October 2010
EURALO's monthly conference call agenda was set-up to follow-up on the main items decided at the General Assembly in September, namely:
- EURALO Position on Community WG Report on Implementation of GNSO New gTLD Rec 6
But a more pressing subject was first Review mechanism for ALS involvement in the upcoming At-Large Board Director selection.
This subject ended up taking all of the time of the entire conference call since it became immediately apparent that it was the most important issue to be addressed immediately. With the meeting seriously over-running its allocated time, it was decided that a letter be written to Cheryl Langdon-Orr, the ALAC Chair, to summarize the concerns which EURALO has with the current election schedule.
Our concerns were namely that since EURALO wished to poll its members during the election process of an At Large Elected Board Director, the proposed timing was likely to be rushed and might not allow such a EURALO process (possible candidate petition, poll, and then possibly several rounds of election polling) to take place satisfactorily. EURALO recognises that ALSes, our volunteers, need time to make decisions if they need to consult their membership, and the current election process was seen to be slightly short to allow for the leeway required in such processes. Only if enough time is given to EURALO members can EURALO's Chair vote in the election process with full conviction that he has the support of ALSes - as a matter of credibility to our members.
The letter was written and sent to the EURALO discussion list for collecting feedback. It was then amended according to the feedback received, and sent by email to Cheryl Langdon-Orr, ALAC and a copy to the At-Large Board Selection design team (ABSdt). A response was awaited at the time of writing this monthly report.
EURALO Position on Community WG Report on Implementation of GNSO New gTLD Rec6
Whilst there was no time in the monthly EURALO conference call to treat this subject, several EURALO members took part in an At Large conference call, where their input was taken into account. As a reminder, the At Large position was to support the GNSO New gTLD Rec6 report.
September 2010
A EURALO General Assembly took place at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Wednesday 15 September 2010 from 18:00 - 20:00 local time. It was attended in person by representatives from 10 ALSes, and remotely by representative from two ALSes.
ICANN Staff attended the meeting remotely.
The GA took place immediately after a EURODIG meeting and therefore had the pleasure of the presence of several guests, including some from potential EURALO ALS applicants: Yuliya Morenets (Together Against Cybercrime, France), Oksana Prykhodko (European Media Platform, Ukraine) and Tetiana Popova (Ukrainian Internet Association). Many other guests were present too.
Remote participation was possible by using the Webex System used throughout the IGF. Whilst it is acknowledged that technical intricacies made remote participation challenging (the interfacing of a face to face meeting with public address microphone system, with Webex, as well as an Adigo line is technically challenging), especially due to the fact that the room's acoustics were far from adequate, eventually most technical problems were overcome.
The following action items stemmed out of the meeting:
- ICANN Budget
EURALO will submit a proposal to the ICANN budget process to ask for travel funding for the next EURALO meeting which will be held in conjunction with the ICANN European meeting.
A note will be added to the EURALO budget, that printing material costs should be covered by ICANN.
- Review of EURALO By-laws and needs for revision
There have recently been many enquires to members of the EURALO Board about individuals being able to join EURALO. So far, individual members do not hold voting rights, but have taken part in working groups and on the Board, on a case by case basis. A solution is sought so as to be able to grow the EURALO region membership.
Evan Leibovitch very kindly gave a short remote presentation explaining the NARALO rules pertaining to unaffiliated members. We have named this "Option A".
Another option is option B:
OPTION A: Formally create a new membership category for unaffiliated members
OPTION B: Create a new ALS within the current structure that serves as the home to unaffiliated members
The EURALO leadership will submit a proposal in writing for possible Bylaw changes to the regional members. In addition, The proposed changes will include provisions to include unaffiliated members and also review the term limits for Board members. They will also look into a possible alignment of all EURALO elections. These discussions will soon be opened within EURALO, with an outcome and decisions due to take place at the ICANN Cartagena Meeting in December 2010.
- EURALO ALAC Election
Sandra Hoferichter was unanimously endorsed by the EURALO members present in the meeting. Congratulations to Sandra!
- EURALO Board Elections
Yjrö Länsipuro was unanimously elected to the EURALO Board by the members of EURALO. Congratulations to Yjrö!
- At Large elected Board Director Process
In accordance with Article VI, Section 4 of the ICANN Bylaws http://www.icann.org/en/general/bylaws.htm#VI , Sébastien Bachollet asked to be replaced in all the discussion and actions taking place in the ALAC in relation to the At-Large Board Director election. Olivier Crépin-Leblond volunteered to replace Sébastien in all the discussion and actions taking place in the ALAC in relation to the At-Large Board Director election.
