ICANN To Give Governmental Advisory Committee More Power

ICANN is posting for public comment proposed Bylaws revisions that would incorporate a higher voting threshold for the Board to determine not act consistently with the advice of the Governmental Advisory Committee. Currently, the Bylaws require a simple majority of the Board (50% + 1) to vote to act consistently a piece of advice from the GAC. The proposed amendments to the Bylaws would require 2/3 of the voting members of the Board to vote to not act consistently with a piece of GAC advice.

This proposed Bylaws amendment was developed in response to a recommendation of the first ICANN Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT1), which recommended the formalization of a process for Board consideration of GAC advice in the event the Board intent to not act consistently with it. Members of the ICANN Board, together with the GAC, formed a Board-GAC Recommendations Implementation Working Group, which developed a formalized process that included the raising of the voting threshold. Though a Bylaws change is required to give full effect to this formalized process, the ICANN Board previously indicated that the higher voting threshold would be applied in the event ICANN determined to not act consistently with GAC advice prior to the posting for and consideration of public comments on the required Bylaws revisions. The second Accountability and Review Team (ATRT2) recommended for the completion of the Bylaws revision process.