ALSC Implementation Report

Letter to the Board:

As directed by the Board in November 2001, the At-Large Study Committee (ALSC) has further investigated and solicited input on implementation issues that would be involved should the Board adopt some or all of the recommendations in the ALSC's final report. Our findings and recommendations are contained in the enclosed "Implementation Report" and supporting documents, including proposed guidelines for an election of At-Large Directors.

This builds on our recommendations in our final report from November. Then, we recommended that a third of the members of the ICANN Board should be elected by committed individual users of the domain name system in order to safeguard the transparency of the ICANN decision-making system, and make certain that all voices were heard. We saw it as important to set-up, through this election process, what we called an "At-Large Supporting Organization" to assure a more permanent commitment by those committed individual users in the affairs of ICANN.

We were very much aware of the need to look at the wider issues of the structure of ICANN. A stable ICANN is a global public interest. We also saw merit in preserving the basics of the philosophy of self-regulation that has been the foundation of ICANN from the very beginning. It has become apparent that there might be a need to look at all the issues relating to the structure of ICANN, and far-reaching proposals have been issued for public consideration. It is beyond the mandate of the ALSC to comment on these, but we want to reiterate that we see a role for committed individual users of the domain name system, and others, in practically all the different models that could be considered for ICANN. Provided there is sufficient interest, we see this as essential in the new and better ICANN that we all hope will emerge.

By this, the ALSC has completed its original, as well as its supplementary mandate. For all of us, it has been a truly inspiring process, in which we have had the privilege to discuss with, and meet, different members of the expansive "family" that together comprises ICANN. We have been truly impressed by the competence and dedication of the individuals we have met. If the structural issues now on the table can be resolved, there is no reason why ICANN will not succeed in creating a model for open and transparent global regulation bringing in all the stakeholders of the process.

Sincerely,
The At-Large Membership Study Committee

The At-Large Study Committee has prepared a draft "At-Large Decision Tree" to illustrate what we see as the four primary At-Large options before the Board and corresponding courses of action. The Board can choose to 1) simultaneously foster organization of an ALSO and conduct At-Large elections now, or 2) foster organization of an ALSO now and defer the elections, or 3) conduct At-Large elections this year and defer an ALSO organization, or 4) decline to foster and accept an At-Large constituency. Each option has its costs and benefits to be considered, and within each option numerous critical decisions must be made on implementation.

The ALSC reaffirms its recommendation (detailed in our final report) that an At-Large Supporting Organization (ALSO) be created to provide individual Internet user participation within ICANN and direct election of one-third of the Board (6 At-Large Directors and 12 Directors from developer and provider constituencies) (Option #1). Our intention is to help create a policy and decision-making structure and process that fosters understanding and accommodation in decision-making among various interests, including individual Internet users. We believe our recommendation has the potential for consensus support and will help ensure that ICANN's policies truly reflect the needs, interests and rights of all its stakeholders, and that such an approach will contribute to the stability of the domain name system and attract broader public support over time. Our approach offers a framework for all interested individuals' structured participation, focuses At-Large membership (an electorate) on an identifiable and vested community, provides a reasonable mechanism for registration and self-funding, and grants At-Large members a proportionate responsibility for selecting ICANN's Board (along with the DNSO, ASO, and PSO).

I. Membership Threshold
Three options in the decision tree contain a "membership threshold." Given the uncertainty inherent in creating a self-sustaining At-Large membership, the ALSC recommends that the Board require a threshold of 5000 individual members before proceeding with the At-Large election. This will ensure a minimum level of At-Large participation and is consistent with the last At-Large election's threshold requirement. If the threshold is not reached in time to conduct the election and seat new At-Large Directors by the end of the year (as illustrated in the decision tree), the ALSC recommends that the Board appoint Directors to fill At-Large Board seat vacancies (initially by inviting existing At-Large Directors to continue their service and perhaps through a nominating committee). It should be noted that this is not intended to be a "financial threshold." As you can see in the ALSC's cost estimate table, 5,000 registrants would need to pay approximately US$55 each to cover the first year's costs *if* no initial funding was provided by ICANN or other sources.

