September 2009 - Bc-gnso - lists.icann.org

Preliminary Report of ICANN Board meeting 27 Aug 2009
by Philip Sheppard Sept. 2, 2009

Sept. 2, 2009

For information -----Original Message----- Preliminary notes from the ICANN Board meeting on 27 Aug 2009. Points of interest to the GNSO: - location of the June 2010 meeting will be Brussels - Wolfgang Kleinwächter as the 2010 NomCom Chair - the Board approved the Bylaws amendments to allow new Council to be seated at the October 2009 ICANN meeting in Seoul (note the Board did not specify any need to be seated at the beginning of the week - to the new Council could be seated at the end of the week if that is what the GNSO decides) - the Board "acknowledges that amendments may be needed regarding the types of new Constituencies that may be created in the future within the Non-Contracted Parties House, and Board review of the overall Stakeholder Group and Constituency structure is needed in the future" - the Board also directed the Staff to "draft and post for public comment additional proposed Bylaws amendments as necessary to facilitate the continued transition to the new GNSO structures, processes and mechanisms, including but not limited to amendments limiting the types of new Constituencies that may be created in the future within the Non-Contracted Parties House." (note this picked up some of the discussion that has occurred on the GNSO Council list in the last couple of weeks around the concerns of the commercial stakeholder group on the formation of new constituencies) - the Board will "review the structures and operations of Stakeholder Groups and Constituencies in one year and every three years after that." (this picked up on the request from the non-commercial stakeholder group to review the charter after a year). - the Board decided not to go ahead with the recommendation of the Boston Consulting Group to reduce its size - the Board agreed in principle to "add one voting director appointed from the At Large Community to the ICANN Board of Directors, and removing the present ALAC Liaison to the Board" Regards, Bruce Tonkin

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contact list clarification
by BC Secretariat Sept. 1, 2009

Sept. 1, 2009

Dear Members Some clarification on the contact list. In keeping with EU data protection, I cannot include information about individuals on a mail-out list without their permission. This explains why there are some blanks in the contact list and why members are asked to opt in. Gary

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A message from Mike Roberts
by BC Secretariat Sept. 1, 2009

Sept. 1, 2009

Dear BC Members - I very much appreciate the confidence you have shown in electing me to the NomCom. Within the bounds of the rules for NomCom members, I'll do my best to ensure that candidates that share our values and perspective on ICANN's challenges are named to the Board. I also will be pleased to have your comments and suggestions at any time. Given my California base of operations, my email is perhaps best way to reach me routinely. mmr(a)darwin.ptvy.ca.us - Mike Roberts

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Nominating Committee Small Business Election
by BC Secretariat Sept. 1, 2009

Sept. 1, 2009

Dear Members Voting for the election of a representative to the Nominating Committee (Small Business) closed at midnight yesterday. I can announce that the candidates received the following weighted votes: Mike Roberts 23 votes Waudo Siganga 3 votes Dr. Liz Williams 11 votes 19 members voted - representing a 47.5% turnout. Mike Roberts will therefore represent the BC for Small Business on the Nominating Committee 2009-2010. Many thanks to the three candidates and to those members who voted in the election. Gary Hills

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What must be in a proper draft charter -- #1: Proper Financial Controls
by George Kirikos Sept. 1, 2009

Sept. 1, 2009

Hi folks, Given we have two weeks to deliberate, and while free speech continues under the existing charter, I plan a series of bite-sized posts on what should be in a future charter (and as per my prior post, all charter discussions and the charter itself should be on the public mailing list, as per the vote we had months ago which made any other mailing list illegitimate). #1: Proper Financial Controls ---------------------------------------- At present, there is no separate bank account that belongs to the constituency. Would ICANN permit all the funds of the organization to be held by Paul Twomey's Argo Pacific, a contractor, instead of being held in its own name? Of course not. Neither should the BC. This is beyond being basic. With members like eBay (who own PayPal) with great financial experience present, it would be very simple to design effective financial controls that ensure proper financial controls. Sites like PayPal.com or FreshBooks.com allow for easy bookkeeping. *** Recommendation A: The BC charter should mandate that it should have its own bank account. At a minimum, large balances like the reserve fund of the constituency should be held independently of any contractors, e.g. held by ICANN or the GNSO. --------- To ensure accountability, there should be a democratic process for spending and for fees. This can only take place if budgets are voted upon, and if there is an Elected Treasurer. This elected Treasurer provision is present, for example, in the Registrars constituency (see section 3.1.2 of http://www.registrarconstituency.com/legal/bylaws.php ) and the IP Constituency (see IV.(A) of http://www.ipconstituency.org/bylaws.htm ). *** Recommendation B: The BC charter should mandate an elected Treasurer and a budget process that is accountable via a democratic vote amongst all BC members. ----------- Also to ensure accountability, the finances of the constituency should be subject to audit. This is present in the IP Constituency (section VII.D, http://www.ipconstituency.org/bylaws.htm) and ensures that the funds of the constituency are being properly spent *** Recommendation C: The BC charter should mandate that: "Upon a request made in writing (including via e-mail) to the officers by any member, there shall be an independent review conducted of all BC ledgers and accounts. The BC officers shall select the conductor of said review, a neutral third party with recognized accounting experience. The results of said review shall be made known to the BC." In order to keep these "bite sized", I'll have more on financial and other topics in future posts. Sincerely, George Kirikos 416-588-0269 http://www.leap.com/

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R Andruff: Revised BC Charter - discussion and vote
by BC Secretariat Sept. 1, 2009

Sept. 1, 2009

Thanks for this draft, Philip. Thanks to the drafting team as well. I need to give it a second read before commenting further, but two questions have arisen which I hope you can shed more light on. First, did your team undertake any dialogue with our other (currently) two constituencies in the Non Contracted House to see if our revised Charter is more consistent (read: easier to integrate) with the others in the longer term? And second, does anyone have a sense as to where the timeline stands for the considered "merging of the constituencies"? I think that the answer to these questions will assist us all in reviewing your draft BC Charter. Kind regards, RA Ronald N. Andruff RNA Partners, Inc. 220 Fifth Avenue, 20th floor New York, New York 10001 www.rnapartners.com V: +1 212 481 2820 x 11 F: +1 212 481 2859

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Registry registrar separation
by Philip Sheppard Sept. 1, 2009

Sept. 1, 2009

We have been provided independently with some factual clarifications from two registrars (Network Solutions and eNom). Accordingly I have made some changes to the first part of our paper. This does not affect the paper's conclusions. The changes are shown in highlight yellow. The revised paper will be substituted on the web site. Philip Sheppard AIM - European Brands Association 9 avenue des Gaulois 1040 Brussels +32 2 7360305 <http://www.aim.be/> www.aim.be

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