APPLICATION TO BECOME THE DOMAIN NAME SUPPORT ORGANIZATION, (pursuant to Art.  VI, Section 3 (b) of the Bylaws of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (the "Corporation")

Introduction

This application is made by the undersigned to become the Domain Name
Support Organization ("DNSO"), pursuant to Article VI, Section 3 (b)
of the Bylaws of the Corporation.  The undersigned hereby commit to
fulfill the undertakings and policies set forth in this application. 

This application is organized under the headings set forth in Article
VI, Section 3 (b) as follows:

I.  Membership criteria for the DNSO, and for the Names Council to be
created pursuant to Article VI, Section 3 (a) (ii) of the Bylaws of
the Corporation. 

II.  Methods for developing substantive Internet policies and
selecting Board nominees

III.  Open and transparent non-discriminatory processes

IV.  Policies to ensure international and diverse participation

V.  Policies for disclosure to the Corporation by members of or
participants in the DNSO of conflicts of interest or other financial
interests in matters within the scope of the DNSO

VI.  Methods for funding the DNSO and providing funding for the
Corporation. 

Discussion

I.  Membership criteria
 

The Membership

There are two fundamental classes of membership in the DNSO --
supporting members, and general members.  The qualifications for
membership are set forth in Appendix A to this application, entitled
"QUALIFICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE DOMAIN NAME SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION". 

  [Comment: The "general membership" is generally equivalent to the
  previous meaning of "names council"; the "supporting membership" is
  the membership as defined in the previous draft.  The term
  "supporting membership" is intended to be suggestive of the idea
  that these members have heavier dues assessments.]

Members of the DNSO who meet the appropriate qualifications may elect
to become members of a DNSO "Constituency" -- a grouping formally
recognized by the DNSO as representing a common interest.  The
currently defined constituencies are:

A.  Registries 

B.  Registrars 

C.  Network operators and service providers

D.  Business organizations other than operators and service providers

E.  Organizations primarily concerned with the interests of trademark
owners

The current requirements for membership in each of these
constituencies are set forth in Amendment B, entitled "QUALIFICATIONS
FOR MEMBERSHIP IN A CONSTITUENCY".  Membership in a constituency is
independent of membership in another constituency; any extra fees
required for membership in a constituency are independently assessed,
and cumulative. 

It is expected that the constituencies will self-organize, and
provide input on constituency membership requirements to the DNSO and
the Names Council.  The DNSO and NC, however, will have final
responsibility for establishing qualifications for constituency
membership; they will also serve as the arbiter in disputes 
concerning membership in a constituency.
 

The Names Council

The Names Council will act as the Executive or Governing Committee of
the DNSO. 

The Names Council shall consist of 19 individual members, and the
members of the DNSO will select members of Names Council.

In the initial election for the Names Council 7 of these members will
have a term of 1 year, 6 will have a term of 2 years, and the
remaining 6 will have a term of 3 years.  Thereafter the normal term
of office for a NC member will be three years; an election will be
held each year to replace those retiring.  The  details of allocating 
the staggered terms in the initial election are described below.

In all elections a portion of the NC members are elected by the
supporting membership, and are linked to constituencies.  These are
the "Constituency NC members".  The rest of the NC members are elected
by the general membership, and are known as the "At-large NC members". 
The one, two, and three year terms shall be divided proportionally
across the various Constituency and At-large NC members. 

In the event that there are very few members of the DNSO at the
start, special procedures must be used to select an initial
interim membership for the Names Council:

    [Comment: there are many ways to handle this problem; the following 
    is presented as an example]

  While the the number of supporting members of the DNSO does not
  exceed 19, each supporting member shall appoint one representative
  to the Names Council, as they join.  These form the "initial Names
  Council". 

  Within four weeks of adoption of the 20th supporting DNSO member
  elections will be held as described above.  These elected members 
  will replace the "initial Names Council".

Constituency NC members shall be allocated across Constituencies as
follows: 
 

A.  Registries [x] members

B.  Registrars [x] members

C.  Network operators and service providers [x] members

D.  Business organizations other than operators and service providers
[x] members

E.  Organizations primarily concerned with the interests of trademark
owners [x] members

Nominations for NC members representing a particular constituency may
be made by any member of the respective constituency.  Each member of
any constituency may nominate not more than one nominee in such
constituency; however an organization which is a member of more than
one constituency may nominate one nominee in each constituency.

