Hello everyone! An interesting discussion has started in the European At-Large community list and considering the nature of the conversation I thought it would be sensible to acquaint those of you not following this discussion (there are many from other regions listening in) with an element of it. For those who are not aware, the At-Large Advisory Committee has the right to appoint a number of liaisons, and in the case of the NomCom, a number of actual members, who participate in the work of the other communities and key working groups and report back to ALAC on what is happening, as well as taking the view of ALAC, and by extension the At-Large community, back to those other constituencies. These positions therefore represent important opportunities for the point of view of the At-Large constituency to be represented, though there are various perspectives about how effective these positions can be, for a whole variety of reasons, which I hope those who have views will express for a more complete and rich debate. A question was raised about who is eligible to fill these positions: members of the ALAC only, or anyone. ICANN's legal staff were asked to provide a view on the subject, and have done so, making clear that since the Bylaws do not require membership in the ALAC in order to, for example, be the ALAC Board Liaison, it is for the ALAC to decide the manner in which these positions are appointed, elected, or otherwise filled. This is in line with ALAC practice, having had Bret Fausett, a non-ALAC member, as GNSO Liaison for some years now. The discussion has moved on to a request that there should be set rules of procedure with respect to these appointments, so that the community could see transparently who was being nominated, how they were being nominated, and on what basis selected. The ALAC did resolve to compile draft procedures relating to these matters, with Vittorio Bertola volunteering to take on this task. There are quite a few liaison positions. The posts are as follows: (5) seats on the Nominating Committee (out of a total of 17 voting members) (1) liaison to the ICANN Board (1) liaison to the GNSO (1) liaison to the ccNSO Additionally the following ad-hoc appointments/liaison positions currently exist: (1) liaison to the IDN Working Group (1) liaison to the WHOIS Working Group (1) liaison to the President's Advisory Committee on IDNs The provisions of the Bylaws with respect to these matters can be found at: http://www.icann.org/general/bylaws.htm. Article XI,s2(4) contains provisions related to the ALAC. Provisions related to the appointment, revocation of appointment, and/or reappointment appear in various places in the Bylaws in respect of the ccNSO and the GNSO, but in both cases, the ALAC may appoint, reappoint, or revoke an appointment, of its liaisons as it pleases and no term is defined for either. Note that there are particular provisions for the Regional At-Large Organisations to provide input into the appointment of the five voting seats on the Nominating Committee - with RALOs in later stages of formation in many regions, you may wish to consider how to provide input to ALAC with respect to these positions in due course. There is one seat per Geographic Region as defined by ICANN. I hope that this email has served to accurately convey the nature of the discussions and introduce (in particular) those who may be new to At-Large to this important subject. -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart ICANN At Large Main Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011] USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 email: nashton@spamcop.net Win IM: ashtonhart@hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart@mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart