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<div>Jordan — while applying a stress test, we discovered a community empowerment measure that was in the Inventory, but wasn’t yet reflected in your Community Empowerment document. </div>
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<div>This item could go into the table of Community Powers for Consideration:</div>
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<div>Amend ICANN bylaws (Section XI 1j) to give due deference only to GAC consensus advice, and add a definition of “consensus”, such as “consensus is understood to mean the practice of adopting decisions by general agreement in the absence of any formal objection.”
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<div>This item was prompted by stress test #18 in Category IV, regarding GAC Advice:</div>
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<div>18. Governments in ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee (GAC) amend their operating procedures to change from consensus decisions to majority voting for advice to ICANN’s board. </div>
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<div>Consequence: Under current bylaws, ICANN must consider and respond to GAC advice, even if that advice were not supported by consensus. A majority of governments could thereby approve GAC advice that restricted free online expression, for example.</div>
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<div>Existing Accountability Measures:</div>
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<div>Current ICANN Bylaws (Section XI) give due deference to GAC advice, including a requirement to try and find “a mutually acceptable solution.”</div>
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<div>This is required for any GAC advice, not just for GAC consensus advice.</div>
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<div>Today, GAC adopts formal advice according to its Operating Principle 47: “consensus is understood to mean the practice of adopting decisions by general agreement in the absence of any formal objection.” But the GAC may at any time change its procedures
to use majority voting instead of consensus.</div>
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<div>CCWG Proposed Accountability Measures:</div>
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<div>One proposed measure is to give the community standing to veto a board decision. If ICANN board acquiesced to GAC advice that was not supported by GAC consensus, the community veto could enable reversal of that decision.</div>
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<div>Another proposed measure is to amend ICANN bylaws (Section XI 1j) to give due deference only to GAC consensus advice, and add a definition of “consensus”.</div>
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<div>The GAC could change its Operating Principle 47 to use majority voting for formal GAC advice, but ICANN bylaws would require due deference only to advice that had GAC consensus. </div>
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Best,</div>
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Steve</div>
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<div>—</div>
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<div>Steve DelBianco</div>
<div>Executive Director</div>
<div>NetChoice</div>
<div><a href="http://www.netchoice.org/">http://www.NetChoice.org</a> and <a href="http://blog.netchoice.org/">http://blog.netchoice.org</a></div>
<div>+1.703.615.6206</div>
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