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Preliminary Report: ICANN Meeting in Berlin

25-27 May 1999

Berlin Meeting Preliminary Report

ICANN held a number of meetings in Berlin on May 25-27, including:

Actions taken by the Board in Berlin included:

A multimedia archive of the DNSO General Assemby, the ICANN Open Meeting, and the Governmental Advisory Committee Open Meeting has been posted at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/icann/berlin/archive/. The archive, produced by the Berkman Center, includes agenda materials, RealVideo, Scribe's Notes, realtime comments received, and lists of remote participants.

After the Berlin meetings, ICANN released a press communiqué prepared and distributed by Alexander Ogilvy, ICANN's communications advisers. The press communiqué attempts to put the Board's decisions in a comprehensible context for a wide audience; however, readers are reminded that the Board's actual decisions are fully and authoritatively embodied only in its resolutions, and in the approved minutes of its meetings.

ICANN Resolutions, May 27, 1999:

Resolution on DNSO Constituencies

The Board discussed the applications received to date from groups desiring to form Constituencies of the Domain Names Supporting Organization. After consideration, the Board unanimously adopted the following resolutions.

RESOLVED, that the following Constituencies (as defined in Article VI-B of the Bylaws) are provisionally recognized until the annual meeting of the Board in 1999, to operate in accordance with the proposals received by the Corporation and ordered attached to these minutes:

ccTLD registries
Commercial and business entities
gTLD registries
Intellectual property
ISPs and connectivity providers
Registrars

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the President of the Corporation is directed to work with the Constituencies to amend their proposals to address deficiencies noted by the Board, which amended proposals must include a commitment of the submitting Constituency to hold a new election of Names Council representatives promptly following the approval by the Board of such amended proposal.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that, when such proposals are so amended, the Board should examine such proposals to determine whether the deficiencies have been satisfactorily addressed and whether to extend the recognition today made.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Names Council representatives chosen by the provisionally recognized Constituencies shall constitute the provisional Names Council, with all the powers set forth in the Bylaws other than the selection of Directors (pursuant to Section 2(e) of Article VI-B of the Bylaws), which selection powers will be deferred until such time as the Board determines it has made sufficient final recognitions.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board requests that the Constituency for gTLD registries agree, for so long as Network Solutions is the only participant in such Constituency, to select only one individual (rather than three) to represent that Constituency on the provisional Names Council, and the Board states that if such Constituency does not agree to make only one such selection, the Board will amend the Bylaws to effectuate such goal.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the phrase "except with the consent of the Board" shall be inserted after the twenty-first word of Section 3(c) of Article VI-B of the Bylaws.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board considers geographic diversity to be an important requirement that should be met promptly, but consents to waiver of the Names Council geographic diversity requirement of Article VI-B(3)(c) of the Bylaws, for the period of provisional recognition only.

FURTHER RESOLVED, the Board determines that no proposal to create a non-commercial domain name holders Constituency has yet been submitted that is appropriate for recognition.

FURTHER RESOLVED, with the recognition that the interests represented by a non-commercial domain name holders Constituency should be involved as early as possible in the DNSO organization process, the Board urges that the organizers of this Constituency should submit a consensus application for provisional recognition as soon as possible, so that the issue of recognition can be reconsidered by the Board no later than an anticipated meeting during the week of June 21 so that representatives of this Constituency can join the provisional Names Council.

