| ICANN DNSO ISP
and Connectivity Provider Constituency Charter
Draft
0. Background
This document is intended to
set out a framework for the structure and procedural
rules of the Internet Service Provider and
Connectivity Provider Constituency (ISP Constituency)
of the Domain Name Supporting Organization and is
proposed to serve as the foundation for discussion
among interested ISPs and ISP organisations. The
drafters of this document recognize the need to reach
out to other such entities and persons who share
these interests to participate in the further
refinement of this document.
This document is being made
publicly available for comments by ISPs and ISP
organisations.
Comments on
this draft should be sent to:
Manuel Hurtado -
mhurtado@offcampus.es
It is our intention:
1) to reach out to any
other interested individual ISPs and ISP
organizations around the world and encourage them
to participate in the process of ISP Constituency
formation.
2) to initiate the
consultative process itself for the inclusive,
international discussion required to formulate
the ISP Constituency proposal to be submitted to
the ICANN Board for approval at its next meeting
in Santiago on August 25th, 1999.
The time schedule to be
followed for the formation of the ISP constituency
is:
- 24 May: release of
draft for general comment by June 7th
through all possible channels, including
posting on ICANN and DNSO site.
- 7 June: release of
the Charter for final approval by 9 June
with (1) sign-up form for founding
members, (2) volunteer possibility for
interim secretariat and (3) opportunity
for nomination of interim council
members, to be completed by 13 June.
- 14 June: founding
member list available, to be circulated
together with a reply form listing
organizations that have indicated they
are willing to serve as interim
secretariat. Each founding member can
express one choice for the interim
secretariat by 17 June.
- 18 June: interim
secretariat named and (1) opens election
of nominated candidate interim names
council members, to be closed 20 June;
(2) calls for nominations by 7 July for
permanent secretariat among founding
organizations.
- 21 June:
publication of names for interim names
council members
- 23 August: Santiago
ISP Constituency meeting.
- 25 August:
Accreditation of ISP Constituency by
ICANN board.
I. Mission Statement
and Purpose
1. The ISP
Constituency will form an integral part of the
Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO)
according to Article VI-b, Section 3 of the ICANN
Bylaws.
2. The purpose of
the ISP Constituency is to represent the views
and interests of those stakeholders who provide
connectivity services to either other ISPs or
final users.
3. The specific
goal of the IPS Constituency is to ensure that
DNSO decisions are at a minimum consistent with
the imperatives of the development of business in
the ISP community. This includes in particular
business's need for continued or enhanced
stability and security of the Internet insofar as
this relates to those aspects of Internet
governance that fall within ICANN's mandate.
II. Organizational
Structure and Elections
A. MEMBERS
1. The following may
become members of the ISP Constituency:
a. Any association
representing or organization comprised of
Internet Service Providers or
connnectivity providers.
b. Any Internet
service provider or connectivity provider
who provides Internet connectivity to
other ISPs or to final users.
2. In case of doubt about a
prospective member complying with the
requirements to be a member, the application will
be reviewed by a Credentials Committee organized
according to clause III of this Charter.
3. An individual
(representative of a member) may not represent
more than one member of the IPS Constituency, nor
represent the same company/organisation in
another constituency.
B. OFFICERS
1. The ISP Constituency
shall have:
a. a secretariat that
will be elected by and among its members for
a period of two years at a time. The
secretariat will assure that all procedures
are followed, that all necessary means to
conduct the business of the constituency are
available and that independent elections take
place in due time for the secretariat as well
as for other officers.
Its functions will
include:
(i) Reviewing
applications for membership in the ISP
Constituency and, where appropriate,
referring these to the Credentials
Committee.
(ii) Carrying out
the administrative functions associated
with the operations of the ISP
Constituency, including the arrangement
of meetings, preparation and publication
of minutes, maintenance of an appropriate
mechanism suitable for facilitating
contact and dissemination of information
among all members of the ISP Constituency
and other secretariat functions required
for the adequate functioning of the ISP
Constituency.
(iii) Facilitating
and, where appropriate, formulating
membership consensus on policy issues for
the purpose of advising the ISP
Constituency representatives on the Names
Council.
(iv) Assessing and
collecting membership fees (see IV).
b. Three Names Council
representatives who will be elected for a
period of two years by the ISP Constituency
in accordance with sub (C) of this article.
Once elected, they will act in the Names
Council solely as representatives of the ISP
Constituency. They will use their best
efforts to represent the interests of the
constituency, and will collaborate with the
other members of the Names Council to produce
the best possible DNSO proposals for ICANN.
(i) In order to
assure geographical diversity, not two
Names Council representatives may belong
to organizations whose major place of
business is in the same region.
Organizations or associations with less
than 50% of their business in, or members
from, one given region (no region has
more than 50% of its members) will not be
considered as part of a given region, but
as members of a separate group also
considered. In the case of multinational
companies, the corporate international
headquarters will be considered as the
major place of business. Considered as
regions are: 1) North America 2) Latin
America, including Mexico, Central
America, the Caribbean and south America
3) Europe 4) Africa 5) Asia 6) Pacific 7)
International Organizations.
(ii) No person may
serve as a ISP Constituency
representative to the Names Council for
more than two successive terms. A term of
service as an Interim representative of
the ISP Constituency to the Names Council
shall not be considered a successive term
for the purposes of this section.
