[council] Change to ICANN Bylaws Regarding Number of GNSO Council Representatives

[Marilyn Cade]

I think we can be very pleased with this outcome and the very professional
way that everyone, including the Board and staff, approached achieving this
change. I took note of the comments made by both of the Board members who
are elected by Council in support of the change. Given that both originally
opposed our views, I believe we can be very pleased at their responsiveness
to the input. As I recall, we also owe Vint Cerf a special word of
appreciation. It was first Vint that began to seriously listen to the
expressed concerns of the constituencies and undoubtedly, that did help
initiate the willingness to engage fully to understand the needs and
perspectives of the Council/its constituencies. 

Congratulations to the Council! And thanks to the Board for their support.

Marilyn

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-council at gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council at gnso.icann.org] On
Behalf Of Bruce Tonkin
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 10:06 PM
To: council at gnso.icann.org
Subject: [council] Change to ICANN Bylaws Regarding Number of GNSO Council
Representatives

Hello All,


The ICANN Board adopted the proposed amendments to the Bylaws as posted
(http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-18mar05.htm ) which
support 3 representatives per constituency, and instructed the President
and General Counsel to take such actions as appropriate to implement the
amendments. 

Article X will now read:

ARTICLE X: GENERIC NAMES SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION

Section 3. GNSO COUNCIL

Section 3: GNSO Council 
"Subject to the provisions of the Transition Article of these Bylaws,
the GNSO Council shall consist of THREE representatives selected by each
of the Constituencies described in Section 5 of this Article, and three
persons selected by the ICANN Nominating Committee. No two
representatives selected by a Constituency shall be citizens of the same
country or of countries located in the same Geographic Region. There may
also be two liaisons to the GNSO Council, one appointed by each of the
Governmental Advisory Committee and the At-Large Advisory Committee from
time to time, who shall not be members of or entitled to vote on the
GNSO Council, but otherwise shall be entitled to participate on equal
footing with members of the GNSO Council. The appointing Advisory
Committee shall designate its liaison (or revoke or change the
designation of its liaison) on the GNSO Council by providing written
notice to the Chair of the GNSO Council and to the ICANN Secretary. The
GNSO Council may also have observers as described in paragraph 9 of this
Section. "

See below for the full Board resolution.

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin

From: http://www.icann.org/minutes/resolutions-08apr05.htm

Proposed Change to ICANN Bylaws Regarding Number of GNSO Council
Representatives

Whereas, one of ICANN's Core Values from Bylaws Article I, Section 2 is
"Seeking and supporting broad, informed participation reflecting the
functional, geographic, and cultural diversity of the Internet at all
levels of policy development and decision-making." 

Whereas, the Transition Article (XX) of the Bylaws states that "In the
absence of further action on the topic by the New Board, each of the
GNSO constituencies shall select two representatives to the GNSO
Council...." 

Whereas the Board resolved in Carthage on 31 October 2003 to change the
transition article (Article XX) of the ICANN bylaws to allow each
constituency of the GNSO to continue to be represented on the GNSO
Council by three representatives per constituency until the end of the
ICANN annual meeting in 2004. 

Whereas the GNSO Council requested that the Board extend the arrangement
of three representatives per constituency until the ICANN meeting in Mar
del Plata, Argentina (4 - 8 April 2005) in order for the external review
to be completed following a public comment period. 

Whereas, the Board initiated a review of the GNSO Council in 2004
pursuant to Bylaws Article IV, section 4, including, among other aspects
of the review criteria, an analysis of the efficacy of having three
representatives from each constituency on the GNSO Council. 

Whereas, the report of the independent consultant that performed the
GNSO Council Review recommended that "The Council is working well with
three representatives from each constituency. No one who is involved
with the Council perceives that having three representatives hinders the
workings of the Council." 

Whereas the GNSO Council's self-review also supported the continuance of
three representatives from each constituency. 

Whereas public comments received on the independent review (22 December
2004 - 24 January 2005) and on the proposed Bylaws amendment (18 March
2005 - 8 April 2005) indicated no significant opposition, and
considerable support, for the proposal to maintain three representatives
per constituency. 

Resolved (05.___) the Board adopts the proposed amendments to the Bylaws
as posted, and instructs the President and General Counsel to take such
actions as appropriate to implement the amendments.