Re: [ga] FYI: Working Paper on At Large Advisory Committee

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

Alexander and all assembly members,

Alexander Svensson wrote:

> Hello Eric and Danny,
>
> At 22.07.2002 02:21, Eric Dierker wrote:
> >kindly please explain why this is not simply a filter mechanism for ICANN,
> >providing both plausible deniability and a whipping group should things go
> >wrong.
> >
> >Why not just have the groups directly inerface with ICANN?
>
> let me explain by taking a look at a very different Advisory
> Committee, the GAC. Of course, governments could do without
> a GAC: They could simply send letters to ICANN, talk to ICANN
> Board and Staff in public and private, attend ICANN meetings
> et cetera. Instead of *only* having this, they have a
> formal Committee which is somehow part of the ICANN structure,
> but on the other hand not under ICANN's direct control.
> Nothing stops individual governments from doing the things
> mentioned above, but the GAC is the formal interface between
> governments and ICANN.

  Yes.  But the GAC is not itself and open structure, not to mention
even and organization per se.  There is no interface between the
GAC and the stakeholders/users or any stakeholder/user
organization already in existence.  Hence, any communications
are of a private nature, and this leads to mistrust between different
stakeholder/user groups.  That is not exactly a healthy thing IMHO.
On the other hand however, at least most of the GAC members
can be contacted via E-Mail.

>
>
> User groups currently *don't* have that kind of interface.
> Of course, they can again send letters, talk to people and
> attend meetings, but they don't have any formal role.

  Yes, and this is the crux of ICANN's structure problems
that the ICANN BoD and staff have purposefully made for themselves
and thereby lead to ever increasing mistrust.

>
> User participation has been sporadic, sometimes unorganized,
> sometimes even unprofessional. The proposal is to turn into
> a continuous participation with bottom-up roots (user
> organizations) reaching into the ICANN structure.

  Reaching into the ICANN structure is not good enough
Alex.  These groups however formed, must be able to
be an entragal PART of the ICANN structure...  Otherwise
ever increasing mistrust for ICANN and amongst these
stakeholder/user organizations will continue.

>
>
> (I'm of course not suggesting that the ALAC should meet behind
> closed doors and emit cryptic messages which have to be
> deciphered by the Board and the public -- the internal workings
> of an ALAC must be open and transparent.)

  Good point.  Currently the ALAC is not open and transparent
enough, if at all...

>
>
> At 22.07.2002 12:02, DannyYounger@cs.com wrote:
> >The ALSC spent a year's time and $450,000 to arrive at the conclusion that
> >the needs of the At-Large are best served within the context of a Supporting
> >Organization that elects its own set of directors to the Board.
>
> Whereas the NAIS Final Report concludes:
>
>   In addition to At-Large Directors, an At-Large Advisory Committee may be
>   regarded as one of the most appropriate "representational models" to
>   ensure public representation and participation within the ICANN structure.
>   (NAIS report, http://www.naisproject.org/report/final/2.2.1.4.shtml)
>
> Both ALSC and NAIS argue for the election of Board directors
> and I *don't* disagree. As you know, the Board has decided against
> this election for the time being. My proposal takes the current
> circumstances into account and proposes a structure which the
> user organizations can build upon.
>
> Best regards,
> /// Alexander
>
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Regards,
--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup - (Over 124k members/stakeholders strong!)
CEO/DIR. Internet Network Eng/SR. Java/CORBA Development Eng.
Information Network Eng. Group. INEG. INC.
E-Mail jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com
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