August 2010
- The EURALO Board is preparing for a virtual General Assembly (GA) to take place during the IGF in Vilnius, Lituania. This will be a GA taking place as a conference call, with local participants already in Vilnius participating in person in a meeting room. The time/date for this, is currently set to Wednesday 15 September 2010 from 17:00 - 19:30, with the exact venue still to be confirmed. All At Large Structure (ALS) leaders who will be going to Vilnius are encouraged to come and take an active part in the GA.
- According to EURALO’s by-laws a General Assembly has to be convened once a year. EURALO was created in March 07 in Lisbon. Board elections were conducted in May 07, June 08 partly and March 09 (Mexico-City). With no possibility of having a GA during the ICANN Brussels meeting, and no likelihood of funding for a GA in Cartagena, a Vilnius GA was seen as a compromise solution for this year. A Draft Agenda has been put together, and will soon be posted to the EURALO Web site. Among the EURALO GA's agenda items, Evan Leibovitch (NARALO) has been invited to join the GA to explain NARALO's proposals to include individual members. This is an avenue which the EURALO Board is also considering - and it will be a main discussion point at the GA.
ELECTIONS
- Yjrö Länsipuro has been voted to represent EURALO on the ICANN Nominating Committee 2011.
- The nomination period for candidates to the ALAC seat is open and several candidates have been suggested so far.
- Similarly, EURALO has also opened a nomination period for the At Large Board Director selection process. Whilst it is understood that all applicants for the At Large Board Director need to have filed a Statement of Interest (SOI) with the Board Candidate Evaluation Committee (BCEC), the EURALO nominations for petition are being prepared in advance in case some of the candidates are not selected by the BCEC. It is understood that the nominations would also have to echo nominations in other RALOs - the threshold being the support of at least three RALOs for a petition to be valid. The process is explained in the relevant At Large Board Director selection process Web pages. The end of the nomination period stands to be 6th September 2010.
Outreach Activities
- It is hoped that our presence in Vilnius for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be put to good use to strengthen the link to current ALSes present, as well as outreach to organizations wishing to join EURALO.
July 2010
- Olivier was appointed for the remainder of the EURALO Secretariat position by consensus during the Brussels EURALO meeting, in replacement of Dessi. EURALO thanks Dessi for her great contribution during her term and wishes her well in her future endeavours, whilst hoping that she will still actively take part in EURALO work.
-The transition caused no monthly report to be filed in that period and the current report also catches up on news for June 2010.
- Discussions on individual EURALO membership are still under way, with a consensus that individual membership should be implemented in EURALO but no clear way to do it yet.
- A EURALO General Assembly (GA) will take place in September during the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Vilnius, Lithuania. This will be an "E-GA", that is, a GA taking place as a teleconference call, with EURALO participants already in Vilnius for the IGF, present physically in a meeting room. This is because EURALO has not been given any budget by ICANN for a GA, so all people who will be present physically will be there on their own budget. The IGF brings together many people from the At Large population so it is hoped that many ALSes will be present in Vilnius. The GA is likely to last three hours. Its details and agenda will be worked out in August.
- There was good participation at the EURALO Showcase event in Brussels and we had many high quality speakers. Deputy Director-General, Information Society and Media Directorate-General of the European Commission Antti Peltomaki was the keynote speaker. We thank him and all of the other speakers for their participation. The event was a real success to raise awareness of EURALO and At Large. Although no immediate new ALS application have been received so far, we are hopeful that this will change in Vilnius.
- Outreach is being focused on Eastern European, Southern European and Northern European areas to increase the number of ALSes in these regions. Gender balance is also emphasized - it is understood that EURALO needs more diversity.
- European RALO in-reach was pursued, with a good regional response to the ALS survey: over 50% of ALSes responded. However, some ALSes did not participate. There is a concern that some European ALSes do not participate much once they have registered, and EURALO is trying to bring them back "in the loop". At last resort, a mechanism for "de-certification" might need to be examined. This will be discussed in further detail in the near future. The results of the survey have been published as a Powerpoint presentation which has been posted on the EURALO Web site.
- Last, but not least, EURALO officially endorses the AFRALO Statement on the suggested Bylaw modifications to add an At-Large Board Director.
March 2010
Discussed ALAC issues:
- Participation in ALAC Statements prepared for the following consultations: Proposed Framework for the Fiscal Year 2011 Operating Plan and Budget - as discussed in Nairobi, Wolf posted a proposal and summary of activities, including the preparation of the EURALO Showcase; the General Assembly in Brussels and Outreach in Latvia in September.
