[ga-icann] the full text of the proposed IC Charter

[Joop Teernstra <terastra@terabytz.co.nz>]

Proposed
INDIVIDUALS' CONSTITUENCY CHARTER

(Individual Registrants)

1. Purpose and mission.

To effect and ensure the recognition, representation, and input of
Individual Registrants of Domain Names as bona fide stake holders in the 
Domain Name System (DNS), through an established and direct voice in all 
ICANN policy formulation bodies and functions.


2. Proposed names:

The Individual Registrants' Constituency or the Individuals' Constituency 
(IRC or IC ), (subject to members' vote).

3. Constituency principles:

Transparency and accountability to the members.
One individual, one vote.

Constituency Membership criteria

4.1. IC constituency membership is open to any person who is an individual 
domain name holder
4.2 An Individual Domain Name Holder is any person who can demonstrate a 
level of control over a specified domain name that a reasonable person 
would conclude grants the individual person the exclusive legal right to 
exploit the specified domain name worldwide subject to applicable laws.

Examples of items that may be submitted in support of an application 
include but are not limited to
(i) evidence of applicants name on domain contact information
(ii) evidence of applicant's funds used to pay registration fees, if any
(iii) evidence that the applicant may cause the domain name to be relinquished
(iv) evidence that the applicant is the beneficial holder of any domain 
name that is registered or operated by a third party
(v) Where the applicant does not hold direct control over the domain name, 
written evidence must be provided that the controlling party is acting on 
instructions of the beneficial holder and that such instructions may be 
withdrawn at the applicant's sole discretion.

4.3 An individual shall not be entitled to more than one membership of the IC.
4.4 Where there are more than joint holders of a single domain, that domain 
would not meet criteria for membership.
4.5 No single domain name may be used to support membership of more than 
one individual.
4.6 The domain name used to meet criteria for membership shall not be a top 
level domain name or a reserved second level Domain name in registries 
where this level is not open for individual registration.
4.7. Membership is subject to approval by an elected Membership Committee, 
which, if such is warranted, examines the totality of the facts.

Domain, Web site, Mailing Lists

The Constituency shall have a Domain, a website, a web based Polling 
System, a discussion list ( the List Assembly), and an announce list all 
under control of duly elected officers.

"Bootstrap" Committee

In order to function as a representative mechanism of the Individuals who 
have joined the Constituency as members, the core of the Constituency must 
be an elected Committee on Elections.
(This core Committee is best bootstrapped from outside the Constituency and 
the Names Council is requested to appoint the DNSO Secretariat to organize 
and oversee the election of the first IC Committee on Elections.)


Nominations for office

5.1. Any member can nominate any other member as a candidate for any 
elective, appointive, or nominative office of the IC.

5.2 Nominations can only be made by posting to the open discussion list 
under unique and reserved headers. Nominations for elective office will be 
closed 21 calendar days prior to a scheduled election, unless this period 
is extended by the Committee on Elections.

5.2. The candidate must accept the nomination by posting acceptance
to the open discussion list and for elective office not later than 14 
calendar days prior to a scheduled election.

5.3. Self-nomination is not permitted.

5.4 In order to be placed on the candidate list, all nominations must
also secure a seconding vote from a member, which must be posted on the 
open discussion list and on the web site.


Conflicts of Interest

5.6 All candidates for elective office, in particular those who qualify
for a seat on the Names Council, must declare their relevant interests, for 
determination of possible conflicts of interest. No elected officer shall 
vote on any matter in which he or she has a material and direct interest 
that will be affected by the outcome of the vote.

Voting for Officers and Representatives

6. Election Procedures and Voting Rights

6.1 Responsibility for election scheduling, procedures and polling booth 
administration will rest with a 3 member Committee on Elections, directly 
elected by the Membership. The term of office of the Committee on Elections 
members is 24 months.

Responsibilities of the Committee on Elections.

6.2.1.The Committee on Elections will elect an executive Polling Officer
from their number. The executive Polling Officer is responsible for the 
administration of the Polling Booth but all decision making will be joint. 
All correspondence with the voters will be copied to all members of the 
Committee on Elections.


6.2.2 The Committee on Elections will be responsible for formulating
the questions to be asked .

It will be responsible:

6.2.3 To publish, on the announce-list , the list of positions
open for election, and date and duration of the election.


6.2.4 To collate, validate, and publish on the announce-list ,
the list of candidates, in alphabetical order, not less than 5 calendar 
days prior to the opening of voting.

6.2.5 To assist nominated candidates for election with publishing a 
photograph, bio-sketch or statements of position on the IC web site at a 
reasonable time prior to opening of voting.

