IP: ICANN Membership Advisory Committee—Expressions of Interest Sought by 5 December, 1998

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

ICANN

ICANN Membership Advisory Committee—Expressions of Interest Sought by 5
December, 1998




The ICANN Bylaws call for a membership structure to be established to elect At
Large directors. (See Bylaws Article V, Section 9(c)) 

The Initial Board is establishing an advisory committee (see Bylaws Article VII,
Section 3(c)) to advise it on the appropriate membership structure to satisfy
the need for world wide representation on the board, and in particular how to
create a diverse and open membership without subjecting the corporation to
undue risk of capture by any particular interest group. The advisory committee
will consist of up to ten members, and will include Initial Board members
George Conrades as Chairman, and Greg Crew. The Berkman Center for Internet and
Society at Harvard Law School has agreed to provide assistance to the
committee, including an independent study of membership issues. 

Expressions of interest are invited from individuals willing to serve on this
committee, which will address specific issues including but not limited to: 

a) membership structures and arrangements that will provide a world wide
representative body to nominate and elect the 9 At Large ICANN board directors
(with the goal of recommending three to five options to the ICANN Board). 

b) appropriate rights and obligations of members, including membership
application and registration requirements, membership fee structures, liability
limitation of members, and voting rights and procedures. 

c) requirements and procedures for various forms of membership, including
individual, corporate and association. 

d) efficient procedures for members to nominate and participate in the election
of At Large directors, and to participate in general meetings of the
corporation. 

The work of the advisory committee will be open and inclusive of all members of
the Internet community. Draft and final recommendations will be posted on the
ICANN web site, and suggestions and comments via the Internet will be invited
from interested parties. Recommendations from the committee will be subject to
the notice and comment procedures set forth in the Bylaws, Article III, Section
3. 

The ICANN Board will select the committee with the goal of assembling a diverse
and broadly representative group. Expressions of interest to participate are to
be directed to msvh () icann org, by midnight, 5 December, 1998, US west coast
time. Applicants are requested to state what contribution they would expect to
make towards the work of this committee; such statements need not be more than
100 words. 

The committee will commence work in December, 1998. Most of the work of the
committee will be conducted via phone or the Internet. A final meeting is
planned to be held in Singapore on 1 March, 1999, to prepare a report to the
ICANN board by the end of March. Committee members will be expected to devote
sufficient time to the work of the committee to achieve this very tight
schedule. 

Pending the identification of an ICANN funding mechanism and the actual receipt
of funds, ICANN's resources to support meeting and travel expenses of its
committees is very limited. We ask that committee members assist us by assuming
personal responsibility for their travel expenses, if possible. We will
facilitate phone participation in face-to-face meetings as necessary. 

Contact: 
Molly Shaffer Van Houweling 
Senior Advisor to the President and CEO 
Staff to the Advisory Committee on Membership 
ICANN 
msvh () icann org