Dear Colleagues I said in my mail last week that I would provide updated information about the GNSO Review as soon as I could. Later today a press release will be issued and a posting to the ICANN website will announce that the London School of Economics' Public Policy Group has been chosen by the ICANN Board to conduct the Review. The relevant Board resolutions are found below -- this is a copy of my email which I sent early last week. That email also set out other things like public comments periods and background documentation. The Review team, lead by Professor Patrick Dunleavy, have begun their work and will be in touch with Constituency Chairs seeking the assistance of constituency members in responding to the Review. I would urge Council members to look at the Terms of Reference again and familiarise themselves with the work that needs to be conducted. A key element of the Review will be an online survey which will be launched later this week. In addition, face to face interviews and sessions will be conducted by the Review team at the Wellington meetings. If I can answer any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. If you wish to get in touch with the Review team directly, you can email Simon Bastow (s.j.bastow@lse.ac.uk) or Jane Tinkler (j.tinkler@lse.ac.uk) Kind regards. Liz I have copied here my mail from last week which set out the background to the Review. ... For the benefit of Council members who have not been involved in the establishment of the Review, I've provided some easy to navigate background. I hope this also helps other Council members with their preparation for the Review. 1. The July 2005 Luxembourg Resolution initiated the Review and started a process of discussion between the Board, Council, and Staff on the establishment of the Terms of Reference. (http://www.icann.org/ minutes/resolutions-15jul05.htm#p4) 2. The December 2005 Vancouver Resolution approved the Terms of Reference which had been developed in consultation with individual members of the Board, Council and Staff (http://www.icann.org/minutes/ resolutions-04dec05.htm.) A 21 day public comment period about the draft Terms of Reference was conducted between 27 October 2005 and 17 November 2005. The archive of comments is at http://forum.icannorg/ lists/gnso-review-tor/ 3. The 14 December 2005 ICANN website posting sought requests for proposals from independent evaluators (http://www.icann.org/ announcements/announcement-14dec05.htm). 4. The 21 Feb 2006 Board Resolution approved the appointment of an independent team of evaluators but is not available online as yet. 5. Background documents on the GNSO Review can be found at http:// www.icann.org/gnso/review-tor-background-04nov05.htm. These include the recommendations from the GNSO Council Review, the relevant ICANN By laws and other helpful information. 6. The Terms of Reference can be found at http://www.icann.org/gnso/ review-reference-terms-27oct05.htm. 7. Article IV Section 4 of ICANN's Bylaws (http://www.icann.org/ general/archive-bylaws/bylaws-08apr05.htm#IV) gives guidance about the conduct of the review and I've copied it here for easy reference. I have added some emphasis which may provide clarification about the process. 1. The Board shall cause a periodic review, if feasible no less frequently than every three years, of the performance and operation of each Supporting Organization, each Supporting Organization Council, each Advisory Committee (other than the Governmental Advisory Committee), and the Nominating Committee by an entity or entities independent of the organization under review. The goal of the review, to be undertaken pursuant to such criteria and standards as the Board shall direct, shall be to determine (i) whether that organization has a continuing purpose in the ICANN structure, and (ii) if so, whether any change in structure or operations is desirable to improve its effectiveness. The results of such reviews shall be posted on the Website for public review and comment, and shall be considered by the Board no later than the second scheduled meeting of the Board after such results have been posted for 30 days. The consideration by the Board includes the ability to revise the structure or operation of the parts of ICANN being reviewed by a two- thirds vote of all members of the Board. Finally, ICANN Bylaws Article X, Section 5 which deals with the GNSO's operating procedures. ..................................................... Liz Williams Senior Policy Counselor ICANN - Brussels +32 2 234 7874 tel +32 2 234 7848 fax +32 497 07 4243 mob