[AfriNIC-rpd] 15-Day Last Call Period: 'Revised Policy Development Process in the AfriNIC service region' Policy Proposal

[Vincent Ngundi]

 Dear Colleagues,

The 'Revised Policy Development Process in the AfriNIC service region'
Policy Proposal gathered consensus during the AfriNIC 12 Public Policy
meeting held on 3rd June 2010 in Kigali, Rwanda. In line with the AfriNIC
PDP, the policy proposal is now in the 15-day last call for comments period.
This period will end on *Saturday 10th July 2010*. You will find the text of
the policy proposal at the end of this email.

*Summary of Changes to the Policy Proposal*
1. Section 2 specifies when this policy takes effect
2. Clarification in Section 4 about staggered Chair terms
3. Added text to clarify who is part of the Working Group (WG)
4. Added text to cover the special case of the one-year term of the Chair
5. Added text about the selection process for a temporary Chair
6. Added text in Section 5 about the author submitting the proposal to
the mailing list
7. Clarified that anyone can submit a proposal
8. Recall procedure changed to also allow remote participants to make
the request in Section 6
9. Board removed from variance text in Section 7
10. Clarified that variance is a decision of the Chair

You can find out more about the AfriNIC PDP at:
http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2008-GEN-001.htm.

To subscribe to the AfriNIC Resource Policy Discuss mailing list (the
AfriNIC policy discussion mailing list), please send a blank email with the
subject 'subscribe' to
*rpd-request at afrinic.net* <rpd-request at afrinic.net>.

Kind Regards,

Vincent Ngundi
*Chair, AfriNIC PDP-MG*

********Revised Policy Development Process in the AfriNIC service region -
Revised Draft after AfriNIC 12 Public Policy Meeting************

Your Name: S. Moonesamy
Your Organisation:
Policy Affected: AFPUB-2008-GEN-001
Date: 25 June, 2010

Proposal: Policy Development Process in the AfriNIC service region

Incentive:
The initial policy development process (AFPUB-2004-GEN-001) used by AfriNIC
was meant to be a transitional process. A revised policy was specified once
AfriNIC was well established. The existing policy (AFPUB-2008-GEN-001) does
not specify what should be done in the event that the PDP-MG cannot attend
an public policy meeting or if a person disagrees with an action taken by
the PDP-MG.

The lack of information affects the transparency of the policy development
process. It has a negative impact on the decision-making process as issues
that have been discussed and resolved on the mailing list are reopened
during the public policy meeting because the community is not aware of the
mailing list discussions. There is also a lack of documentation about the
procedures used, and the approval and implementation of a policy.

The steps used to determine consensus leads to a situation where comments
provided during online discussions do not bear the same weight as those made
during the public policy meeting.

There is also a lack of awareness and a lack of understanding of the
principles upon which the policy development process are based. Although the
existing policy does not explicitly mention the principles, it follows the
same principles mentioned in this document.

It is proposed to revise the existing policy so that the principles and
procedures are documented. This document adds procedures to the policy
development process to deal with disputes and the recall of the Chair. It
also adds some flexibility to vary the process in the case of an emergency.

1. Introduction
This document describes the AfriNIC Policy Development Process (PDP).

The policies are documented AfriNIC community decisions that directly
determine the rules by which AfriNIC manages and administers Internet number
resources.

The procedures described in this document are designed to be fair, open and
objective and are intended to:

(i) provide ample opportunity for participation and comment by all
interested parties;

(ii) establish widespread Internet community consensus.
These procedures adopt generally accepted practices and provide the
flexibility to adapt to a variety of circumstances that can occur in a
process. This document obsoletes AFPUB-2008-GEN-001.

2. Scope
The Policy Development Process covers the development and modification of
policies for handling Internet Number Resources within the AfriNIC service
region. Changes to the Policy Development Process itself will also follow
the process.

Internet number resource policies are distinctly separate from AfriNIC
general business practices and procedures. General business practices and
procedures are not within the purview of the Policy Development Process.

This policy will take effect at the first AfriNIC Public Policy Meeting
following the ratification by the AfriNIC Board of Directors.

3. Policy Development Principles
All policies are developed by the Internet community following three
principles: openness, transparency and fairness. The Internet community
initiates and discusses the proposals. If consensus is reached on the draft
policy, it is recommended to the AfriNIC Board of Directors for adoption as
a policy.

3.1 Openness
All policies are developed in an open forum in which anyone may participate.
There are no qualifications for participation.

3.2 Transparency
All aspects of the Policy Development Process are documented and publicly
available via the AfriNIC website. The discussions are publicly archived.
All procedures that are developed to implement the policy are documented by
AfriNIC and are publicly available.

3.3 Fairness
The policies are to ensure fair distribution of resources and facilitating
the operation of the Internet.

Actions are taken within a reasonable period of time.

4. Policy Development Working Group
The Policy Development Working Group (PDWG) discusses about the proposals.
Anyone may participate via the Internet or in person. The work is carried
out through the Resource Policy Discussion mailing list (RPD) and the Public
Policy Meeting (PPM). Any person, participating either in person or
remotely, is considered to be part of the Policy Development Working Group.

The Policy Development Working Group has two Chairs to perform the
administrative functions of the group. The Working Group Chairs will be
chosen by the AfriNIC community during the Public Policy Meeting and they
will serve staggered two-year terms. The term ends during the first Public
Policy Meeting meeting corresponding to the end of the term for which they
were appointed. A term may begin or end no sooner than the first day of the
Public Policy Meeting and no later than the last day of the Public Policy
Meeting as determined by the mutual agreement of the current Chair and the
new Chair.

