February 2008 - APAC-Discuss

GNSO Improvements Proposals Open for Public Comment
by Nick Ashton-Hart Feb. 29, 2008

Feb. 29, 2008

Please note that the GNSO Improvements Report 2008 is open for public comments from 25 February 2008 to 25 March 2008 http://www.icann.org/public_comment/#gnso-improvements-report-2008 GNSO Improvements Report 2008 Explanation: On February 15, 2008, ICANN's Board acknowledged receipt of the "GNSO Improvements Report" and indicated that it would like to receive final public comments on the Report to enable it to consider and implement the Report's recommendations as soon as possible. The Board has directed ICANN staff to open a public comment forum on the Report for 30 days, draft a detailed implementation plan in consultation with the GNSO, begin implementation of the non-contentious recommendations, and return to the Board and community for further consideration of the implementation plan. A copy of the Board's resolution regarding this matter can be found here. http://www.icann.org/minutes/resolutions-15feb08.htm A COUPLE OF POINTS TO CONSIDER FOR AT-LARGE MEMBERS: * Do you think that the At-Large community should be a part of the GNSO as a constituency in its own right? You can read more about this in the proposals on page 41. * One of the recommendations is that greater coordination between the GNSO and other parts of ICANN should be implemented - this includes At-Large - read more about it on pages 47 - 48 HOW TO GET THE REPORT: You can read the full report here [PDF, 197K] http://www.icann.org/topics/gnso-improvements/gnso-improvements-report-03feb 08.pdf and see a web page with more information here. http://www.icann.org/topics/gnso-improvements/ The ICANN Board Governance Committee's "GNSO Review Working Group" http://www.icann.org/topics/gnso-improvements/ developed the Report's http://www.icann.org/topics/gnso-improvements/gnso-improvements-report-03feb 08.pdf set of recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the GNSO, including its policy activities, structure, operations and communications. The Report reflects the Working Group's examination of many aspects of the GNSO's functioning, including the use of working groups and the overall policy development process (PDP), and the structure of the GNSO Council and its constituencies. The Board Governance Committee determined that the GNSO Improvements working group had fulfilled its charter and forwarded the report to the Board for consideration." Is it clear to you what this comment period covers? Do you have all the information you need to respond? The staff member responsible is Denise Michel - if you have questions, she can be reached at denise.michel(a)icann.org. Please submit comments to: gnso-improvements-report-2008(a)icann.org Archives: http://forum.icann.org/lists/gnso-improvements-report-2008/ Please take the time to comment. Thank you. Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director for At-Large Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Main Tel: +33 (450) 40 46 88 USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +41 (22) 594-85-44 Mobile: +41 (79) 595 54-68 email: nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

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Guide to Domain Names in Generic Top-Level Domains
by At-Large Staff Feb. 29, 2008

Feb. 29, 2008

Dear Community: As some of you know, some time ago a draft Guide to Domain Names was prepared by an ICANN consultant with a view to having it published for the use of the individual Internet community worldwide. During the At-Large community meetings in New Delhi, it was decided that the work of preparing the guide for publication should be concluded by allowing members of the community to provide any comments, proposed edits, or thoughts for inclusion in the published text not later than 31 March 2008. I have attached the current draft of the text for you to review. We will have translated editions prepared of the final edition - unfortunately the cost of translating something that may (depending upon how many comments and the nature of the comments) change a great deal makes translating the text now difficult. POINTS TO CONSIDER: 1) This is the raw text of the guide. The version to be published will be prepared in a desktop publishing environment to make it attractive and visually appealing. Of course, until the basic text is completed, it is hard to decide precisely how to format the guide in a DTP application - that's why we are having it done 2) It has been suggested that some graphics would be useful. This of course is entirely sensible. If you have ideas for what these should be, please let us know. You do not have to be very specific - something like the following would work: "Put in a pie chart showing the total number of registered domains in all gTLDs, broken down by gTLD" 3) Is there something which could be included that would be specific for your region of the world? Let us know - there's no problem with producing regionally-specific versions of the guide, if you think that would be more useful. 4) Revision tracking is turned on, so if you want to edit the text directly and send that to us, feel free. Equally, you can just send us narrative suggestions - please remember though that we need enough specificity to be able to understand what to change. If your comment is extremely general, that will make it difficult to know what we should change. If we are unsure of what you mean, we will reply and ask you for more details. -- Regards, ICANN At-Large Staff email: staff(a)alac.icann.org

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Re: [APAC-Discuss] Action item (s) APRALO Teleconference Yesterday Nomination call for new Vice Chair of APRALO
by Cheryl Langdon-Orr Feb. 27, 2008

