Re: [ga] MOTION: Request for a GA resolution on an IDN holders'constituency (IC)

["William S. Lovell" <wsl@cerebalaw.com>]

All three of Eric Dierker, Leah, and Joop are making a lot of sense here.
The distinction Eric makes between individuals who own domain names
and those who do not is meaningful and significant.  The constituencies
for the two groups are at hand: Leah is right in saying that the at-large
is the place for those who don't own domain names, and that answers
the question I raised a few days ago about why have both an IDNO
and an at-large.  The IDNO as promulgated by Joop is the place --
duh! -- for "individual domain name owners," and I believe that it
should be established as a constituency -- at long last.

I regard myself as an individual -- duh! -- who has an interest in the
broad issues of the internet, and would feel at home with others who
are concerned with the spectre of domain name collisions and all
that -- such events will affect people whether or not they own a
domain name.  I also have an interest in such things as UDRP and
WIPO, etc., as a domain name owner.  That is a narrower interest
in the sense that it could affect the specific issue of my ownership
and protection of particular domain names -- issues that would have
no direct bearing on my use of the internet and trying to find some
domain I heard about and all that.

Nothing in the above should be taken to imply that any individual
could not participate within both constituencies; no laws against
that, so far as I know. Corporations would not qualify.

(Which raises a question: I've had the domain cerebalaw.com for
quite a few years now, in support of my law practice as an individual.
I'm about to enter into a Limited Liability Corporation with two other
patent attorneys, for which we have registered the domain name
aljpatents.com, and a lot of the stuff from the former is likely to show
up in the latter. Does that throw me into the "corporate" category? I
don't think so.)

Good piece of work by all three parties.

Bill Lovell


L Gallegos wrote:

