Dear Colleagues, Thank you very much for the support received regarding the 'Draft proposal for a MoU-based ASO'. As you know, your support is essential to the process and therefore very much appreciated. Discussions following the announcement of the draft proposal on 8 July 1999, and at the recent open ASO meeting which took place at the IETF in Oslo, modifications to the draft proposal were suggested. Following discussions between the RIR excecutive boards, taking into account the collective interests of our communities, further adjustments were made to the proposal which we believe will enhance the prospect of its adoption by ICANN. A proposal for the formation of an ASO has now been formally submitted to ICANN jointly by the Regional Internet Registries: APNIC, ARIN and RIPE NCC. The 'Proposal for a MoU-based ASO' can be found on the RIPE NCC Web site under the 'Current Issues' section at: http://www.ripe.net/info/ncc/icann.html Below please find the modified sections of the draft text as well as comments supporting the motivation for each of these changes. As the adjustments to this proposal have been made for clarity purposes to ensure fair and open processes in all regions, we hope that we can count on your continued support. Kind Regards, Mirjam Kuehne RIPE NCC 2. The Address Council. a. Members. ----------- [original text:] Each RIR signatory of the MOU will appoint two [2] individuals to the Address Council by means of their own choosing. No individual can serve on the Address Council and be on the staff of a RIR at the same time. [final version:] Each RIR signatory of the MOU will select three [3] individuals to the Address Council using the following process: i Annually the RIR will issue a public call for nominees to the Address Council at least 90 days before the RIR's policy meeting. Any individual can submit a nomination to the RIR. ii The due date for this call shall be 30 days before the meeting. iii The nominees must be individuals. iv A list of all nominees who agree to run for the Address Council must be posted on the RIR's web page at least 15 days before the meeting along with a statement from each nominee who wishes to make one. v Selection of the RIR's members of the Address Council will be made via an open and transparent procedure. The individuals selected for the Address Council must not be staff members of the RIR. COMMENTS: Concerns were raised that having only two [2] Address Council members appointed per region would not allow for sufficient representation. Therefore the number was changed to three [3] per RIR signatory. When additional RIRs sign the MoU this will be revised in order to keep the number of Address Council members at a practical size. Principles for the selection of Address Council members were stated in section 3.b. of the original draft proposal. These methods have been refined and included in this section for further clarification. However, please note that the selection process of the Address Council members will be defined by the regions via an open and transparent procedure. b. Term. -------- [original text:] The term of Address Council members will be 2 years. Removal will be pursuant to procedures established through the MOU. (Initial terms will be 1 and 2 years to provide initial conditions for staggered terms.) [final version:] The term of Address Council members will be 3 years. Removal will be pursuant to procedures established through the MOU. (Initial terms will be 1, 2 and 3 years to provide initial conditions for staggered terms.) COMMENTS: With the increased number of Address Coucil members one additonal term has been defined. c. Powers/Duties of the Address Council. ---------------------------------------- ii Qualifications of ICANN Directors. [original text:] No more than 1 of the ASO-appointed Directors may come from the same geographic region. [final version:] a) No more than 1 ASO-appointed Director may come from the same geographic region. (This proposal assumes the regions defined in the ICANN by-laws.) b) No ASO-appointed Director may serve simultaneously on the Address Council. COMMENTS: The additional sentence under a) is to clarify the word 'region' in this context. Parapraph b) was added as no clear prohibition against Address Council members also serving on the ICANN board was stated. d. Address Policy Development. ------------------------------ [final version:] One paragraph was added to this section: In addition the Address Council may accept, for consideration, proposals for changes to global IP address policy from any interested individual. COMMENT: One may imagine a circumstance where it would be more practical to approach the ASO directly to support the fair and open consideration of a proposal in order to stress equal opportunity for all interested parties. In any case, all proposals received by the ASO will be reviewed by the RIR signaories and the community as described in this section following the above noted addition: In all cases when the Address Council reviews proposals for new global policies or proposed modification to existing policies in this area it will first solicit the opinions of all of the RIR signatories of the MOU and of the public. 3. Annual Open Meeting. (General Assembly) a. Hosting an open meeting. --------------------------- [original text:] The Address Council will periodically host an open meeting ("General Assembly") for promoting discussion and receiving input regarding the work of the ASO. A General Assembly meeting will be held once per year, and will permit open participation by all interested individuals. [final version:] The Address Council will periodically host an open meeting ("General Assembly") for promoting discussion and receiving input regarding the work of the ASO. A General Assembly meeting will be held *at least* once per year, and will permit open participation by all interested individuals. COMMENT: It was felt that the number of meetings should not be restricted in this document. The important point here is that there should be *at least* one meeting per year. b. Selection of Address Council Members. ---------------------------------------- [original text:] Ninety days prior to each General Assembly, ICANN and the Address Council shall make an open call for nominations to any potential vacancies in the Address Council. The results of this call will be forwarded to each RIR signatory to the MOU for their information. Each RIR signatory to the ASO MOU will be entitled to select two [2] members of the Address Council by means of its own choosing. The terms of the appointees will be determined by the appointing RIR. [final version:] Ninety days prior to each annual open meeting, ICANN and the Address Council shall make an open call for nominations to any potential vacancies in the Address Council. The results of this call will be forwarded to each RIR signatory to the MOU for their information. Each RIR signatory to the ASO MOU will be entitled to select three [3] members of the Address Council using the process described in Section 2a. COMMENT: This has been changed in order to make the section consistent with the principles outlined in section 2.a (see above). 4. Open Proceedings and Documents. b. ASO Proceedings ------------------ [original text:] All discussions of ASO business will be conducted on or reported on a publicly-archived mailing list accessible through the ICANN/ASO web site. The schedule for the ASO meetings will be posted 90 days in advance of the meeting date. The agenda for the Address Council and annual open meetings will be posted on the ICANN/ASO web site at least 30 days before the meetings. The minutes from all ASO meetings will be publicly posted on the ICANN/ASO web site within 30 days of the meeting. [final version:] All discussions regarding ASO policy formation will be conducted on or reported on a publicly-archived mailing list accessible through the ASO web site. The schedule for the ASO meetings will be posted 90 days in advance of the meeting date. The agenda for the Address Council and annual open meetings will be posted on the ASO web site at least 30 days before the meetings. The minutes from all ASO meetings will be publicly posted on the ASO web site within 30 days of the meeting. In the unlikely event that the policy formation discussions involve confidential commercial data that was presented in an address allocation process the above disclosures must be done in a way to protect the confidentially of that data. COMMENT: The location of the documentation to be published has been more clearly specified (on the ASO web site). The last sentence has been added in order to explicitly exempt confidential data from publication as defined in the existing RIR operational procedures. 6. Recognition. [original text:] 7) That the introduction of a new RIR must be based on a "Sound Business Plan". The plan must be reviewed by ICANN and by the existing RIRs. The process for creating a new RIR must be included in the MOU. [final version:] 6) That the proposed RIR has clearly defined procedures open to all interested parties regarding ensuring fair representation of constituents within the region of coverage in the policy development process. COMMENT: This paragraph was added in order to ensure open and transparent processes of policy development in all new and existing RIRs. For your information, please note that the order of points in appendix A has slightly changed, resulting in the number change noted above.