|
Section 1. DESCRIPTION
|
|
There shall be a policy-development body known as the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), which shall be responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains
|
|
Section 2. ORGANIZATION
|
|
The GNSO shall consist of (i) various Constituencies representing particular groups of stakeholders, as described in Section 5 of this Article and (ii) a GNSO Council responsible for managing the policy development process of the GNSO.
|
|
Section 3. GNSO COUNCIL
|
1. Subject to the provisions of the Transition Article of these Bylaws, the GNSO Council shall consist of three representatives selected by each of the Constituencies described in Section 5 of this Article, and three persons selected by the ICANN Nominating Committee. No two representatives selected by a Constituency shall be citizens of the same country or of countries located in the same Geographic Region. There may also be two liaisons to the GNSO Council, one appointed by each of the Governmental Advisory Committee and the At-Large Advisory Committee from time to time, who shall not be members of or entitled to vote on the GNSO Council, but otherwise shall be entitled to participate on equal footing with members of the GNSO Council. The appointing Advisory Committee shall designate its liaison (or revoke or change the designation of its liaison) on the GNSO Council by providing written notice to the Chair of the GNSO Council and to the ICANN Secretary. The GNSO Council may also have observers as described in paragraph 9 of this Section.
|
2. Subject to the provisions of the Transition Article of these Bylaws: (a) the regular term of each GNSO Council member shall begin at the conclusion of an ICANN annual meeting and shall end at the conclusion of the second ICANN annual meeting thereafter; (b) the regular term of one representative selected by each Constituency shall begin in an even-numbered year and the regular term of the other representative selected by the Constituency shall begin in an odd-numbered year; and (c) the regular term of one of the three members selected by the Nominating Committee shall begin in even-numbered years and the regular term of the other two of the three members selected by the Nominating Committee shall begin in odd-numbered years. Each GNSO Council member shall hold office during his or her regular term and until a successor has been selected and qualified or until that member resigns or is removed in accordance with these Bylaws.
|
3. A GNSO Council member may resign at any time by giving written notice to the ICANN Secretary. A GNSO Council member selected by a Constituency may be removed by that Constituency according to its published procedures. A GNSO Council member selected by the Nominating Committee may be removed for cause stated by a three-fourths (3/4) vote (see Section 5(2) of this Article) of all members of the GNSO Council (excluding the member to be removed), subject to approval by the ICANN Board. A vacancy on the GNSO Council shall be deemed to exist in the case of the death, resignation, or removal of any member. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term involved by the Nominating Committee giving the ICANN Secretary written notice of its selection, unless the member holding the position before the vacancy occurred was selected by a Constituency, in which case that Constituency shall fill the unexpired term by giving the ICANN Secretary written notice of its selection.
|
4. The GNSO Council is responsible for managing the policy development process of the GNSO. It shall adopt such procedures as it sees fit to carry out that responsibility, provided that such procedures are approved by the Board, and further provided that, until any modifications are recommended by the GNSO Council and approved by the Board, the applicable procedures shall be as set forth in Section 6 of this Article. In addition, the GNSO Council is responsible for managing open forums, in the form of mailing lists or otherwise, for the participation of all who are willing to contribute to the work of the GNSO; such forums shall be appropriately moderated to ensure maximum focus on the business of the GNSO and to minimize non-substantive and abusive postings.
|
5. No more than one officer, director or employee of any particular corporation or other organization (including its subsidiaries and affiliates) shall serve on the GNSO Council at any given time.
|
6. The GNSO Council shall make selections to fill Seats 13 and 14 on the ICANN Board by written ballot or by action at a meeting; any such selection must have affirmative votes comprising a majority of the votes of all the members of the GNSO Council. Notification of the GNSO Council’s selections shall be given by the GNSO Chair in writing to the ICANN Secretary, consistent with Article VI, Sections 8(4) and 12(1).
|
7. The GNSO Council shall select the GNSO Chair, for a term the GNSO Council specifies but not longer than one year, by written ballot or by action at a meeting. Any such selection must have affirmative votes comprising a majority of the votes of all the members of the GNSO Council.
|
8. Except as provided by paragraph 6 of this Section, the GNSO Council shall act at meetings.
a. Members of the GNSO Council may participate in a meeting of the GNSO Council through use of (i) conference telephone or similar communications equipment, provided that all members participating in such a meeting can speak to and hear one another or (ii) electronic video screen communication or other communication equipment; provided that (a) all members participating in such a meeting can speak to and hear one another, (b) all members are provided the means of fully participating in all matters before the GNSO Council, and (c) ICANN adopts and implements means of verifying that (x) a person participating in such a meeting is a member of the GNSO Council or other person entitled to participate in the meeting and (y) all actions of, or votes by, the GNSO Council are taken or cast only by the members of the GNSO Council and not persons who are not members.