6.2.6 To validate, collate, and publish on the announce-list ,
the results of the election.

6.3 In all voting procedures all members will vote as individuals, with
equal voting rights for all individuals.

6.4 Owning more than one domain name will not give rights to multiple
votes per individual member.

6.5 Voting will take place on-line only.

6.5.1 For each vote the Executive Committee, liaising with the
Committee on Elections, decides which voting options will be the most 
appropriate and will direct the Committee on Elections to clarify the 
options to all voters.


7. Elected Representatives.

7.1. In any election, a candidate will be elected by gaining the greatest
number of preference votes from the members.

7.1.1. In the event of a tie between 2 or more candidates, the members will 
re-vote to express their preference among the tied candidates.

7.1.2 A member can hold unbroken elected office not to exceed four
years after which there is a mandatory stand down of at least 1 year before 
eligibility for re-election.

7.1.3 All official votes results will be recorded on the constituency website.


Executive Committee


7.2 An Executive Committee will be elected of seven members. The List-Chair 
(elected as in Article 8 and subsections) will be a de facto member of the 
Executive Committee.

7.2.1 Insofar as possible the nominations to the positions on the
Executive Committee will represent the geographic diversity of the 
membership in accordance with the 6 global regions determined by the ICANN 
bylaws. Either residence, domicile, citizenship or the jurisdiction of 
domain registration may be used to determine fulfilment of ICANN's 
geographic diversity criteria.
In case more than one elected candidate is from the same region, the next 
candidate that fulfils both the voter preference and the geographic 
diversity requirement will be selected for the Executive Committee seat.

7.2.2 For all internal voting procedures the Executive Committee must
form a quorum of 4 elected members for a valid vote to take place.
All votes will be posted to the executive Polling officer.

7.2.3 Members of the Executive Committee will initially hold office for 12
months.
7.2.4.The term of office may be extended to 24 months when at least 1000 
voters have participated in the election of those officers.


7.2.5. The Executive Committee shall annually elect from their number
a Chairperson and a Secretary and/or other such officers as required. The 
List-Chair will not be eligible for an officer position in the Executive 
Committee.

Role of the Executive Committee

7.2.4 The duties of the Executive Committee are:

- ensuring the Articles in this Charter are duly complied with

- maintaining an open discourse with the membership and enabling membership 
participation through the open discussion list , Standing Committees and 
WorkingGroups

- managing the overall policy of IC within the framework set
out in the Articles and subsections of this Charter

- selecting and nominating the candidates for the Names Council seats
as in Article 7.3

- managing the overall policy presented by the Names Council 
representatives within the framework set out in the Articles

- appointing the various spokespersons needed to promote the IRC as in 
Article 7.4

- nominating officers for election to the Membership Committee
as Article 4.8

- liaising with the Membership Committee and the Committee on Elections
within the jurisdiction of each of the Committees as laid out in the 
various Articles of this Charter

- creating permanent Standing Committees and Working Groups when
needed and appointing volunteers from the membership to work on those 
committees as Article 7.2.5

- continuing to increase the visibility of the IC particularly
with reference to outreach to new members

- managing the resources of the IC, human and material, publishing the 
financial details as laid out in the financial Articles and subsections

- ensuring that appropriate lists are created for the working groups
and committees.

Standing Committees and Working Groups

7.2.5. The Executive Committee will create permanent Standing Committees 
and ad hoc Working Groups that will be comprised of at least one Executive 
Committee member and other volunteer members. Membership of these SCs and 
WGs will be open to all members of the Association. Permanent Standing 
committees and Working Groups will generally be responsible for their own 
internal structure, but must elect for themselves a convenor at a minimum 
and any other officers that may be needed. The convenor will be charged 
with reporting back from the standing committee or Working Group.


DNSO Names Council

7.3 Three seats are available for NC positions as noted in Article
2.1

The Executive Committee will supply the membership with at least six
nominations for Names Council candidates.

7.3.1 The highest number of votes qualifies the candidates for Names
Council seats whilst as far as possible the elected candidates for a seat 
on the Names Council will reflect the geographic diversity of the 
membership in accordance with the 6 global regions determined by the ICANN 
bylaws.

7.3.2 In case more than one elected candidate is from the same
region, the next candidate that fulfils both the voter preference and the 
geographic diversity requirement will be selected for the Names Council seat.

7.3.3 Either residence, domicile, citizenship or the jurisdiction
of domain registration may be used to determine fulfilment of ICANN's 
geographic diversity criteria.

7.3.4 Names Council candidates who have been eliminated solely due
to the geographic diversity requirement, may automatically fill a Names 
Council seat in case it becomes vacant.

