On 7/3/07, Robert Guerra <lists@privaterra.info> wrote:

Dear colleagues:

It seems that the board liaison election has been  postponed . .. (sigh)

As many of you know, this past thursday the ALAC meeting agenda item
related to presentation from the candidates mysteriously was removed.
I spotted the change, and managed to re-insert it into the agenda.
With the change, the candidates were able to present themselves and
open themselves up to questions from the committee as well as
individuals representing ALS's who were present at the meeting. A
good exchange resulted

To hear that the election might not take place until - Sept - , well,
is shocking. After hearing from the candidates, I see no reason why
the election needs to be postponed so far into the future.

The only reason i've been given is that the rules of procedure for
the At-large advisory committee (ALAC) have not been yet approved, as
such there is no "real need" to have an election until one month
before the Annual general meeting (AGM). Of course, the rules of
procedure were - conveniently - left to the end of the meeting, and
hence not discussed, and of course not approved.

The document, thus now needs to be reviewed, discussed and approved.
Knowing how painfully slow the ALAC goes through documents, I'd like
to ask for your help to review and fix the document.  Looking at the
document (below and at the URL below) , well - it isn't perfect and
needs major revisions. As i'm for consultation and engagement, i'd
like to ask the NA list to review the document and send me any
comments or better yet specific revisions that I could introduce.

https://st.icann.org/alac/index.cgi?alac_internal_rule_en

I look forward to your comments, and help in getting this important
document revised and approved by ALAC ASAP so that we can have our
board liaison vote.

regards,

Robert
---
Robert Guerra <rguerra@privaterra.ca>
Managing Director, Privaterra
Tel +1 416 893 0377
--

ALAC Internal Rule-EN

ICANN EN ALAC/2007/1/1.Rev3 ORIGINAL: English DATE: 21st May 2007
STATUS: DRAFT

AT-LARGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE INTERNAL RULES OF PROCEDURE

Officers

    1. The officers of the At-Large Advisory Committee ("ALAC") are:

* One Chair and one Vice-Chair;
* One GNSO Liaison
* One ccNSO Liaison
* One Board Liaison.

     Their roles and requirements are set forth in the following
sections of these rules.

    1. It is forbidden for any person to serve at the same time in
two different officer positions.
    2. All officers are normally elected at an Annual General Meeting
of ICANN, except for the Board Liaison, which is normally elected at
the ICANN Meeting preceding the Annual General Meeting. All officers,
including the Board Liaison, serve for a term of one year starting
from the closure of an Annual General Meeting and ending at the
closure of the following Annual General Meeting.
    3. All officers can be removed before the end of their term by a
vote of recall according to section 6 of these rules.
    4. All officers have a duty of performing their roles with
diligence and loyalty to the Committee, and are bound to meet the
minimum participation requirements set forth in section 10 of these
rules. In case of failure to do so, the Chair shall call a vote of
recall according to section 6 of these rules.
    5. All officers have at least the same rights of access to
information, mailing lists and documents as the ordinary ALAC members.
    6. Officers shall be freely chosen by the ALAC, according to the
following criteria:
    7. They shall normally be persons who are current or former
members of the ALAC, or are anyway familiar with the activities and
functioning of ICANN and of the ALAC;
    8. They shall accept to serve on behalf of the ALAC by acting for
the good of the entire Committee, working to bridge differences and
build consensus, but also recognizing difference and enabling
different opinions to be shared;
    9. They shall accept, while acting in their capacity as ALAC
officer, to put the collective views of the Committee always in front
of their own.