> Eric:
>
> IMO, the at-large is the place for non-domain name holders.  The DNSO
> is the domain name supporting organization and it makes sense that
> there should be an individual domain name holders constituency, if
> there are to be constituencies at all.
>
> Leah
>
> On 7 May 2001, at 7:13, Eric Dierker wrote:
>
> > Now I see the reason this is a non-starter.
> >
> > Domain Name Holder(s) and Individual(s) are two distinct groups.  I do not
> > own a Domain Name Hence I am an individual.  Joop owns a domain name hence,
> > while of course he is an individual, he is a Domain Name Holder.
> > Corporations can be Domain Name Holders but not individuals, Registrars and
> > Registries can be holders but not individuals.  Individuals without domain
> > names, and by shear numbers this is the vast majority of
> > internetstakeholders, cannot and presumably do not want to be domain name
> > holders.
> >
> > Believe it or not most of us net consumers want our ISPs to handle that
> > kind of thing.  When you sign up for cable service here in California - the
> > home of ICANN - you can get anything you want including website hosting
> > without registering a domain name, you really just check a bunch of boxes
> > and it is done. (and it costs about the same as premium TV service)
> >
> > Just like many of us with our cars, we just take them to the mechanic.
> > Don't think for a second that that means we don't vote for and participate
> > in law making and policy regarding our precious cars, but we leave
> > mechanics to the mechanics.
> >
> > You see in my suspension I was cited for not contributing to the technical
> > aspects of the discussion.  There is no club within ICANN I can join as an
> > Individual who does not contribute to the technical issues.  Do not places
> > me with you guys who just want to protect your domain names.
> >
> > Please review the discussions on Bill of Rights.  It is as though most just
> > assume that the BoRs does not apply to individuals without domain names
> > (just like woman and slaves in the U.S. prior to later sufferage)
> >
> > DO NOT PLACE REAL INDIVIDUALS WITHIN THE GROUP FOR DOMAIN NAME HOLDERS
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Joop Teernstra wrote:
> >
> > > Since the Chair has now opened the floor for motions I would like to
> > > start off with this one:
> > >
> > > Motion for the Recognition of an Individuals' Constituency (IC)
> > >
> > > Considering the majority vote  expressed by the physically assembled GA
> > > in Santiago and Yokohama,
> > >
> > > considering the support expressed by the Association of Computing
> > > Machinery (ACM) since Berlin 1999 and by the non commercial constituency
> > > of the DNSO for an Individuals' constituency, since Santiago 2000,
> > >
> > > considering the Voting of the members of the DNSO-review working group
> > > on this subject,
> > >
> > > considering the petition made by the first Steering Committee of  the
> > > IDNO which reads as follows August 11, 1999 To the members of the Board
> > > of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
> > > (ICANN) 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330 Marina del Rey, CA 90292 USA. L.S.,
> > > This letter constitutes a reiteration of our public petition of 23 April,
> > > 1999 under Article VI-B, Section 3(d) of the ICANN bylaws for recognition
> > > of the Individual Domain Name Owner’s constituency (the IDNO) as a
> > > Constituency of ICANN’s Domain Name Supporting Organization (the DNSO.)
> > >
> > > The IDNO was formed in April 1999. It is a self-organized, primarily
> > > member funded, highly international constituency, springing from no
> > > pre-existing organizations or structures. Yet its membership is already
> > > larger than of any of the existing DNSO Constituencies. And we expect
> > > that the IDNO's membership will grow rapidly once the IDNO is a
> > > recognized constituency.
> > >
> > > IDNO members are active participants in ICANN, having attended several of
> > > ICANN’s meetings.
> > >
> > > Our members come from many parts of the world.
> > >
> > > IDNO members are active participants in the DNSO’s General Assembly and
> > > in the DNSO’s various working groups.
> > >
> > > The IDNO maintains a site on the World Wide Web at http://www.idno.org/
> > > containing a members’ list, charter, archive of on-line discussions,
> > > voting system, and other materials and resources.
> > >
> > > The IDNO has a public, archived e-mail discussion list.
> > >
> > > The IDNO is the only constituency with a fully operational electronic
> > > voting system that has been repeatedly and successfully used to guide the
> > > IDNO as it evolves.
> > >
> > > The purpose the IDNO is to give a voice to those individuals who “own”
> > > domain names. The IDNO’s focus is on individuals, not on corporations or
> > > organizations. The IDNO does not care whether a member is a
> > > businessperson, a teacher, an artist, or a person using the Internet to
> > > express his or her opinions.
> > >
> > > Because essentially all of the existing DNSO constituencies are open only
> > > to corporations and organizations, these individuals have no way but the
> > > IDNO to fully participate within the DNSO.
> > >
> > > We must mention that membership in the DNSO General Assembly, although
> > > nominally open to individuals, is no substitute for having a Constituency
> > > to defend Individuals' domain name interests. It is only through the IDNO
> > > as a recognized Constituency that individual domain name owners can
> > > participate with a full and peer voice on the DNSO’s names council.
> > >
> > > Why should the Individuals be represented in the DNSO?
> > > ·       Registrations of domain names by individuals represent a large
> > > number of all domain name registrations. A study conducted by Network
> > > Solutions estimates that within the United States alone, 10% of the
> > > domain names registered in the .com, .net, and .org domains are
> > > registered to individuals. Further, there is evidence to indicate that
> > > the percentage may be increasing. This leads to an estimated 300,000
> > > individual domain names owners in .com, .net, and .org within the United
> > > States alone. The number worldwide, especially when in all top level
> > > domains are considered, could be substantially higher. ·       Every one
> > > of these hundreds of thousands of people have a significant and well
> > > defined interest in the operation and development of the domain name
> > > system and the Internet. Yet none of these hundreds of thousands of
> > > people are eligible to be admitted to any of the other constituencies. ·
> > >      Domains owned by individuals are often used for both commercial and
> > > non-commercial purposes. Individuals can not be adequately represented in
> > > either "business" or "non-commercial" constituencies. It is our feeling
> > > that as the net grows it will become quite common for personal hobbies to
> > > evolve into significant business entities. ·       The IDNO is the only
> > > constituency that would provide a voice for these people. ·
> > > Interests and concerns of Individual Domain name Owners typically do not
> > > coincide with the Interests and concerns of the other constituencies
> > > represented in the DNSO. Indeed, in many cases their interests are in
> > > conflict. Thus it is necessary for there to be a constituency with a
> > > clear focus on the needs of individual domain name owners. ·
> > > Without a clear and fully empowered place for individual domain name
> > > owners, the DNSO will be a weak and limited body, speaking for only part
> > > of the Internet community. The IDNO has adopted an inclusive approach to
> > > its membership. Unlike other Constituencies which require that a
> > > candidate for membership be a corporation or an organization, or be
> > > engaged in a particular type of business, the IDNO simply looks at
> > > whether a candidate “owns” a domain name. The IDNO measures ownership not
> > > by legal formalisms, but rather by a pragmatic evaluation whether the
> > > candidate has sufficient elements of control over a domain name that it
> > > amounts to what reasonable people would consider to be ownership. Our
> > > membership rules permit membership even when the domain name owner owns
> > > the name through a intermediary, such as a corporation or trust, that is
> > > fully under the control of the candidate. The IDNO has evolved beyond a
> > > gathering of people. The IDNO has both an elected Steering Committee and
> > > a Membership Committee. The IDNO is an early, and perhaps the first
> > > successful experiment in broadly based democratic participation within
> > > ICANN. The IDNO brings to ICANN the concerns of the individual domain
> > > name owner, concerns that have so far lacked an advocate.
> > >
> > > (appendices omitted: for the complete petition and its signatories, see
> > > www.idno.org/petition.htm)
> > >
> > > considering that the ICANN  Board has until now refrained from responding
> > > in public to this petition and from publishing it on its website for
> > > public comment,
> > >
> > > considering the Bylaws art. VI, section 3 (d) that reads:
> > >
> > > (d) Any group of individuals or entities may petition the Board for
> > > recognition
> > > as a new or separate Constituency. Any such petition will be posted for
> > > public comment pursuant to Article III, Section 3. The Board may create
> > > new Constituencies in response to such a petition, or on its own motion,
> > > if it determines that such action would serve the purposes of the
> > > Corporation.
> > >
> > > I move that the GA will express its support for the immediate
> > > acknowledgement of an Individuals' Constituency by the Board in
> > > accordance with its Bylaws.
> > >
> > > I move that this support will take the form of a GA Resolution
> > > recommending that the Board will  place either the creation of such an IC
> > > or the "approval in principle" on its Agenda for a decision in Stockholm.
> > >
> > > Respectfully yours,
> > >
> > > --Joop Teernstra LL.M.--
> > > the Cyberspace Association and
> > > the constituency for Individual Domain Name Owners
> > > Elected representative.
> > > http://www.idno.org
> > >
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