EURALO MINUTES: 28 JUNE 2011
Notes:
- Summary minutes for this meeting were taken by EURALO Secretariat Oksana Prykhodko and by At-Large staff member Seth Greene.
- No explicit action items were assigned during this EURALO call, these are part of the meeting minutes (points 5, 6 and 8).
Standing Issues
1. Roll Call and apologies
Paticipants: Wolf Ludwig, Yrjo Lansipuro, Oksana Prykhodko, Annette Muehlberg, Avri Doria, Sandra Hoferichter, Christopher Wilkinson, Lutz Donnerhacke
Apologies: Olivier Crepin Leblond, Sebastien Bachollet, Manuel Schneider, Rudi Vansnick
Staff: Seth Greene, Marilyn Vernon
2. Review of the Action Items from the 17 May 2011 call (2 minutes)
There are no action items listed on the appropriate meeting Confluence page. However, Wolf recalls that they all had to do with preparing for the EURALO General Assembly and all are now completed.
3. Open Public Consultations (10 minutes) -- depending on Olivier's availability for this call.
See: At-Large Policy Advice Development Schedule
It was decided that this agenda item would be skipped because Olivier could not make the meeting.
The list of open public consultations was recently reviewed in Singapore, and no statements from the ALAC were urgently pending.
4. Status of EURALO ALS Applications (Wolf, Olivier, Staff) (5 mins)
To cover:
European Media Platform
The Ukrainian Internet Association
The two EURALO ALS applications from the above organizations have been approved by the ALAC, following EURALO’s advice. This brings the total number of EURALO ALSes up to 29 (with 26 active).
The ALAC has approved the two above applications, as well as two APRALO ALS applications. This has brought the total number of ALSes, for all RALOs, up to 134.
The official announcement of these four recent approvals will be sent around shortly by staff.
Proposed Agenda Items
5. Briefing on the recent ICANN Singapore meeting (Wolf, Sandra, Yrjö others) (10 minutes)
In addition to our discussion here, Monica’s reporting on the Singapore Meeting is excellent. It is, however, available only in German.
The highlight of the ICANN Singapore Meeting was the Board’s decision to pass the new gTLD program, with the first application round to start in early 2012. This decision made the mainstream press (with many stories), surprising certain members of EUARLO.
The news and far reach of this Board decision is considered good for ICANN and even the ALAC, as well as good for future outreach efforts. It helps in people understanding what ICANN does.
To do next for EURALO related to the new gTLD program:
- Must look after the public interest and the interests of the EURALO and At-Large community.
- On the EURALO level, we should consider how many initiatives to apply for a new gTLD will come from the community that might need advice and/or other help from EURALO.
- Also want to keep track of applications in the European region from indigenous populations that might need applicant support (as discussed in the JAS WG work).
The selections made by the NomCom in Singapore will also be announced shortly.
Areas of disagreement, as well as areas of agreement, between the ICANN Board, the GAC, and the ALAC were also seen and discussed in Singapore. Some examples:
- Point at which the GAC gets involved in policy development: One specific issue is that the GAC could consider participating earlier in the policy development process. For it to enter the process later, as it seems to now, has caused impasses and problems at the end. Christopher suggested that we stress to governments that the GAC begin participating earlier.
- Vertical integration: The Board’s decision on Vertical Integration was not consistent with either European or US competition law (according to Christopher).
- The JAS WG process to provide applicant support is only still in a vague form, though this is beginning to take shape now and get some momentum.
In Singapore, good progress was made on applicant support, via the JAS WG, in the new gTLD program. The GAC and Board talked to each other a good bit on this topic. The Board seems open to cost reduction and has given $2 million to a fund; others are also considering giving money for this purpose. There is now a tight deadline for the work to move forward.
During the RALO Secretariats’ meeting in Singapore, one topic discussed was “inreach.” Related to this, Wolf prepared a paper on how to deal with non-active ALSes, which includes a seven-step procedure to decertifying an ALS over the course of much time that is fair to the ALS. The process includes reminding the inactive ALS that a response is needed; if there is still no response, then a recommendation of decertification goes to the ALAC. (The ALAC must decertify any ALS.) The problem with inactive ALSes is that they affect the quorum requirement. Most or all the RALOs are facing a similar problem with inactive ALSes.
Within EURALO, there are three ALSes that have not been active: the Slovenian Consumers Association, KEPKA - Consumers Protection Centre in Greece, and Ynternet.org in Switzerland.
6. Follow-up on the Belgrade EURALO General Assembly (Wolf and other attendees)(10 minutes)
See: GA meeting minutes and action items
Creation of an ALS for individual members (draft Bylaws, WG and coordination)
Outreach and Inreach issues
EURALO had a successful General Assembly (GA) in Belgrade. It included participation by 8 participants physically present and 2 remote participants. The meeting minutes are available (see above) for anyone interested in the details.
A main topic discussed was the creation of an ALS for individual members. The next step needed is the creation of a WG to draft the bylaws for this ALS. Wolf suggested that this task would best be done mainly by the actual individual members whom it would affect.
- There was no opposition expressed to Wolf’s proposal.
- Oksana volunteered also to work on the WG creating the bylaws for this ALS.
A second main topic discussed in Belgrade was outreach; in addition, of course, the GA itself was a major outreach/”inreach” event. During the GA, Olivier reported that an ALS application might be received shortly from Russia, and Wolf noted one might be received from Poland. EURALO will also use the upcoming European Summer School on Internet Governance as an outreach vehicle.
A third main topic discussed in Belgrade was “inreach.” (This was also discussed by the RALO Secretariats during the Singapore Meeting; see above.)
7. Briefing on the last EuroDIG in Belgrade (Sandra, Wolf, Olivier, Yrjö) (5 mins)
This was the fourth EuroDIG. It included over 500 participants, with more participating remotely. The event included 20 sessions, 8 plenary sessions, 8 workshops, and 4 side events. The event was considered an overall success.
Next, EuroDIG 2012 will be in Stockholm. A planning meeting for it is scheduled for the beginning of July. Goals will be to consolidate EuroDIG’s structure and make EuroDIG more reliable.
Wolf is now part of the EuroDIG Secretariat, along with Sandra.
8. Recent and Upcoming Activities of ALAC and EURALO Members (Sandra, Wolf, Olivier) (5 mins)
To cover:
EuroSSIG, 24 - 30 July, Meissen / Germany (Sandra and Wolf)
Planning for events in Kiev / Ukraine early September (Oksana)
Sebastien and Olivier are now in India at an Internet meeting.
EURALO will be participating in the Summer School on Internet Governance during 24-30 July in Meissen, Germany.
Also, of course, the IGF in the Ukraine is coming up.
9. Any other Business (5 mins)
The next EURALO call will either be in July or, if we choose to take a summer break, in August.