Resolution on Report of World Intellectual Property Organization

WHEREAS, in the White Paper the U.S. Government called on the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to develop recommendations regarding trademark disputes concerning domain names;

WHEREAS, on April 30, 1999, WIPO submitted a report to the ICANN Board containing numerous recommendations that resulted from an extensive consultative process;

WHEREAS, the first ICANN-accredited registrars (testbed registrars), are preparing to introduce competition in the provision of domain registration services and accordingly are required soon to implement dispute resolution policies;

RESOLVED, the ICANN Board commends the WIPO on its report, which the ICANN Board finds represents a substantial and positive contribution to the analysis and discussion of issues concerning the relationship between the domain-name system and intellectual property rights;

FURTHER RESOLVED, the ICANN Board notes that most of the recommendations in Chapter 2 of the WIPO report relating to best practices for registrars are closely similar to many of the elements of the Statement of Registrar Accreditation Policy adopted by the Board on March 4, 1999 and that the provisions of that policy are scheduled for review by the Board in the first half of 2000;

FURTHER RESOLVED, the ICANN Board endorses the principle that a uniform dispute resolution policy should be adopted for Registrars in the .com, .net, and .org Top-Level Domains (TLDs);

FURTHER RESOLVED, the ICANN Board encourages the testbed registrars to work together to formulate a model dispute resolution policy for voluntary adoption and directs the President to provide information and similar assstance to the testbed registrars in this regard;

FURTHER RESOLVED, the ICANN Board refers the recommendations in Chapter 3 of the WIPO report (with associated annexes) to the ICANN Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO) for the recommendations of the DNSO, to be submitted to the ICANN Board by July 31, 1999;

FURTHER RESOLVED, the ICANN Board requests that by July 31, 1999 the DNSO submit to the Board any other recommendations the DNSO may have concerning a uniform dispute resolution policy for registrars in the .com, .net, and .org TLDs;

FURTHER RESOLVED, the ICANN Board requests all persons desiring to make written comments concerning a uniform dispute resolution policy for registrars in the .com, .net, and .org TLDs to submit those comments by August 20, 1999, in advance of the Board's meeting scheduled for August 24-26, 1999 in Santiago, at which time Board action on such a policy is hereby scheduled; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, the ICANN Board refers the recommendations in Chapters 4 and 5 (with associated annexes) of the WIPO report to the ICANN DNSO for recommendations on the topics of those chapters, to be submitted to the ICANN Board at the earliest practicable time after the Board's meeting scheduled for August 24-26, 1999 in Santiago.

Resolution on At-Large Membership

WHEREAS, the Board has received and reviewed the Commentary on the Principles of the At-Large Membership from the Membership Advisory Committee;

WHEREAS, the Board recognizes the significant contribution to the discussion and evaluation of the process of establishing the ICANN At-Large Membership made by the MAC, expresses its deep appreciation for the personal sacrifices that effort required, and accepts the retirement of the current members of the MAC;

WHEREAS, the Board has also considered the public comments submitted via the Internet and at the Singapore and Berlin open meetings;

WHEREAS, the Board reaffirms its intention to establish, as soon as practicable, a system that permits individuals to select geographically diverse At-Large Directors, but also recognizes that this effort, given the unique context of a new form of global consensus organization with responsibility for oversight of an important global resource, is likely to be both administratively complex and expensive (especially in relation to ICANN's anticipated budget);

WHEREAS the Board believes that the cost of implementing an At-Large membership and election process should primarily be borne by that membership;

WHEREAS, the Board also reaffirms its intention to implement an At-Large election process that supports the principal responsibility of ICANN, which is to preserve the operational stability of the Internet, and thus to implement any such process over a transitional period that will permit any adjustments to the process determined to be necessary to meet this commitment;

NOW THEREFORE, the Board directs staff to review the MAC Commentary and report back to the Board before the Santiago meeting on the administrative requirements, likely cost, and logistical details of an election process responsive to the MAC Commentary.

AND FURTHER, the Board directs counsel to report to it before the Santiago meeting on the legal implications of an election process responsive to the MAC commentary.

AND FURTHER, the Board directs staff to recommend to the Board a process for repopulating the MAC, so that it can advise the Board on promotion and encouragement of membership and solicitation of sponsorship for outreach programs.