As a special case for the two Working Group Chairs appointed when this
policy first takes effect, one of the Chairs will be appointed for a
two-year term, and the other Chair will be appointed for a one-year term.

If the Working Group Chair is unable to serve his or her full term, the
Working Group may select a replacement to serve the remainder of the term.
If the Working Group Chairs are unable to attend the Public Policy Meeting,
the Working Group shall nominate a Chair for the session. Anyone present at
the meeting, whether in person or by remote participation, may participate
in the selection process for a temporary Chair.

5. Policy Development Process
Anyone can submit a proposal. Policy proposals are submitted to the Resource
Policy Discussion mailing list by the author. AfriNIC will provide
administrative support and assist the author(s) in drafting the proposal, if
requested. AfriNIC shall also provide relevant facts and statistics if
requested during the discussion.

5.1 Draft Policy
During the development of a policy, draft versions of the document are made
available for review and comment by publishing them on the AfriNIC website
and posting them to the Resource Policy Discussion mailing list. The
document shall include the information mentioned in Appendix A. Each draft
policy is assigned a unique identifier by AfriNIC. The website shall also
contain the version history and the status of all proposals.

The draft policy shall be available for review for at least four weeks
before the next Public Policy Meeting. The author(s) shall make the
necessary changes to the draft policy according to the feedback received.
The Working Group Chair(s) may request AfriNIC to provide an analysis,
technical, financial, legal or other, of the impact of the draft policy.

A draft policy expires after one calendar year unless it is approved by the
AfriNIC Board of Directors as a policy. The timeout period is restarted when
the draft policy is replaced by a more recent version of the proposal. A
draft policy can be withdrawn by the author(s) by sending a notification to
the Resource Policy Discussion mailing list.

5.2 Public Policy Meeting
The draft policy is placed on the agenda of the an open public policy
meeting. The agenda of the meeting shall be announced on the Resource Policy
Discussion mailing list at least two weeks prior to the meeting. No change
can be made to a draft policy within one week of the meeting. This is so
that a stable version of the draft policy can be considered at the meeting.
The Chair(s) determines whether rough consensus has been achieved during the
Public Policy Meeting.

The Chair(s) shall publish the minutes of proceedings of the Public Policy
Meeting not later than three weeks after the meeting.

5.3 Last Call
A final review of the draft policy is initiated by the Working Group
Chair(s) by sending an announcement to the Resource Policy Discussion
mailing list. The Last Call period shall be at least two weeks. The Working
Group Chair(s) shall evaluate the feedback received during the Public Policy
Meeting and during this period and decide whether consensus has been
achieved.

5.4 Approval
The Working Group Chair(s) shall recommend the draft policy to the AfriNIC
Board of Directors for approval if it has the consensus of the Policy
Development Working Group. The recommendation shall include a report of the
discussions of the draft policy and feedback from the Last Call. The draft
policy shall be ratified by the AfriNIC Board of Directors.

5.5 Implementation
The adoption and implementation date of the policy is announced on the
Resource Policy Discussion mailing list. The implementation date should be
less than six months after the end of the Last Call unless a waiver is
requested.

6. Conflict Resolution
A person who disagrees with the actions taken by the Chair(s) shall discuss
the matter with the Working Group Chair(s) or with the Working Group. If the
disagreement cannot be resolved in this way, the person may file an appeal
with an Appeal Committee appointed by the AfriNIC Board of Directors. An
appeal can only be filed if it is supported by three (3) persons from the
Working Group who have participated in the discussions.

The appeal must be submitted within two weeks of the public knowledge of the
decision. The Appeal Committee shall issue a report on its review of the
complaint to the Working Group. The Appeal Committee may direct that the
Chair(s) decision be annulled if the Policy Development Process has not been
followed.

Anyone may request the recall of a Working Group Chair at any time, upon
written request with justification to the AfriNIC Board of Directors. The
request must supported by at least five (5) other persons from the Working
Group. The AfriNIC Board of Directors shall appoint a recall committee,
excluding the persons requesting the recall and the Working Group Chairs.
The recall committee shall investigate the circumstances of the
justification for the recall and determine the outcome.

7. Varying the Process
The process outlined in this document may vary in the case of an emergency.
Variance is for use when a one-time waiving of some provision of this
document is required. The decision to vary the process is taken by the
Working Group Chair. There must be an explanation about why the variance is
needed. The review period, including the Last Call, shall not be less than
four weeks. If there is consensus, the policy is approved as described in
Section 5.4 and it must be presented at the next Public Policy Meeting.

8. Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge that some text and procedures in this
document have been adapted from RFC 2026. Thanks to Adiel Apklogan and Alain
Aina for their insight, and Alan P. Barrett. The author only documented the
process; full credit belongs to the AfriNIC community.

Appendix A: Draft Policy Template

The Draft Policy shall include:

1. Unique identifier (assigned by AfriNIC)

2. Draft Policy Name

3. Author(s)
(a) Name
(b) Email address
(c) Affiliation, if applicable

4. Draft Policy Version

5. Submission Date

6. Changes to existing policies (updates, obsoletes), if applicable

7. Summary of proposal

8. Proposal

9. List of changes between previous versions of the draft, if applicable
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