Hello All, With respect to the GNSO IDN working group, questions are starting to arise about how the chair should be selected, membership, and rules of procedures. The ICANN Bylaws have various rules relating to formal GNSO task forces. See: http://www.icann.org/general/bylaws.htm#AnnexA We are currently operating under the old NamesCouncil rules and procedures for matters not otherwise covered in the bylaws. From: http://www.gnso.icann.org/council/names-proceduresv7.shtml There is a section on Working Groups. Generally anyone member of the GNSO can join a working group. There is a concept of a Supervisory Chair and a Working Group chair. The Working Group chair is elected from within the Working group. I assume the Supervisory Chair might be appointed by the Council. I guess I have been acting as the default Supervisory Chair as Chair of the Council, until the Council chooses otherwise. Given the recent review of the GNSO - it is probably worth revisiting the old rules and procedures, as there are probably useful concepts here that did not find their way into the bylaws. See below. Comments welcome. Regards, Bruce Tonkin 10. Procedures for working groups 10.1 Definition of working group A working group is a group established by the Names Council (NC) of the Domain Name Supporting Organisation (DNSO) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) at its own initiative or by way of considering a petition from the General Assembly, and charged with a specific task. 10.2 Objective The objective of a Working Group is to: 1. formulate positions on policies, 2. facilitate the development of consensus support for policies 3. produce a report to the NC highlighting these positions and level of support. 10.3 Membership Working Groups are open to all DNSO participants defined as follows: - members of the Names Council - the Names Council secretariat - members of the ICANN Board - the ICANN officers and staff - the GA Chair and Co-Chair - members of the General Assembly (GA) defined as subscribers to the ga@dnso.org, announce@dnso.org or the GA voting register. Persons new to the ICANN process who wish to participate in a working group will be asked to join the ga-announce list to qualify for membership. Working Group membership is open throughout the life of the Working Group. 10.4 Criteria Before establishing a working group the Names Council will consider the following criteria: a) whether the issue is relevant to the mission of the DNSO b) the need for a consensus policy c) whether the issue overlaps with that of an existing Working Group d) whether there is sufficient interest within the DNSO in the issue and enough people willing to expend the effort to produce the desired result e) whether there is enough expertise within the DNSO on the issue. 10.5 Terms of reference The Names Council will nominate an individual or establish a small interim committee to draft terms of reference (a charter) which will at minimum specify: - a narrow and achievable objective - a timeframe for achieving the objective - a set of interim objectives by which to measure progress - a member of the Names Council who will act as a Supervisory Chair - a short descriptive name for the Working Group The draft terms will be posted to the NC list and the DNSO ga-announce mailing list as a public notice that the formation of the Working Group is being considered. After a review period lasting at least a week the NC, after reviewing comments, will approve the original or modified terms. Following this the DNSO secretariat will establish: - a mailing list or such other electronic forum - a procedure for subscribing and un-subscribing to the Working Group - a dedicated web page on the DNSO web site (www.dnso.org) - an accessible mailing list archive 10.6 Supervisory Chair and WG Chair The Supervisory Chair has five key functions: 1. to be responsible for the initial establishment of the WG 2.to act as returning officer for holding elections for a WG chair. These elections should take place early but not too early once WG participants have got to know one another. Specifically, a vote to choose such a person from early group participants whose chairing abilities may be unknown should be avoided. The Supervisory Chair may themselves stand for election in which case another NC member will supervise the election 3. to take on all the responsibilities of the Chair especially including the start of substantive discussion, until the election is complete 4. to provide frequent liaison with the Names Council 5. to ensure the WG Chair is fulfilling his/her responsibilities The WG Chair's key functions are: 1. to be responsible for fulfilling the terms of reference in the time specified, 2. to be responsible for working group discipline, focus and achievements, 3. to prepare and chair face-to-face and on-line sessions, 4. to ensure that the Working Group operates in an open and fair manner, 5. to ensure that discussions are relevant (the Chair should propose a set of topics for e-mail subject headers), 6. to intervene to stop off-topic communication, 7. to summarise outcomes of each issue, 8. to achieve interim and final objectives in conformance with the terms of reference. And for face to face meetings the WG Chair is required: 9. to ensure an attendance list is made, 10. to publish a short report on the session within 10 days. The WG Chair and the Supervisory Chair report to the Names Council. 10.7 Removal of the Supervisory Chair or Working Group Chair In the event that the WG Chair: acts contrary to these rules and procedures or beyond the scope set forth in the Working Group's terms of reference, or fails to achieve interim results then the Supervisory Chair after consultation with the Names Council, upon the reasonable request of one or more Working Group members, shall have the authority to remove and hold elections for another WG Chair. In the event that the Supervisory Chair: acts contrary to these rules and procedures or beyond the scope set forth in the Working Group's terms of reference, or fails to fulfil the responsibilities of a Supervisory Chair, as set forth above, then the Names Council shall have the authority to remove and appoint another Supervisory Chair.