The Chair

a. The mission and responsibilities of the Chair of the ALAC are:

     * Chairing the meetings of the Committee;
     * Preparing and proposing the agenda for the meetings;
     * Interacting with ICANN Staff for administrative and
organizational matters;
     * Representing the Committee in written communication, in the
Public Forum and in meetings where there is no specific appointment;
     * Calling for votes on different matters, and ensuring that the
proper instruments are available for the vote;
     * Ensuring that timelines and deadlines for the work of the
Committee are set and met;
     * Verifying the respect of minimum participation requirements,
rules of procedure, Bylaws and other norms applicable to the Committee;
     * Monitoring money expenditures and the budget situation.

b. Only standing members of the At-Large Advisory Committee are
eligible to serve as Chair. If at any point in time the Chair leaves
the membership of the ALAC for any reason, he / she shall immediately
cease the function of Chair as well.
The Vice-Chair

a. The mission and responsibility of the Vice-Chair of the ALAC is to
perform the functions of the Chair, on request of the Chair, if the
Chair is unable to perform them.

b. Only standing members of the At-Large Advisory Committee are
eligible to serve as Vice-Chair. If at any point in time the Vice-
Chair leaves the membership of the ALAC for any reason, he / she
shall immediately cease the function of Vice-Chair as well.

Liaisons

a. The mission and responsibilities of each Liaison of the ALAC are:

     * To participate diligently in the meetings and activities of
the body he/she is liaisoning to;
     * To communicate and advocate the positions of the ALAC to such
body;
     * To report to the ALAC the current and upcoming activities of
the body he/she is liaisoning to, as far as this is possible under
the timing and confidentiality constraints of such body;
     * When this is possible under such constraints, ask to the ALAC
for advance instructions on matters that are going to be discussed by
such body.

b. There is no requirement for a Liaison to be a member of the At-
Large Advisory Committee.
Election of officers

a. No earlier than one calendar month and no later than three weeks
before the beginning of an ICANN Meeting where, according to the
schedule of paragraph 1.c, an ALAC officer has to be elected, the
current Chair of the ALAC will send to the public ALAC list an
"election call" message, listing the officers that are to be elected
at that ICANN Meeting, asking for nominations, and stating the
deadline according to the following paragraph 5.b.

b. The deadline for nominations for all open officer positions shall
be 14 (fourteen) days after the date of the "election call". Only
standing ALAC members and officers can nominate or self-nominate, by
posting a message to the public ALAC list. Anyone who will or has a
chance to meet eligibility requirements after the next ICANN Annual
General Meeting can be nominated; it is not necessary for nominees to
meet eligibility requirements at the moment of the nomination, but,
if elected, they will have to meet them before taking their position.
Nominations of individuals who certainly will not be able to meet the
eligibility requirements after the closure of the next Annual General
Meeting are invalid.

c. Nominations must be accepted by the nominee by sending a message
of acceptance to the public ALAC list (or to the person who nominated
them, who will then forward it to the public ALAC list, if they do
not have posting privileges to the public ALAC list at the time) by
the deadline of 7 (seven) days after the deadline for nominations.
Nominations that are not accepted are invalid.

d. After the deadline for nomination acceptance and before the
beginning of the ICANN Meeting, the Chair will post to the public
ALAC list an "election summary" message. This message will contain a
summary of all valid nominations for any open position. In such
message, the Chair will also notify the day and time in which the
actual vote will happen; such day and time must be comprised between
the beginning and the closure of the ICANN Meeting, except when the
Meeting is also the the Annual General Meeting. In this latter case,
the day and time of the vote must be comprised in the first 48
(fortyeight) hours after the closure of the Annual General Meeting;
thus, the electorate will include the ALAC members whose term starts
at the closure of that Annual General Meeting, and will not include
the former ALAC members whose term ends at the closure of that Annual
General Meeting.

e. Nominations shall then be discussed on the public ALAC list and at
the physical ALAC meetings during the ICANN Meeting.

f. At the day and time of the vote, staff will provide ALAC members
with a mechanism for voting that meets the following requirements:

     * It allows for each ALAC member to cast their vote in a
confidential manner, so that no other Committee member or officer
shall know it;
     * It allows for ALAC members who are not physically present to
cast their vote remotely (also in advance of the day and time of the
vote, if they are unavailable at that moment).