II. Potential Election Schedule
Moving forward with an At-Large election and ALSO creation immediately after ICANN's Accra meeting would require approximately US$255,000 in initial funding in calendar year 2002 (and approximately US$282,000 in calendar years 2003 and 2004. (See section XI below and the cost estimate table). The ALSC has begun to solicit financial pledges to help determine the availability of outside funding to help with At-Large costs. Assuming initial funding is available in March, we developed a potential election schedule to give you a sense of the process elements involved and how things might progress.

While the ALSC recommends that the Board move forward with both the ALSO and the election, we thought it would be useful to briefly describe the "pros and cons" of each approach illustrated in the decision tree, and the important process elements to be considered, in an effort to help you work through this critical and complex decision.

III. Organize ALSO and Conduct Election
Launching an ALSO and beginning work on an At-Large election next month are mutually reinforcing processes. Regional and local ALSO organizing will facilitate At-Large outreach and membership registration and raise awareness of, and involvement in, the nominations and election process. The last At-Large election demonstrated that there is potential for a global At-Large constituency, and ICANN has the opportunity to enable interested individuals to make that constituency a reality. Conducting an election that could result in Directors seated by ICANN's 2002 annual meeting also fulfills ICANN's original At-Large commitment and its bylaw requirements. This option also is consistent with the ALSC's recommendation that election of At-Large Directors should be predicated on sustained involvement provided by an ALSO. An At-Large election this year would provide members for Regional At-Large Councils and a global At-Large Council (if the ALSC's proposal is implemented) to lead the growth and operation of an ALSO going forward.

Aside from the overall uncertainty of success, the downside to this option is its cost. We estimate that launching both an ALSO and an election process in March would require an initial $255,000. A request for proposals would need to be issued and a contract signed for work to begin on an online election system that may or may not be used (if a membership threshold is adopted and is not met). Despite the ALSC's efforts, we were unable to determine the actual level of interest in a self-sustaining At-Large membership and creation of an ALSO. Regardless, the potential size of the membership also will depend on the Organizing Committee's effectiveness at outreach (which in turn may depend on funding).

While it is not within the ALSC's purview to comment on ICANN budget issues, we are mindful of ICANN's non-profit status and the need to keep At-Large membership fees as low as practical. We believe a significant amount of funding should be raised through donations from individuals and organizations. The ALSC has begun to solicit financial pledges to demonstrate the availability of outside funding for an At-LargeÉ. and indeed to make those funds available!

IV. Organize ALSO and Defer Election
It is estimated that this option will require approximately $50,000 less in initial funding than the first option ($205,000), since an election website would not be launched until later in the year when/if the membership threshold is reached (if this recommendation is adopted). Resources would be focused on registering At-Large members and organizing an ALSO. Encouraging the self-organization of regional and local ALSO entities would facilitate At-Large outreach, and increase registrations, and involvement in the nominations and election process.

This option could result in At-Large Directors not being seated in 2002 as required in the bylaws. Elections could be concluded in December, but delaying the start of the election process until July increases the likelihood of setbacks moving the election into 2003. The Board would need to take interim action to deal with replacement of at least some current At-Large Directors in 2002.

V. Conduct Election and Defer
For approximately $100,000 less in initial funding than option #1 ($145,000), this option could enable selection of At Large Directors to be implemented on a schedule that would allow those Directors to be seated in 2002 as noted in the bylaws regarding ALSC recommendations. (This assumes current ICANN staff can provide election support and contractor oversight). An election this year also would have the benefit of providing ALSO leadership that could then assume responsibility for beginning ALSO organization.

The ALSC, however, believes that there should not be At-Large representation (or that At-Large representation would not be effective or meaningful) without the sustained individual participation that an ALSO would provide. Furthermore, At-Large registration would be hampered without the assistance of a fledgling ALSO, potentially causing the suggested threshold for At-Large registrations to not be met, and thus deferring the election.

