Draft NCSG petition, please review

[William Drake]

Milton,

I second Norbert's kudos for the work you've put into this.  Overall  
it looks really solid.  There are probably some language tweaks etc  
you could make for clarity, but as I'm sitting in a loud hotel lobby  
I leave this to you to decide. I'm ok with the proposed solutions to  
the points discussed previously, e.g. constituency thresholds and  
membership limitations, voting rules, etc.   One question I do wonder  
about though concerns 3.4.5, Regional diversity's criteria,  "as  
determined by national citizenship."   Lots of folks don't live in  
their home countries, so perhaps a more flexible approach would be  
desirable going forward.  Why not "as determined by national  
citizenship or residency"?  Is there a history of discussion and  
decisions on this from before I joined NCUC that I'm not aware of?

Thanks again,

Bill

On Nov 16, 2008, at 7:01 PM, Norbert Klein wrote:

> Thanks, Milton, for the huge amount of work done.
>
>> I'd like to send this to the Board in a week or so, so if you are
>> interested in the future structure of the NCSG please review it and
>> voice your approval, or propose modifications.
>
> So I have some notes, not on substance, where I agree with your  
> draft, but
> more on some small points - you know I am living in a non-English  
> speaking
> environment, and I have often to explain to others here what might  
> be clear
> among the experts elsewhere.
>
> Sorry that it is long, but I include the context for identification.
>
>
> Norbert
>
> =
> A clarification suggested:
>
> "2.0	Organization and Membership
> 2.1	Composition
> The NCSG shall consist of four distinct parts: the Membership,  
> Constituencies,
> an Executive Committee and a Policy Committee. The Membership shall  
> consist
> of organizations and individuals that meet the Membership criteria and
> complete the processes set out in Section 2.2. The Executive  
> Committee, led
> by the Chair,..."
>
> I suggest to say "the Chair of the NCSG" to avoid the  
> misunderstanding that it
> is "...the Chair of the Executive Committee..." - the term "the  
> Chair is
> defined much further down only. I think it is useful to have the  
> terms clear
> when they show up first.
> =
>
> = =
> Minor points and an explanations for not so well versed non-native  
> speakers of
> English (I want to show this also to colleagues here and avoid  
> getting such
> questions back; this is a general concern for ICANN etc. insider  
> language
> which disregards the multi-cultural basis of the Internet users).
>
> "2.2.2. 	Ineligible organizations. The membership of the NCSG  
> specifically
> excludes:
> 1. Political organizations whose primary purpose is to hold  
> government office
> and/or ct government officials;2. Commercial organizations and  
> associations
> of or for the benefit of commercial entities (even if they are non- 
> profit in
> form) such as industry trade associations;
> 3. Organizations that provide services under contract or MoU with  
> ICANN;
> 4. Organizations that are represented in ICANN through another  
> Supporting
> Organization or other GNSO Stakeholder Group. However,  
> organizations and
> individuals that participate in ICANN’s At Large Advisory Committee  
> are not
> excluded by this criterion, though they may be excluded by the  
> other three."
>
> "...and/or to elect government..."
> "...contract or a Memorandum of Understanding with..."
> ",,,or other GNSO Stakeholder Groups" or "...or another GNSO  
> Stakeholder
> Group"
> = =
>
> = = =
> "...may participate in NCSG listservs..."
> I suggest to say instead: "may participate in NCSG mailing lists"  
> throughout
> the text.
> = = =
>
> = = = =
> "2.2.5.	Individuals. Individuals can also be members of the NCSG.
> 2.2.5.1. Eligible individuals include:
> a) Individuals who register domain names for personal or family  
> uses of a
> predominantly noncommercial nature;
> b) Individual Internet users who are primarily concerned with the  
> public
> interest aspects of domain name policy and are not represented in  
> ICANN
> through membership in another GNSO Stakeholder Group or the ccNSO;"
>
> Suggested change for clarification, as the term ccNSO shows up  
> first here, to:
> "...or the Country Code Names Supporting Organisation (ccNSO);"
>
> Same for "...PDP" when it shows up first, change to "... Policy  
> Development
> Process (PDP)..."
> = = = =
>
> = = = = =
> I do not understand the following clearly:
>
> "3.4.1	...Their function is to a leadership role in translating the  
> common
> goals and priorities of the SG into ICANN GNSO-approved policies,  
> and  to
> oppose and prevent the passage of ICANN policies harmful to the  
> interests of
> NCSG members. "
>
> Is it something like this:
>
> "Their function is to translate the common goals and priorities of the
> Noncommercial Users Stakeholders Group into ICANN GNSO-approved  
> policies, or
> to oppose and prevent the passage of policies harmful to the  
> interests of
> NCSG members."
> = = = = =
>
> = == = = =
> "3.6.1	...All member organizations and individuals must be a  
> visible node in
> that site."
>
> Sorry, I do not understand the language - what does it mean that I  
> "must be a
> visible node in that site"? I checked here with friends - obviously  
> I am not
> the only one who does not understand this.
> == = = = =
>
>
>
> -- 
> If you want to know what is going on in Cambodia,
> please visit us regularly - you can find something new every day:
>
> http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com (English)
> http://kanhchoksangkum.wordpress.com (Khmer)
>
> PGP key-id 0x0016D0A9

***********************************************************
William J. Drake
Senior Associate
Centre for International Governance
Graduate Institute of International and
   Development Studies
Geneva, Switzerland
william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch
***********************************************************