Structure and values (was Re: [ga] WLS Suggestion)

[Vittorio Bertola <vb@vitaminic.net>]

On Sat, 24 Aug 2002 07:17:58 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:

>It is a job best left to governments. While I can't say I'm particularly happy
>with my governments track record on that point as of late, at least I have
>some semblance of representation, and my governments pockets are deep
>enough to engage in long, drawn-out suits involving monopolists.

This perhaps is true in your country. Not in all countries - not even in all
Western countries (in fact, the Prime Minister of Italy is a
quasi-monopolist in most media markets in the country - can you imagine his
government sueing monopolies?). 

So I still think we should question whether ICANN is the right
non-governmental regulatory body and built in the right way, rather than
suggesting that there should be an international governmental regulator
rather than a non-governmental one.

Said this, the recent decision on WLS seems to prove that the present ICANN
is unable to take into proper account the need to protect consumers and
competition, even to the point of reversing the consensus in the underlying
constituency bodies; and also proves once again that ICANN's decisions have
a deep effect on the effectiveness and affordability of prices and services
in the DNS market for the registrants, and then, in cascade, for final users
(this for Ross Rader).

I have been contributing to ICANN's Reform process (last, as a member of the
ALAC Advisory Group) because I think that we should avoid at any cost that a
governmental body replaces ICANN, and because I think that users like me,
notwithstanding their good reasons, have to work to prove their ability to
supply practical contributions to decision-making processes. But this last
*policy* decision from the Board is very disappointing. If I had to prove
why ICANN needs not just a structural reform, but a marked change of
direction in terms of policy-making process and values, the WLS episode
would be one of my top evidences.
-- 
vb.               [Vittorio Bertola - v.bertola [a] bertola.eu.org]<------
--------> http://bertola.eu.org/ - Archivio FAQ e molto altro... <--------
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