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Sorry about the dealy in reply.<br>
<br>
With the help of Milton and others, I have submitted the following to
the Research and Outreach Subcommittee (which has for some reason been
tasked with presenting this in the first instance). I will also
distribute to the larger advisory committee. We have put considerable
weight on travel support and further development and maintanence of
infrastructure.<br>
<br>
Harold<br>
<br>
<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">NCUC and PIR Support
Partnership</h1>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center;"><b
style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">2004
- 2007<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This document sets out a long term plan for
regular and
modest funding support for the Noncommercial User’s Constituency. We
submit it
to the PIR Advisory Council in the hopes that it will receive their
unanimous
endorsement and can then be presented to the PIR Board.</p>
<h1>The Important role of NCUC in ICANN</h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">ICANN is an unprecedented experiment in
international
governance. It combines industry, civil society, and governmental input
into a
policy making entity with global scope. Within this framework, however,
the
forces representing private industry and governments are very strong.
Businesses send full-time, professional lobbyists into the ICANN arena
and back
them with significant resources, due to the high economic stakes they
have in
the game. Governments also have budgets devoted to participation in
international organizations and full-time employees for handling the
tasks
associated with influencing and monitoring policy. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nearly everyone would recognize that the
viewpoints and
interests of noncommercial organizations need to be represented in
ICANN. The
.org TLD, one of the most important recognized homes of noncommercial
Internet
users, constitutes about 8 percent of the gTLD registration share. Many
country
code TLDs have “.org” equivalents. Moreover, the Internet was
originally built
by universities, research centers, and the entrepreneurs who emerged
from them.
These organizations need to be well-represented in ICANN’s policy
making
processes. But they rarely have the time or the resources to devote to
participation in an international governance authority like ICANN. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">NCUC is virtually the only organized place for
noncommercial
entities to coalesce to influence, shape and discuss ICANN issues. As
one of
six constituencies within ICANN’s Generic Names Supporting
Organization, it is
the only one devoted to the representation of noncommercial interests
and
perspectives. All the others represent the domain name supply industry
(registrars, registries, ISPs) or commercial interests (trademark
holders,
business users). Unless NCUC can function as a strong and effective
representative, the entire policy development process of ICANN will be
biased. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In short, it is essential that ICANN’s policy
development
processes and officer elections benefit from the presence of an
organized
noncommercial constituency. </p>
<h1>The PIR proposal for .org Reassignment in 2002</h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">Responsiveness to and support of the noncommercial
community
within ICANN was one of the key criteria in the reassignment of the
.org TLD in
2001. The .org reassignment Call For Proposals asked applicants to
“describe in
detail the mechanisms you propose for ensuring that the policies and
practices
followed in your operation of the .org registry are responsive to and
supportive
of the noncommercial Internet user community, and reflect as much of
its
diversity as possible.” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">PIR won the .org reassignment in no small part
because of
its strong commitment to leverage the .org asset to support
noncommercial Internet
activity. PIR’s bid was particularly strong in this regard, because of
its
links to the Internet Society’s nonprofit technical standardization
activity,
its creation of a broadly representative Advisory Council, and its
commitment
to support the noncommercial constituency within ICANN’s Domain Names
Supporting Organization (now renamed the Generic Names Supporting
Organization). PIR’s application said: </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">“ISOC recognizes that
an ongoing
problem with the ICANN DNSO Non Commercial Constituency has been a
funding short-fall.
…ISOC would like to explore various funding solutions through its .ORG
Advisory
Council to come up with a long term funding solution for the
Non-Commercial Constituency
or its successor organization.”<span
style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h1>NCUC’s Improving Capacity</h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">Prior to Fall 2003, NCUC was hobbled by an open
mailing list
that allowed anyone in the world, whether they were a member or even
eligible
for membership, to interfere with its deliberations, and by a
dysfunctional
organizational structure that gave everyone and no one responsibility
for basic
administrative functions. As of November 2003, the Noncommercial Users
Constituency successfully completed a reform and reorganization. The
constituency has left behind old conflicts and embarked on a new period
of effective
engagement with the policy development process of ICANN.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span
style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span
style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->A new charter was drafted and
ratified by the
membership in August, creating a completely new governance structure.
Elections
were completed in November 2003, placing an active, stable, and
representative
core of officers in place as an Executive Committee. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span
style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span
style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->A Chair, Dr. Milton Mueller, and
four (4)
regional representatives (based on ICANN geographic regions) were
elected by
members. (The fifth region, <st1:place>Africa</st1:place>, appointed a
member.)
The Executive Committee held its first meeting December 5<sup>th</sup>
and its
second meeting February 7<sup>th</sup> using economical but effective
Internet
relay chat format instead of expensive teleconferencing. The minutes
are
visible <a
href="http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0312&L=ncuc-discuss&F=&S=&P=1119">here</a>
(Dec. 5<sup>th</sup>) and here (Feb. 7<sup>th</sup>). Three new
representatives
to the GNSO Council were also elected. The Council representatives were
highly
qualified, articulate and active participants in the ICANN process: Dr.
