Draft comment on Cyber-Cafe constituency application for approval

[Nuno Garcia]

I agree, congratulations for the document!

On 17 November 2012 14:00, <Mary.Wong at law.unh.edu> wrote:

>  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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