ICANN's Board approved the following resolution at its 28 August meeting by a vote of 13-0: Whereas, on 26 June 2008, the ICANN Board endorsed the set of "GNSO Improvements" submitted by the Board Governance Committee's GNSO Review Working Group (BGC-WG), with the exception of the BGC-WG's recommendation on GNSO Council restructuring. Whereas, in postponing its decision on Council structure, the Board asked the GNSO to convene a small working group to "Submit a consensus recommendation on Council restructuring by no later than 25 July 2008 for consideration by the ICANN Board ..." (see ICANN Board Resolution 2008.06.26.13). Whereas, that Working Group on GNSO Council Restructuring (WG-GCR) submitted a report to the Board in late July detailing areas of consensus that it achieved during its month-long deliberations. Whereas, the Board discussed the WG-GCR report at its 31 July meeting and directed the ICANN Staff to thoroughly review the report and share its recommendations with the Board prior to the 28 August Board meeting. Whereas, the Board will endeavor to work through the remaining issues during the next Board meeting. Resolved, on balance, the WG-GCR report addresses many challenges facing the community in a way that is consistent with the overarching goals of the GNSO Improvements package and the BGC GNSO Review WG that developed it. Resolved, the Board endorses the direction of the WG-GCR report and supports the bicameral voting structure of the new Council. The Board supports the establishment of one house (described as the "contracted party house" in the report) and directs that this house initially will have 3 representatives from each stakeholder group -- Registrars and Registries -- plus 1 voting NCA (Nominating Committee appointee). The second house (described in the report as the "non-contracted party" house) will be composed of 6 representatives from each stakeholder group -- Commercial and Non-commercial -- plus 1 voting NCA. Resolved, as noted, the Board accepts the WG-GCR proposal to seat one voting NCA representative in each of the two houses. The Board also directs that a third "independent" NCA representative continue to serve on the Council. Resolved, the Board directs the GNSO Council to work with ICANN Staff on an implementation plan for Board approval that creates a transition to this new structure by the beginning of calendar year 2009. The Board requests that existing constituencies confirm their status with the Board during the intervening time period, and requires constituencies to formally confirm their status every 3 years to ensure that they continue to meet the requirements of Article X, Section 5, subsection 3 of the ICANN Bylaws. This will be an opportunity for existing constituencies to demonstrate compliance with the principles of representativeness, openness, transparency and fairness set forth in the ICANN Bylaws. The Board also encourages new constituencies to submit requests for certification, especially during this transition period. Resolved, the Board appreciates the significant amount of work performed by the WG-GCR and extends its sincere appreciation to working group members Avri Doria, Chuck Gomes, Alan Greenberg, Tony Holmes, Bertrand de La Chapelle, Steve Metalitz, Milton Mueller, Jonathon Nevett, and Philip Sheppard for their efforts on this matter. -------------- The resolution has been posted as part of the preliminary report of last week's Board meeting at <http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/>. I will discuss the Board's action at tomorrow's Council meeting. Regards, Denise -- Denise Michel ICANN VP, Policy denise.michel@icann.org