How to join the At-Large Community?

Overview | Apply to Become an ALS | Apply to Become an Individual Member | Membership Roster | About Us

What is an At-Large Structure (ALS)?

An ALS is a wholly independent organization from ICANN. The ALS accreditation recognizes that these groups meet ICANN’s criteria for involving individual Internet users at the local or issue level in ICANN activities, and for promoting individuals’ understanding of and participation in ICANN. Up to date, more than 80 countries around the world have ALSes, and around 40 ALSes are in each Regional At-Large Organization (RALO). To find an accredited ALS in your area, search HERE.

What are the benefits of becoming an ALS?

As an accredited ALS, a group gets:

A recognized role in participating in ALAC-led activities that affects how individuals use the Internet;
Quick and easy access to first-hand information on what’s happening in ICANN and why it matters to end-users;
Opportunities to learn about Internet developments via capacity building webinars, briefings, and other learning activities;
A role in building your RALO and oportunities to network with other ALSes in your country and region;
Opportunities to contribute in terms of advancing accessibility and inclusion at ICANN, promoting the adoption of communication and collaboration tools, and designing project proposals among other At-Large community-wide efforts;
Representation in ICANN at the regional and international level, including your members' eligibility to serve on important regional and international decisionmaking bodies in ICANN;
A vote in electing leaders in your RALO and other formal voting activities within your RALO;
Internet-based tools to support your group’s work;
Opportunities to get funding and other support for your group’s engagement within the ICANN community, such as ICANN fellowship, NextGen, CROPP, and Fiscal Year Special Budget Request, etc.

What types of groups can become ALSes?

Any group that supports individuals’ ability to share their views on ICANN issues, and that meets the few simple criteria, can apply to be an ALS.

Types of groups that have applied or have expressed interest include:

Professional societies (e.g. engineers, attorneys, etc.)
Academic and research organizations
Community networking groups
Consumer advocacy groups
Internet Society chapters
Computer user organizations
Internet civil society groups

What are the minimum criteria for an ALS?

Commit to supporting individual Internet users’ informed participation in ICANN by distributing to individual constituents/members information on relevant ICANN activities and issues, offering Internet-based mechanisms that enable discussions of one or more of these activities and issues among individual constituents/members, and involving individual constituents/members in relevant ICANN policy development, discussions and decisions.
Be constituted so that participation by individual Internet users who are citizens or residents of countries within the Geographic Region in which the ALS is based will predominate in the ALS’ operation. The ALS may permit additional participation by others that is compatible with the interests of the individual Internet users within the region.
Be self-supporting (not rely on ICANN for funding).
Post on the Internet (on the ALAC’s website or elsewhere) publicly- accessible, current information about the ALS’s goals, structure, description of constituent group(s)/ membership, working mechanisms, leadership, and contact(s).
Assist the RALO in performing its function.

How to get accredited as an ALS?

Step 1

Submit a completed ALS application form online (in English or other language available) and provide any requested or relevant documentation.

Step 2

ICANN Staff will conduct due diligence, reviewing the application and performing necessary tasks in an effort to ensure that the established ALS criteria has been/will be met and to facilitate the easy review of applications by the At-Large community.

This due diligence could include, without limitation:

requesting references,
interviewing the applicant's contact(s),
gathering/requesting additional information on the applicant,
(for existing organizations) requesting information on applicant's leadership and operations,
verifying general funding sources,
requiring the applicant to demonstrate the identity of their individual constituents.

The information resulting from the due diligence conducted will then be provided to the then-current members of the RALO in the Geographic Region that the applicant organization is based in.

Step 3

Upon completion of due diligence, all the then-current members of the aforementioned RALO will have an opportunity to review the application and related documentation.

They may then comment in confidence about the applicant in such a way that the anonymity of the source person or entity of the comments may be kept confidential if the source of the comments so wishes.

The substance of the comments will be available to the members of the RALO, the ICANN Staff, and the ALAC members until the conclusion of Step 5 at which point the comments will no longer be accessible.

Step 4

Upon completion of the due diligence review period, the regional Secretariat will then provide to the At-Large Advisory Committee its view of the advice of the various members that have commented on the application as the regional advice of the region.