g. Each presently standing member of the ALAC can cast up to one
preference for each open officer position, picking among the list of
validly nominated individuals published at 5.d. Votes for other
individuals are considered equivalent to abstention.

h. At least ten ALAC members must cast a vote (including abstention)
for the election to be valid.

i. After votes have been collected, staff will examine them and call
the result.

j. For any open position, the candidate receiving the highest number
of preferences is elected, provided that he/she received at least
five preferences, and that no other candidates received the same
number of preferences. If the same person is elected in two or more
officer positions, he/she shall immediately pick one, and shall be
removed from the results of the elections for the other positions.
The newly elected officers assume their position at the closure of
the Annual General Meeting.

k. In case two or more candidates receive the same, highest number of
preferences, a tiebreak vote is to be conducted. The Chair will
select a new date and time for a new vote on that position, at least
7 (seven) days later than the current vote; in such vote, only the
candidates that received the same, highest number of preferences will
be eligible to receive preferences. The Chair will then immediately
send a new "election summary" message according to 5.d, and the
procedure will then restart from 5.e.

l. In case no candidate could be elected for any other reason (lack
of valid nominations, lack of five valid preferences...), the Chair
will immediately post a new "election call", thus reopening
nominations. The procedure will then restart from 5.a.

m. Incumbent officers shall continue to serve in their position in
full standing until a valid result is obtained for the election and a
new officer is elected.

n. If for any reason whatsoever (including lack of quorum, lack or
loss of eligibility requirements, resignation, or recall) an officer
position becomes vacant before the end of the term, the Chair will
promptly start an election to fill it, by sending an "election call"
message and starting the procedure from 5.a.

Recall votes a. A recall vote can be initiated by:

     * A request, specifying the officer to be recalled and the
reasons for such proposal, posted to the public ALAC list and
supported by at least five ALAC members;
     * The Chair, upon verification of the lack or loss of
eligibility requirements, or of the officer's failure to meet
participation requirements set forth in 1.e .

b. In case a recall vote is initiated, the Chair will send a message
to the public ALAC list, announcing such vote, and including the date
and time for the vote, selected by the Chair and situated no earlier
than 7 (seven) and no later than 14 (fourteen) days after the date of
the announcement. Between the announcement and the vote, the matter
will be discussed on the public ALAC list, including counter-
arguments by the officer under recall.

c. Staff will set up a voting instrument meeting the requirements set
forth in 5.f. Each ALAC member will be allowed to cast a vote picking
among "in favour", "against" or "abstain".

d. In case at least nine votes are cast in favour of recalling the
officer and at least threefourths of the ALAC members cast a vote
(including abstentions), the recall is successful; in all other
cases, it is not.

e. In case of successful recall, the Chair will promptly post an
"election call" to start the procedure defined in section 5, to elect
a replacement. The recalled officer will continue to serve until a
replacement is elected.

Other ALAC appointments

a. The ALAC may, from time to time:

     * attribute specific tasks or responsibilities to a given
individual;
     * appoint a given individual as ALAC representative in working
groups, task forces, or other committees and bodies different from
those to which Liaisons are appointed;
     * form Committees, attribute specific tasks or responsibilities
to them, and appoint their members.

b. There is no requirement for these appointees to be members of the
ALAC.
c. Such appointments shall normally be done through an informal call
for volunteers, posted by the Chair to the public ALAC list, allowing
at least 7 (seven) days for people to volunteer, and trying to reach
consensus on the appointment. However, in case that consensus cannot
be reached, or in case that this is requested by at least 3 (three)
ALAC members, the Chair will start a formal election procedure as set
forth in section 5.
d. Such appointments can be recalled with the same procedure defined
in section 6.
e. The appointments described in this section expire at the end of
the ICANN Annual General Meeting for the calendar year following the
one in which the appointment is made, unless, before that term, the
Committee recalls them, the appointee resigns, or the need for the
appointment ceases to be.

