Summary Minutes 20 August 2008

Participants : S Salinas, S Herlein Leite, R Medina, E Leibovitch, B Brendler, D Thompson, C Langdon-Orr, R Guerra, V Scartezini, J L Barzallo, C Aguirre
Staff : D Michel, D Brent, N Ashton-Hart, F Teboul, M Langenegger

C Langdon-Orr, the ALAC chair, called the meeting to order at 1306 UTC
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D Brent provided a short review of the reasons that led to the new travel procedures.

C Aguirre made the following statement:
“I want to express my strong position against the cut of travel support expenses. Participation is crucial if the multistakeholder model is to be maintained, if the end users are part of the Internet universe and if we want to keep the bottom-up consensus in order to build the rules. The measures ICANN wants to implement do not make any sense.”

C Samuels noted that he didn’t understand why ICANN helped to build civil society structures if it did not intent to support it on a continuous basis.

E Leibovitch said that what he disliked about the new travel procedures was that it made it seem as if it was a zero-sum game whereas one constituency gains at the expense of another constituency. He further added that with the prospect of receiving additional revenues in the future, ICANN was not in a position where it needed to cut travel funding.

S Herlein Leite noted that she felt manipulated. Being one of the founding members of LACRALO, she has been part of At-Large since the beginning. She said that she couldn’t understand that ICANN wanted to cut the support for volunteers as they have an important role in the region, do a fantastic job and therefore help to achieve ICANN’s mission.

D Thompson pointed out that they were told that ICANN would support them to organize regional meetings. It is difficult to stay engaged if you do not have face-to-face meetings and it’s hampering the ability to work. R Medina noted that he agreed.

V Scartezini said that regional meetings were more important than global meetings. She suggested to have a global ALS meeting every two years and a regional meeting every year. What struck her was the civil society structures have been built and now it appears that they will not be funded. ICANN needs to remember that these participants are willing to volunteer for ICANN and promote its work. The fact that ICANN appears to have turned its back against civil society shows a lack of understanding for this process and destroys ICANN’s image in the region.

J L Barzallo pointed out that the fact that translations were late or missing showed a lack of support from ICANN for civil society and wanted to remind ICANN staff that the situation for civil society volunteers was entirely different from other constituencies. With reference to what J L Barzallo had said, S Salinas noted that the real issue was not funding but equality of opportunities to participate for the different constituencies.

C Langdon-Orr noted that there was a still lot a energy and enthusiasm in the community but also a lot of concern over the proposed travel procedures.

D Brent noted that with regards to an earlier comment that this was a zero-sum game, ICANN has taken measures to decrease the impact of Staff travel on the overall budget and that this was also the primary source for increased travel support of other constituencies. As an example he added that the entire ICANN Staff now traveled to the meeting in economy class. He said that with respect to one of the earlier arguments made about ICANN’s increased budget and travel support, one should not mix the two things together. What needed to be considered, on the other hand, was that At-large was a different structure with different needs. He said that there was still enough time to review the travel procedures, as they will not be implemented immediately.

D Michel wanted to address a couple of issues. First of all, she noted that nothing will essentially change for At-Large until a year from now. There will be a review of the travel policy and a full public consultation by the end of this fiscal year so there will be an opportunity to have community discussion. With regards to the term « mature », one needs to keep in mind that the timeline for At-Large for the Board started in 2002 and a lot has happened since. This is the context of the term « mature » and it was meant to be a tribute to the achievements of the constituency. She noted that the current liaisons would get funding to finish out their terms. Additionally, she said that the key organizers of the Summit will be invited to the Cairo meeting and that this will be covered out of the Summit budget. A complete transcript of D Michel's intervention are at the link immediately preceding.

C Langdon-Orr thanked D Brent and D Michel for this dialogue and said she hoped that they would take from this meeting that At-Large misinterpreted the travel policy and that it didn’t know that other constituencies also expressed concern with the proposed travel policy. She recalled that At-Large was an important part of the policy process and should not be left out.

C Aguirre noted that the travel document did not recognize RALOs and ALSes and he was concerned that some stakeholders are not considered.

C Samuels noted that the document was difficult to read in English and it needed severe revision.

C Langdon-Orr asked Staff to organize a follow-up meeting to discuss things further.

The meeting was then adjourned.