Each supporting member may cast one vote in each of the constituency
categories.  The nominees receiving the highest number of votes in
each category will be elected.

  [Question: What happens if the same popular individual is nominated
  by more than one constituency; and that individual is elected in
  each one?]

During the same election the general membership will nominate
nominees for the At-large NC members.  These nominations must
geographically distributed as described in the ICANN Bylaws. 

  [Comment: this would imply that there should be at least 5 At-large
  NC members.]

Nominations for At-Large members of the NC may be made by any general
member of the DNSO.  Each general member may nominate not more than
one nominee.  Each general member may cast a single vote for the
At-large NC position or positions currently open, and the nominee or
nominees with the most votes will be elected. 

Nominees need not necessarily be connected or affiliated with the
nominating organization or member.  Further, they need not themselves
be members of the DNSO. 

As mentioned above, the term of membership in the Names Council shall
be three years, and one third of the members will be elected each
year, so that the three year terms will be staggered.  The period of
office of the initial members of the Names Council is determined as
follows:

  The seats on the Names Council shall be filled from the list of
  elected candidates from the constituencies and the group of
  At-large members individually and in order.  The order of the
  groups shall be determined by drawing lots.  As soon as each group
  has filled one seat, the process shall be repeated from the start
  of the sequence; groups whose quota of elected nominees is
  exhausted shall not participate further in the allocation of seats. 

  The nominee receiving most votes in a group will be appointed for a
  three-year term of office until the total of seven is reached. 
  Subsequently, the same method will be applied to appoint six more
  members for a two-year period of office, starting with the group
  after the one which supplied the seventh three-year member of the
  Names Council.  The remaining elected nominees serve for a one-year
  term. 
 

II.  Methods for developing substantive Internet policies and
selecting Council nominees

The Names Council (or representatives of members, if there are twenty
or less members of the DNSO) shall consult with members of the DNSO
and shall meet from time to time. 

Decisions on policies and selection of Board nominees shall be made
by [majority] [two-thirds] vote of the [supporting] [general]
[combined] membership.  The DNSO, the Names Council and the
constituencies may establish on-line methods of meeting and
conducting ballots. 

III.  Open and transparent non-discriminatory processes

The processes of the Names Council (or representatives of DNSO
members) shall be governed by the same provisions for open and
transparent non-discriminatory processes as those of the Board of the
Corporation. 

IV.  Policies to ensure international and diverse participation

Because of the composition of the Names Council, there will
automatically be international and diverse participation.  If the
DNSO has less than twenty members, it shall develop a procedure for
ensuring international and diverse participation that meets any
applicable requirements of the Corporation. 

V.  Policies for disclosure to the Corporation by members of or
participants in the DNSO of conflicts of interest or other financial
interests in matters within the scope of the DNSO. 

These policies shall be the same as those for the Board of the
Corporation. 

VI.  Methods for funding the DNSO and providing funding for the
Corporation

The DNSO shall obtain funding from membership dues and from fees paid
by the TLD registries. 

----------------------------

APPENDIX A

QUALIFICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE DOMAIN NAME SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION (pursuant to Art.  VI, Section 2 of the Bylaws of
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (the "Corporation"))

The following are the qualifications for participation by any entity
or organization for membership in the Domain Name Supporting
Organization ("DNSO"), as described in Article VI, Section 2 of the
Bylaws of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (the
"Corporation"):

1.  Any entity or individual person with a legitimate interest in the
Internet is eligible to be a general member of the DNSO. 

2.  Each general member must pay annual dues to the Corporation in an
amount equivalent to US$xx [$50-$100] to cover administrative and
other costs associated with membership, including the cost of
verification of identity. 

3. Any organization meeting the following criteria is eligible to be 
a supporting member of the DNSO:

  [Criteria undefined]

4. Supporting members are assessed dues according to the following 
schedule: 

  [Dues schedule undefined]

----------------------------

APPENDIX B

QUALIFICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE CONSTITUENCIES

[to be established]