NCSG

NCSG stands for Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group. It is an integrated committee of the Non-Contracted Parties House under ICANN’s Generic Name Supporting Organization (GNSO). The main purpose of the NCSG is to represent the views and interests of those who engage in non-commercial activities on the Internet. It was created after ICANN had found that there was not adequate representation of non-commercial and non-profit organizations within ICANN processes. The provisional charter of the NCSG was adopted by the ICANN Board on July 30, 2009; at that time it was also stipulated that the NCSG must submit a permanent charter by the 2011 Annual Meeting. It has subsumed the Non-Commercial Users Constituency, which was the original non-commercial voice in ICANN processes.

At ICANN 43, the NCSG met with the Non-Profit Operations Constituency and later issued a joint-statement in which they declared that some of their previous outstanding contentions had been resolved and that the two groups were looking forward to fruitful engagement in the future. They wrote that, "Initial positive steps were made in order to begin to build trust between the two NCSG constituencies and we are all committed in working together for the promotion of non-commercial interests in the Internet. We believe we can work out our differences and our governance issues internally."

Restructuring

The group is the larger umbrella organization of multiple constituencies and interest groups, such as the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC). The NCSG was the result of a major GNSO restructuring effort, involving the creation of 4 new Stakeholder Groups approved by the ICANN Board in August, 2008. The groups were intended to be broad organizations to better create internal balance between new constituencies; in this way, the number of consituencies can be in constant flux while important, general concerns are still being tended to and represented via the Stakeholder Groups.

The restructuring was also undertaken to see the membership and role of the Non-Commercial group to expand upon the precedent set by the NCUC, which was the original model for such a body. Thus, the NCSG was intended to broaden the approach of the NCUC, and further welcome "educational, research, and philanthropic organizations, foundations, think tanks, members of academia, individual registrant groups and other noncommercial organizations, as well as individual registrants, as part of a non-commercial registrants Stakeholders Group". The restructuring of the GNSO, and the implementation of new constituencies and other structural additions, is an ongoing process.

Members and Executives

NCSG Elected Councillors

• Europe – Maria Farrell (term expires 2014)
• North America – Wendy Seltzer (term expires 2013)
• Asia Pacific – David Cake (term expires 2014)
• Latin America - Magaly Pazello (term expires 2014)
• Asia Pacific - Joy Liddicoat (term expires 2013)
• Europe - Wolfgang Kleinwächter (term expires 2013)

Executive Committee

• Tapani Tarvanen (Chair)
• Robin Gross
• Milton Mueller
• Rudi Vansnick
• Klaus Stoll
• Dorothy Gordon (observer)

Structure

The NCSG is made up of a number of different committees, which focus on a variety of important functions.

• Executive Committee: Main point of oversight, coordinates with NCSG Chair, and harmonizes group functions. Works between the group and the ICANN Board.
• Policy Committee: Guides the research on policies, creates policy consensus,
• Finance Committee: Establishes and tracks finances, administers funds.
• NCSG Chair: The chair is elected on a yearly basis by the general members, one individual can not serve more than 2 consecutive terms.

Constituencies and Interest Groups

The NCSG brings together multiple constituencies, and also allows its members to form together to create Interest Groups.

Constituencies

• Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC)- Older than the Stakeholder Group itself, the NCUC was originally constituted as part of the GNSO in August, 2003. Much like the larger Stakeholder Group, it represents the views of non-commercial individuals and non-profit organizations within the wider ICANN community.
• Not-for-Profit Operational Concerns Constituency (NPOC)- The second addition to the NCSG represents non-profits (NGO's, Civil Society) who have operational concerns related to service delivery. The constituency was originally proposed to the ICANN Board in November, 2010. Its charter was approved by that body at ICANN 41 in Singapore, and they are set to have their first elections ahead of ICANN 42 in Dakar.
• Other Proposed Constituencies include: CyberSafety Constituency, Consumers Constituency

Interest Groups

Interest Groups are officially recognized collaborations between disparate members of the NCSG. They do not have the ability to vote as a unit, but they are allowed to participate on any NCSG committees. The Executive Committee must recertify every Interest Group on a yearly basis. Each Interest Group is able to appoint two members to each of the 3 committees in the group.

Principles of NCSG

1. Nondiscriminatory and impartial application of rules: NCSG represents the non-commercial stakeholders, as such no non-commercial organization or individual can be denied membership. All non-commercial organization and individual applicants for membership in the NCSG should be given equal opportunity if they suite the eligibility criteria. There should be no discrimination on the basis of religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, race, or ethnicity.
2. Transparency: Information on the proceedings of NCSG committee meetings should be available to all NCSG members through the appropriate mediums. The schedules of various meetings should be announced well in advance.
3. Service standards for elected officers: Every NCSG officer, including the Chair, should be impartial, accountable and avoid conflicts of interest. NCSG officers should be fair, trustworthy and responsible custodians of NCSG’s activities.
4. Standards of member behavior: All NCSG members should behave according to ICANN Bylaws/Policies, which supports the consensus model of treating everyone with dignity, respect and courtesy; listening and understanding others effectively; and acting with honesty and sincerity.
5. Encourage consensus: NCSG’s main principle will be to encourage consensus, communication, and cooperation among members on various issues of non-commercial interests by holding the GNSO Council Representative Elections open to all NCSG members. This will ensure that members will try to create a consensus among competing non-commercial views for support.