Registries Stakeholder Group Charter Amendments

What We Need Your Input On

The Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) recently amended its charter and notified the ICANN organization of its request for approval by the ICANN Board. This Public Comment proceeding seeks input on proposed amendments of the RySG charter to inform ICANN Board consideration.

The RySG 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 and the ICANN Bylaws.

Specific amendments include:

• Updated organizational structure while bringing charter in uniformity with ICANN formatting.
• Clarified mission and participation principles.
• Clarified areas of governance, including expanded methods of determining decision-making and policy positions.
• Updated the qualities and definitions of membership categories.
• Composition of the officer positions on the executive committee.
• Provisions for communications and publication policies.
• Addition and definition of an annual meeting for membership.
• Authorization to use proxies in votes.

Background

The ICANN Bylaws (Article 11, 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.

Next Steps

After the submission period for this Public Comment proceeding ends, the ICANN organization will prepare a summary report and share the input with the RySG before consideration by the ICANN Board.

Supporting Information

This additional information from ICANN org provides more context for this Public Comment Proceeding and may help you review the proposals for input and publish a submission.