[Chapter-delegates] Final Call for Input on the Chapter Charter Agreement (Deadline: 15 September)
Flávio Rech Wagner
flavio at inf.ufrgs.br
Mon Oct 5 18:30:23 PDT 2026
Dear chapter leaders
This message is especially intended to those chapter leaders who may not
have directly followed the discussion about the new Chapter Charter
Agreement, which is primarily happening through the ChAC, with the
participation of the Representatives from your Chapters. This process
was in the agenda of the Q1 (in February), Q2 (in May) and Q3 (in
September) Full ChAC calls.
As already explained in previous messages, most changes to the Chapter
Charter Agreement come from the Chapter DNA document, which proposes a
new vision for chapter health, resilience, and impact, while also
recognizing the many different realities of our Chapters. The Chapter
DNA document was prepared after consultation with the community in the
beginning of 2026 and presented during the Q1 Full ChAC call. It can be
found here:
https://app.box.com/notes/2184030150813?s=sm6wg879ouz0wcb3uuejbomrqypp1568
A guide showing exactly how proposed changes in the new Chapter Charter
Agreement are directly connected to the Chapter DNA has been shared with
the ChAC Representatives during the first consultation round of the
review process, and can be found here:
https://app.box.com/notes/2286649326490?s=bphineozvfi6cldkx2irs166fji8qlyf
I hope the information on these two documents is helpful.
Just to remember where we are in the process, the first consultation
round has now closed and the feedback received is currently being
incorporated into iteration 2 of the new Chapter Charter Agreement. This
work is being carried out together with the relevant Internet Society
teams, including the Legal team, so that the revised draft can better
reflect the different legal and operational realities raised by Chapters.
In the coming weeks, the revised draft will be published and a dedicated
ChAC session will be held to present the main changes and explain how
the feedback from Chapters was considered in iteration 2.
We recognize that not everyone was able to engage at every stage of the
earlier process. This next consultation round will provide another
opportunity for all Chapters to review the revised proposal, understand
its rationale, contribute, and share and discuss their views with the
Chapter community.
Thank you again for staying engaged in the process.
Best,
Flávio
> Hi Pedro, all,
>
> I agree that concrete proposals are useful, particularly once we have
> identified the problem we are trying to solve.
>
> But I think there is a prior and more fundamental question that we
> should not skip: what exactly are we trying to fix, and why does
> changing the Chapter Charter Agreement provide the appropriate solution?
>
> So far, I have not seen a clear assessment showing which specific
> problems are caused by the current Agreement, rather than by
> implementation, evaluation criteria, available resources, capacity, or
> the support provided to Chapters.
>
> Without that diagnosis, we risk reversing the process: first designing
> new contractual requirements and then looking for the problems that
> might justify them.
>
> Following the same spirit of making concrete proposals, perhaps there
> is a very simple one we could make at this stage: ask the community
> directly whether Chapters agree that modifying the Chapter Charter
> Agreement is the appropriate way to achieve the objectives that have
> been presented.
>
> I have seen several contributions raising concerns about specific
> proposed changes, but I have not yet seen comparable community
> contributions explaining why those changes are necessary or how they
> would solve identified problems. If such contributions have been made
> and I have missed them, I sincerely apologize and would appreciate
> being pointed to them.
>
> My own position, based on what we have seen so far, is that a reform
> of the Chapter Charter Agreement has not been shown to be necessary.
> On the contrary, several of the proposed changes appear likely to
> introduce additional legal, governance and administrative
> complications for Chapters.
>
> So let me make a concrete alternative proposal:
>
> Rather than proceeding from the assumption that the Agreement needs to
> be changed, I propose that the next ChAC Steering Committee include as
> a specific objective the analysis of mechanisms to achieve the goals
> identified through the Chapter DNA process without modifying the
> Chapter Charter Agreement.
>
> That analysis could distinguish which objectives require contractual
> provisions and which can be better achieved through evaluation
> criteria, capacity building, incentives, support tools, guidance, or
> improvements in the implementation of the existing framework.
>
> If, after that analysis, there are specific problems for which the
> existing Agreement is demonstrably an obstacle and a contractual
> amendment is necessary, then we would have a clear basis for
> discussing those particular changes.
