Draft comment on Cyber-Cafe constituency application for approval

[Mary.Wong at LAW.UNH.EDU]

Hello everyone, 

Since today is the last day for public comment on the proposed new cybercafe constituency and nothing has been sent in, I took the liberty of composing something brief that I hope members can approve. I've done so as many members have expressed firm opinions about this issue, and it is important that NCSG sends in a comment, especially since the group is applying to join NCSG. 

The proposed comment follow; if there is no objection by the end of the day, I propose to file it on behalf of NCSG. Thanks everyone! 

"The Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG) is pleased to see that there is increased interest from developing regions in ICANN participation. Having long been the most-diverse (geographically and ethnically) stakeholder group within not just the GNSO but ICANN as well, we have always made outreach, accessibility and engagement part of our mission and have as a result welcomed numerous new individual and organizational members from across the globe into our membership, including through the GNSO's newest constituency, the Not for Profit Operational Concerns (NPOC) constituency. 

There is consensus in the NCSG - from both NPOC and Non-Commerciaul Users Constituency (NCUC) members - that the new CCAOI application for constituency status belongs not in the NCSG but in the Commercial Stakeholders Group (CSG). We have carefully reviewed all the documents and information provided in the CCAOI's application, and believe that it is a commercial organization whose operations do not fit within NCSG's formal charter or objectives. 

The CCAOI's stated reason for applying to join NCSG is that it is a non-profit organization which among its activities promotes public interest goals of education and access. While non-profit organizations are members of NCSG's NPOC constituency, NPOC members must first and continue to be NCSG members as well, i.e., remain resolutely non-commercial in their focus. The fact that individual cybercafes within the wider CCAOI organization may not charge fees to their users does not by itself make either these cybercafes or the CCAOI itself a non-commercial organization. Rather, we note from its application that its members include also "e-commerce service providers", "Internet solution providers" and entrepreneurs, and its plans include the use of a mobile payment platform to alleviate the problem of low credit card usage and cash safety. 

We therefore believe that the proper place within the current GNSO framework for CCAOI is the CSG. The fact that the CSG's rigid constituency structures may mean that CCAOI could potentially belong to either the Internet Service Providers (ISP) constituency or the Business Constituency (BC), or that either of these groups may need to modify its charter to allow a commercial organization of CCAOI's nature to apply, is not NCSG' concern or issue. Similarly, if the GNSO's own structure requires change in order to accommodate a diverse organization such as CCAOI, it is not a solution to just put them in the NCSG simply because we are the most flexible and open GNSO stakeholder group. These limitations are problems that are neither the fault of CCAOI or NCSG, and should if necessary be addressed by the GNSO as a whole and perhaps also the ICANN Board's own Structural Improvements Committee (SIC), who had worked with the fledgling NCSG to develop a charter that reflected non-commercial values and interests. 

Should this not be feasible, NCSG believes that those members and elements of CCAOI that are purely non-commercial could individually join NCSG. As a representative organization that has clearly commercial sources of funding and for-profit members, however, CCAOI as it is currently constituted clearly does not belong within NCSG. 

Respectfully submitted, 
The Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group" 
  
Mary W S Wong
Professor of Law
Director, Franklin Pierce Center for IP
Chair, Graduate IP Programs
UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE SCHOOL OF LAW
Two White Street
Concord, NH 03301
USA
Email: mary.wong at law.unh.edu
Phone: 1-603-513-5143
Webpage: http://www.law.unh.edu/marywong/index.php
Selected writings available on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=437584  


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