VI. Do not create an At-Large constituency
If the Board determines for whatever reasons to not create an ALSO and conduct At-Large elections, a means needs to be found for the participation and representation of the interests of individual Internet users not otherwise represented and involved through one of the existing SOs. Depending on what alternative is chosen, this option could cost considerably less. The Board may consider creating and sustaining an At-Large constituency to be too expensive, and the ability to raise outside donations is unknown. As with all of the options, the question of the level of interest in, and ability to create, a self-sustaining ALSO must be considered. The level of interest in a self-sustaining membership has not been demonstrated and factors such as the low level of user involvement in the ALSC's work do raise concern. In addition, given the projected costs for an ALSO and election, there is a very real concern about whether users will pay to cover a majority of the At-Large costs. Results of the ALSC's membership survey underscore this point (as discussed below). Another issue that may affect this decision is our current inability to conduct an affordable online election with a high degree of integrity.

This option leaves the Board with the challenge of finding another method of meeting its commitment to involve a wide range of Internet users -- "The new corporation should operate as a private entity for the benefit of the Internet community as a whole. The development of sound, fair, and widely accepted policies for the management of DNS will depend on input from the broad and growing community of Internet users. Management structures should reflect the functional and geographic diversity of the Internet and its users. Mechanisms should be established to ensure international participation in decision making." ("White Paper," U.S. Department of Commerce, June 5, 1998). Identifying another mechanism that enables all of ICANN's "customers" to directly influence its actions and ensure the "public interest" is represented will be challenging. Absent such a mechanism, some will charge that ICANN lacks broad representation, which could potentially undermine its credibility and ability to fulfill its mission. As previously noted by the ALSC, failure of ICANN to visibly address the interests of all its stakeholders would reduce the organization's perceived legitimacy and invite government involvement, or some kind of externally, rather than internally, driven reorganization. This would likely result in substantially slower decision-making, and could significantly delay action on user priorities and hamper ICANN's effectiveness and the evolution of the Internet.

VII. ALSO
The ALSC recommended that a global ALSO be created to serve as a local and regional-based framework for At-Large outreach and education, engagement and participation of members, aggregation of their views, consensus decision-making, and close cooperation with other organizations to address issues and develop policy on Internet user/consumer issues that fall within ICANN's specific technical and administrative mission. We proposed that the ALSO be a bottom-up, decentralized, regionally-based structure that will enable individual members to learn about and discuss relevant issues in their own language, find common ground with users in other localities and regions, and ultimately provide meaningful input to ICANN's decision-making and policies.

To assist with the At-Large elections and help organize the At-Large community and launch an ALSO, we recommended that ICANN create an ALSO Organizing Committee with an Elections Subcommittee. Members of the Organizing Committee should include one or more At-Large Directors and should represent geographic and professional diversity. The Committee would develop (or refine) proposed guidelines, procedures and a budget for the At-Large election, building on the ALSC's detailed suggestions, and help guide the At-Large elections. The Committee would propose (and assist with implementation of) bylaws, a charter, and organizational and outreach plans and budgets, and would develop guidelines to foster an ALSO that can develop and present policy advice to the Board (in close consultation with other Supporting Organizations) on issues that affect Internet users' interests and that are within ICANN's specific technical and administrative mission. The Committee also would develop guidelines for the creation of a local, regional and national ALSO framework, including recommendations on the involvement of existing user organizations to help create the ALSO.

Given the magnitude and complexity of creating a global ALSO, we also suggest the Committee solicit the assistance of, and work closely with, organizations throughout the world that are interested in ICANN's specific activities. Using existing organizations to help "jumpstart" ALSO organizing can be an effective way of accelerating outreach and the creation of local and regional ALSO entities. To determine the level of interest on the part of organizations to help create an ALSO, we posted a "solicitation of expressions of interest" on our website and emailed it to approximately 350 organizations that were identified as potentially being interested in ICANN activities. We received 46 positive responses and sent follow-up requests for more detailed information on what activities they might be willing to undertake. The results are summarized in a table (ALSC's solicitation email also are online). This brief, preliminary solicitation identified a core group of organizations willing to expend time and resources to help build an ALSO. This group should be considered an important foundation of support for an At-Large membership.

