At-Large Advisory Committee
Monthly Teleconference for January 2008
Summary Minutes
Present (ALAC): C Langdon-Orr, V Cretu, M El Bashir, H Diakite, J Salgueiro, B Brendler, A Greeberg, S Bachollet, F Seye Sylla (Joined 13:56), N Thu Hue, A Muehlberg (Joined 14:13), C Aguirre (Joined 14:19), I Aizu (Joined 15:05)
Absent (ALAC): V Scartezini
Apologies (ALAC): R Guerra
Present (Liaisons): W Seltzer, H Xue
Absent (Liaisons): J Morris
Apologies (Liaisons):
ICANN Staff: N Ashton-Hart
Minutes Prepared by: ICANN Staff
The Chair called the meeting to order at 13:35 UTC.
Adoption of the Agenda
B Brendler asked on a point of information, based upon the NARALO call the day before, that the ALAC should make a comment on the NTIA review of ICANN, and secondly that more resources be made available for communication with RALOs.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting – these were adopted without objection (Moved A Greenberg, Seconded B Brendler).
Review of Action Items
It was decided without objection that these items, which are covered under later agenda items, would be covered at those times.
Review of ALS Applications
The Staff reviewed the status of the four pending applications, two of which were due to be voted on; without objection the Staff were asked to commence a vote on the two applications which were due for voting. The Staff also recapped the state of the Bylaw change related to voting on ALS applications by the ALAC and confirmed that at the present it was necessary for a vote positive on each applicant to be made.
Regional Activities
The NA representatives recapped concerns raised in the previous evening’s NARALO meeting about communication between ALSes and the RALOs and the need for more communications in order to foster more policy engagement by ALSes. The RALO also noted their strong objection to decision making using the ‘silence = agreement’ principle.
The African RALO members noted that due to the holidays there were no activities to report in AFRALO.
J Salgueiro noted that the same situation was the case with LACRALO as with AFRALO.
S Bachollet noted that he has made an attempt to setup a EURALO board meeting and six possible participants were volunteering to have a meeting in the near future.
The Chair noted that the December meeting of APRALO, originally scheduled for 25th December, was rescheduled for 10th January.
Liaison Reports
The Chair asked that for future meetings the Working Group ALAC Focal Points should provide a written report on the efforts of each working group for each call. N Thu Hue noted that in her working group there was not much activity; ALAC should work on the format and structure of working groups. The Chair noted that this reporting mechanims could further that objective.
W Seltzer suggested that the wiki structure in place would make it difficult to know what had changed and that she found this new structure very unhelpful. The Chair then asked Staff if they had any information and the Staff duly related the ways in which these changes could be found and a further discussion about the matter proceeded with various views expressed.
IDN Liaison
A discussion about the need for a chair for the IDN working group proceeded. It was decided that the two individuals willing to serve should be asked to decide amongst themselves on one chair within the next 48 hours, and to let the rest of the Working Group know.
GNSO Liaison
A Greenberg noted that fast-track IDNs has become a big issue within the GNSO and the more the GNSO discussed the matter the more questions and doubts about it were noted. H Xue noted that there were a large number of uncertainties about how this would work in practice that were concerning many others outside the GNSO as well. The Chair noted that the views of the RALOs on fast-track IDNs would be important.
A Greenberg noted that his written report as liaison is to be presented to the ALAC later today, noting that the
WHOIS Liaison
J Salgueiro noted that he tried to arrange a teleconference in late December but there was no response from the members, he will attempt to arrange one in good time to be able to report
Staff Report
The staff noted the imminent decision on the two open staff positions and promised that at the appropriate time more details would be posted as reference checks on shortlisted candidates were about to get underway.
Policy Matters
Item 5: Domain Tasting
A Greenberg noted that the synthesis of constituency statements had been published and was posted for public comment. His view was that a comment on this was not obligatory since our positions were already a matter of public record.
It was noted by several Members that comments of individual ALSes or even RALOs were to be encouraged.
Item 6: US DoC/NTIA Public Comment Period on the JPA
B Brendler noted that the NTIA comment period on the Joint Partnership Agreement was due to end 15th February and the NARALO felt strongly that some submission from ALAC was important. Since ALAC represents the user community it seems significant for ALAC to make a statement. The federal registry notice made this easy by asking a series of questions which could be answered. The NARALO has tasked a group of people chaired by W Seltzer to draft a statement. S Bachollet felt it was important that the regions be able to have their views, but it was important for ALAC to have some time to try to create a common statement. It was resolved without objection that the NARALO draft should be the initial draft used by the ALAC to try and develop a common statement on or before New Delhi meetings.
Other Matters from Previous Meetings
The Chair asked that Members look at the various subjects and activities listed under the first three items on this list with a view to presenting solutions / volunteering to help between now and the next teleconference. V Cretu volunteered to work on the communications improvements area.
The Chair reiterated that it was important that all Members of ALAC have an obligation both on policy working groups and in administration and coordination and that this was not presently the case. Members were asked to ensure that this was the case on or before the New Delhi Meeting.
New Business / Any Other Business
*1. Summit Planning and WG Activities*
S Bachollet noted that there had been two teleconferences of the Summit working group and that there was a first draft of a budget and a schedule of work as a result of these meetings and work was continuing. ALAC’s feedback was encouraged on these documents, as well as that of the larger community. The Chair noted that there had been suggestions by V Scartezini that it was possible some interconnection with the summit and the fellowship programme might be worthwhile
The Chair noted that a 10 minute extension was in order, without objections, in order to discuss New Delhi meeting arrangements. With No objections this motion carried. The Chair proposed that the remaining items under New Business should then be carried over to online discussions.
The Chair asked that V Cretu as the present member of the Meetings Committee brief the Members on the schedule.
V Cretu noted that in response to A Greenberg’s question on whether or not a OneDay programme would be held that this was in fact the case, as the vast majority of participants in the last meeting asked that this be done. Discussions were underway about the exact format of the session and any opinions of Members were most welcome.
W Seltzer suggested that huge numbers of Indians who use the Internet should be invited to participate in the meeting, and noted that it would be great to see 50 members of the Indian public at the microphone at a public meeting or 500 members joining in sessions. She asked if anyone had contacts in India that could be used for outreach.
The Chair noted that she would take this suggestion back to APRALO and their meeting in the next few days for ideas on outreach events and options.
The Chair noted that she believed everyone has received his or her airline arrangements. It was noted that hotels had yet to be provided and that this was unsatisfactory. The Staff were asked if there were any further news and the Staff noted that it hadn’t received its hotel details either, nor had it received any information on the subject.
H Diakite asked that Summit planning be provided agenda time outside of the OneDay discussion. This was agreed without objection.
I Aizu asked that a joint ALAC/GAC meeting be requested. This was agreed without objection.
The Chair adjourned the meeting at 15:20 UTC.
