[WSIS CS-Plenary] request for sign-on from civil society groups supporting petition for a noncommercial stakeholders group at ICANN

[Robin Gross]

Dear All,

I am contacting you in the hopes that you can help to garner support  
for the proposed Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group (NCSG) charter at  
ICANN.  We are asking groups who support the petition to please sign  
this joint civil society statement: http://www.ipjustice.org/ICANN/ 
NCSG/NCSG_Charter_Civil_Society_Support.pdf

We are looking for sign-on from civil society groups from all over  
the world who can sign the statement.  Deadline is tomorrow 15 April  
(EOB in California) to sign-on.

	As you may know, the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) is the  
organization that represents non-commercial interests and advocates  
for the protection of digital rights including free expression,  
privacy, due process of law and other non-commercial interests in  
ICANN-GNSO policy discussions.  As part of ICANN’s GNSO Restructuring  
efforts, the 6 “constituencies” are being replaced by 4 broader  
“stakeholder groups”, including a Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group  
(NCSG) to represent the interests of non-commercial users of domain  
names in the GNSO policy arena at ICANN.

NCUC has submitted a petition for the charter of the NCSG that  
intends to encourage broader civil society participation at ICANN and  
aims to increase the relative power of non-commercial interests in  
ICANN policy negotiations.  Noncommercial individuals and  
organizations are invited to participate in the NCSG, which will be  
governed by stakeholder group wide elections under the petition.

All of the proposed stakeholder group petitions are in the midst of a  
Public Comment Period at ICANN (until 15 April) so the ICANN Board of  
Directors can receive input from the general public on the various  
stakeholder group petitions.  Today I write to ask that your  
organization consider signing onto the attached joint civil society  
statement supporting NCUC’s proposal for a stakeholder group petition  
to be filed in the Public Comment forum.

	The NCSG charter needs your support to ensure that all non- 
commercial interests have a voice through their GNSO representatives  
and in the creation of policy.

	We ask for your support because we want the stakeholder group that  
represents non-commercial interests to be able to generate sound,  
consensual, and collaborative policy and decisions that are  
representative of all of the members in the stakeholder group.

	In summary, the NCUC’s petition for a Non-Commercial Stakeholder  
Group is the best proposal of those submitted because it:

Emphasizes democratic representation to the Generic Names Supporting  
Organization instead of a constituency-based approach that gives  
disproportionate power to select groups.
Encourages cooperation and inclusiveness through consensus-building  
among members of the stakeholder groups.
Ensures that minority viewpoints are heard and their policy ideas are  
explored through an increased reliance on working groups.
Operates with a flexible and lightweight framework that allows it to  
focus on representing non-commercial interests without getting bogged  
down by bureaucratic details.
Was drafted in consultation with dozens of civil society  
organizations representing all corners of the globe and went through  
numerous evolutions and thus represents a true consensus document,  
submitted by the entire NCUC (over 70 members, accept 1).
	Please consider signing the following statement to indicate your  
support for the NCSG petition from NCUC.

Joint Civil Society Statement Supporting the NCSG Petition from NCUC:

http://www.ipjustice.org/ICANN/NCSG/ 
NCSG_Charter_Civil_Society_Support.pdf

We would be glad to provide any additional information or answer any  
questions or concerns you may have on the issue.

Please indicate your support for signing this civil society statement  
before 15 April (which is the deadline for submitting Public  
Comments) by sending an email to robin at ipjustice.org.  Thank you very  
much.

Signed,

The NCUC Executive Committee and GNSO Councilors:

Robin Gross, NCUC Chair

Norbert Klein, NCUC Nominating Committee Representative (Asia)

Carlos Affonso Pereira de Souza, NCUC GNSO Policy Councilor (South  
America)

Mary Wong, NCUC GNSO Policy Councilor (Asia)

William Drake, NCUC GNSO Policy Councilor (Europe)

Carlos Afonso, NCUC Executive Committee Representative (South America)

Horacio Cadiz NCUC Executive Committee Representative (Asia)

Georg Greve, NCUC Executive Committee Representative (Europe)

Robert Guerra, NCUC Executive Committee Representative (North America)

Dave Kissoondoyal, NCUC Executive Committee Representative (Africa)


Background Information:

Joint Civil Society Statement Supporting the NCSG Petition from NCUC:
http://www.ipjustice.org/ICANN/NCSG/ 
NCSG_Charter_Civil_Society_Support.pdf

NCUC’s Petition to Form a Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group:
http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/ncsg-petition-charter.pdf

Executive Summary / Cover Letter of NCSG Petition from NCUC:
http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/executive-summary-ncsg- 
proposal.pdf

Information on ICANN Public Comment Period for Stakeholder Group  
Petitions:
http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/#sg-petitions

Public Comments Submitted Thus Far on Stakeholder Group Petitions:
http://forum.icann.org/lists/sg-petitions-charters/

IGF/WSIS Internet Governance Caucus Statement Supporting NCUC’s NCSG  
Proposal:
http://forum.icann.org/lists/sg-petitions-charters/msg00009.html





IP JUSTICE
Robin Gross, Executive Director
1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA  94117  USA
p: +1-415-553-6261    f: +1-415-462-6451
w: http://www.ipjustice.org     e: robin at ipjustice.org




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