CHAPTER IV - ASSEMBLIES

This document and/or information was originally written in Spanish, the official language of Uruguay, the country where LACNIC is legally incorporated and whose laws and regulations govern the organization. Likewise, unofficial information and/or documents are also written in Spanish, as this is the language in which most of LACNIC's advisors and officers work and communicate. We do our best to ensure that our translations are reliable and serve as a guide for our non-Spanish-speaking members. However, discrepancies may exist between the translations and the original document and/or information written in Spanish. In such cases, the original text written in Spanish will always prevail.

 

ARTICLE 12

Acting in accordance with these Bylaws, the General Assembly is the governing body of LACNIC. It is comprised of all LACNIC members with the right to participate and shall decide on any matter of interest to LACNIC members in compliance with the Bylaws of the organization and any applicable legal and regulatory standards. 

ARTICLE 13

There are two types of General Member Assemblies: Ordinary and Extraordinary Member Assemblies. Ordinary Member Assemblies shall be held once a year, within the first six months following the closing of the fiscal year, the date for which has been set as 31 December. These Assemblies shall:

  1. Consider, approve or modify the annual report, general balance sheet, inventory, expense and income account, and the report presented by the Fiscal Commission;
  2. Establish membership fees and determine procedures for their update when necessary. These procedures, including payment terms, transitional arrangements in case of modifications to membership fees, as well as discounts, benefits, rebates, fines in case of failure to pay such membership fees, and financing of membership fees, shall be implemented by the Board of Directors;
  3. Consider any other matters included in the agenda, provided that they fall within the competence of the Ordinary Member Assembly;
  4. Consider any matter proposed by no less than 20% of the members and submitted to the Board of Directors no later than thirty days after the closing of the fiscal year.

All other matters, including modifications to the Bylaws, shall be addressed during Extraordinary Member Assemblies. 

* Article modified by the Member Assemblies held on 24 April 2003, 29 May 2008, 06 May 2014, 03 May 2016, and 23 May 2017.

ARTICLE 14

Extraordinary Member Assemblies shall be convened whenever the Board of Directors deems it necessary or when the Fiscal Commission, the Electoral Commission or 20% of voting members submit a request to the Board of Directors. Such requests must be decided by the Board of Directors within ten days and the Assembly must be held within a period of forty-five days. Should the Board of Directors decide to reject or dismiss a request, the reasons for such rejection or dismissal must be submitted to the Assembly in writing. Should 20% of voting members decide to persist in their request, they may submit such request to the Fiscal Commission under the same terms and following identical procedure, in which case the Fiscal Commission shall convene the Extraordinary Member Assembly.

*Article modified by the Member Assemblies held on 29 May 2008 and 03 May 2016. 

ARTICLE 15

Member Assemblies shall be convened by sending a notice to members at their postal or email address thirty days in advance. The Annual Report, General Balance Sheet, Inventory, Expense and Income Account, Fiscal Commission Report, and any other documents to be considered under the agenda items shall be submitted to members fifteen days in advance for their consideration. When modifications to the Bylaws or regulations are submitted for the consideration of the Assembly, such proposed modifications shall also be submitted to members fifteen days in advance. Assemblies may not consider matters other than those expressly included in the agenda, unless full membership is present and the inclusion of the matter is approved by unanimous vote.

* Article modified by the Member Assemblies held on 24 April 2003, 29 May 2008, and 03 May 2016. 

ARTICLE 16

Assemblies require the presence of the absolute majority of voting members. However, an hour after the time specified in the notice convening the meeting, Member Assemblies shall be valid regardless of the number of members present, even in the event of amendment of the Bylaws and liquidation of the organization. Assemblies shall be chaired by the president of the organization or by the person appointed by the Assembly by simple majority of votes cast. The secretary of the Board of Director or the person appointed by the Assembly by simple majority of the votes cast shall be the secretary of the Assembly.

* Article modified by the Member Assembly held on 04 May 2022.