VIII. Membership Level
Questions have been raised about the level of interest in At-Large membership, particularly if a membership fee is required. Quantifying in advance the level of interest in a self-sustaining At-Large membership to any reasonable degree of certainty is impossible. We suggest that the Board consider a variety of data points, keeping in mind the significant margin of error inherent in each one.

The 2000 At-Large election certainly demonstrated some level of interest in At-Large, with 143,806 initial registrations, 76,183 validated registrations, and 34,035 voters. Of course, it is unclear how a membership fee and membership criteria would affect these numbers, since these participants paid no fee and needed only an email address to register. On the other hand, the number of Internet users and the visibility of the Internet overall, and ICANN in particular, has grown greatly since that time.

It has also been suggested that the experience of ISOC is illustrative for At-Large. With 6,000 dues-paying individual members throughout the world, ISOC reportedly had been unable to grow or sustain individual memberships. ISOC's Board recently eliminated international individual membership dues. The Board may want to consider ISOC's experience with individual membership fees, but ISOC and ICANN, of course, have different missions, and membership in each entails different responsibilities and opportunities. Specifically, ISOC has little impact on any specific facet of the Internet's operation, whereas ICANN has a more concrete proposition to sell.

The ALSC conducted a survey on the level of interest in a self-sustaining At-Large membership. The survey was posted on our website in English starting January 28, and in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish starting February 10. The survey remained posted until February 28. A notice on the survey was emailed to approximately 5985 subscribers to the "ALSC announce list," which is a self-selected list originally created by sending an email early last year to ICANN's 143,789-member At-Large mailing list inviting people to "opt-in" by registering for this list. (We would welcome the opportunity survey every member of that initial list.) A notice of the survey also was posted on ICANN's homepage. Email versions of the survey (in English) were available upon request.

The ALSC received 2147 completed surveys. Of these respondents, 80% would register for membership and vote, 63% would be very likely to register and participate, 37% would not register if there was a fee, and 63% would pay a fee for membership. Approximately 95% wanted to receive an email solicitation to join if ICANN moves forward with At-Large. (A summary of the final results is posted, as are the comments the ALSC received with the survey.)

It should be kept in mind, however, that the margin of error for this survey is high. Distribution to the target audience and response rates is unknown. We have no correlations, for example, between the number of respondents in each country and the number of individuals who received/saw the survey. The meaning of the results is ambiguous. There is no degree of certainty, for example, that people will actually pay the amount they indicated. Keeping in mind its limitations, we found the results informative and believe the survey to be a worthwhile data point for the Board to consider.

IX. Membership Registration
The At-Large membership as part of the design for ICANN provides individual users a voice in the policymaking and governance structure of ICANN. Other stakeholder interests are represented in similar processes through Supporting Organizations that have recognized roles in policymaking and governance through SO structures and representation on the Board of Directors.

The ALSC recommends that interested individuals who wish to become ALSO members minimally meet three criteria: demonstrated interest, authenticated identity and financial contribution.

(1) "Demonstrated interest" is shown by an individual's action to sign up for membership in the ALSO (and the regional ALSO if established) *and* by possession of an individual domain name. Individual domain name holders are an identifiable and vested community with tangible interest in ICANN activities and can provide an important foundation for an At-Large constituency. We continue to recommend holding a domain name as the primary criterion for At-Large membership. However, to also enable participation by interested individuals who are unable to, or choose not to, hold a domain name (and to further encourage broad participation), we recommend that subscription to specific ICANN mailing lists, or attending an ICANN meeting and signing up for membership in person, or belonging to specified organizations that contribute to ICANN's mission, can be substituted for domain name ownership.