Feb. 27, 2008

One of the action items from yesterday's meeting, was to make a call for nominees for the position of Vice Chair (for the short term of 1 year to end in Nov 2009) see https://st.icann.org/asiapac/index.cgi?apralo_officers Please note the following:- *Nominations should be sent to this list, be seconded and accepted by the nominee *Self nominations are acceptable and acceptance is assumed :-) but still require seconding by another ALS. *Nominations will close at 1200hrs UTC on March 11th. *All nomination details will be placed on the APRALO Officers wiki page https://st.icann.org/asiapac/index.cgi?apralo_officers *No individual can hold two positions at the same time. *The position of Vice Chair must be held by an individual (natural person) not an entity. *If a vote is required this will be set up as a confidential online system using the Pig Pulse Voting tool and each ALS will have one vote cast by their official nominee/delegate ALSO further to our discussion yesterday. Whilst nominations officially opened after our GA Meeting in New Delhi on February 11th, there is currently one nominee for this position, Edmon Chung, nominated by ISOC-AU and seconded by Internet NZ. And this message constitutes the official notice to this list. NAME ALS / Accepted ALS/NOMINATED ALS/SECONDED Edmon Chung ISOC-HK / Yes ISOC-AU Internet NZ Other Action Items from yesterday's meeting will soon be forwarded to this list under separate cover. Kindest regards, CLO

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APRALO Teleconference for February 2006
by Nick Ashton-Hart Feb. 27, 2008

Feb. 27, 2008

Dear All: Please don't forget that the APRALO Teleconference for February is the 26th - tomorrow - at 0500 UTC. We've setup a meeting page which is accessible to you at: https://st.icann.org/asiapac/index.cgi?26_february_2008. Note that dialouts are available upon request at the URL in the meeting page at the time of the meeting. -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director for At-Large Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Main Tel: +33 (450) 40 46 88 USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +41 (22) 594-85-44 Mobile: +41 (79) 595 54-68 email: nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

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Issues with dialouts to the recent teleconference / improvements to call quality
by Nick Ashton-Hart Feb. 26, 2008

Feb. 26, 2008

Dear All: As you know, there were issues with dialouts for the most recent conference call on the 26th. In large part, this is due to the fact that dialouts were requested less than 24 hours (indeed in some cases much less than 24 hours) before the call. This in turn was probably due at least partly to the fact that the reminder of the call was issued rather close to the call date. In future, we will ensure that all call reminders are published a week in advance. At that point, we will ask you to either use the web form at the time of the call to have an automated dial out performed, or to ask us to have a dialout performed - but in order to act on a request to have the service dial out to you which is NOT made using the web form we will need to receive this not less than 48 hours before the start time of the meeting. Note that using the web form to request a dial out at the meeting start time is highly preferred - in no small measure because this is more convenient for you. This allows you to have the service dial out to you at the number of your choice at the start of the meeting. A few reminders in order to ensure call audio quality: 1. Do not call in, or ask the service to call you, on mobile telephones. If you cannot be indoors when a teleconference is going on, it is better to send your apologies, as the level of noise that a mobile telephone call causes when out of doors, especially in urban environments usually greatly degrades the call for everyone. In addition, the harmonics of mobile telephony on teleconferences tends to degrade the line for everyone even when indoors. 2. Do not use Skype or VoIP telephony to call into the conference - or ask the service to dial out to you on a SkypeIn number. VoIP and teleconferences cause real problems with the audio, often causing very serious echoing for multiple participants. 3. Please mute yourself when you are on the call if you are not speaking. This of course prevents ambient noise from affecting the calls - On our service, mute is turned on with *6, and turned off with *7. 4. Most speakerphones (especially less expensive ones) are designed in such a way that they can also negatively impact teleconference quality. If you are going to use one, please put yourself on mute when listening, and pickup the receiver when speaking. I hope this is all useful - do let me know if you have any questions or thoughts. -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director for At-Large Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Main Tel: +33 (450) 40 46 88 USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +41 (22) 594-85-44 Mobile: +41 (79) 595 54-68 email: nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

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Vice Chair nomination
by Izumi AIZU Feb. 26, 2008

Feb. 26, 2008

Dear all, I like to nominate Karaitiana Taiuru from Aotearoa Māori Internet Organisation, New Zealand, to be the Vice Chair of APRALO. He is willing, dedicated and capable and accepted my nomination already. See more about him here: http://www.taiuru.maori.nz/ As I said in our just-finihsed informal conference call, I am in favor of having two Vice Chairs, so that we have more working capability. But instead of waiting for changing our bylaws, I guess we need to select one VC first. thanks, izumi

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Re: [APAC-Discuss] APRALO Teleconference for February 2006
by Izumi AIZU Feb. 26, 2008

