Re: [ga] International Study Team Issues Letter to ICANN Study

[Eric Dierker <Eric@hi-tek.com>]

This is a wonderful letter.  My hat is off to the well worded
political political correctness that went into it.  I emphasize their
request for public knowledge.

However, I, along with many others question the sincerity of this
perceived evaluation.

It would be very helpful if you were to publish before hand your
intentions and fully outline your area of inquiry with direct
guidelines, so that we have a basis to evaluate the product of your
work.  Of course if the intention is to keep your intentions secret I
understand, please preserve them internally.

Your immediate demand for a response to allegations of the
inappropriateness of appointing a man who is in a 
geopolitical position being in this post would give great credence to
your intentions. I specifically refer to persons holding  government
positions being precluded from this role.

The Assembly at Large membership is not functioning at this time and it
is understood by many that you are not aware of this fact. Addressing
this
limbo status would help assuage many antagonisms.

Keeping in mind this release was not accidentally released, it's timing
was coordinated by professionals.

Most Sincerely and with respect,


Rob Courtney wrote:

> Members of the General Assembly:
>
> Earlier today, known as the NGO and Academic ICANN Study (NAIS)
> issued a letter to ICANN's new Study Committee requesting access to
> important data from last year's  election of At-Large Directors to
> the ICANN Board. The NAIS team includes representatives from
> non-profit and academic organizations worldwide, and is currently
> preparing an in-depth study of public representation in ICANN.
>
> CDT and its partner Common Cause serve as North American members of
> NAIS; the entire NAIS team consists of:
>
>   - Izumi Aizu, Principle, Asia Network Research
>   - Jerry Berman, Executive Director; Alan Davidson, Associate
> Director; and Rob Courtney, Policy Analyst; Center for Democracy and
> Technology, USA
>   - Adam Peake, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Global
> Communications (GLOCOM), International University of Japan.
>   - Christian Ahlert, Center for Interactive Media, University of
> Giessen, Germany
>   - Scott Harshbarger, President; Don Simon, General Counsel; and Andy
> Draheim, Senior Policy Analyst; Common Cause, USA
>   - Raúl Echeberría, Instituto Nacional de Investigatión Agropecuaria, Uruguay
>   - Clement Dzidonu, President and CEO, International Institute for
> Information Technology (INIIT), Ghana
>   - Stefaan Verhulst, Director, Programme in Comparative Media Law and
> Policy, Oxford University, UK
>   - Myungkoo Kang, Department of Communication, Seoul National
> University, Seoul, South Korea
>   - Jeanette Hofmann, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin/NEXUS, Germany
>
> I am attaching a copy of our letter to ICANN Study Committee Chair
> Carl Bildt, transmitted to him on February 7, 2001. A copy of the
> letter is also available at:
> http://www.cdt.org/dns/icann/nais/010207bildt.shtml
>
> An overview of the NAIS team and its study project is available at:
> http://www.cdt.org/dns/icann/nais/010207overview.shtml
>
> Please feel free to contact me if you have any inquiries or thoughts
> regarding either of these documents, or the NAIS effort itself.
>
> Rob Courtney
> Policy Analyst
> Center for Democracy & Technology
>
> * * *
>
> February 7, 2001
>
> Mr. Carl Bildt
> Chair
> At-Large Membership Study Committee
> Internet Corporation for Assigned
>    Names and Numbers
> 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
> Marina del Rey, CA 90292
>
> Dear Mr. Bildt:
>
> Congratulations on being selected to lead the At-Large Membership
> Study Committee of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
> Numbers (ICANN):  a challenging task as ICANN's activities can have a
> substantial impact on the development and growth of the Internet
> community. The At-Large Membership Study Committee's vital function
> will be to review that impact in light of the public representation
> currently offered in ICANN and to propose new directions for 2001.
>
> In furtherance of the Study Committee's work, we offer several
> suggestions for your consideration as the Committee begins its task.
>
> When the ICANN Board created the At-Large Membership Study Committee,
> it anticipated that the findings and recommendations of independent
> study groups working outside of ICANN's formal process would
> substantially inform the Committee's work.  The undersigned
> individuals and organizations constitute one such study team.
>
> The "NGO and Academic ICANN Study," or NAIS, is an international
> group of scholars and representatives of the public interest
> community, all of whom have been involved in ICANN and Internet
> issues on an ongoing basis. A description of the group and a list of
> its participants are attached to this letter.
>
> NAIS will undertake a comprehensive study of the recent ICANN
> election, the concept of the At-Large membership, and the nature of
> public representation for the ICANN Board of Directors as a whole.
>
> We look forward to working with the ICANN Study Committee, and hope
> that the Committee will find our work useful as it considers its own
> recommendations.
>
> Among other initiatives, NAIS is planning to sponsor a public forum
> on issues related to the study in conjunction with the upcoming
> Melbourne meeting. We hope to organize a number of presentations as a
> means of beginning an open dialogue with the ICANN community on the
> successes and failures of the recent election, and the options for
> the future. We would very much like to work with the Study Committee
> in planning this session to ensure that it is successful and
> productive.
>
> As you know, one hallmark of any good research project is access to
> the best possible data. In the case of the At-Large study, much of
> the information about what happened, and why, resides in the
> expertise of the individuals who planned and implemented last year's
> election. But a great deal of equally important data resides in the
> internal records of ICANN and of its election administrator,
> election.com.
>
> We hope that ICANN and its Study Committee will make all of this
> election data available not only to the undersigned researchers, but
> to other research efforts as well. The ICANN Board decided that this
> study process should be conducted by self-organizing groups of the
