Participants: C Langdon-Orr (Chair), R Guerra, V Cretu, S Bachollet, I Aizu, F Seye Sylla, C Aguirre, V Scartezini, J Ovidio Salgueiro, A Muehlberg, N Thu Hue, H Diakite
Liaisons: H Xue, W Seltzer
Observers: W Ludwig, D Younger
Apologies: B Brendler
Absent: M El Bashir, A Greenberg
Staff: F Teboul, M Langenegger, N Ashton-Hart

The Meeting was called to order at 1347

The Staff will talk to the operator to make sure the teleconferences will start on time in the future

Standing Agenda Items

The minutes of the previous meeting were adopted without objection.

The Staff were asked to read through the Action Items and note those completed.

Members of the Paris Meeting Working Group include: ALAC ExComm, S Bachollet, v Cretu

S Bachollet noted that the Domain Name Guide was not on the agenda and did need to get discussed at some point. It was requested that the staff provide an overview of the situation.

The Chair asked that the staff let the committee know the progress of the document as it proceeded and that it come back for final review in advance of publication. A desktop published version of the document will be distributed to the ALAC for revision in due course.

Staff will put the Domain Name Guide on the meeting agenda for the ExComm teleconference.

It was decided to add a standing agenda item to discuss matters, which should be raised by the ICANN Board meeting.

A review of open applications was requested and the staff went though the various statuses of the applications

ccTLDs Liaison Report: Fast Track implementation of IDN ccTLDs

The IDN Liaison H Xue briefly reviewed her monthly report at https://st.icann.org/idn-policy/index.cgi?liaison_monthly_report at the request of the Chair.

X Hue noted that the document on fast track implementation of IDN ccTLDs would soon be published for second round public comments.

X Hue will send out a public call to the RALOs for public comment after the issues have been discussed within the IDN working groups. X Hue will create a new page to that effect where people can send their comments.

The Chair asked the RALOs to start discussing fast track implementation of IDN ccTLDs as soon as possible to be able to provide public comments in time once the public call has been made.

RALO leaders will start discussing fast track implementation of IDN ccTLDs in their region.

Board Liaison Report

The Board Liaison W Seltzer was then invited to recap her report.

The Board liaison noted that the Board discussed Emergency Action on Domain Reservation at their last meeting on 27 March.

The Board liaison will ask the Board for a time line for new gTLDs.

The Liaison encouraged the ALAC to think about new subjects to rise at the next Board meeting.

The Chair asked that the SSAC liaison provide his report subsequent to the meeting he was currently attending.

The Staff were requested to remind all liaisons of their obligations to report.

New Business

Draft Statement to the ICANN Board on Operational Plan Framework
Staff noted that a public comment period on this statement is running until 16 April.

A Muehlberg briefly discussed some of the changes from the first draft to the second, highlighting the removal of the discussion on New GTLDs.

There was some discussion on what the public was most concerned about: WHOIS accuracy or privacy or both.

Staff will keep track of all comments on the mailing list and will distribute a document with all the views expressed in preparation of the next budget subcommittee teleconference.

The Chair asked the WHOIS Working Group to make a specific comment expressing the view held within the WG with regards to the Operational Plan Framework.

Ideas for FY 2008/2009 Community Priorities with a Budget Impact

The Chair noted the list of items proposed for inclusion in the budget. No comments were made.

Statement of the ALAC on Budgeting and Operational Planning for FY 2008/2009: ICANN Travel Policy for Volunteers Consultation

The Board liaison reminded the ALAC to keep in mind when requesting expenditures that registrants provide for ICANN’s budget.

Election of a Vice-Chair of the Committee

S Bachollet was introduced as the new vice Chair of the ALAC. Welcome, Sebastien!

Proposed Modifications to the Rules of Procedure of the ALAC related to interim officer and other elections

There were no objections or abstentions to accepting the modifications. The following Rules of Procedure were adopted:

https://st.icann.org/data/workspaces/alac/attachments/8_april_2008:20080402075641-0-31326/files/AL-2007-1-1-Rev10%20ALAC%20Internal%20Rules%20of%20Procedure%20-%20EN.pdf

ALAC Statement on GNSO Improvements

The Staff gave a brief summary on the GNSO Improvement statement. The main At-Large statement when formulated by the Working Group was deliberately kept vague as to the specific form which At-Large participation in the GNSO would take, as there are conversations between the Business Constituency, NCUC, and the Chair of ALAC going on at the present time which has a goal of being a consuensus document with the consolidated views of the three constituencies (NCUC, At-Large, Business) which will then be presented to the Board. Each of the constituencies that are involved will bring forward a document to their constituencies for review by 14 April. Once the parties have agreed on what they agree, a community organizational model between the three constituencies will be presented for public discussion to the At-Large community on 15 April or 16 April. The Chair pointed out that this is an At-Large involvement in GNSO and not an ALAC involvement. She asked for RALO and ALS input regarding GNSO policy development.

The Staff noted that the public comment window on the Statement on GNSO Improvements ends on 24 April. It would therefore be helpful to come to closure on the AL.ALAC/CC.0408/1/4 Process of Completing Work on a Statement on New GTLDs.

The following resolution was accepted without abstentions and objections:

The At-Large Advisory Committee notes that:

• The Board of Directors of ICANN should receive a statement from the At-Large community in relation to the GNSO's work on developing a policy framework for the inclusion of new generic Top-Level-Domains in the root zone;

• The community has yet to come to a single consensus view on the GNSO's proposals

Therefore, the ALAC Resolves that:

• The work of the New GTLD Policy Working Group should be encouraged and accelerated so as to conclude work on a statement that the community can review;

• _The drafting and review process should be completed in good time to allow a statement to be provided to the Board of Directors on this subject in advance of, or at, the Paris ICANN Meeting___

To this end, The ALAC requests that the ALAC Executive Committee and the At-Large Staff should provide all necessary assistance to the work of the committee so that a review of the progress may be taken by the ALAC in its May 2008 meeting.

The Staff noted that in summary, the Statement asked for the work of the new gTLDs Working Groups be accelerated so that a definitive statement of the At-Large community can be presented in view of the Paris meeting.

Any Other Business

Quick review of latest improvements tohttp://www.atlarge.icann.org**

The Chair asked for a separate meeting to discuss the new At-Large website.

Staff will set up a teleconference to discuss the new At-Large website.

Discussion of Subjects to be raised at the ICANN Board Meeting in Riga

D Younger noted that he would like to have the Board make a decision on whether trade mark rights exist at the top level of the domain name system. The Board Liaison will raise this issue at the Board Meeting. Please see the letter to the bank of International Settlements for reference (http://www.icann.org/correspondence/touton-letter-to-bank-for-international-settlements-21may01.htm)

The Chair noted that in the future, a Google calendar with all due dates would be posted on the respective Wiki pages .

The meeting was adjourned at 1545 UTC.