b. Members entitled to cast a majority of the total number of votes of GNSO Council members then in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and acts by a majority vote of the GNSO Council members present at any meeting at which there is a quorum shall be acts of the GNSO Council, unless otherwise provided herein. (See Section 5(2) of this Article concerning the number of votes that GNSO Council members may cast.)
c. Absentee voting. Members that are absent from a meeting at the time of a vote on whether to initiate a PDP, forward a policy recommendation to the Board, or fill a position open for election may vote by absentee ballot. The GNSO Secretariat will provide reasonable means for transmitting and authenticating absentee ballots, which could include voting by telephone, e- mail, or web-based interface. Absentee ballots must be submitted within 72 hours following the start of the meeting in which a vote is initiated, except that in exceptional circumstances announced at the time of the vote the Chair may reduce this time to 24 hours or extend the time to 7 days.
d. Advance notice of such meetings shall be posted on the Website, if reasonably practicable, at least 7 days in advance of the meeting.
e. Except where determined by a majority vote (see Section 5(2) of this Article) of members of the GNSO Council present that a closed session is appropriate, meetings shall be open to physical or electronic attendance by all interested persons.
f. The GNSO Council shall transmit minutes of its meetings to the ICANN Secretary, who shall cause those minutes to be posted to the Website as soon as practicable following the meeting, and no later than 21 days following the meeting.
|
9. The GNSO Council may agree with the Council of any other ICANN Supporting Organization to exchange observers. Such observers shall not be members of or entitled to vote on the GNSO Council, but otherwise shall be entitled to participate on equal footing with members of the GNSO Council. The appointing Council shall designate its observer (or revoke or change the designation of its observer) on the GNSO Council by providing written notice to the Chair of the GNSO Council and to the ICANN Secretary.
|
|
Section 4. STAFF SUPPORT AND FUNDING
|
1. A member of the ICANN staff shall be assigned to support the GNSO, whose work on substantive matters shall be assigned by the Chair of the GNSO Council, and shall be designated as the GNSO Staff Manager (Staff Manager).
|
2. ICANN shall provide administrative and operational support necessary for the GNSO to carry out its responsibilities. Such support shall not include an obligation for ICANN to fund travel expenses incurred by GNSO participants for travel to any meeting of the GNSO or for any other purpose.
|
|
Section 5. CONSTITUENCIES
|
1. The following self-organized Constituencies are hereby recognized as representative of a specific and significant group of stakeholders and, subject to the provisions of the Transition Article of these Bylaws, shall each select two representatives to the GNSO Council:
c. Internet Service and Connectivity Providers (representing all entities providing Internet service and connectivity to Internet users);
d. Commercial and Business Users (representing both large and small commercial entity users of the Internet);
e. Non-Commercial Users (representing the full range of non-commercial entity users of the Internet); and
f. Intellectual Property Interests (representing the full range of trademark and other intellectual property interests relating to the DNS).
|
2. The number of votes that members of the GNSO Council may cast shall be equalized so that the aggregate number of votes of representatives selected by the Constituencies (currently the gTLD Registries and Registrars) that are under contract with ICANN obligating them to implement ICANN-adopted policies is equal to the number of votes of representatives selected by other Constituencies. Initially, each member of the GNSO Council selected by the gTLD Registries Constituency or the Registrars Constituency shall be entitled to cast two votes and all other members (including those selected by the Nominating Committee) shall be entitled to cast one vote. In the event that there is a change in the Constituencies that are entitled to select voting members of the GNSO Council, the Board shall review the change in circumstances and by resolution revise the procedure for equalization of votes in a manner consistent with this paragraph 2.
|
3. Each Constituency identified in paragraph 1 of this Section shall maintain its recognition, and thus its ability to select GNSO Council representatives, only so long as it in fact represents the interests globally of the stakeholder communities it purports to represent, and shall operate to the maximum extent feasible in an open and transparent manner and consistent with procedures designed to ensure fairness. No individual or entity shall be excluded from participation in a Constituency merely because of participation in another Constituency.
|
4. Any group of individuals or entities may petition the Board for recognition as a new or separate Constituency. Any such petition shall contain a detailed explanation of:
a. Why the addition of such a Constituency will improve the ability of the GNSO to carry out its policy-development responsibilities; and
b. Why the proposed new Constituency would adequately represent, on a global basis, the stakeholders it seeks to represent.
|
|
|
5. The Board may create new Constituencies in response to such a petition, or on its own motion, if it determines that such action would serve the purposes of ICANN. In the event the Board is considering acting on its own motion it shall post a detailed explanation of why such action is necessary or desirable, set a reasonable time for public comment, and not make a final decision on whether to create such new Constituency until after reviewing all comments received. Whenever the Board posts a petition or recommendation for a new Constituency for public comment, it shall notify the GNSO Council and shall consider any response to that notification prior to taking action.
|
|
Section 6. POLICY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
|
|
Initially, the policy-development procedures to be followed by the GNSO shall be as stated in Annex A to these Bylaws. These procedures may be supplemented or revised in the manner stated in Section 3(4) of this Article.
|
