[ga] Re: [IFWP] Re: CYBER-FEDERALIST No.2: ICANN Yokohama Meeting

[Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com>]

Joe and all,

  As many have already witnessed starting in Singapore, ICANN is
already a failure in many respects.  Some of which you point out here
nicely.  Yokohama only emphasized this with the antics of several of the
ICANN Board members procedural maneuverings as well as
outlandish statements from Board members (Illegitimate?) and ICANN
Staff members.

!Dr. Joe Baptista wrote:

> see notes below
>
> On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Hans Klein wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >     REFLECTIONS ON THE ICANN MEETING IN YOKOHAMA
> >
> >
> > *******************************************************
> > CYBER-FEDERALIST       No. 2        July 17, 2000
> > Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)
> >     http://www.cpsr.org/internetdemocracy
> > Internet Democracy Project
> >     http://www.internetdemocracyproject.org/
> > *******************************************************
> >
> >
> > ICANN's board meeting in Yokohama Japan wrapped up yesterday after an
> > eventful four days. What follows here is a report of the major events:
> >     1. Government Officials Question Privatization
> >     2. User Representation Not Killed, Only Weakened
> >     3. New TLDs -- $50,000 to Apply
> >     4. Launch of the Civil Society Internet Forum
> >
> >
> > 1. Government Officials Question Privatization
> > ==============================================
> > ICANN received some remarkable public criticism in Yokohama from two high
> > government officials.  Paul Twomey (head of the Governmental Advisory
> > Committee) and Christopher Wilkinson (the European Union's lead official on
> > ICANN) made comments relating to a proposed bylaws revision to reduce and
> > possibly eliminate elected (At Large) user representatives on the Board.
> > The officials warned that an unbalanced Board could invite government
> > oversight of ICANN -- which could, in effect, end the ICANN experiment in
> > privatization.
>
> There's a reason for Twomey change of pace.  He has been fired from his
> position in the AUS government - and now his future and reputation makes
> it or breaks it with ICANN.  Paul now has a direct interest in keeping it
> honest (ICANN) and preventing it from failure.
>
> > In separate public comments, these two officials presented a vision of the
> > ICANN board as consisting of two parts: an Internet supply industry
> > association (the 9 Supporting Organization directors) and a consumer
> > association (the 9 At Large members).  In this vision the two associations
> > balance each other, with industrial interests matched by consumer interests.
> >
> > To date, however, only the industry association part has been implemented,
> > leaving industry interests unopposed by consumer interests.  With only one
> > interest represented, ICANN risks becoming a supply industry association.
> > (To use language only slightly more direct than that of the officials,
> > ICANN risks becoming a cartel -- a combination of independent business
> > organizations formed to regulate supply of goods by the members.  Cartels
> > are often illegal or regulated.)
> >
> > Twomey noted that if ICANN would continue to develop as a one-sided
> > industry association, then it might be necessary for governments to
> > regulate it to protect consumer interests.
>
> translation - don't screw up or we'll take you over.  in fact this is a
> baseless threat.  anyone can run the root and i think twomey has finally
> begun to realize that.
>
> > In other words, the fundamental principle underlying ICANN -- that the
> > Internet should be managed by the private sector -- was publicly questioned
> > by two officials.
> >
> >
> > 2. User Representation Not Killed, Only Weakened
> > ================================================
> > Policies about elections were the hottest issues in Yokohama.  In addition
> > to government officials, numerous participants also spoke out against the
> > proposal to reduce At Large directors.  Alan Davidson of the Center for
> > Democracy and Technology, who sounded the initial alarm about this proposal
> > just a few days before the Yokohama meeting, was among those who spoke
> > cogently at the public comment period.
> >
> > Nonetheless, the final bylaws revision adopted by the Board still weakens
> > user representation.  While five directors will be elected this fall, the
> > remaining four seats will remain closed for another two years (until the
> > Annual Meeting of 2002).  Thus, user representation will be constrained at
> > 5 of 19 seats, rather than 9 of 19 as envisioned in the bylaws.
> >
> > The near-unanimity of Board members in their support for measures to weaken
> > At Large representation was striking.  Of nineteen directors only one, Vint
> > Cerf, questioned the reduction. All other directors were either silent or
> > spoke in favor of the proposal to reduce elected representatives.
> >
> > Rules for electing At Large directors also changed.  The Board lowered the
> > threshold for candidate nominations from 10% to 2%.  In light of the
> > possibility that a very large number of individuals might receive
> > nominations, the Board capped the number of nominees at not more than seven
> > per region.
> >
> > 3. New TLDs -- $50,000 to Apply
> > ===============================
> > The Board's decision on new top-level domain names (TLDs) was mixed.
> > Before the meeting, many people predicted that a very small number of TLDs
> > would be authorized, perhaps as few as two.  Yet in discussions, Board
> > members talked more of a range of six to ten.  Ultimately they left the
> > number undetermined.
> >
> > The big surprise was the application fee: the mere submission of an
