.atlarge.icann.org ALAC Working Wiki: https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/At-Large+ Advisory+Committee+(ALAC)

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Blog related to first empowered community action in ICANN
by Rinalia Abdul Rahim April 17, 2017

April 17, 2017

FYI https://www.icann.org/news/blog/the-chairman-s-blog-reconsideration-request… Best regards, Rinalia Rinalia Abdul Rahim

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