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[ga] good bye


Title: Help
 
 
I'm afraid I have to support the scepticism expressed by Eric Dierker, Joe Baptista and Danny Younger...
 
The maudlin sentiment gushing out in these fond farewells is all part of the "Alice in Cyberland" Black=White universe that ICANN has contrived to create and perpetuate.
 
A'hem, a few moments of reality please my friends... their own ALSG was asked to determine the role of Ordinary Internet Users as elected representatives on the ICANN Board... the ICANN Board then wholly disregarded their own appointed groups findings... then the elected representation of millions of internet users was expelled from the ICANN Board (which clearly couldn't stomach dissenting opinions in its politburo)... and the GA was then summarily disposed of.... no cause for celebration and sentimental crap here either... indeed, when the GA tried to vote on a re-bid for ICANN's contract, my friend Herr Roessler mishandled the affair by coupling together two rival votes in my opinion... it comes as no surprise that Thomas now receives accolades (eg from ICANN Board member Cohen)... the politburo remains intact... all dissenting voices have now almost been purged... Thomas has a certain amount of integrity but he presided over the ongoing disenfranchisement of ordinary people and the further handing over of power to the vested interests.
 
Nice to see Ram Mohan of Afilias popping up to say "goodbye" : of all the companies which come out of recent months with discredit, Afilias must virtually top the bill... their own Board member Bob Connelly had the integrity to resign and disassociate himself from the .info "fiasco" which he termed an "abomination" because of the way Afilias abandoned its Landrush customers... Hal Lubsen's close association with DomainBank was in my view shocking, when you consider that he was also CEO of Afilias, and yet DomainBank profited by $15000 (in just one instance with one customer, Lorenz) by sponsoring applications which breached Afilias's own rules - and yet they took the money and ran... Ram himself was deeply responsible for trying to clear up Afilias's own Sunrise mess (which came about because of ICANN's friend-to-friends ridiculously loose Registry Agreement)... and yet Afilias now says that it does not intend to pursue further the fakes which have escaped their Landrush 2... so Afilias have abandoned the integrity of their own part of the namespace... then remember Speednames (represented on the Afilias Board at the time)... they gained $500,000 for submitting fake applications to Afilias from Konrad Plankenstein's 4981 fake names with 1899-date trademarks... So, yes thanks, Ram for coming and saying goodbye to the Assembly where Afilias was criticised... shame that neither you nor Afilias have ever dared or been able to defend the charges repeatedly made against you...
 
Hal Lubsen has maintained "radio silence" (indicating to me that he has not got a leg to stand on) and surprise, surprise, Dan Halloran when asked to investigate these and other matters (like the continued accreditation of Yesnic after it was shown by WIPO to have made fraudulent claims), has never been able (dared) respond or even acknowledge the serious issues and charges raised (and they have been repeatedly put to him as ICANN's registrar liaison)... but 250 days later, not a sound from Dan Halloran... and you call that integrity? ICANN has created its own universe, cynically protected I'm sorry to have to say by the USG through DoC... it's an Alice in Wonderland universe... and it doesn't give a shit as long as it maintains its own powerbase and ejects anyone who rocks the boat.
 
If Thomas and Alexander stay on board, then I would not personally regard that as a compliment. I know no more damning indictment than for a Board member like Jonathan Cohen to write to you in these terms about the so-called ICANN reforms, which tried to legitimise the stifling of democratic accountability and the removal of dissent: "we all felt it to be the 'right thing to do'.You two have done the right things for the DNSO and Names Council and it is clearly recognized by your colleagues and by the Board."
 
Sorry... pause for laughter... "the right thing to do".... does ANYBODY independent of ICANN seriously think they are committed to "the right thing to do"? And the ICANN Board is recognising that Thomas and Alexander have "played their part" then however decent these guys are, they ought to feel embarrassed... If the Board thinks you have done the "right" things then... um ... they're presumably (patronisingly) grateful to you for the part you played in formalising the processes without sufficient protest and the legitimising of the At Large expulsions, closing down of GA etc etc
 
Danny Younger's remarks are, as ever, spot on... the ICANN Board continues to act ruthlessly to protect its own vested interests and its power base... the interests of the ordinary millions are nowhere to be seen in their processes... they set up a nominating procedure worthy of the USSR through which they can effectively perpetuate their own politburo...
 
Yes, black is white and white is black... Alice in Cyberland... but as for the At Large and the GA... "Off With Their Heads!" ...
 
It is the stifling of the democracy movement as far as Internet Governance is concerned, and all involved (including USG) should be ashamed of themselves.
 
No wonder ICANN is making overtures to a Chinese government which arrests people for downloading politically sensitive material, and blocks critical websites. ICANN have been engaged in just that kind of stifling of people who speak the truth. The idea of being held to account by democratically elected Board members is unthinkable. And the GA had to go when it started to suggest a re-bid of ICANN's contracts.
 
These "Goodbye" messages smell too much of complacency and sentiment... no wonder ICANN and Afilias officials come out to wave us all goodbye...
 
I, too, would like to thank Thomas and Alexander (among others) for their hard work. But when it comes to the people who have REALLY been committed to truth, protest, exposure, and the interests of more than just the *I* society, I reserve my real thanks and deep-seated gratitude for people like Danny Younger.
 
Ths removal of voting rights for most of the GNSO, and the expulsion of democratic User representatives from the ICANN Board, are disgraces which merit no celebration whatsoever.
 
Slowly, ever so slowly, the media (and the historians) will come to understand what has been done here.
 
We're witnessing a funeral (of democratic interests and processes). No cause for celebration or satisfaction at all.
 
Richard Henderson
(The People's Net)
(The Global Forum)
(The Internet Challenge)
 
 


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