Resolution on Protocol Supporting Organization

WHEREAS the Board of Directors has received the proposal for a Protocol Supporting Organization submitted on April 23, 1999; and

WHEREAS the community of open, international, voluntary, Internet-related technical standard and technical specification development organizations has expressed its consensus support for the proposal;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board accepts the proposal for a Protocol Supporting Organization submitted on April 23, 1999, and authorizes and directs the President to prepare implementing Bylaws, and to sign an appropriate Memorandum of Understanding in cooperation with the proponents of the proposal, subject to ratification by the Board.

Resolution on Independent Review

WHEREAS the Board of Directors has received and considered the Interim Report and Draft Principles submitted by the Advisory Committee on Independent Review on May 7, 1999, along with the Addendum to the Interim Report submitted on May 26, 1999; and

WHEREAS the Board has reviewed and considered the public comments submitted via the Internet and at the Berlin open meeting;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board (1) accepts the Draft Principles, as amended by the Addendum; (2) states its preference for option (c) to Draft Principle 9 set forth in the Addendum; and (3) requests that the Advisory Committee on Independent Review complete and submit its final report and recommendations by August 10, 1999; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board thanks the Advisory Committee on Independent Review for its hard and productive work so far.

Resolution on ICANN Bylaws relating to Governmental Advisory Committee

WHEREAS the Board has received the Operating Principles adopted by the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC); and

WHEREAS the GAC has requested that the Board conform the applicable Bylaws to the membership criteria established in the Operating Principles;

BE IT RESOLVED that Article VII, Sec. 3(a) of the Bylaws be amended to replace the third sentence with the following:

"Membership of the Governmental Advisory Committee shall be open to all national governments. Membership shall also be open to Distinct Economies as recognized in international fora, and multinational governmental organizations and treaty organizations, on the invitation of the Governmental Advisory Committee through its Chair, or on invitation of the ICANN Board. Members of the Governmental Advisory Committee shall appoint one accredited representative to the Committee. The accredited representative of a Member must hold a formal official position with the Member's public administration. The term "official" includes a holder of an elected governmental office, or a person who is employed by such government, public authority or multinational governmental or treaty organization and whose primary function with such government, public authority or organization is to develop or influence governmental or public policies."

Resolution on Budget

WHEREAS, the bylaws of the Corporation require that the President shall prepare and submit to the Board a proposed annual budget of the Corporation for the next fiscal year.

WHEREAS, the President has submitted to the Board a proposed budget, which proposed budget is ordered attached to the minutes of this meeting (the "Proposed Budget").

WHEREAS, the Proposed Budget provides for total revenue of $5.9M, total expenditures of $4.2M and total capital equipment purchases, contribution to operating reserve and provision for prior year loss of $1.7M.

WHEREAS, the Board has reviewed the Proposed Budget and has found that the adoption of the proposed budget is in the best interest of the Corporation.

NOW THEREFORE, after discussion and due consideration, the Board unanimously adopted the following resolutions:

RESOLVED, that the Proposed Budget is hereby adopted as the annual budget of the Corporation for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1999 (as adopted, the "Budget").

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the President is authorized and directed to implement and carry out the Budget and is directed to inform the Board of material variances from the Budget.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the President is directed to cause the Budget to be published on the Corporation's Web Site.

Resolution on Disbursements

RESOLVED, that Michael Roberts, Josh Elliott and Suzanne Woolf, and each one of them, may authorize disbursements of the Corporation's funds, and sign checks of the Corportion, in amounts of $5,000 or less, and Josh Elliott and Suzanne Woolf, and each of them, may authorize disbursements of the Corporation's funds, and sign checks of the Corporation, in amounts of more than $5,000 and less than $50,000 with the written approval of the President of the Corporation (presently Michael Roberts), which written approval in the case of a check shall be indicated by the of signature of the President on the check. In the event that a disbursement of $50,000 or more is needed, the approval of the Board or the Executive Committee shall be required.

Resolution on Payment Ratification

RESOLVED, that five checks in excess of $10,000 signed and delivered by Michael Roberts on behalf of the Corporation and described by Mr. Roberts to the Board are hereby ratified and approved.

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