Re: [ga] ERC's Second Implementation Report

[DannyYounger@cs.com]

Jeff,

I sat across from you at the Washington Senate hearings on dot kids listening 
to your Policy and Business Development spokesman argue that the Registry 
should not pursue public interest goals if they couldn't be met in a 
cost-effective manner.  I take issue with your point of view, as did the 
members of the Senate.

Registries and registrars perform a function in the public interest.  There 
will be times when the pursuit of that public interest will carry a price 
that registries and registrars may not be inclined to pay.  Nevertheless, it 
remains your obligation to bear such burden if that is what the public 
interest demands.  As such, you have no right to be in a position to 
effectively veto the will of the remainder of the community (which is what 
the ERC plan provides).

You have asked for a real life example of an action that could have been 
blocked by both of the "contracted party constituencies" because of cost 
considerations.  Both of your constituencies on 13 December 2001 acted to 
oppose the approval of $170,000 in funding to support the activities of our 
own DNSO Secretariat.  The following is an excerpt of a letter sent to the 
registrar constituency by Ken Stubbs on this topic:

Fellow Registrars....
 
In the Names Council meeting Today i Voted against a request to have ICANN 
fund approx $170,000 of the DNSO budget for the next year… Today's actions 
only reinforces my concerns that there may be attempts this year to impose 
additional financial burdens for ICANN operations & outreach (i.e. at large 
outreach) on us and we Registrars need to be even more pro-active. 
http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/registrars/Arc01/msg01649.html

I would love to be able to cite actual registry discussion on this topic, but 
as you well know, the registries have chosen not to abide by ICANN 
requirements on transparency and still have no publicly archived discussion 
list.  

You have also asked how many businesses would agree to implement any policy 
(for whatever the cost) without being able to have significant input into the 
policy.  No one seeks to deny your input (significant or otherwise).  At 
issue is your new ability to effectively veto the decisions of the remainder 
of the Internet Community.  The mere fact that you are contractors does not 
warrant granting you either veto power or greater voting rights than those 
enjoyed by others.  

You complain that your constituencies for too long now have been forced to 
endure the political games and coalition building.  Pardon me if I don't shed 
a tear.  Some of us (members of the At-large, individual domain name holders, 
small businessmen) have absolutely no representation in the process, having 
been denied such opportunity by the rest of you.  You too are culpable for 
this lack of representation, and now you seek even greater voting rights at 
the continued expense of the rest of the Community.  Don't expect me to 
tolerate this approach.
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