C. ELECTIONS OF NAMES COUNCIL
REPRESENTATIVES
1. The election process
will be initiated by a nomination period of one
week. All members of the ISP Constituency may
nominate one person for the Names Council. This
process (including receiving nominations and
communicating the names of the nominees to all
members of the constituency at the end of the
nomination period) will be initiated and managed
by the secretariat.
2. Immediately following
the nomination period, the secretariat will open
an election period of one full week, during which
it will receive votes from members of the
constituency through e-mail and acknowledge
receipt. Immediately following the election
period, the secretariat will publish a full
overview of votes naming voters as well as the
candidates of their choice. No delegation of vote
will be permitted in the election of either Names
Council representatives or ICANN directors.
3. Names Council
representatives will be elected by the largest
number of votes processed as follows:
a. All nominees from
the same region as the person with the
largest number of votes will be eliminated.
From the resulting list, all nominees from
the same region as the person with the second
number of votes will be eliminated. The three
people at the top of the remaining list will
be elected as representatives of the ISP
Constituency to the Names Council.
b. If the list of
nominees contains only members from two
regions, the two nominees with the largest
number of votes will be considered. If they
are from the same region, the third person
elected will be the one with the largest
number of votes from the other region
present, otherwise the third person elected
will be the one with the third highest number
of votes.
c. If the list of
nominees contains only persons from one
region, the three nominees with the largest
number of votes will be elected.
d. In case of a tie
that affects the results of the election, a
new election will be held among the two
nominees in the tie.
D. ELECTIONS FOR THE SECRETARIAT
1. With the exception of
the election of the first secretariat, which will
be elected by the end of July 1999, Candidates
for election as secretariat will be nominated at
the same time as the candidates for the Names
Council, and also voted at the same time and
according to the same procedure where relevant.
The largest number of votes will elect the
secretariat.
2. The secretariat will be
a member of the Constituency, and not a person.
3. ISP Constituency members
may put themselves forward as candidates to
assume secretariat functions either as individual
entities to assume all secretariat functions as
set out hereinafter, or jointly with other
members with a view to allocating such functions
among them.
E.
ELECTION OF INTERIM NAMES COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES AND
INTERIM SECRETARIAT
1. Three Interim
representatives from the founding organizations
of the ISP Constituency shall be elected to the
Names Council and will serve until such time as a
more formal nomination and voting structure is
established by the elected ISP Constituency; the
Interim representatives of the ISP Constituency
shall be replaced in that manner on or before 31
December 1999 at the discretion of the ISP
Constituency.
2. The Founding members of
the ISP Constituency will agree on an interim
secretariat, which may be a cooperative effort of
volunteer founding members, that will receive
nominations and the votes for the interim Names
Council election. A permanent secretariat must be
duly elected no later than the end of July, 1999.
3. Each founding
organization may nominate one person as an
Interim Names Council representative. Candidates
must be nominated before June, 13th,
1999. The names of the candidates will be
published and the election will take place
between the 18th and the 20th of
June, 1999.
4. Each founding
organization will have three votes (which must be
cast for different candidates). The same regional
regulation that applies to permanent Names
Council members will be applied. Votes will have
to be received by the interim secretary before
24:00 Central European Time June 20th.
In case the secretariat received votes from all
founding members before that time, he may end the
election period and disclose the vote and the
names of the elected nominees.
5. Any organization or
association meeting the criteria of membership in
the ISP Constituency that applies for membership
in the ISP Constituency on or before June 13th,
1999, shall be considered a founding
organization.
III. Procedure for
substantive decision-making. Subsidiary and support
bodies
1. For each policy
work item arising from the need to provide
support to the ISP Constituency representatives
on the Names Council, the secretariat shall call
for volunteers to sit on a research committee
whose mandate shall be tied to the work item in
question. This invitation for volunteers shall be
accompanied by a set of specific criteria to
ensure that members of research committees have a
knowledge of, and experience with, issues
relevant to the work of the DNSO that is
appropriate for the purpose for which the
research committee is created. The secretariat
shall publish the names of volunteers who are
finally appointed, together with their
credentials. The secretariat shall circulate any
recommendations produced by such research
committees among the members of the ISP
Constituency for consultation. This process shall
be repeated until consensus has been achieved,
always within the time frame of DNSO decisions,
which may require a quick decision..
2. The secretariat
shall use their best efforts to give small and
medium-sized enterprises an adequate voice in all
ISP Constituency work processes. These efforts may
include, but not be limited to, the organization
of democratic elections for representatives of
organizations of small and medium sized
businesses (SMEs) to sit on an SME Consultative
Committee whose advice shall be solicited on
substantive policy work items.
3. Within two
weeks from the election of a secretariat, it
shall appoint for a period of two years a
Credentials Committee, consisting of three
members from three different regions of the
world.
4. Delegation of
vote will be permitted in any teleconference
organized by the ISP Constituency to discuss or
decide on any issue. Nevertheless, if 10% of the
members consider that an issue should be voted by
e-mail, then the e-mail vote will invalidate any
decission taken in a teleconferences. No vote
delegation will be permitted in e-mail votes.
IV. Membership Fees and
Funding
1. ISP
Constituency funding requirements shall be
fulfilled through membership fees that are raised
in such a way as to ensure that no unreasonable
barriers are created for membership in the ISP
Constituency for commercial/business entities or
business organizations or any kind or size.
2. In the initial
launch of the DNSO, in order to establish an
operating budget, it shall be possible to accept
one-time only contributions from
business/commercial entities and business
organizations, in lieu of membership fees, and
credited toward such fees.
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