- Patrick worked with Carlton and Adam on the draft ALAC Statement on WHOIS Accuracy. In conclusion, the procedure was not transparent enough, but the outcome is good.
- With regard to IDNs, there is not much we can say on that as Europeans, it is mostly related to non-latin scripts, and 3-letter character scripts (generally scripts that are not alphabetical). Only 4 ccTLDs are on the IDN fast track, which is not enough.
- At-Large Board Selection process – there has been a briefing on the work of the ABSdt group and further information on the ABCEC. A WG has been created to communicate the importance of the process to the European ALSes and to engage them into the selection process.
- Olivier has been forwarded to replace Dessi for the Brussels Meeting.
Outreach activities:
- Preparations for the Brussels EURALO Showcase. A Brussels Showcase working group has been created to focus on the organization of the event.
March 2010
EURALO Report Nairobi
Since the ICANN meeting in Seoul EURALO conducted its regular monthly phone conferences (November 09 – February 10) with participation of its ALAC and some Board members. At the end of January EURALO participated at the ICANN Studienkreis meeting in Barcelona. Our ALAC members were actively involved in the development of the ALAC Board member selection process.
At the beginning of the year, EURALO defined priorities for its 2010 planning and outreach activities such as: Participation at the 3rd EuroDIG in Madrid (April), regional consultation for the ALAC Board member selection process, preparation of our next GA at ICANN’s next meeting in Brussels (June), participation at the next IGF in Latvia (September). We hope that these priorities will be supported and necessary budget allocations provided by ICANN. |
February 2010
Discussed ALAC issues:
- ALAC Statement on the New Consumers Constituency Petition and Charter - we have two EURALO ALS from the Consumers constituency, one from Greece and one from Slovenia. Unfortunately, after they become part of EURALO, they never participated in any EURALO activities.
- Volunteer Review team member - EURALO have already passed two names – Christopher Wilkinson and Jeanette Hoffman. There has been a proposal that the ALAC Chair should be on the Board too.
- NomCom selected ALAC member for EURALO – EURALO comes with two names – Lutz Donnerhacke and Sebastien Bachollet. More candidates are strongly encouraged, especially aiming at regional and gender diversity.
- EURALO has been briefed on the development of the At-Large Selection Board Process
- Preparation of Nairobi Meeting - EURALO is quite committed to participate to the Nairobi meeting, our ALAC representatives are asked to forward this to ALAC.
Outreach activities:
- EURALO representatives participated at the IGF open consultations in Geneva. Olivier has been suggested as an expert from EURALO for the next EURODIG.
December 2009
Discussed ALAC issues:
- WHOIS-Privacy services - the issue of WHOIS privacy will be discussed on a regional level in the coming months in order to develop an At-Large position on WHOIS.
- *ICANN Strategic Plan 2010 - 2013 -* Sebastien's suggestion on one ALS per country should be included in EURALO's/ALAC's contribution to the Strategic Planning. All EURALO members participate in the survey linked to the strategic plan and send in comments to the list until mid-January.
- *At-Large Director Process -* The issue will be discussed on the mailing list and further discussed during the January 2010 call. The discussion will continue on wiki workspace on the EURALO webpage where the different positions and arguments on the At-Large Director Selection process can be discussed.
- Nairobi preparations-- Olivier Crepin-Leblond has been suggested as a good candidate due to his excellent work to be awarded with the travel funding, that the secretary of EURALO will not be able to use and participate for the Nairobi meeting.
EURALO issues:
- EURALO will start discussing the participation of Individual Internet Users, taking as an example the constitution of the issue in NARALO founding documents. This discussion should lead to a decision and framing before the GA in Brussels.
Outreach activities:
- Rudi Vansnick officially represented EURALO at the Consumer Rights Directive Forum in Brussels on the 8th of December. At-Large and EURALO Flyers has been distributed.
- On 14th December Olivier Crepin-Leblond took part in the Nominet Government Consultation event at Apex City of London.
November 2009
- EURALO members took part in the2009 IGF in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Number of ICANN related issues have been discussed during the meeting, feedback will follow from the participants.
- EURALO Leaflet has been finalized and printed. The leaflet has been developed as additional material, representative for the regional specifics and activities and is intended to be used together with the At-Large brochure and is aimed at motivating target organizations in joining EURALO. EURALO brochure is availabe for the other regions to modify and reuse athttps://st.icann.org/euralo/index.cgi?euralo_flyer.
- In November Europe and the whole world celebrated the 20th Anniversary of fall of Berlin wall and the following democratic processes in the former Eastern block. Heise.de published an article on the topic by the NomCom's Chair Wolfgang Kleinwaechterhttp://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/31/31019/1.html