(2) "Authenticated identity" is necessary so that ICANN can verify that the individual is a real person and that an individual can claim membership/vote only once. The identity of individual domain name holders can be authenticated by confirming information with the appropriate registrar potentially via the "who is" database. The identity of individuals with subscriptions to ICANN mailing lists can be confirmed, in part, through access to the list data and verification of credit card payment information. (Given the challenge in authenticating list subscribers, we suggest that payment mechanisms be required to match the personal information provided. This could change when additional, affordable authentication mechanisms are identified.) ICANN meeting attendees' identities can be authenticated in person by staff. Accessing membership information held by the relevant organization can authenticate identities of members of select organizations. Additional information on potential registration processes are provided for the Board's consideration.

(3) "Financial contribution" to the self-sustainability of the ALSO should be made by payment of an annual membership fee in the ALSO. The best method for meeting the criterion over the long term, in the ALSC's view, is for members to hold individual domain names and to use the existing domain name registration infrastructure to facilitate At-Large membership registration, renewal and payment. For a 2002 election, the ALSC recommends that a central ALSO registration website be used to register individual members and process membership fee payments. Except for individuals registering in person at an ICANN meeting, members would initially pay dues online using a major credit card or an electronic fund transfer mechanism. The ALSC is concerned that membership fees may be an impediment for interested individuals in less-developed countries, and suggests that further consideration be given to using a sliding scale and other payment mechanisms.

Those individuals who meet the criteria above shall become inscribed At-Large members on an annually renewable basis and shall be shown as members on the books of ICANN and the relevant regional ALSO. They also will be included in a public At-Large membership list (with appropriate privacy protections at each individual's option) and an email list that will be used to assist with At-Large membership communication and elections. (There will also be numerous "local" ALSO mailing lists for specific interest groups or regions.) Current At-Large membership is the criterion to be applied to determine eligibility of individuals to vote in elections for At-Large members of the Board of Directors. Other individuals who wish in some form to participate in the activities of regional ALSOs or ICANN may do so in accordance with established procedures but shall not be recognized as At-Large Members for purposes of the operations and decision-making of the ALSO or ICANN, including with respect to voting eligibility for election of At-Large Board members.

The bottom-up, participatory decision-making and governance values that underlie ICANN's mission are best served by a large and active At-Large membership. At the same time, ICANN needs to be financially sound and the structures for participation of stakeholders need to be largely self-sustaining. The membership structure outlined above is designed to serve both goals as well as to provide sufficient integrity in membership lists to protect the legitimacy of ALSO decision-making, voting eligibility, and voting. It is expected that, over the long term, the ALSO will be responsible for defining and implementing At-Large membership criteria.

X. Election
The ALSC solicited public comments on At-Large election guidelines, and incorporated comments from members of the former Election and Nominating Committees. The proposed guidelines are provided for the Board's consideration.

XI. Resources
The ALSC recommends that ICANN provide a dedicated staff person for At-Large activities and contract out all elements of the At-Large election (except for the Nominating Committee process) with ICANN "At-Large staff" oversight. The ALSC developed estimates of costs for an ALSO and At-Large election in 2002 - 2005 based on our recommendations (see cost estimates). Moving forward with an At-Large election and ALSO creation immediately after ICANN's Accra meeting would require approximately US$255,000 in initial funding in calendar year 2002 (this figure excludes variable election costs and hosting and maintenance of the registration system post-election). Projected costs for calendar years 2003 and 2004 are approximately US$282,000. For calendar year 2005 the projected costs are approximately US$427,000 (which includes both ALSO costs and the cost of a second election; this figure excludes variable election costs and hosting and maintenance of the registration system post-election). The ALSC assumes that some initial "start-up" funding will be provided by ICANN to launch a self-supporting At-Large. This, combined with membership fees and outside donations should cover the initial budget for At-Large. As noted, ALSC members have begun to solicit financial and other pledges to help demonstrate the availability of outside funding for the At-Large. We will keep the Board and the public apprised of the response.