> > application to operate a new TLD will cost USD $50,000.  The Board felt
> > this was necessary to cover evaluation costs.  While such a fee might be
> > appropriate for businesses, there was concern that it could effectively
> > eliminate non-commercial applicants.
> >
> > The Board also singled out protection for intellectual property rights as a
> > consideration in selecting who would be awarded a new TLD.  This priority
> > given to commercial rights in Internet coordination (as opposed to rights
> > of speech, privacy, or consumers) is consistent with previous Board policies.
>
> I'll be recommending to my dot.god users that we just sit back and watch
> the show.  This is a joke - $50,000 just to give icann a kiss - and no
> gurantees.  I'm recommending to my users that we just watch the show and
> not throw good money into icann's bottomless pot.
>
> > 4. Civil Society Internet Forum
> > ===============================
> > The Yokohama meeting was the scene of intense activity by civil society
> > groups.  While organizations like the Association for Computing Machinery,
> > the Consumer Project on Technology, and the Center for Democracy and
> > Technology have regularly represented the civil society perspective at
> > ICANN meetings, the coming At Large elections have stimulated more groups
> > from more regions to become active.
> >
> > This meeting was notable for two new initiatives.  First, some thirty NGOs
> > from Korea traveled to Japan to attend the meeting.  This was the biggest
> > civil society participation in an ICANN meeting to date.  They were led by
> > the Korean Internet Forum, which sponsored an ICANN workshop in Seoul just
> > days before the Yokohama event. See: http://www.nic.or.kr/seminar/enindex.html
> >
> > The second initiative was organized by Computer Professionals for Social
> > Responsibility (CPSR, this author's affiliate organization) working with
> > the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Privacy
> > Information Center (EPIC) in the Internet Democracy Project and also with
> > the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and JCA-Net of Japan.
> >
> > These groups' Yokohama forum was one of the biggest non-commercial meetings
> > of the four-day period, with some seventy people in attendance.  There they
> > discussed the "Civil Society Statement on ICANN Elections," a comprehensive
> > list of issues for the upcoming elections.  This document won approval "in
> > principle" at the forum. The Statement is still in a comment period and can
> > be found at:
> >      http://www.internetdemocracyproject.org/
> >
> > During the four days in Yokohama these two movements came together to form
> > the "Civil Society Internet Forum." The Civil Society Internet Forum will
> > define a public space in each of ICANN's five electoral region for
> > discussion and debate around elections. The guiding values of the Forum
> > include democratic participation, open processes, and a fair balance
> > between rights of trademark, consumers, speech, and privacy in ICANN
> > policy-making.
> >
> > Over one hundred participants at the Yokohama conference signed a petition
> > supporting the mission of the civil society forum and urging ICANN to work
> > with it to promote user participation in ICANN elections.  The petition was
> > accepted by ICANN Board Chair Esther Dyson.
> >
> > The Steering Committee of the new Civil Society Internet Forum consists of:
> > * Myung Koo Kang (Korean Internet Forum) (Interim Chair)
> > * Wolfgang Kleinwaechter (ICANN Studienkreis, Germany)
> > * Kimberly Heitman (Electronic Frontiers Australia)
> > * Karen Higgs (nominated) (Association for Progressive Communications,
> > Ecuador)
> > * Pierre Ouedraogo (Institut francophone des nouvelles technologies de
> > l'information et de la formation/INTIF, Burkina Faso)
> > * Hans Klein (Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, USA)
> > (Institutional affiliations given for identification purposes only.)
> >
> > The web site for the Civil Society Internet Forum is:
> >       http://www.CivilSocietyInternetForum.org
> >      http://www.cpsr.org/internetdemocracy/csif/  (temporary)
> >
> > The Civil Society Internet Forum will serve as a global vehicle for user
> > participation in ICANN elections.  Although its listserv is not yet
> > implemented, interested individuals can stay informed by subscribing to the
> > Cyber-Federalist (instructions below).
> >
> >                 *  *  *  *  *
> >
> > The author's participation in ICANN Board meeting was made possible by
> > support from the Markle Foundation's Salzburg Seminar Fund and from the
> > Open Society Institute.
> >
> >
> > =========================================================
> >
> > CYBER-FEDERALIST is a regularly-published series of analyses and
> > commentaries on Internet governance and ICANN elections. It is produced by
> > CPSR as part of the Internet Democracy Project. See:
> >     http://www.cpsr.org/internetdemocracy
> >     http://www.internetdemocracyproject.org/
> >
> > To subscribe to CYBER-FEDERALIST send an Email to:
> >     cyber-federalist-subscribe@cpsr.org
> >
> > =========================================================
> >
> >
> > ---
> > You are currently subscribed to ncdnhc-discuss as: baptista@pccf.net
> > To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-ncdnhc-discuss-2645B@lyris.isoc.org
> >

Regards,
--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman INEGroup (Over 112k members strong!)
CEO/DIR. Internet Network Eng/SR. Java/CORBA Development Eng.
Information Network Eng. Group. INEG. INC.
E-Mail jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com
Contact Number:  972-447-1800 x1894 or 9236 fwd's to home ph#
Address: 5 East Kirkwood Blvd. Grapevine Texas 75208


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