PAB CHARTER

1. Definitions
1. PAB – Policy Advisory Body, a body defined under the gTLD-MoU structure
2. POC – Policy Oversight Committee, a body defined under the gTLD-MoU structure
3. CORE – Council of Registrars, a body defined under the gTLD-MoU structure
4. GTLD-MoU – generic Top-Level Domain Memorandum of Understanding
5. PAB Membership – those signatories of the gTLD-MoU who have elected to become members of the PAB
6. Active PAB Members – those PAB members who are subscribed to the PAB mailing list
7. PAB Representatives on POC – any PAB Member who is elected by the PAB Membership to serve on POC
2. PAB Role Under the gTLD-MoU
1. As defined by the gTLD-MoU (Section 5), the role of the PAB is to make recommendations to the POC regarding general policy matters, and to advise the POC with regard to changes in the gTLD-MoU and the CORE-MoU.
3. PAB Mission
1. The Policy Advisory Body exists to represent the voices of all Internet stakeholders in the administration of the global Internet domain name system, as limited by the gTLD-MoU. The PAB actively solicits, debates, and where possible reaches consensual positions on how the global Internet domain system should be administered, and it reports its advice and recommendations to the POC. The PAB is a vehicle for bringing into the gTLD-MoU process those groups and organizations that are not otherwise represented within its framework, and is therefore a fertile ground for the introduction of new ideas, and for the inclusion of new interest groups. The PAB is furthermore the chief mechanism through which dissent against the existing gTLD-MoU structure can be expressed, and thus is a powerful catalyst for change. The PAB recognizes that the gTLD-MoU does not provide for oversight of the POC, and therefore the PAB has a special duty to give advice and make recommendations regarding the role and function of the POC. The PAB recognizes and embraces these roles. The PAB reserves to itself all powers not specifically prohibited by the gTLD-MoU.
4. PAB Officers
1. The PAB shall elect an Executive Committee, consisting of the following officers:
1. Chair
2. Deputy Chair
3. Secretary
4. Liaison to CORE
5. PAB Representative to POC #1
6. PAB Representative to POC #2
7. Any additional PAB Representatives to POC
5. PAB Deliberation and Debate
1. All discussion and deliberation shall take place via an echoed email list, whose administration shall be entrusted to the Secretary of the PAB.
2. An archive of the email list may, at the discretion of the Active PAB Membership, be made available to the public.
3. There shall be no limitation on what a PAB Member may write on the PAB list; nor shall any censorship be imposed on PAB Members; and no PAB Member shall be removed from the list except at its own request.
4. In the event of any election, except for the election of officers, voting shall be conducted using a Usenet voting mechanism [description to be supplied by Dan Busarow]. A vote shall be said to have succeeded when 67% or more of the PAB Members who vote are in favor. The election of officers shall be conducted according to the procedures and rules for the election of officers described later in this Charter.
5. The PAB shall arrive at recommendations, advice, resolutions, and other common positions by rough consensus methods, as follows:
1. The Chair may attempt to determine a consensus concerning a given issue by announcing a Call for Consensus to the PAB list. The Chair must announce a Call for Consensus on a given issue if 10% or more PAB members request it of the Chair.
2. After a period of debate of not less than one week and not more than a month, the Chair shall announce either that a preliminary consensus has been reached or that it has not been reached.
3. If the Chair announces that a preliminary consensus has been reached, then following the Chair’s announcement, a period of not less than one week shall pass in order to allow dissenting views to be heard.
1. If 10% or more of the Active PAB Membership dissents from the Chair’s announcement of a preliminary consensus, the Chair shall have the option of either tabling the proposition or calling for an election on the preliminary consensus by informing the PAB list.
2. If less than 10% of the Active PAB Membership dissents from the Chair’s announcement of a preliminary consensus, the Chair shall announce that a final consensus has been reached, and the Chair shall communicate the results to the POC, either through the PAB Representatives to POC or directly, and the Chair shall further instruct the Secretary to add the results to the PAB web site. The Chair may also communicate the results to the public by whatever other method the Chair at its sole discretion may deem advisable.
