[ga] Karl's latest
Karl's latest posting makes you wonder whether the self-imposed responsibility for saving the Internet from the barbarians has finally gotten to him (and even to his lawyers, if they in fact gave him the strange advice he says they did). What is most revealing, however, in this latest message is his obvious contempt for his fellow Board members, who according to him are hapless and helpless, in the steely grip of a domineering staff and unable (some, according to Karl, because English is not their native language) to get the real truth of what is going on. Karl, by comparison, is a self-described big-time player, testifying before Congress and meeting with important people in Washington. His comparison in the last hearing to Senators and himself as being similar because both were elected was another manifestation of this self-delusion, which is both amazing and a little sad. In fact, if Karl ever actually spent any time with his fellow directors from outside the United States, he would discover that most of them speak considerably better English than he (or I) do, as if that had anything to do with their critical faculties. Indeed, the personal accomplishments of Alejandro Pisanty, or Nii Quaynor, or Ivan Campos, or for that matter Vint Cerf and the rest of the ICANN directors, compare quite favorably to Karl's career record of accomplishment, I would guess. And if he ever bothered to actually debate the merits of issues with them -- which he does not, because, of course, he knows he already has the delivered wisdom -- he would know how hard they have struggled with these complicated issues. If he ever bothered to listen, he would have heard his fellow elected directors explain why, for example, they thought that online elections were not a good way to select ICANN Board members at this time -- but since Karl knows better, he does not listen or dismisses these views as the result of "fear of the US." But Karl tells us later that ICANN is headed for a "collision" with the US because it is failing to comply with its obligations (by which he means elections). Which is it: fear of the US is buffaloing people like Ivan Campos and Nii Quaynor into opposing elections even though they really think they are a good idea, or the US is going to force ICANN to, in Karl's words, "comport with their obligations?" Like many owners of delivered wisdom, Karl is not troubled by internal inconsistency. I invite readers to review the GAC Statement on Evolution and Reform issued at Bucharest. The US, unlike Karl, was present for an intense 2 1/2 day meeting that produced a detailed statement basically endorsing the Blueprint for Reform adopted by the Board. There were some dissents or disassociations, like the ITU, but none from the US. If we are headed for a collision, where are the signs? Ah, perhaps from his meetings with important people in Washington, but if so, who are they and why are they not speaking out? Could it be we have a transparency issue with Karl? Horrors! Or perhaps he mostly has a hearing problem -- zealots frequently hear what they want to hear, and only that. The real issue is not public input into ICANN; there is no dispute from anyone that there must be effective mechanisms for the general public, including individual users, to make their views known and to participate if they choose to in the policy development process. Karl's position, and that of some others, is that there is only one possible acceptable way for that to happen -- by electing directors. The views of many others are different -- that there are numerous ways it can happen, and elections (at least today) are not the best of those options. This may be an issue that reasonable people can differ on, but to Karl, those who disagree could only do so because they are evil, or inept, or somehow constrained in their ability to think because English is not their native language. This is either utter nonsense or the ramblings of a zealot. In either case, it deserves the weight that it is getting. Karl asked to be a member of the ICANN Board; nobody dragooned him. Once given that responsibility, he has chosen to ignore his fiduciary obligations to ICANN and to this fellow Board members, and to use that platform to feed his ego and advance a largely incoherent personal agenda. Being an ICANN director has given him prominence and attention, and apparently that is what he wanted, since he has not even tried to do anything iwith his fellow Board members that would possibly advance the cause he says he espouses. He has never missed a Senate or House hearing, but he now excuses his lack of attendence at one of the most important ICANN Board meetings ever on the fact that it was inconvenient for him (as compared, one supposes, to those other Board members from around the world that were able to adjust their schedules to enable their attendence). Other excuses for other absences were that he was up late and fell asleep, and that he couldn't get the phone to work. In America, every person apparently has the right to be irresponsible, but for heaven's sake, the rest of us don't have to pretend that it is an attractive character trait. Karl is part of the old ICANN -- an organization that was as much a magnet for every person with grandiose ideas about global democracy as it was a serious working body. That old ICANN is gone -- and is being replaced with an organization that still adheres to the core values of openness and transparency, of broad public input and participation, and of making policy by consensus whenever possible, but does so with the knowledge that it still has to all work. For people like Karl, the new ICANN may not have quite the magnetic attraction of the old, but that is not a bad thing. It should help get the decisions that must be made done in a timely and effective way. And that will be a good thing.
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