Spokesperson(s)

7.4. One or more spokesperson(s) will be appointed by the Executive
Committee as and when needed.


The IC List General Assembly

8. The IRC discuss-list shall be a General Assembly. Membership of the list 
shall be by voluntary subscription of voting members. Non-members shall 
have access to the list Archives.

8.1 Members may subscribe and unsubscribe from the discuss-list as they 
please but all elected persons must remain subscribed. Unless cogent 
reasons are presented to the membership, unsubscription will be regarded as 
resignation from the elected position.


Unelected Members who unsubscribe from the discuss list cease to be List 
General Assembly voters, but retain their members' voting rights.


8.1.1 Members of the IC must remain subscribed to the announce-list in 
order that there may be a ready channel for information to be passed to them.
Unsubscription from the announce-list will be regarded as resignation of 
membership from IC.

LIST CHAIR

8.3 The IC discuss-listmembers will elect from among their
number a Chair. The term of office for the list Chair shall be the same as 
for other elected positions within the IC. The List-Chair will be a de 
facto member of the Executive Committee but not subject to, nor influence, 
the Geographic diversity requirements of the other Executive Committee Members.


8.3.1 The Chair shall facilitate the discussion on the list so
that initiatives in the form of motions from listmembers can be processed 
in an orderly fashion for decision by list-resolution.

8.3.2 The listmembers can recall the Chair when 10 or more
listmembers call for a new election within a 7 day period. In such an event 
the Chair must step aside until the vote has taken place. All time-clocks 
on all motions, amendments etc will be stopped at the formal declaration of 
a vote. As the Chair will technically not be available for conducting the 
vote, the Committee on Elections will replace the Chair's role in formally 
calling the vote and setting the voting period.

List Motions

8.4 Members may make motions to the list. For a motion to be
acknowledged by the Chair the motion must receive at least one supporting 
second.

8.4.1 Amendments to a motion may be moved by any member within the List 
Motion time frame above. Amendments must receive at least one supporting 
second to be acknowledged by the Chair. Once an amendment is acknowledged 
by the Chair the clock is stopped on the motion and the original motion 
must pass to a list vote. If the motion fails to pass in the list vote the 
amendment also automatically fails. If the motion passes on the list vote 
the amendment is then also subject to a list vote. If the amendment passes 
the list vote the originating motion will then be modified in terms of the 
amendment.


8.4.2 Members may post an opposition to a motion at any time up to the 5 
day limit of formal acknowledgement noted above. If two or more members 
post a call for a list vote then the clock on the motion is stopped and the 
motion is then subject to a list vote.

List votes

8.5 Votes will be taken on the list itself, when called for as in
Article 8.4.2 above or when an amendment is acknowledged by the Chair. The 
Chair shall then formalise the vote by posting to the list the start-time 
of the vote and if necessary the close-time of the vote, with details of 
the topic under vote.
In the absence of the Chair the Polling officer is responsible
for posting the start and close-time of the vote.

8.5.1 The list membership shall be frozen at the point of a valid call for 
a list vote. The listmembers current at the point of call for a
list vote will be the only ones permitted to be involved on a topic under 
such vote until the conclusion of the whole process up to and including the 
possibility of a membership wide vote on the matter as detailed below.


8.5.2. As soon as the list voters' roll is frozen, the Committee on Elections
will publish the voters' names to the list.

8.6. No list vote will be deemed closed until at least 72 hours
after the list Chair has declared it under way.

8.6.1 A full membership wide vote in the Polling Booth may be
called, on any motion, by five or more members. The call for such a vote 
can take place at any time up to 72 hours after a motion has been declared 
carried by the Chair, either under the consensus rule or by list vote. When 
such a call is made the membership of IRC will be frozen and no new members 
joining the IC will be permitted to vote on the topic. The Committee on 
Elections will then be charged with publishing the vote call on the 
announce-list.

Responsibilities of the IC discuss-list Chair.

8.7.1 The Chair shall ensure that the conduct of discussions is of
a high standard in keeping with published IC list rules and with
exemplary politeness, goodwill, firmness when necessary and common-sense at 
all times.
The Chair can request a member to restrain themselves in the content of 
their postings, if such postings fall outside of the list rules. The Chair 
may refer the postings from a listmember to the full Executive Committee or 
to a vote if the listmember refuses to accept the Chair's rulings on the 
matter.

8.7.1.1 The Chair may call for a list vote for the suspension of a
list member from participation on the list for a period of up to 14 days. 
Such a vote must have a majority in favour of suspension. In the event that 
a member continues to abuse his position on the list such that the Chair 
calls for a second time for a vote for suspension, each following vote for 
removal will extend the period of disbarment with twice the length of the 
previous one.

