Fyi Please comment. Jacqueline ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Annette Muehlberg <annette.muehlberg@web.de> Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:20:14 +0430 Subject: [ALAC-Internal] alac jpa draft 2 To: ALAC internal list <alac-internal@atlarge-lists.icann.org> Dear folks, Here, the draft by the present drafting group members: Annette, Beau, Wolf we stayed in the taj palace and come over to dinner now! ;-) see you soon best greetings annette Proposed ALAC-statement regarding JPA: As the JPA (between the US Government and ICANN) is under Review, ALAC wishes to underline the unique opportunity the occasion offers to realize the original goals that led to the formation of ICANN. These include, inter alia, acknowledgement of the international nature of ICANN, support of the multi-stakeholder bottom-up approach to the management of ICANN, and the provision of viable and stable channels for the involvement of individual Internet users in the ICANN policy formation process. Measures must be implemented to ensure non-discriminatory availability of ICANN/IANA services as well as the opportunity for the involvement of global individual users in the ICANN process. In its role as the voice of the individual Internet users, ALAC firmly believes that the current multi-stakeholder framework at ICANN should be further strengthened to allow more effective involvement of end-users. The process to full participation of individual users through the ALAC and its Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs) is being undertaken at this moment. There is, however, a lack of incentives for the participants, especially a lack of direct involvement at the decision-making levels of ICANN. Therefore, we believe ICANN should consider mechanisms for stronger user participation, such as At-Large voting rights on the GNSO council and the ICANN board. Alternative for the last sentence: [we think that ICANN should find ways to implement adequate representation of individual users at the decision-making levels of ICANN so that a real multi-stakeholder framework is achieved.] In addition, we believe no government should have a pre-eminent role in DNS management and exercise power over database changes and root-server data. We suggest that an institutional form should be found as soon as possible so that ICANN does not lie under the authority of any single national legislation. We also strongly advocate transparency and openness in the process of making any structural change in the ICANN framework for the coming transition. We are concerned that the successor oversight framework is still not clear and ICANN needs to clarify the transitional arrangements with regard to accountability and transparency as well as to allow further definition and evolution of the multi-stakeholder model of governance under which it operates. We need to know what replaces the JPA, which refers to "the global participation of all stakeholders" and "mechanisms for involvement of those affected by the ICANN policies." As the Internet-using public is a key set of stakeholders affected by ICANN's policies, it is critical, including for Internet security and stability, that the organization be accountable to the public and account effectively for its input. Respectfully submitted, Chair At-Large Advisory Committee Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers