Noncommercial Users Constituency Meeting in Kenya

What It Is | The Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) is the home for civil society organizations and individuals in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO). With real voting power in ICANN policy making and Board selection, it develops and supports positions that favor noncommercial communication and activity on the Internet.
Why It's Important | The NCUC is open to noncommercial organizations and individuals involved in education, community networking, public policy advocacy, development, promotion of the arts, children's welfare, religion, consumer protection, scientific research, human rights and many other areas. See our charter for membership eligibility (including proposed revisions allowing individual members). Please complete an application and join us today, and get involved in protecting the communication and activities we value on the Internet!
Who Should Attend | Any interested Non Commercial organizations or individuals who are interested in GNSO participation through the NCSG are invited  and the meeting is open to all other interested parties. NCUC-NCSG Meeting Discussion Agend Date: Tuesday 9 March 2010
Time: 09:00 – 17:00 Location: Impala Room – KICC 09:00 – 10:30  PROCESS / CONSTITUENCY / STAKEHOLDER GROUP BUSINESS  How to move forward with NCUC-NCSG transition Development of Specific Interest Groups Review Team Appointments & Process for Selection Need to Secure Resources 10:30 – 10:45  COFFEE BREAK 10:45 – 13:00  POLICY DISCUSSION I Vertical Integration New gTLD Policies Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery Whois Policies Registration Abuse Policies GNSO Improvements 13:00 – 14:00  LUNCH BREAK 14:00 – 17:00  POLICY DISCUSSION II Continued Policy Discussion from Part I Planning for Future Assigned Statements in Board & GNSO Public Forum Working Group Assignments
Local civil society representatives met with NCUC.
Now down to work!
One can download some of the ICANN meeting:
the archive is at http://nbo.icann.org/node/8931. To hear sections of the proceedings and only those that spoke to the microphone.
From Alex Gakuru: In extending outreach to and constructive engagement with other stakeholders, today I attended the 'Potential Consumer Constituency meeting. Glad I did! Because several questions were directed at me in connection to the public comments I sent on during the consultation period on their proposal. Thus it was a great chance to give detailed explanations on each as requested. It was reported that the Business Constituency and Intellectual Property Constituency supported the idea of a separate "Proposed Consumer Constituency" to which I responded that I found it strange why those two supported and even advised how they considered that the proposed consumer constituency should be operated. Explaining business interests stakeholders are not well-known as be 'consumer  partners'
From the notes taken at the meeting: N – in the early years of this group, we had a rowing boat club as a member. We had many discussions not related to the basic interest of this group. There needs to be some more elaboration but groups need to promote noncommercial interests. 
R – as we go forward, we need to focus on the noncommercial aspects of the groups so that the interests they promote are noncommercial. We need to look very carefully at these groups to see if they are commercial or noncommercial to make sure we stay purely noncommercial.
M– in my view this is one of the biggest reasons why at this stage in icann's evolution, having an interest group that's philanthropic and nonprofit is v. beneficial. It allows them to reach across the fence to the commercial side, whether within the ncsg or informally. 
R– from a staff perspective, we share that perspective that robin shared. We tell people who reach out to us tht this is the noncommercial space and if there are challenges you need to talk to the community about. 
A – re. The nonprofit institutions coming into the sg, in kenya we have an example of tespoc (telco provider association). It's a nonprofit, but as Beckstrom said yesterday, communications costs are high, and its interests are commercial, i.e. for profit. Institutions of profit can clothe themselves as nonprofits, but with opposite agendas. We have to be very cautious that the nonprofit agenda is not hijacked. 
D – expanding nonprofit areas are of value to ncuc. Where it will be difficult is in the consumer area. INTUG is a good example as an international association of business users of telecoms. These type of org don't draw a strong line in their membership so we'll have to very clear as there is trouble ahead.