ARTICLE 17

Resolutions shall be adopted by absolute majority of votes cast, except in those cases where these Bylaws require 2/3 of votes cast and those where these Bylaws expressly refer to other majorities. Members who join the Assembly once it has begun may only vote on matters that have not yet been decided. Decisions affecting the requirements and conditions for the membership categories established in Article 6 must be approved by the absolute majority of Active Members present. These requirements complement those specifically established for amending the Bylaws.

* Article modified by the Member Assemblies held on 24 April 2003, 29 May 2008, 03 May 2016, and 04 May 2022.

ARTICLE 18

The voters’ registry shall be made available to all members with the anticipation set forth in Article 15. Members may submit claims, corrections, or clarifications up to 15 days before the election, and these shall be settled within the following 5 days.

* Article modified by the Member Assembly held on 04 May 2022.

ARTICLE 19

Assembly discussions shall be guided by the constant search for consensual agreements.

Should voting become necessary, Founding Members shall be entitled to one vote; Active “A” Members shall be entitled to 1 to 11 votes, depending on the address space they have been assigned, such that those managing the largest number of IP addresses shall have the highest number of votes. 

This classification shall be made based on the following criteria: 

  • TIER 1: Active “A” Members who manage a number of IPv4 addresses equivalent to a block smaller than a /22 that are part of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC shall be entitled to one vote.
  • TIER 2: Active “A” Members who manage a number of IPv4 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /22 and smaller than a /20 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC shall be entitled to two votes.
  • TIER 3: Active “A” Members who (i) manage a number of IPv4 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /20 and smaller than a /18 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, or (ii) manage a number of IPv6 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or smaller than a /32 of the address space allocated to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, shall be entitled to three votes.
  • TIER 4: Active “A” Members who (i) manage a number of IPv4 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /18 and smaller than a /16 that are part of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, or (ii) manage a number of IPv6 addresses equivalent to a block larger than a /32 and smaller than a /30 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, shall be entitled to four votes.
  • TIER 5: Active “A” Members who (i) manage a number of IPv4 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /16 and smaller than a /14 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, or (ii) manage a number of IPv6 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /30 and smaller than a /28 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, shall be entitled to five votes.
  • TIER 6: Active “A” Members who (i) manage a number of IPv4 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /14 and smaller than a /12 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, or (ii) manage a number of IPv6 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /28 and smaller than a /26 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, shall be entitled to six votes.
  • TIER 7: Active “A” Members who (i) manage a number of IPv4 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /12 and smaller than a /10 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, or (ii) manage a number of IPv6 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /26 and smaller than a /24 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, shall be entitled to seven votes.
  • TIER 8: Active “A” Members who (i) manage a number of IPv4 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /10 and smaller than a /9 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, or (ii) manage a number of IPv6 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /24 and smaller than a /22 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, shall be entitled to eight votes.
  • TIER 9: Active “A” Members who (i) manage a number of IPv4 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /9 and smaller than a /8 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, or (ii) manage a number of IPv6 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /22 and smaller than a /20 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, shall be entitled to nine votes.
  • TIER 10: Active “A” Members who (i) manage a number of IPv4 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /8 and smaller than a /7 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, or (ii) manage a number of IPv6 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /20 and smaller than a /19 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, shall be entitled to ten votes.
  • TIER 11: Active “A” Members who (i) manage a number of IPv4 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /7 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, or (ii) manage a number of IPv6 addresses equivalent to a block equal to or larger than a /19 of the address space distributed to Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by LACNIC, shall be entitled to eleven votes.

Whenever technical advances require the use of new criteria or new terminology for the assignment of IP address space, the Board of Directors shall be responsible for establishing the equivalences between the new address blocks and the tiers herein established by applying the special majority set forth in Article 23, always preserving the spirit of assigning more votes to those members who manage larger address spaces.

The votes of members who qualify for more than one category shall not be cumulative; therefore, such members shall be entitled to the number of votes corresponding to the category with the highest number of votes.

* Article modified by the Member Assemblies held on 24 April 2003, 31 March 2004, 03 May 2016, and 23 May 2017.

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