Re: [ga] Where are all the reports?

[Vittorio Bertola <vb@vitaminic.net>]

On Wed, 21 Aug 2002 09:32:45 -0500, you wrote:

>Vittorio, Thank you for your prompt response,
>
>Are writing this:  Yes, Kristy, we have flushed the entire At Large 
>Membership after spending (hundreds?) (thousands?) (millions?) developing it.

Well - not we. ICANN has. It has done so in Accra, as last of a long series
of actions. Of course one would still hope that the year 2000 membership
rolls would be made available for the new ALAC-based efforts, but honestly I
don't think we can count on it.

>I just want to understand whether or not I need to look into a new org or 
>not now; however, if none of the orgs are voting for good representation, I 
>am sure it is not worth the time to motivate folks again now that their 
>efforts have been trashed by ICANN.

Yes, this is definitely an issue. How many Internet users will bother to
register in the process, if they feel their voice won't count much in the
end? As icannatlarge.com, we have to give them a good reason - which, I
think, is that they have to join first of all to defend their right to
participate. In the next months and years we'll have to lead the struggle to
get more power and more recognition for the users. This won't just mean
getting seats in ICANN's Board - this will mostly mean lobbying in different
places and producing good policy propositions that can gain respect and
support among all the Internet communities.

In other words, in the last two years the At Large movement has been almost
completely defeated in getting power. But at least we have to try to get
credibility. Very often, power comes with credibility, and the informal
power you get this way is worth much more than the formal power you might
get from holding any number of seats in the Board (unless they are more than
50%). Take as an example the last two years... yes, we had five full-powered
At Large Directors over 19 Board members... but did this save our cause?
-- 
vb.               [Vittorio Bertola - v.bertola [a] bertola.eu.org]<------
--------> http://bertola.eu.org/ - Archivio FAQ e molto altro... <--------
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