4. If the Chair anounces that a preliminary consensus has not been reached, and the Chair does not decide to seek an election on the matter, it may continue to be debated on the PAB list but the Chair may not be compelled to seek another consensus on the matter for three months. But if the Chair decides that with small modification a consensus could be reached on the matter, the Chair has an affirmative duty to find the correct compromise that will allow a consensus to be reached.
5. In the event that the Chair announces that a preliminary consensus has not been reached, the Chair may determine, at the Chair’s discretion, that the matter is important or timely enough that a definitive position by the PAB is required. Examples of such important or timely matters might be: a request from the POC for a recommendation, or a matter that is of clear and pressing importance. In such cases, the Chair may call for an election on the matter. The election shall be carried out via the PAB using the same Usenet voting mechanism that is used for the elections of officers, and notice shall be given to all Active PAB Members at least one week before the election takes place.
1. If 67% or more of the Voting PAB Members are in favor of the proposition being voted upon, the proposition shall have passed, and the Chair shall announce that a Consensus has been reached; otherwise, the proposition shall have failed, and the Chair shall announce that a Consensus has not been reached.
2. In the event of an election, each PAB Member shall have one vote.
6. An Annual General Meeting of the PAB may be called by the Chair, or by a consensus of the PAB by the usual methods. All decisions and elections must nonetheless be carried out on the PAB list. All PAB Members attending an Annual General Meeting must pay for their own expenses.
6. Election of Officers, Their Eligibility and Terms of Office
1. Any member of the PAB can nominate any other member of the PAB to be an Officer of the PAB, subject to the eligibility requirements noted below in this section, by posting a statement to that effect to the PAB list.
2. Nominations must be seconded by another member of the PAB by posting a statement to that effect to the PAB list.
3. Any person nominated to be a candidate for office in the PAB must accept the nomination by posting a statement to that effect to the PAB list.
4. Any candidate who has accepted a nomination to be an officer of the PAB must declare his or her qualifications for the office in question, and to make known to the PAB membership any conflict of interest that he or she is aware of, by posting a statement to that effect to the PAB list. Candidates are encouraged to take a broad view of what might constitute a conflict of interest. Failure to declare a conflict of interest is prima facie evidence of bad faith on the part of the candidate.
5. No candidate who is a member of PAB shall be excluded from office in the PAB, except as noted below in this section.
6. Officers are to be elected using a Usenet voting mechanism [full explanation of mechanism – Dan Busarow to supply] via the PAB email list.
7. The terms of all officers are to be one year from the date of their election.
8. Any PAB member is eligible to be an Officer of PAB, except:
1. Members of the PAB who have signed the CORE-MoU, or whose employer has signed the CORE-MoU.
2. Members of the PAB who are also members of POC, unless they have been appointed to the POC by the PAB.
3. Members of the PAB who are employed by organizations which are members of CORE
4. Members of the PAB who are employed by organizations which have the power to appoint or elect members of POC, the PAB itself excepted.
5. Members of the PAB who hold any executive position in any organization, the PAB itself excepted, which has the power to appoint or elect members of POC.
9. The Chair, Deputy Chair, and Secretary must be elected by more than 50% of the PAB Members who vote. In the event that no candidate reaches more than 50%, the two candidates receiving the most votes will meet each other in a run-off election. If the run-off election results in a tie, the candidates will play a round of knock-out whist to determine the winner [I don’t know! -- help]
7. Removal of Officers
1. The power to remove Officers of the PAB is reserved to the Membership of the PAB. If 25% of the Active PAB Members support a resolution to remove an Officer, the Chair (or, if the Active Members wish to remove the Chair, the Deputy Chair) shall call an election on the issue, to be conducted via the PAB Email list using the voting rules and procedures used for all elections except the election of officers.
8. Duties of Officers
1. The duties of the Chair shall be as follows:
1. To attempt to discern consensus among the PAB, and to call for consensus, and declare a consensus to have been reached, according to the methods described in "Deliberation and Debate" above.