> ICANN community. Such studies can be valid only if there is
> relatively unfettered access to all relevant data. Without such
> access, serious research will not be possible, and the validity and
> legitimacy of the outside studies will be compromised. These studies
> will then be of less use to the Study Committee, and the whole point
> of the Board's decision to rely on such outside efforts will be
> defeated.
>
> In other words, we suggest that a primary purpose of the Study
> Committee may be to facilitate the efforts by outside,
> self-organizing study groups such as ourselves to gain access to all
> relevant data. As such, the Study Committee might work to ensure the
> cooperation of ICANN in providing access to data, documents and key
> personnel to outside study groups. In addition, there is substantial
> work to be done to ensure that personally-identifiable information is
> removed from the released data, so as to preserve ICANN's commitment
> to protecting the privacy of voters.
>
> We attach to this letter a list of the categories of data and
> documents to which we request access as an initial matter. We would
> be pleased to cooperate with you, and with ICANN's staff, to ensure
> that access granted us would cause a minimal disruption to the Study
> Committee's important work. To the extent possible, we additionally
> suggest that you consider making this data available by posting it on
> the Internet, or providing controlled access via the Internet to all
> self-organized study groups.
>
> By providing this access, the Study Committee and ICANN can
> demonstrate their commitment to complete and valid outside study
> efforts, and encourage a better understanding of the successes,
> shortcomings, and unanswered questions in last year's election.
>
> The time allotted for reviewing the election is short, and the speedy
> release of this data would enable the work of our study team, as well
> as others, to get underway. We are anxious to do so. We look forward
> to cooperating with you and your Committee on this important project,
> and wish you good luck in this important effort you have undertaken.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> The NGO and Academic ICANN Study  (NAIS)
> (Organizational affiliations are provided below for identification
> purposes only)
>
> Izumi Aizu, Principle, Asia Network Research
>
> Jerry Berman, Executive Director; Alan Davidson, Associate Director;
> and Rob Courtney, Policy Analyst; Center for Democracy and
> Technology, USA
>
> Adam Peake, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Global Communications
> (GLOCOM), International University of Japan.
>
> Christian Ahlert, Center for Interactive Media, University of Giessen, Germany
>
> Scott Harshbarger, President; Don Simon, General Counsel; and Andy
> Draheim, Senior Policy Analyst; Common Cause, USA
>
> Raúl Echeberría, Instituto Nacional de Investigatión Agropecuaria, Uruguay
>
> Clement Dzidonu, President and CEO, International Institute for
> Information Technology (INIIT), Ghana
>
> Stefaan Verhulst, Director, Programme in Comparative Media Law and
> Policy, Oxford University, UK
>
> Myungkoo Kang, Department of Communication, Seoul National
> University, Seoul, South Korea
>
> Jeanette Hofmann, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin/NEXUS, Germany
>
> cc: Charles Costello
>      Pindar Wong
>      Denise Michel
>      Vinton Cerf
>      Michael Roberts
>      Andrew McLaughlin
>      Louis Touton, Esq.
>
> Enclosures:
>    Initial List of Data & Documents
>
> Initial List of Data & Documents
> --------------------------------
> * Server logs. The logs of the systems that ICANN and election.com
> used for voter education, registration, activation, and voting
> programs contain important information about user access patterns at
> various stages of the elections. They will provide clues about system
> load and about voter facility with the systems. They may also provide
> some limited data on the potential for capture, by indicating whether
> substantial numbers of registrations came from one entity or
> organization. Personally-identifiable information should be stripped
> from this data before its distribution to the public, in order to
> preserve ICANN's guarantee of privacy for voters.
>
> * Registration records. Public release of at least some information
> collected from users by ICANN's registration and activation servers
> would greatly facilitate any election study. Since user participation
> in each stage of the membership process- registration, activation,
> and voting-dropped off substantially in all regions, these records
> should be reviewed. In the interests of privacy,
> personally-identifiable information such as e-mail addresses or
> mailing addresses should be masked where they appear, but other
> identifiers that cannot be reliably tied to real-world identities
> should be left intact.
>
> * Mailing records. Failure to receive PIN numbers has been a major
> grievance by voters and would-be voters in the election. Review of
> ICANN's system for mailing these numbers, as well as other
> election-related correspondence (paper and electronic) will help to
> understand how such problems could be avoided in the future.
>
> * Voting records. Indications of voter participation, as well as
> independent scrutiny of the vote count, are important parts of any
> election review. Once again, personally-identifiable information
> should be masked to protect the secrecy of the ballot.
>
> * Technical specifications. Both ICANN and election.com experienced
> technical difficulties at key moments in the registration and
> election processes. Their systems should be reviewed, and the reasons
> behind those difficulties understood.
>
> * Financial records. Orchestration of a worldwide election is no
> small undertaking, and the cost of an election is of major importance
> when considering future efforts to select Directors. ICANN should
> publish detailed records of costs and funding sources for the
> election.
>
> * Communications. The internal and external communication of ICANN
> officers and staff regarding the election will offer important
> insights into the way that major decisions were made. The public
> record should include the communications of the Election and
> Nominating Committees.
>
> --
>
> Rob Courtney
> Policy Analyst
> Center for Democracy & Technology
> 1634 Eye Street NW, Suite 1100
> Washington, DC 20006
> 202 637 9800
> fax 202 637 0968
> rob@cdt.org
> http://www.cdt.org/
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