The rules for freezing listmembership in the event of such votes being
called will be those as under Article 8.5.1 above, with the added proviso that
the listmembers entitled to vote in the first of such votes will be the 
only ones permitted to vote in the second and subsequent ballots.

8.7.2 The Chair ensures that list votes are conducted correctly.
The Chair designates reserved subject lines for each vote. The Chair 
declares the start-time (and when necessary close-time) of the list vote. 
All times will be declared in GMT.

8.7.3 On Motions and Amendments the Chair ensures :

8.7.3.0 that motions and amendments (if any) are managed clearly, with 
correct priority.

8.7.3.1 To track the time-lines on each motion and amendment.

8.7.3.2 To publish to the discuss-list a listing of topics under
formal acknowledgement from the Chair.

8.7.3.3 To post to the discuss-list clear declarations on the
success or failure of all motions and amendments, whether by consensus or 
by list vote.

8.7.3.4 To post the modified text of a motion to the list in the
event of a successful amendment being carried.


THE IC WEB-SITE

9. The IC will maintain a web-site. The Web-site will contain, at a 
minimum, a publicly accessible Home page with links to other areas of the 
site including this Charter, the Polling Booth, a Members' only area where 
links to archived material required in these Articles are kept.

9.1 The Webmaster is either a member of the Committee on Elections or 
co-ordinates closely with them.

9.1.1 The Webmaster will ensure that the site is kept current.

9.1.2 The Webmaster will assist the candidates for elective office to
post their pictures and all relevant details to the correct area of the 
site as required in Article 6.2.5.

9.2 All other material posted to the website must be cleared with the
Executive Committee, or in the event of discuss-list requests, with the 
List-Chair.
Neither the Webmaster or other members of the Committee on Elections shall 
have discretion as to relevant material to be posted to the site.


Finances

10. Funding

10.1 The Constituency, except for a first-year Bootstrap Funding by ICANN, 
will be self- funding in principle.

10.2 The Funding source will be a yearly membership fee of $12 US dollars 
per member.

10.3  In return, all new Constituency members will be issued with a fourth 
level, but fully functional, icann.org domain name.

(rationale:
A. the members receive a tangible benefit in exchange. B. the benefit for
Icann is the outreach effect inherent in the use of such domains. C. the
additional benefit is that this domain [say nnnnnnnnn.alm.icann.org] can
act as the unique identifyer used for voting)

(issuing the members with these domains will have to be channeled through a
registrar who will have to make a small profit on the transaction, and who
gains exposure to tens of thousands of potential customers. This contract
can be tendered out among all accredited registrars)


No Incorporation

11. The IC will be a part of the DNSO of ICANN and will not be incorporated.
Funding generated by way of services provided by commercial entities to 
members, will contribute to the funding of the DNSO. (to be worked out!!!)

Factions and Parties

11.1 .The members are free to form political parties within the IC that may 
be incorporated in any jurisdiction of their choice.
11.2 The bylaws that govern Parties of the Constituency must incorporate at 
the very least the Mission Statement of the Constituency itself and the 
principles of transparency and accountability.

11.3 The Executive Committee is the final arbiter to judge whether 
prospective Parties fulfil the minimum criteria to be accepted as Parties.


CHARTER CHANGES

12. Any member may propose an amendment or addition to this
Charter.

12.1. The proposal for change is to be posted to the open
discussion list to allow for debate on the issue/s.

12.2.Should there be a perceived need for the modification a
minimum of 10 members must request a vote to be held.

12.3. While membership remains below 250 a simple majority of the voting 
members will suffice for a Charter Change. Thereafter a qualified majority 
of 67% of the voting members will be required for ratification of changes.


Adhesion

The undersigned, broadly in agreement with the provisions of this 
Constitution, join the drafters in their PETITION to the Board that 
constituency status will be granted to a Constituency of Individual 
Registrants by the above Name and with approximately the following 
formation rules:


2.2. The Undersigned are requesting the ICANN board to approve membership 
of the DNSO in accordance with the provisions of the ICANN Bylaws and allow 
it to contribute 3 elected representatives from among its members to the 
Names Council of the DNSO.

3. They also request the ICANN Board, to specifically assign to the NC task 
force for the IDNH topic that the following principles be enshrined in the 
Individuals' Constituency as a means of maintaining legitimacy in 
representation: transparency and accountability in all the Constituency's 
activities and representations.

Sign up in support of this document on the website at www.individual-domain.org

--Joop

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