>
> This would not mean abandoning the objectives behind Chapter DNA. It
> would mean starting with the objectives and the problems, and then
> choosing the appropriate instruments, rather than starting with
> contractual reform as the presumed solution.
>
> So perhaps the community should first answer two simple questions:
>
> What demonstrated problem are we trying to solve?
>
> Do Chapters agree that changing the Chapter Charter Agreement is
> necessary and proportionate to solve it?
>
> Until we have clear answers, I believe we should be careful not to
> create new locks and then spend our time designing the keys.
>
> Carlos Vera
> Internet Society Ecuador Chapter
>
>
>
>> El oct 1, 2026, a la(s) 17:04, Pedro de Perdigão Lana
>> <pedrodeperdigaolana at gmail.com> escribió:
>>
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I am just now checking this thread, and since I bizarrely kind of
>> like this very boring subject of reviewing governance documents, I
>> thought dropping a few comments could, hopefully, be helpful!
>>
>> * Concrete suggestions, like the ones in many comments here, are
>> really useful for those reviewing the text. That is probably the
>> best way to have concerns heard, not only by pointing out the
>> issue, but also by proposing a solution or an alternative. It
>> also helps confirm the problem is real by grounding it in
>> concrete terms. It is really nice to see this effort from the
>> chapters; it is rare to see a community that tries to be that
>> efficient with their contributions, as we can see here!
>> * ISOC usually has a good standard for documenting discussions and
>> meetings, even when we couldn't be part of them. Although reading
>> these materials can be tiring for that very reason, it’s useful
>> when we are thinking about not transferring our very natural need
>> to save time to others. Notes help a lot to avoid reviving
>> debates that have already taken place, and to answer the most
>> common questions that tend to arise - which is something that
>> helps everyone involved go forward more expeditiously (which is
>> also a very good reason to publish the contributions that
>> chapters made to the review proposal).
>> * This last one is more of a personal note: those discussions are
>> most productive when they receive personal/collective opinions,
>> and the format in which those opinions are presented does not
>> really matter. So, IMHO, it is best to avoid fully AI-generated
>> comments. Most people use AI to review this kind of work
>> nowadays, looking for flaws or objective possibilities of
>> improvement, so they will likely do the same (or already have) in
>> one phase of the review, and the suggestions an AI tool makes
>> will be part of the process at some point. Those tools are very
>> useful for the people organizing the inputs and adding them to
>> the governance text, but they don't really add much to the
>> improvement discussion (meaning the input from the community) itself.
>>
>>
>> Very interesting comments here overall, and, again, nice to see that
>> much engagement from our community (:
>>
>> *Pedro de Perdigão Lana*
>> Lawyer <https://www.nic.br/>, GEDAI/UFPR <https://www.gedai.com.br/>
>> Researcher
>> PhD (UFPR), LLM in Business Law (UCoimbra)
>> ISOC Brazil <https://www.isoc.org.br/> Vice-President.NCUC
>> <https://www.ncuc.org/> EC (ICANN). IODA Executive Secretary.
>> This message is restricted to the sender and recipient(s). If
>> received by mistake, please reply informing it.
>>
>>
>> Em qui., 1 de out. de 2026 às 16:48, Carlos Vera via
>> Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> escreveu:
>>
>> Thank you. It was the ? in the passcode.. Also the other links
>> work fine for Q1 and Q2..
>>
>> Carlos Vera
>>
>> El jue, 1 oct 2026 a las 12:18, Flávio Rech Wagner
>> (<flavio at inf.ufrgs.br>) escribió:
>>
>> Hi Carlos
>>
>> The link and password are working for me. Could you please
>> check again? If you still have problems, please contact me
>> directly.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Flávio
>>
>>
>>> I was trying to access this
>>>
>>> Reference: Q3 Full ChAC Call Recording:
>>> https://isoc.zoom.us/rec/share/-6XJLwXG9it9gUe22AJyJg85kf_4LurDocT_AQ0jDXmlR4yRGtWvRn_d8p457U9K.SUUs5mPPssT488Pc
>>> (Passcode: ?=3YF98F)
>>>
>>> It seems I making some mistake in the passcode.. it says is
>>> wrong...
