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Preliminary Report
Meeting of the ICANN Board in
Cairo
10 March 2000
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At its meeting
on March 10, in Cairo, the ICANN Board of Directors approved
the following resolutions on At Large Membership and elections,
ccTLD policies, new top-level domains, and other matters. For
the multimedia archive of the Cairo meetings (RealVideo, informal
scribe's notes, remote comments, etc.), click
here.
ccTLD Administration
and Delegation Policies
Whereas, the Board directed the President
and staff to prepare "appropriate contractual relationships"
with ccTLD registries in connection with the funding arrangements
presented in the final report of the Task Force on Funding, in
resolution 99.136;
Whereas, the Board has received a number
of serious and carefully crafted recommendations
relating to ccTLD administration and delegation policies, best
practices, and contractual elements, including recommendations
from the Governmental Advisory Committee, ccTLD managers, and
others;
Whereas, the elements of these recommendations
provide a sound basis for constructive dialogue and the finalization
of stable and appropriate relationships;
Resolved that the President and staff are
authorized to work with the ccTLD managers, Governmental Advisory
Committee, and other interested parties to prepare draft language
for contracts, policy statements, and/or communications, including
appropriate funding arrangements, to be presented to the Board
and posted for public comment as soon as practicable.
New Top-Level
Domains
Whereas, on April 30, 1999, the World Intellectual
Property Organization submitted a report
to the ICANN Board containing recommendations regarding the
protection of globally famous trademarks and the introduction
of new generic top-level domains;
Whereas, in resolution
99.48, the Board referred those recommendations to the Domain
Name Supporting Organization (DNSO) for its recommendations on
these topics, to be submitted to the ICANN Board at the earliest
practicable time after the Board's August 1999 meeting in Santiago,
Chile;
Whereas, the Names Council of the DNSO
created
working groups B and C to study and report on these topics
in July 1999;
Whereas, those working groups have discussed
these topics for over eight months;
Whereas, on March 8, 2000, the Names Council
requested that reports from these working groups be submitted
to it for comment within ten days and declared its intention
to submit the reports for public comment for a period of four
weeks, after which the Names Council will promptly review and
make recommendations on the reports;
Resolved that the Names Council is requested
to submit recommendations on the topic of the introduction of
new generic top-level domains, taking into account protection
of globally famous trademarks, no later than April 20, 2000;
Resolved that the staff is authorized and
instructed to prepare, taking into account any working group
reports and Names Council recommendations received and based
on consultation with the Names Council, draft policies, draft
implementation documents, commentary, and statements of issues
on these topics, to be posted for public comment on the ICANN
web site in advance of the Board's meeting in Yokohama on July
15-16, 2000; and
Resolved that the Board notes its intention
to act on these topics at the Yokohama meeting.
Request
to WIPO for Information
Whereas, the World Intellectual Property
Organization in its April
30, 1999 report to ICANN has offered to prepare a list of
globally famous trademarks;
Resolved that the Board notes such a list
would be helpful to its assessment of proper action on expansion
of the TLD space.
At Large
Membership
Whereas:
1. The Board adopted resolutions
99.87, 88, 89,
90, and 91
on August 26,1999 directing the staff to prepare amended Bylaws,
and resolution 99.116
on October 29,1999, adopting amended
Bylaws, that established, in Article
II, an At Large membership and procedures for the selection
of At Large Directors; and
2. The Board has received a significant
amount of input from the Internet community relating to both
the practical and conceptual bases underlying new Article II
as adopted; and
3. The Board has observed that there remains,
despite considerable efforts by the Board, ICANN staff, and other
entities and individuals, and the limited technical mission of
ICANN, a considerable diversity of views concerning the purpose
of and rationale for the At Large membership and Council, and
the advisability of the various electoral structures and procedures
now set forth in Article II; and
4. The Board has observed that these widely
divergent views have the effect of creating fundamentally different
perspectives about the expected or desired results of the continuation
of the At Large processes now underway; and
5. As a result, the Board has concluded
that the concept and execution of the At Large membership requires
careful and thorough reconsideration.
Whereas:
1. The Board believes that, notwithstanding
this conclusion, it is important that the various stakeholders
that do not or cannot easily participate in the ICANN process
through the Supporting Organizations have a voice in the development
of ICANN policy; and
2. The Board believes that such opportunity
should not await the results of that reconsideration;
3. The Board believes that any solution
to this problem pending the outcome of that reconsideration should
ensure that, as is the case with the Directors selected by any
single Supporting Organization, the At Large Directors should
not be able to by themselves acting in the aggregate control
the actions of the Board; and
4. The Board believes that it can accomplish
all these objectives with the following set of actions.