2. To make periodic reports, not less than one month apart, to the PAB Membership via the PAB list. The Chair’s reports must be comprehensive, and must include summary results of all actions undertaken by the Chair on behalf of PAB, and summary results of all interactions with the POC.
3. To make or cause to have made public statements, press releases, and the like.
4. In the event that the POC requests PAB’s recommendation or advice, the Chair must consult with the membership immediately. If the POC requires a reply before the PAB can reach a consensus, the Chair may communicate his best guess of the PAB’s recommendation or advise to the POC, but in such a case the Chair must communicate to the POC that PAB’s recommendation is entirely provisional pending ratification by the Membership.
2. The duties of the Deputy Chair shall be as follows:
1. To assume the function of the Chair temporarily in the event that the Chair is indisposed or unavailable, or, in the case where the Chair has been removed or has resigned, until new elections have been held.
2. To assume the function of the Chair regarding any measure by the Membership to remove the Chair.
3. To perform any duties of the Chair that the Chair may from time to time delegate to the Deputy Chair.
3. The duties of the Secretary shall be as follows:
1. To maintain the PAB website. The website shall include:
1. A list of all PAB members
2. A list of the Active PAB Members
3. A list of the PAB officers
4. A list, with the full text, of all PAB resolutions
5. A list, with full text and a record of the votes, of all elections, whether for officers or for other matters
6. A list, with the full text, of all PAB recommendations to the POC, and all advice given to the POC, and all responses by the POC as reported by the Chair
2. To maintain a copy of this charter, and any subsequent amendments.
3. To administer and maintain the echoed email list that the PAB uses to deliberate amongst itself, and any archive of the list that the PAB Membership shall decide to keep
4. To administer and maintain the echoed email list that the PAB Executive Committee uses to deliberate amongst itself, and to maintain an archive of this list.
5. To maintain a complete list of PAB Members and their designated email addresses, and to respond to PAB Members’ requests to modify their designated email addresses, or to subscribe or unsubscribe themselves from the PAB list.
4. The duty of the CORE Liaison shall be as follows:
1. To inform the PAB Executive Committee of developments within CORE
5. The duties of the PAB representatives to POC shall be as follows:
1. To attend POC meetings, whether in person or via telephone or other electronic means, at their own expense.
2. To pledge that their primary allegiance is to the PAB, then after that to the gTLD-MoU process, and only finally to the POC, and to perform their duties in conformance with this pledge.
3. To provide regular, written, full reports to the PAB Executive Committee regarding the POC actions and deliberations. Reports shall be made to the PAB Executive Committee monthly, or at any time the Executive Committee requests them.
4. To pledge that they will not withhold information from the PAB Executive Committee, and to perform their duties in conformance with this pledge, unless:
1. They have been specifically requested to withhold information by a majority of the other members of the POC; or
2. They have been specifically requested to withhold information by the POC Chair
5. That in the event that they must withhold information from the PAB Executive Committee, the PAB Representatives to POC must nonetheless inform the Executive Committee that information has been withheld, and that they as far as possible inform the Executive Committee as to the nature of the information that has been withheld, along with an estimation of when such information will be made available.
6. The PAB representatives on POC will consult with the PAB Executive Committee prior to and immediately after any POC meeting, whether formal or informal, whether in person or via telephone or electronic methods
7. The PAB representatives on POC will represent the will of the PAB as it is expressed to them by the PAB Chair.
9. PAB Executive Committee
1. The PAB Executive Committee shall consist of The Chair, The Deputy Chair, the Secretary, the CORE Liaison, and the PAB Representatives to the POC. Only the Chair, the Deputy Chair, and the Secretary shall have voting rights, the other members may participate in deliberations, but may not vote.
2. The PAB Executive Committee shall make use of an echoed email list for all official business. This list will be maintained and archived by the Secretary. All official PAB Executive Committee business will take place via this list; no action or decision of the PAB Executive Committee shall be deemed to have taken place until and unless it shall have been posted to the PAB Executive Committee list.
10. Modification of the PAB Charter
1. This Charter can be modified only by the Membership of the PAB, and by no other body, via the usual methods the PAB employs to determine consensus.