>>>
>>> Is there a list of call recording to navigate? If so can you
>>> please share here?
>>>
>>> I'm also interested in the Q2 call and others related to the
>>> ChAC Charter (not only the Chapter Charter)
>>>
>>> Thank you for your help
>>>
>>> Carlos Vera
>>>
>>> El mié, 23 sept 2026 a las 13:00, Flávio Rech Wagner
>>> (<flavio at inf.ufrgs.br>) escribió:
>>>
>>> Hi Carlos
>>>
>>> Regarding the rationale for updating the Chapter Charter
>>> Agreement, please refer to the agenda
>>> <https://isoc.box.com/s/j3u43egd9wx7c0wd9cvilt85zltvo65a>
>>> and the recording (see link and password below) of
>>> yesterday’s Full ChAC Call.
>>>
>>> At the bottom ("Notes" section) of the agenda there is
>>> a note as a reminder of the rationale and context behind
>>> the revision of the Chapter Charter Agreement, referring
>>> to the ChAC Action Plan for 2026 (shared with the ChAC
>>> during the Q1 Full ChAC Call) and to the Chapter DNA
>>> document (presented during the Q2 Full ChAC Call), with
>>> appropriate links.
>>>
>>> The current consultation on a new version of the Chapter
>>> Charter Agreement is thus a subsequent step in this
>>> process and follows those two previous steps, that were
>>> presented and discussed with all ChAC representatives
>>> during the Q1 and Q2 Full ChAC Calls.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Flávio
>>>
>>> ------
>>>
>>> Reference: Q3 Full ChAC Call Recording:
>>> https://isoc.zoom.us/rec/share/-6XJLwXG9it9gUe22AJyJg85kf_4LurDocT_AQ0jDXmlR4yRGtWvRn_d8p457U9K.SUUs5mPPssT488Pc
>>> (Passcode: ?=3YF98F)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Dear all,
>>>>
>>>> I would like to reiterate that I do not see a clear
>>>> rationale for changing the agreement with the Chapters.
>>>> The fact that it has only been in force for eight years
>>>> is not, in itself, a problem. On the contrary, it is
>>>> generally desirable to have agreements that are durable
>>>> and remain valid over time.
>>>>
>>>> At this point, we have not been presented with clear
>>>> arguments explaining why the agreement should be
>>>> changed or what specifically needs to be changed.
>>>>
>>>> The process seems to have moved directly to requesting
>>>> input on possible changes without first establishing a
>>>> clear understanding of their purpose and rationale.
>>>> This risks becoming a process without a clearly stated
>>>> justification or any evident benefits.
>>>>
>>>> Is there any analysis supporting this proposal? Are
>>>> there specific areas of the current agreement that have
>>>> created conflicts, difficulties, or identified needs
>>>> that should be considered?
>>>>
>>>> Best regards,
>>>>
>>>> Carlos Vera
>>>> ISOC Ecuador
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> El mar, 22 sept 2026 a las 23:55, Hank Nussbacher via
>>>> Chapter-delegates (<chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>)
>>>> escribió:
>>>>
>>>> On 17/09/2026 18:28, Flávio Rech Wagner via
>>>> Chapter-delegates wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> After the Q3 ChaC meeting yesterday, I think it
>>>> worthwhile that those who submitted changes post
>>>> them here since the CHaC is not allowed to. There
>>>> is no limitation on someone who submitted a change
>>>> to voluntarily post what they submitted.
>>>>
>>>> To remind everyone of the various documents:
>>>>
>>>> https://www.internetsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Chapter-Charter-Agreement.pdf
>>>> [8 year old current charter agreement]
>>>> https://isoc.app.box.com/notes/2286649326490?s=bphineozvfi6cldkx2irs166fji8qlyf
>>>> https://isoc.app.box.com/notes/2184030150813?s=sm6wg879ouz0wcb3uuejbomrqypp1568
>>>> https://isoc.app.box.com/s/bmom76ebuq3m8s94gf1m4lb1vti02i32
>>>> [proposed 1st draft new charter agreement]
>>>>
>>>> So in the context of creating a broader discussion
>>>> I will start with the 3 changes I submitted
>>>> specifically not addressed by the proposed changes
>>>> but rather on analysis of the current proposed
>>>> charter agreement as listed above:
>>>>
>>>> a. Paragraph 1 states "Establish a not-for-profit
>>>> (or similar) entity within the Territory" - yet the
>>>> word territory remains undefined. Can territories
>>>> overlap? Can a single building in a city with 40
>>>> apartments be called a territory?