Feb. 26, 2008

I will join from Tokyo. izumi 2008/2/26, isochk(a)gmail.com <isochk(a)gmail.com>: > > > > > I will be joining from Taipei. > > Edmon

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APRICOT, AP* and Monthly Conf Call
by Izumi AIZU Feb. 22, 2008

Feb. 22, 2008

Hi, I am going to join APRICOT leaving Tokyo tomorrow and join the AP* meeting on Sunday, will make a presentation on behalf of APRALO, as agreed at ICANN Delhi meeting. I will come back to Tokyo on Monday evening thus should be able to attend the APRALO monthly conf call. Bilal, Nick, and others, are we going to have the conf call on Tuesday, Feb 26? If so could you please send the announcement/agenda asap? thanks, izumi

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Welcome Matthias Langenegger to the ICANN At-Large Staff
by Nick Ashton-Hart Feb. 22, 2008

Feb. 22, 2008

Dear all: It is my pleasure to introduce you to Matthias Langenegger, who has just joined the At-Large staff in the Policy Unit as At-Large Coordination Officer. He’ll be helping support the global At-Large community in scheduling, meeting support and logistics, servicing information requests, minuting meetings, and helping keep the websites and community communications tools (like the new membership system) up- to-date amongst other essential tasks. Many of you may know Matthias from the IGF Secretariat, where he interned throughout much of 2007 - while there he assisted in the preparations for the Rio de Janeiro Internet Governance Forum in November 2007, coordinating the sessions schedule and providing logistical coordination. He also assisted in the assessment process for the different workshop and best practice proposals. Before and during his university education, he worked in different office environments such as banks and a small language school. He is originally from the German-speaking part of Switzerland and is a native German speaker who is fluent in English and French. He also speaks fair Catalan and Spanish having lived in Barcelona for a year. Matthias recently graduated from the Graduate Institute of International Relations at the University of Geneva and holds an MA in international relations. He lives in Geneva. Continuing the tradition of very long email addresses amongst the At-Large staff, he can be reached at matthias.langenegger(a)icann.org (or, in short form, matthias(a)icann.org ). For those who, like me, often produce inaccurate pronunciations of others’ names, his forename is pronounced “muhteeahs” :) Please welcome him aboard. We’re very glad to have him! -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director, At-Large ICANN Main Tel: +33 (450) 40 46 88 USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +41 (22) 594-85-44 Mobile: +41 (79) 595 54-68 email: nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

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ICANN.org Announcement: Asia-Pacific Internet Users Big Part of ICANNs New Delhi Meeting
by Nick Ashton-Hart Feb. 15, 2008

Feb. 15, 2008

Asia-Pacific Internet Users Big Part of ICANN's New Delhi Meeting http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-14feb08.htm Ceremony recognizes Regional At-Large Organization, first Asia-Pacific At-Large General Assembly 14 February 2008 NEW DELHI, INDIA: Individual Internet users from Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands have direct input into the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a fact recognized today with the ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between ICANN and the Internet user groups who participate in the Asia-Pacific Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO). The APRALO conducted its first General Assembly as a part of ICANN's 31st International Public Meeting in New Delhi. They discussed issues that will affect Internet users throughout the region and the world. The Internet user groups who are a part of APRALO are incredibly diverse, and include users from India, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates. "Today's ceremony recognizes the ICANN community's success in creating a formal, global structure to help ensure ideas and feedback from individual Internet users around the world is heard in our policy processes," said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN's President and CEO. "ICANN's work to introduce a process for applying for new top level domains – the part after the dot – especially those using the more than 100,000 characters from the languages of the world which do not use the Latin character set – will benefit from formal inputs through the Regional At-large Organizations worldwide. The Asia-Pacific RALO is a key contributor to this process." There are now more than 100 user groups taking part in ICANN's five Regional At-large Organizations, or RALOs, from the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, Europe, and Africa. APRALO was created on 30 March 2007 and has been informing the region's individual Internet users about ICANN activities and providing advice to ICANN on their behalf for nearly a year. The RALOs have direct input to ICANN, especially through the international At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), which represents Internet users in ICANN and whose members are chosen largely by the RALOs. "ICANN's ongoing coordination of the domain name system, and its policy work, has a large impact on the Internet and the more than one billion people around the world who use it – and the billions more who should be able to use it," said Cheryl Langdon-Orr, ALAC Chair. "By bringing together Internet users from across the globe, the RALOs are at the heart of ensuring that users have a say on what's happening at ICANN." More information on the participation of individual Internet users in ICANN is available at http://alac.icann.org/ -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director, At-Large ICANN Tel: +33 (450) 40 46 88 USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +41 (22) 595 85 44 mobile: +41 (79) 595 54 68 email: nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

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