Participants: C Samuels (Chair), D Juggernauth, C Aguirre, R Medina, S Herlein Leite, A Piazza, JL Barzallo, W Davalos, D Monastarksy
Staff: F Teboul, M Langenegger
The meeting started at 15:20 with the Staff announcements
Staff announcements
The Staff made the following announcements:
- Translated material related to the ALAC review process should be posted shortly
- Translations for the RAA review, including the RAA, should also be available soon. These have taken longer than normal translations due the fact that a long legal document is being translated, requiring a greater level of precision than would normally be the case for a non-legal document;
- The translation of the minutes has been delayed due to the large volume of translations ordered in the last 30 days, but normally it should only be a week after the English version that the Spanish edition is available.
- The JPA review documentation is now available in Spanish – as well as many other languages – the deadline for comments on this round is 31st July.
- The public comment period for the IDNC Fast Track process is open – multilingual versions are imminently to be posted.
The Chair thanked Nick Ashton-Hart from Staff for his efforts with regards to ICANN’s translation program and noted the improvements of the ICANN website that have ultimately taken place. He encouraged the LACRALO members to regularly check the website for updates.
Action Items
There were no action items for this month.
Review of ALS Application: ACUI
The Chair shortly reviewed the ALS application process and gave a short presentation of ACUI, the currently standing ALS application from the region. He proposed that the regional advise for this application should be to accept.
C Aguirre seconded the proposal of the Chair.
There being no objections, it was decided by consensus that the Regional Advice for ACUI will be to accept the application. The decision will be transmitted to the ALAC.
Current Policy Issues
The Chair advised the LACRALO members to review the adopted budget for the fiscal year 08-09, especially the part concerning the ALAC review. (http://www.icann.org/financials/fiscal-30jun09.htm)
The Chair noted that the Policy work that LACRALO was doing should reflect the policy work the ALAC is doing because this is the most direct way to influence ICANN’s policy process.
C Aguirre noted that there were many other documents that recently have been translated and said that it was important that the regional ALSes made comments on these issues and transmitted them to their regional ALAC representatives in order for them to have something to base their statements upon.
At-Large summit
The Chair asked C Aguirre to give a short summary of the At-Large Summit activities that took place in Paris.
A Piazza noted that there already was a Summit working group with a mailing list. Unfortunately he and Sylvia could not participate in Paris but they will resume their work on the summit preparations with the same enthusiasm as before.
C Aguirre gave a short review of the summit discussion in Paris. He noted that the ICANN board accepted the summit budget and that the summit is set to take place in Mexico. It was decided that the ALS representatives were authorized to receive travel funding. However, they need to be up-to-date with current ICANN issues and need to be briefed. He urged the LACRALO members that there was a need to be well prepared for the summit. There needs to be interaction other than the monthly teleconferences.
New gTLD program
The Chair gave a short review of the latest activities on this issue. He noted that there has also been a lot of discussion about this issue on the LACRALO mailing list and that many expressed worries about the fact that there is a clause on morality in the new gTLD proposal. Wendy Seltzer, the ALAC Board liaison, made a comment on the new gTLD process to the Board in Paris on behalf of the ALAC. He further noted that although the Board has adopted the new gTLD process, there would be another opportunity for the community to influence the process when it comes to the implementation.
C Samuels noted that the new gTLD working group identified a need to define the judicial nature of the domain names. If we consider that the domain names do not relate to actual words such as brand names but are only the result of a mechanism to distinguish between different addresses, there should not be a problem. We also referred to the Universal declaration of human rights, especially with regards to articles 19, 27 and 29 in terms of freedom of expression and cultural rights.
Motion to modify the Operating Principles of the LACRALO
A Piazza moved the following:
WHEREAS article number 4 of the Operating Principles of the LACRALO will be modified according to the text below:
Actual Text:
_4. The governing body of the LacRALO will be a General Assembly
composed of two (2) representatives of each accredited ALSs, freely
appointed or removed by each ALS, which shall inform the Secretary of
the appointments made_.
_Said individuals shall also act as official contacts of the ALS vis-à-vis the
LACRALO for the duration of their appointment_.
_The General Assembly shall, to the extent possible, operate by consensus.
If a consensus cannot be reached, each ALS accredited in the General
Assembly shall be entitled to one vote and those votes shall decide by
simple majority any matter put to vote. In the event of a tie vote, the
person chairing the meeting shall have the casting vote_.
Suggested Text:
_The governing body of the LacRALO will be a General Assembly
composed of two (2) representatives of each accredited ALSs, freely
appointed or removed by each ALS, which shall inform the Secretary of
the appointments made_.
_Said individuals shall also act as official contacts of the ALS vis-à-vis the
LACRALO for the duration of their appointment_.
_The General Assembly shall, to the extent possible, operate by consensus.
If a consensus cannot be reached, each ALS accredited in the General
Assembly shall be entitled to one vote and those votes shall decide by
simple majority any matter put to vote_.
_The General Assembly shall elect a President, whose term shall be for one year,
with the possibility of re-election. The process of election of the President
of the Assembly shall take into account the level of participation, leadership,
commitment, and knowledge of the work of the Assembly. In the event of a tie
in the course of deliberations, the President shall cast the deciding vote_.
A Piazza noted that the dual model of a regional Chair and a Secretary worked well in the North-American region and would help enhance the communications within the region and to establish a nexus between the South American region and the other regions.
JL Barzallo noted that A Piazza made an excellent proposal.
There will be further deliberation on the suggested changes to LACRALO’s Operating Principles at the next LACRALO teleconference.
The Chair noted that there was in fact a LACRALO chair but not during the time between General Assemblies. The difference between NARALO and LACRALO was that in North America they had a standing chair whereas LACRALO only has a Chair at General Assemblies.
Board liaison election
The Chair gave a short review of the voting process for the position of Board liaison. He noted that the region’s task was to provide a consensus view for their ALAC representatives, which they will be able to represent in the ALAC.
When asked to give a short assessment of the candidates, C Aguirre noted that W Seltzer had a more radical vision of the ALAC. She has done a good job so far but needs to get more inputs from us. She seems to be a good candidate. On the other hand, B Brendler is from a very influential ALS, Consumer Reports with more than 8 million members. B Brendler is the Chairman of Consumer Reports Web Watch. He is a more centred candidate than W Seltzer, very capable and therefore represents a very good option. C Aguirre noted that he would not opt for one of the candidates but will simply transmit the decision from the regional ALS.
The Chair noted that W Seltzer would be his candidate because he thought that she was very bright and had the spirit to break into the old boy’s network that was the ICANN Board. He also noted that one year was not enough to build bridges with individual Board members and have an influence on them. He therefore supports W Seltzer.
The Chair noted that the vote would not be before October and there will be enough time to assess the candidates. Two options present themselves with regards to the presentation of the candidates. There could either be one global teleconference where the candidates could present themselves and answer questions or they cold be asked to join regional teleconferences.
R Medina noted that he preferred regional interaction to global interaction and would like to have the candidates appear on one of the next LACRALO teleconferences.
There were no objections to that proposal.
The Chair suggested that the Board liaison candidates should be invited to a special LACRALO teleconference.
The Staff will organize a regional teleconference apart from the monthly teleconference where the Board liaison candidates will be able to present themselves.
The Chair then adjourned the meeting.