>>>> b. In section 3 it states "Developing, maintaining,
>>>> and adhering to articles of association, bylaws, or
>>>> equivalent governing documents," but there is no
>>>> requirement to make these documents public. ISOC
>>>> encourages transparency yet there is no indication
>>>> in the revised charter to require transparency via
>>>> making all of those documents publicly available.
>>>> c. In section B.1.b the term "Good Standing"
>>>> remains undefined
>>>>
>>>> Looking forward to hearing what others submitted
>>>> and to have an open discussion on all the proposed
>>>> amendments.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Hank
>>>>
>>>>> Dear Hank
>>>>>
>>>>> Thank you for your valuable feedback on the
>>>>> consultation.
>>>>>
>>>>> As Christine already expressed in a previous
>>>>> message to this list, we will now, based on the
>>>>> feedback received so far, work on the next
>>>>> iteration of the draft Chapter Charter Agreement.
>>>>> Once this is ready, the proposed text will then go
>>>>> through another, final, round of community
>>>>> consultation. This will allow all chapters that
>>>>> would like to provide additional input to do so.
>>>>>
>>>>> As the feedback form for the current consultation
>>>>> did not ask contributors to consent to their
>>>>> individual responses being shared publicly, there
>>>>> is no plan to publish individual submissions in
>>>>> this round. We regret that there was no such
>>>>> provision. In the next consultation round, there
>>>>> will be a clear option for chapters to indicate
>>>>> whether their feedback may be shared publicly or
>>>>> attributed.
>>>>>
>>>>> Although individual submissions in this first
>>>>> round will not be shared publicly, a summary of
>>>>> the main themes raised through the consultation
>>>>> will be shared in turn, along with an explanation
>>>>> on how those themes were considered in the next
>>>>> iteration of the Chapter Charter Agreement revision.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best,
>>>>>
>>>>> Flávio
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I submitted 3 submissions back on Aug 5 as I
>>>>>> assume many other ChAC reps have done.
>>>>>> What I have not seen is an archive of submissions
>>>>>> and the status of comments/changes requested.
>>>>>> Can someone point me to where that might be?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>> Hank Nussbacher
>>>>>> ISOC-IL
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> --
>>> Prof. Flávio Rech Wagner
>>> Instituto de Informática - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
>>> Presidente da ISOC Brasil
>>> ISOC Chapters Advisory Council - Steering Committee Chair
>>>
>> --
>> Prof. Flávio Rech Wagner
>> Instituto de Informática - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
>> Presidente da ISOC Brasil
>> ISOC Chapters Advisory Council - Steering Committee Chair
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> As a Chapter Leader, you are automatically added to the Internet
>> Society’s Chapter Leaders Community Group and the Chapter
>> Delegates e-list, which is regularly synchronized with the
>> Internet Society Chapter Portal (AMS):
>> https://community.internetsociety.org.
>> The Internet Society has a legitimate interest to communicate
>> with its chapter leaders, you will therefore remain subscribed
>> for the duration of your term and will be unsubscribed
>> automatically when your term ends.
>> Please note that the archive of this list is publicly accessible
>> and may be viewed by anyone. By submitting information to this
>> list and contributing to the communications, you acknowledge that
>> the contents will be publicly visible.
>> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct:
>> https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>> -
>> Unsubscribe:
>> https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/9b6ef0621638436ab0a9b23cb0668b0b?The%20list%20to%20be%20unsubscribed%20from=Chapter-delegates
>>
--
Prof. Flávio Rech Wagner
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Instituto de Informática
Porto Alegre, Brasil
Presidente da Internet Society Brasil
flavio at inf.ufrgs.br,info at isoc.org.br
https://www.isoc.org.br Twitter: @ISOCBrasil
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