This will take the form of a recommendation to accredit, not to accredit, or if no comments were received from members of the region, a statement that no regional advice is available in respect of the applicant.

Step 5

The ALAC shall then decide whether or not to vote on the application in the following manner:

a. Where no regional advice is given:

A vote shall be held and the question to be put shall be: "Does the ALAC wish to accredit [name of applicant]?" The available responses to the question shall be: 'YES', 'NO', and 'ABSTAIN'

b. Where regional advice has been given:

If any member of the ALAC requests a vote on a given applicant to be held, the question to be put shall be: "Shall the advice of the region in respect of accreditation of [name of applicant] be overturned?". The available responses to the question shall be: 'YES', 'NO', and 'ABSTAIN' where only one answer may be chosen.
If no member of the ALAC requests a vote to be held on such an application within a number of days after the regional advice has been given (the number of days to be as determined by the ALAC from time to time), the applicant shall be accredited as an At-Large Structure by unanimous consent upon the expiry of the number of days above-referenced.

Step 6

Where a vote is held in respect of Step 5, the vote shall require a majority of a quorum (as defined by the ALAC in its Rules of Procedure) in the affirmative on the question.

Decisions to accredit, or refuse to accredit, an ALS shall be subject to review as provided by the ICANN Bylaws, Article XII, Section (d)(i-ix).

The ALAC will notify the applicant of its accreditation decision, and, if applicable, provide information on requesting a review of the decision.

Step 7

Decisions to de-certify an ALS shall require a 2/3 majority of the members of the ALAC who cast a vote as provided in the Rules of Procedure of the ALAC, and any decertification decision shall be subject to review as provided in the ICANN Bylaws, Article XII, Section (d)(i-ix).

Reasons for the ALAC to pursue de-certification action, and to de-certify an ALS, may include persistent non-compliance with significant ALS requirements.

The ALAC will provide advance notice to the ALS in question, and the ALS will have an opportunity to be heard and respond to the ALAC prior to a decision on de-certification.

The ALAC will notify the ALS of its de-certification decision and provide information on requesting a review of the decision.

Step 8

On an ongoing basis, the ALAC, and/or the RALOs, may give informal advice and support to organizations seeking accreditation.

The ALAC shall work informally with organizations over time to assist them with their efforts to comply with the criteria and achieve the necessary standing to seek certification.

Step 9

Except as provided below under 'Suspension of An Application', the ALAC and the ICANN Staff shall work concertedly to ensure that the process of reaching a decision to accredit, or not to accredit, an At-Large Structure shall take not longer than ninety (90) days from the date at which an application is received to the date at which the applicant is notified of the decision.

ALS applications, accreditation decisions on applications, and other information, as appropriate, will be publicly posted: https://atlarge.icann.org/als-application-tracking

Can ALS application be suspended?

At step 1-5 of the process above, the consideration of an application may be suspended where:

The suspension is requested by the applicant, or;
The RALO Secretariat of the region the applicant is based in, either at the request of Members of the RALO or otherwise under procedures which may be adopted by the RALOs as they shall determine, requires further information from the applicant which is essential to the evaluation of the application, or;
Members of the ALAC believe that additional information is essential to the evaluation of the application.

Wherever an application is suspended under part (1) of this section, that suspension shall be lifted upon the request of the applicant.

Where the suspension is under parts (2) or (3) ofthis section, that suspension shall only last as long as shall reasonably berequired in order to acquire the additional information necessary.

When notifying the applicant of the additional information, it shall be obligatory to also notify the applicant that the application is suspended until the information is received.

How are applications evaluated?

The community has defined a written set of guidelines for evaluating ALS applications to ensure that decisions are reached in a bottom-up based, transparent and fair manner.

You may review the ALS guidelines at: atlarge.icann.org/files/atlarge/alac-sd-2-rev7-als-app-interpretation-guidelines-23jul07-en.pdf

Ready to apply?

Use the following online ALS application forms to apply (multi language versions available). Want to get more information before applying? Contact staff@atlarge.icann.org.