closed Not-for-Profit Operational Concerns Constituency Charter Amendments

Outcome

ICANN org will share this summary report and the submissions with the NPOC for its consideration. The NPOC will then prepare the final version of its amended charter for approval by its members and submit it to the ICANN Board.

What We Received Input On

The Not-for-Profit Operational Concerns (NPOC) Constituency of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) recently amended its charter and notified the ICANN organization (org) of its request for approval by the ICANN Board. This Public Comment proceeding seeks input on proposed amendments of the NPOC charter to inform ICANN Board consideration.

NPOC amended its charter to reflect its current practices, align with its operating procedures, and accommodate its evolving needs. It also accounts for best practices for the GNSO such as the GNSO Operating Procedures, Work Stream 2 Recommendation 6 from the Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability), and the ICANN Bylaws. The amended NPOC charter is the culmination of work by the NPOC Charter Drafting Team in partnership with ICANN org.

Specific amendments include:

• New organizational structure with sections on mission, governance, engagement and outreach, accountability and transparency, elections, meetings, and amendments in a new template.
• Revised mission statement to reflect a focus on not-for-profit operational concerns related to generic top-level domains.
• Clarified areas of governance, including a definition of membership eligibility and the requirement to join the Noncommercial Stakeholder Group prior to joining NPOC.
• Criteria for appointing organizational or alternate representatives.
• Expanded provisions regarding Executive and Policy Committee roles, responsibilities, and eligibility.
• Provisions for engagement and outreach, which acknowledge the potential for future NPOC representation to other ICANN community groups.
• New section on accountability and transparency, including communications to members.
• Revised section on elections, which outlines principles related to quorum and the removal of officers.
• Revised section on meetings, which includes principles related to notices, observers, and recordkeeping.
• Updated amendment section, accounting for best practices from the GNSO Operating Procedures and CCWG-Accountability Work Stream 2 recommendations.

Background

The ICANN Bylaws (Article XI, Section 5.c) state that each GNSO Stakeholder Group and its associated Constituencies “shall maintain recognition with the ICANN Board.” The ICANN Board has interpreted this language to require approval of any charter amendments.

As a best practice, each GNSO Stakeholder Group and Constituency reviews its charter on a regular basis. In September 2013, the ICANN Board approved a Process for Amending GNSO Stakeholder Group and Constituency Charters to guide its consideration of any GNSO Stakeholder Group and Constituency charter amendments.

Supporting Information