Jisuk
Woo of <st1:place><st1:City>Seoul National University</st1:City>, <st1:country-region>South
Korea</st1:country-region></st1:place>; Carlos Afonso of <st1:country-region><st1:place>Brazil</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
and Marc Schneiders of the <st1:country-region><st1:place>Netherlands</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span
style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span
style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->A new email list, limited to
members, was
implemented, and the web site updated. The archives are accessed
through the
website, which is at <a href="http://www.ncdnhc.org/">www.ncdnhc.org</a>.
The
constituency is in the process of implementing the website at <a
href="http://www.ncuc.org/">www.ncuc.org</a> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span
style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span
style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->New membership is being recruited
via the World
Summit on the Information Society and other channels. In particular,
two key
international NGOs, one of which had disconnected from NCUC during the
organizational problems of 2001-2002, have committed to join or
re-join. NCUC
currently has 36 organizations as members, not counting the most recent
additions.
Nine (9) are classified as large organizations including for example
ACLU,
Educause, Renater, and Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility; the
rest are diverse small organizations. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span
style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span
style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The constituency has raised funds
from EPIC’s
Public Voice project to send a representative (Kathy Kleiman) to the <st1:City><st1:place>Carthage</st1:place></st1:City>,
Tunisia ICANN meeting on October 2003. Because of the physical presence
at the
meeting, NCUC was able to be represented on panels dealing with Whois
and play
an advocacy role. The constituency representative was also able to
mobilize
additional sources of funding, notably a contribution from Afilias.
That money
is being used to support the travel of four members to the ICANN Rome
meeting.
NCUC plans a major presence at the <st1:City><st1:place>Rome</st1:place></st1:City>
meeting. It will hold a program and workshop at the <st1:City><st1:place>Rome</st1:place></st1:City>
meeting and may be collaborating with ALAC on WSIS-related
informational
sessions.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span
style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span
style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size-adjust: none;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->NCUC has exerted policy leadership
in key areas.
Two years ago, NCUC’s GNSO Council member chaired the working group
that
developed policy for the .org reassignment. The NCUC assisted ICANN’s
CEO with
an evaluation study of the applicants for the .org reassignment. In the
Whois/privacy policy development process, NCUC’s representative on the
Whois
Steering Committee was instrumental in ensuring that a Task Force on
data
collection was created. NCUC was initially the only constituency
calling for a
Task Force focused on which data elements needed to be collected, and
faced
stiff opposition from certain other constituencies. Via persistent
advocacy it
prevailed on this issue, however.</p>
<h1>Funding Needs</h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">In this section, we describe the funding needs of
the
constituency and formulate a request. In total, we ask for an annual
commitment
of US$ 11,000 per year over a four year period. </p>
<h3>Travel Support</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">The most important support need of the
constituency is
travel funds. These are needed to sustain participation. Travel to
meetings makes
it possible for elected officials and policy development task force
members to participate.
Although a great deal of work is conducted through teleconferences and
email,
the fact remains that it simply is not possible for any constituency to
be a
viable actor in the ICANN process without being represented at
face-to-face
meetings. Support for travel to these meetings also provides some
relief and reward
to active officers and members who devote so much uncompensated time to
the
constituency. (NB: Because the current NCUC chair has other sources of
support
for some travel and activity, he has pledged not to make any requests
for NCUC
funds during his term. This pledge was made in order to eliminate any
concerns
about conflict of interest in the allocation of constituency funds, and
to
conserve funds for others who might need it more.) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the past two ICANN meetings, NCUC has provided
full
support to one or two key activists who could not afford to go
otherwise.
Starting with the <st1:City><st1:place>Rome</st1:place></st1:City>
meeting, it
has also provided a number of smaller, partial support grants to
individuals
who can use the NCUC grant to obtain matching funds from other sources.
Using
this very cost-effective model of travel support, we have found that we
can get
three to five people to attend ICANN quarterly meetings with about
$4000 per
meeting. Thus, with 4 quarterly meetings a year, an adequate level of
support
in this area would be $16,000/year. </p>
<h3>Secretariat Services</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">Most of the current infrastructure of the
secretariat is
provided for free by the Chair’s home institution, Syracuse University
School
of Information Studies. This includes email list support, web site
support, and
some labor. This can continue for at least another 18 months, although
extensive
use of graduate student labor will need to be supported. This is
especially
true if the current Chair is not re-elected or chooses not to run; few
other
institutions will be willing to devote as many resources to NCUC. Thus,
we ask
for only $2000 and $3000 in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and $5000 per
year
after that. </p>
<h3>Communications.</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">This budget item refers to any expenses involved
in
designing, writing, translating and duplicating brochures or reports,
and to
any expenses associated with telephone calls, conference calls, and
mailing
documents or money transfers. Expenses here are modest, only $1000 per
year, as
the NCUC is very efficient in its communications, relying on free
online chat
and toll-free calling, and donated labor, services and duplication
whenever
possible. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<h3>Other Sources of Funding Support</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over the four-year period of this proposal, total
NCUC
expenses are projected to be $75,000, or $18,700 annually. We do not,
however,
want to rely exclusively on PIR for the entire amount. In recent months
NCUC
has shown a capacity to raise donations from other sources. It also
charges its
members dues. Membership dues are conservatively estimated to bring in
about
$3000 over the four-year period; donations from other sources are
(perhaps
optimistically) projected to bring in $29,000. Thus, we request an
average of $11,000
per year over the four year period.</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="midp0510032bbc7c949afef0@%5B192.168.0.2%5D"><br>
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