Motions

a. Any member of the ALAC can present a motion for discussion and
decision by the Committee, on any matter under the purview of the
Committee. Motions need to be seconded by another member of the ALAC.

b. This section applies to the discussion and vote of all motions,
except for matters where more specific rules are defined in other
sections of this document.

c. Whenever a motion is presented, the Chair will allocate
appropriate time for discussion, and the Committee will try to debate
and reach full consensus on the matter approached by the motion. The
Chair will try to facilitate consensus by proposing possible ALAC/
2007/1/1.Rev3 Page 6 of 7 compromises that can accommodate the views
of all Committee members, including minority views.

d. If the Chair deems that consensus has been reached, he/she can
propose to the Committee to approve the consensus by a "no objections
call". To this effect, the Chair will post a "no objections call"
message to the public ALAC list, stating the text of the motion being
proposed � which shall reflect the consensus reached during the
discussion, and thus might be different from the original motion,
according to the Chair's own judgement � and giving 7 (seven)
calendar days for objections. The motion will be approved if no ALAC
member posts a formal objection to the motion to the public ALAC list
in the seven days, or, even before the deadline, if all ALAC members
express formal support for the motion, either in person (if at
physical meetings) or remotely.

e. If no consensus has been reached, or if the "no objections call"
does not result in the approval of a motion, the original motion and
any other counter-motions presented during the discussion shall be
put to votes in the order of presentation. A motion shall be
considered approved if at least five ALAC members cast a non-
abstaining vote, and if the number of votes in favour of the motion
is higher than the number of votes against. The vote will be open for
7 (seven) days, but the Chair may close it before the deadline if all
ALAC members have cast their vote, either in person (if at physical
meetings) or remotely.

Meetings

a. The ALAC shall meet physically at all ICANN meetings, and
virtually by mailing lists and conference calls. Ordinarily, at least
one conference call per month will be held.

b. When meeting physically or telephonically, decisions on a matter
of substance cannot be taken unless absent members are given or have
been given the opportunity to express their opinion or cast their vote.

c. At least 7 (seven) days before each meeting or conference call,
the Chair will post a proposal for the agenda of the meeting. In the
following 4 (four) days, any ALAC member can request the addition of
other items to the agenda of the meeting. A final agenda will then be
published by the Chair.

d. If the duration of the meeting is insufficient to deal with all
agenda items, the remaining ones will be deferred to on-list
discussion or to future meetings.

Minimum participation requirements

a. ALAC members and officers are expected to actively participate in
all aspects of the Committee's work. This includes some qualitative
commitments and quantitative requirements.
b. The qualitative commitments are: � Reading and commenting in the
ALAC online forums;

     * Following the ALS certification process and, if members,
voting in accreditation votes;
     * Participating in ALAC conference calls;
     * Attending physical ALAC meetings (and/or, for liaisons,
meetings of the bodies to which the person is liaisoning) at ICANN
meetings;
     * Serving as a liaison to the public.

c. The quantitative requirements are:

     * If members, casting a vote (including abstention) in at least
3/4 of ALS accreditation votes;
     * Participating in at least 2/3 of the ALAC conference calls in
any 6 month period; � Attending at least one physical ICANN meeting
in any 9 month period.

d. The participation requirements set forth in this section shall be
considered met if and only if the quantitative requirements stated in
10.c are met.

e. For ordinary ALAC members, in case of failure to meet the
requirements, the Chair will privately encourage the member to
resign. If this does not happen by 14 (fourteen) days from that
communication, the Chair will formally notify the entity responsible
for appointing the member, with a message copied to the public ALAC
list, and ask that the appointment is immediately reconsidered.
11.Amendments to these rules a. Proposals for amendment of these
rules can be made by any member or officer of the ALAC. Such
proposals will be voted by the ALAC, and will be approved only if at
least nine votes are cast in favour of adopting the amendment and at
least three-fourths of the ALAC members cast a vote (including
abstentions).

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Draft MoU with ICANN:
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Draft Operating Principles:
http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_OP

Draft Code of Conduct:
http://www.icannwiki.org/NARALO_Code_of_Conduct