Danny, it is no secret that although the ALAC and At-large have been more productive and effective during the last year than before, we still have a way to go. One of our largest problems is reacting quickly enough when official statements need to be made to enable a full level of consultation and buy-in. This is no secret and I and others are working towards doing a much better job. At least part of this is being able to make decisions and initiate work between ALAC meetings. In this particular case, the comment period started on Sept 8th. Perhaps we should have swung into action immediately, but we didn't. By the time of the ALAC meeting on Sept 22, two weeks had passed. The meeting decided to have the ExCom draft a statement, based on a summary of previous statements to be drawn up by staff. Perhaps this could have been done in a matter of days and submitted to the ALAC and At-large for comments. But due to real-world pressures it didn't. I guess it is a matter of opinion whether it was better to submit a statement (which generally follows previous At-Large statements and as you say you don't have any real problem with) or to be silent during the comment period. We are slowly learning how to decide that certain issues do not warrant an ALAC statement and that is progress. I have also suggested that going forward, we have an ALAC officer explicitly responsible for overseeing this process, including, where possible, looking at things BEFORE they reach the official comment period. This has been well received by a number of ALAC members and I have now forwarded it to the At-Large list. Hopefully we will continue to improve. I must note, however, that your reference to other groups' processes is not quite equivalent. Yes, the GAC and the SSAC have very well-defined processes and presumably they follow them to the letter. But I also note that they very rarely submit comments to the ICANN comment process. Perhaps in the case of the SSAC, most comment subject areas are outside of their purview, but in the case of the GAC, that is a harder case to make. Similarly, the GNSO at times has opinions but are rarely in a position to submit comments in the time allotted. GNSO constituencies, being smaller and more cohesive, do manage to respond in many cases. If ALAC and At-Large responded as infrequently as these other ICANN bodies, I for one would not be very happy. But the task is not easy, particularly with the (as I have said before) rather cumbersome hierarchical At-Large community that we have to deal with. Alan At 10/10/2009 09:50 PM, Danny Younger wrote:
Hi Cheryl,
I'm sure that you understand that one of the primary points brought forth in the Document Publication Operational Policy was the need to provide ample time for document evaluation (at least fifteen days for public review and download). It's a good policy.
This leads one to ask: "How much time elapsed between the moment this Statement/document was prepared and the time that it was submitted?" Likely that timeframe was measured in minutes rather than in days or weeks.
Did ALAC members or anyone else have the opportunity to comment on this Statement before it was submitted? It sure doesn't look like it.
There is a value in having a set process in place by which Statements are prepared, discussed, reviewed, ratified and submitted. The GAC certainly has a well-defined process, as does the SSAC.
All that I asked for was an explanation of the process by which the ALAC generates Statements on behalf of the at-large community...
please feel free to outline that process step by step that we might better understand things like:
1. at what point is a proposed Statement brought to the attention of the RALOs for discussion and input
2. how much time is allowed for discussion of a proposed Statement before a vote occurs
3. are votes required to affirm a Statement
4. will Statements continue to be submitted to ICANN before they are ratified by a vote
in short, do you have any rules of procedure to govern the formulation and ratification of ALAC Statements, or are you just making it up as you go?
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