STATUS (as of 14 October 2010)

The work is still in an early phase. The modifications will be further discussed at the EURALO teleconference on 18 October.

PROPOSED MODIFICATION:

1. Include unaffiliated members and review the term limits for Board members.There are two options: 

OPTION A: Formally create a new membership category for unaffiliated members

This is the model NARALO has adopted. Unaffiliated individuals are formally recognized in the regional Bylaws as a subset of the regional membership and have separate rules applying to them. The downside of the this model is that is requires a modification of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ICANN and EURALO. Unlike the NARALO MOU, the EURALO MOU does not currently have provisions on individual membership.

OPTION B: Create a new ALS within the current structure that serves as the home to unaffiliated members
According to this model, a new European ALS would be formed to "collect" unaffiliated individuals from the region. This ALS would be part of the existing EURALO structure and would need to fulfill the minimum ALS requirements. Once this ALS is an integral part of the EURALO structure, it would have the same rights and responsibilities as any other regional ALS.  To ensure that the representative of the individual members accurately reflect the view held among the ALS membership, it is important that the instruments and mechanisms of this individual-member-ALS are well designed and solid enough to prevent capture. If additional safeguards are deemed necessary, EURALO could either:
- add a rule to the EURALO Bylaws to the effect that all At-Large Structures (or “members”) need to adopt a verifiable process to ensure that votes cast via their elected representatives reflect the views held among their membership
- explore whether it is possible under the current MoU with ICANN to create a special status for the individual-member-ALS in the EURALO bylaws. According to this status, the internal processes of that ALS would need to follow certain procedures set by EURALO/At-Large.
2. Review the EURALO officer terms. There are three options:
A. No term limits for Board member and Board officers.
B. No term limits for Board members, a limit of 3 consecutive terms for the Board officers
C. Term limits of 2 consecutive terms for both regular Board members and officers (status quo)

3. Align the EURALO Board elections with the ALAC representative elections

DETAILS

Options to include individual members in EURALO Structure
Options to Change EURALO Term Limits
Suggested bylaw changes to align the elections of the EURALO Board with the ALAC representative

STATUS (as of 14 October 2010)

On 2 October, the modified Operating Principles were endorsed by the regional members with 82% approving the modifications, 5% abstaining and 13% not participating (a 70% approval rate is necessary for bylaw amendments to pass).

ADOPTED MODIFICATIIONS

The following modifications were adopted with the revised version:

• unaffiliated NARALO members need to register by submitting a Statement of Interest.
• the voting weight of all unaffiliated NARALO members combined will be equal to that of one ALS representative. The representative will have one vote at the NARALO GA and online votes.
• reduce the number of ALS and unaffiliated member representatives participating to the GA and online votes from 2 to 1.
• make ALAC members eligible to serve for two terms of two (2) years at most and may not serve more than two consecutive terms totaling more than 40 months
• the representative of unaffiliated users must not be employed or contracted by, or have substantive financial interest in, an ICANN contracted registry or accredited registrar

DETAILS

Redline version highlighting the changes between the current revision and the previous version

Inclusion of unaffiliated members

Two options are being discussed as part of the current Bylaw modifications:
1) follow the NARALO model and seek a revision of the MoU with ICANN to allow for a new type of membership
2) remain within the ALS-based framework and set up a special ALS for unaffiliated members
(see above for details)

LACRALO does not currently have unaffiliated members and it is not part of the current bylaw revision discussions.

Unlike the other regional MoUs, the NARALO MoU with ICANN has always contained language to allow for a separate membership category for unaffiliated members. The recent modifications of the Operating Principles sought to make the representation model for unaffiliated members more robust.

Terms of regional officers

The terms of EURALO Board members and officers are set to two years.

With regards to term limits, three options are being discussed:

A. No term limits for EURALO Board member and Board officers.
B. No term limits for EURALO Board members, a limit of 3 consecutive terms for the Board officersC. Term limits of 2 consecutive terms for both regular EURALO Board members and officers (status quo)

The terms of LACRALO officers are set to one year with no term limitations.

The Bylaw modifications seek to change the terms to two years with a limit of two consecutive terms.

The terms of the NARALO remained unchanged with the recent modification. The terms are set to one year with no limitations.

Align officer elections with ALAC representative elections

The officer and ALAC representative elections are not currently aligned.

One of the discussed modifications is to align the officer elections with the ALAC representative elections. All elections would be held in the final trimester of the calendar year with everybody being seated at the close of the AGM.

The officer and ALAC representative elections are not currently aligned.

The election time lines remained unchanged with the recent modification.The officer and ALAC representative elections have already been aligned with each other.

Deal with inactive ALSes

The EURALO Bylaws do not have provisions to deal with inactive ALSes.

 Although the discussions are still at an early stage, there seems to be consensus that inactive ALSes are a problem because they slow down the decision-making process.

The LACRALO Bylaws do not have provisions to deal with inactive ALSes.

It was initially intended that the revised Bylaws will include language on inactive ALSes. However, some regional members questioned whether it is appropriate for volunteers point out  and  "punish" inactive ALSes.

The provisions on inactive remained unchanged with the recent modification.

According to the NARALO Operating Principles, ALSes that do not vote in 3 consecutive NARALO elections or do not contribute a comment on ICANN policy through collaboration on the At-Large discussion lists in 12 consecutive months, automatically lose their voting rights and active status. An ALS may regain its voting rights and active status if within the next 12 months, it votes or participates to online discussions, otherwise the Chair will submit to ALAC a request for de-certification of that ALS.