[council] Regarding working group membership

[Gomes, Chuck]

Bruce,

I think most of what you propose looks pretty good.  But I am not so
sure about requiring non-constituency members to be experts is the best
way to go.  I am generally not opposed to allowing observers who are not
affilitated with a constituency or an expert to participate in working
groups or task forces as you suggested in a later email message on this
subject.

Chuck Gomes
 
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-council at gnso.icann.org 
> [mailto:owner-council at gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Bruce Tonkin
> Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 10:57 PM
> To: Council GNSO
> Subject: [council] Regarding working group membership
> 
> Hello All,
> 
> Following the GNSO Public Forum in Sao Paulo I have heard of 
> instances where interested parties that wish to join the IDN 
> working group have been unable to join a constituency in 
> order to participate.
> 
> The ICANN bylaws do provide the ability for a group of 
> interested stakeholders to form a new constituency:
> 
> "4. Any group of individuals or entities may petition the 
> Board for recognition as a new or separate Constituency. Any 
> such petition shall contain a detailed explanation of:
> 
> a. Why the addition of such a Constituency will improve the 
> ability of the GNSO to carry out its policy-development 
> responsibilities; and 
> 
> b. Why the proposed new Constituency would adequately 
> represent, on a global basis, the stakeholders it seeks to represent.
> 
> Any petition for the recognition of a new Constituency shall 
> be posted for public comment. 
> 
> 5. The Board may create new Constituencies in response to 
> such a petition, or on its own motion, if it determines that 
> such action would serve the purposes of ICANN. In the event 
> the Board is considering acting on its own motion it shall 
> post a detailed explanation of why such action is necessary 
> or desirable, set a reasonable time for public comment, and 
> not make a final decision on whether to create such new 
> Constituency until after reviewing all comments received. 
> Whenever the Board posts a petition or recommendation for a 
> new Constituency for public comment, it shall notify the GNSO 
> Council and shall consider any response to that notification 
> prior to taking action."
> 
> I am not aware of a group that has chosen to try to form a 
> new constituency.
> 
> To get the best policy outcomes however I feel with should be 
> as inclusive as possible, whilst ensuring that members of 
> working groups are contributing in a positive way.
> 
> It seems to me that we need a process to handle requests for
> participation:
> 
> (1) Determine if the participant would be eligible to join a 
> GNSO constituency.  If they are eligible - require them first 
> to join and then allow participation.
> 
> (2) If a participant is ineligible to join a constituency, 
> then direct the participant to a process to determine if they 
> are suitable as an "expert".  The applicant would need to 
> provide a detailed statement of
> (i) qualifications and relevant experience; and (ii) 
> potential conflicts
> of interest.   The ICANN staff would need to verify the statement of
> qualifications and experience, and perhaps we have a process where the
> experts are appointed by majority vote of the GNSO Council.   The
> experts would be non-voting members of the working group.
> 
> I would be interested in hearing from other Council members 
> on an appropriate process that could apply to all working groups.
> 
> Regards,
> Bruce Tonkin
> 
>