Therefore it is resolved that the staff
is directed to draft and present to the Board for its review
and subsequent posting for public comment prior to adoption proposed
amendments to Article II of the Bylaws and other resolutions
that accomplish the following objectives:
1. Establish a deadline for the initial
selection of five (5) At Large Directors (one each representing
each ICANN region) by a direct ballot of qualified ICANN members
in each region by no later than November 1, 2000 to serve a term
to expire at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting of the Corporation
in 2002;
2. Extend the terms of four (4) of the
Initial At Large Directors, identities to be determined on the
basis of willingness, geographic, and other factors, to expire
at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting of the Corporation in
2001, and extend the terms of the other five (5) Initial At Large
Directors to expire at the conclusion of the annual meeting in
2000;
3. Establish a Nominating Committee consisting
of members appointed by the Board to accept recommendations and
nominations from the Internet community as a whole, and to nominate
five or more candidates for consideration by the At Large membership
for selection to the ICANN Board;
4. Establish a petition process for additional
nominations from the At Large membership that meet certain minimum
qualifying criteria; and
5. Initiate a comprehensive study of the
concept, structure, and processes relating to the At Large membership,
on the following schedule:
a. The study to begin promptly following
the selection of the five At Large Directors (to take place no
later than 11/1/00), with such initial design as is feasible
to be done prior to that time;
b. Results of the study to be presented
to the Board no later than the second ICANN quarterly meeting
in 2001;
c. The ICANN Board to consider the results
of the study, and propose for public comment whatever actions
it deems appropriate as a result on a schedule that would permit
taking final actions no later than the Annual Meeting of the
Corporation in 2001; and
d. Implementation of any actions taken
so that any subsequent At Large selections can take place on
a schedule that would allow any new At Large Directors to be
seated by the conclusion of the ICANN Annual Meeting in 2002;
6. Extend an open invitation to organizations
worldwide to assist in the comprehensive study; and
7. Suspend those provisions of Article
II of the Bylaws that deal with the structure and process of
the selection of At Large Directors pending the completion of
the study referenced above and any subsequent actions by the
Board.
Bylaw
Amendment: Terms of Original Supporting Organization Directors
Whereas, on February 16, 2000, proposed
amendments to Article
V, Section 2, to allow redesignation of the terms of Original
Directors selected by Supporting Organizations were posted on
the Corporation's web site;
Whereas, public comments were solicited
on the proposed amendment;
Whereas, no comments were received; it
is
Resolved that the following sentence is
added to the end of Article V, Section 2, of the Corporation's
bylaws:
The Supporting Organization Council may
by a two-thirds vote revise its designation of which of the selected
persons shall serve which of the staggered terms; such revision
shall become effective upon the Secretary's receipt, within 180
days of the original notification, of the written consents of
each Original Director whose term is affected by the revision.
Independent
Review Policy
Whereas, after extensive public review
and comment, the Board adopted in Santiago the Proposals for
Independent Review submitted by the Advisory Committee on Independent
Review;
Whereas, the NSI registry
and registrar
agreements adopted in Los Angeles introduced additional responsibilities
for the proposed Independent Review Panel;
Whereas, the staff has proposed an Independent
Review policy, which was posted to public review and comment;
Resolved that the Board adopts the proposed
Independent Review Policy as amended, and directs that it be
attached to these minutes as Attachment
A.
Resolved that the President and staff are
directed to implement the Independent Review Policy and to initiate
the formation of the Nominating Committee.
CEO Search
Whereas, the ICANN Board wishes to identify
and recruit a permanent CEO;
Whereas, the ICANN Board intends to conduct
a worldwide search for a permanent CEO;
Whereas, the Executive
Search Committee has presented a report to the Board recommending
the retention of a search firm; it is
Resolved that the ICANN Board authorizes
the ICANN CEO to negotiate a contract with a search firm not
to exceed $125K plus expenses on an appropriate payment schedule.
Audit
Committee Charter
Whereas, the Audit Committee has presented
to the Board a proposed charter for its activities;
Whereas, the Board views the proposed charter
as a sound basis for the Audit Committee in performing its functions;
Resolved that the Board adopts the proposed
Audit Committee Charter, and directs that it be attached to these
minutes as Attachment
B.
Memorandum
of Understanding with IETF
Whereas, after many months of discussions
with the Internet Engineering Task Force and the Internet Architecture
Board, the Corporation's President reached agreement with those
organizations on a Memorandum of Understanding effective March
1, 2000, concerning the technical functions of the Internet Assigned
Numbers Authority;
Whereas, the President has signed the Memorandum
of Understanding as set forth in Attachment C, subject to ratification
of the Board;
Resolved that the Memorandum of Understanding
attached as Attachment
C is hereby ratified.
Ratification
of Miscellaneous Payments
Whereas, on December 13, 1999, the President
has signed on behalf of the Corporation check nos. 1312 and 1313,
in the amounts of $97,860.44 and $455,674.69 to Jones, Day, Reavis
& Pogue in connection with legal services provided to the
Corporation;
Resolved, that the President's actions
in making those payments are ratified and approved.
Thanks
to Local Host and Sponsors
Whereas, the local hosts of ICANN's Cairo
meetings have organized an outstanding set of meetings (and gala
dinner), under the leadership of Dr. Tarek Kamel;
Whereas, the Board and staff have been
pleased to take the advice of His Excellency the Minister of
Communications and Information Technology to drink the waters
of the Nile, and accordingly look forward to our inevitable return
to Cairo; and
Whereas, the Board is concerned that the
local host committee may have set an impossibly high standard
for future meetings, it is:
Resolved that the Board and staff express
their sincere thanks to Dr. Tarek Kamel, his staff, the Egyptian
Ministry of Communication, the Cabinet Information and Decision
Support Center (IDSC), the Internet Society of Egypt, and the
ten sponsors (MobiNil, Alcatel, MIST, Telecom Egypt, Ericsson,
Lucent Technologies, Raya Holding, Microsoft, MCI WorldCom, BulkRegister)
and two co-sponsors (Network Solutions, and Geganet) of these
meetings.
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