[ga] CYBER-FED No.15: The User Voice in Internet Governance -- ICANNatlarge.org

["Hans Klein" <hans.klein@pubpolicy.gatech.edu>]

                      Please forward

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      Cyber-Federalist No. 15         25 October 2002

      THE USER VOICE IN INTERNET GOVERNANCE --
                                ICANNatlarge.org


        Civil Society Democracy Project (CivSoc)
  Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)
                     http://www.civsoc.org

                  The Internet Democracy Project
             http://www.internetdemocracyproject.org/
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The User Voice in Internet Governance -- ICANNatlarge.org

ICANN has been a bold experiment in many areas, not least of which is 
giving users a role in Internet policy-making.  However, user 
representation on ICANN's board has been vigorously contested, and ICANN's 
current board seems likely to eliminate it.  Nonetheless, even if users are 
excluded from ICANN, their collective voice will persist.

Today, the collective voice of the user in ICANN exists in the organization 
named ICANNatlarge.org.  ICANNatlarge.org (http://www.ICANNatlarge.org) is 
a mass membership organization founded in early 2002 to unite users in 
Internet governance, most notably in ICANN.  With over 1000 members, a web 
site and mailing lists, and an elected governing panel, ICANNatlarge.org 
provides a framework for continued user participation in policy making.

The creation of an institutional framework for users is 
important.  ICANNatlarge.org demonstrates that a global user community 
really exists, and it gives that community a vehicle by which to express 
its views and its interests.  It facilitates the difficult tasks of 
creating a general forum, aggregating interests for users from around the 
world, and developing a collective voice.  With members from over 72 
countries, the organization possesses a legitimacy that a closed, top-down 
organization cannot.  It is global, participatory, and transparent.

Shanghai
=======
At the ICANN meeting in Shanghai, ICANNatlarge.org has organized a users 
forum.  This event will be a focal point for users, civil society groups, 
At Large Directors (before their positions are eliminated), and other 
stakeholders to meet and to coordinate their activities around the board 
meeting.

At this meeting ICANNatlarge.org will not offer any statements on behalf of 
all users.  That seems an unlikely role for such an inclusive organization 
that hosts such a diversity of views.  Rather, ICANNatlarge.org will serve 
as a forum within which groups can articulate their own views.  The 
organization's role may be more to facilitate than to lead.

Three Voices of Users
==================
Over the past years three types of organizations have emerged to speak for 
users in ICANN.  The first is the individual NGO.  NGOs (including 
university-based researchers) are able to offer strongly-worded analysis 
and recommendations in ICANN.  With a basis in a few experts and without 
the need to gain approval from a large membership, NGOs can engage in 
decisive action.

The second type of organization claiming to speak for users is a top-down 
entity, much like a company union.  As ICANN eliminates user representation 
from its board, it is likely to create a compliant user organization.  The 
board will soon decide whether to create an "At Large Advisory Committee" 
(ALAC) to replace the nine At Large Directors.  Much like a company union, 
the ALAC will represent those user views that are acceptable to the board.

The third type of organization is ICANNatlarge.org.  It is open and 
inclusive, but unlike the company union model it will not conform to 
externally-imposed parameters.  Although more likely to serve as a forum 
than as a united voice, it can facilitate the process whereby users work 
out a collective voice.

Culmination of Effort
================
ICANNatlarge.org is the latest step in a series of efforts.  The first 
effort to create a united users voice was at ICANN's 2000 meeting in 
Yokohama, where user representatives launched the Civil Society Internet 
Forum (www.CSIF.net).  The CSIF played an important role in publicizing a 
collective "Civil Society Platform" for the 2000 elections.  Nearly all 
elected At Large Directors in year 2000 supported that platform.  However, 
the initial enthusiasm of the organizers led them to diffuse their energies 
to all global issues.  As its focus expanded to issues like privacy law in 
various countries, its attention to ICANN declined.

A second attempt at a users organization was ICANNmembers.org, which was 
led by the Interim Coordinating Committee (ICC).  That organization made 
its appearance at the ICANN Annual Meeting in Marina del Rey in October 
2000.  The ICC brought together many of the leading candidates from the At 
Large elections.  However, it lost momentum as many of its members 
dedicated their energies to the NGO and Academic Internet Study (NAIS).

A third attempt to create a user voice in 2002 was more along the lines of 
a company union.  Some participants of the ICANN-commissioned At Large 
Study Committee (ALSC, led by Sweden's Karl Bildt) attempted to launch a 
new user organization called "ICANNatlarge.com."  This top-down effort 
failed to assemble a compliant membership, and eventually the founders left 
to start a new effort.  ICANNatlarge.com evolved into today's 
ICANNatlarge.org.

ICANNatlarge.org is an authentic bottom-up organization.  It is still 
solidifying its internal organization and finalizing a mission statement 
and bylaws.  It is also improving its ability to make closure on 
discussions and to reach collective decisions.  At Shanghai it is proving 
its ability to serve a vital purpose: to host a general users forum.  It 
makes the voice of the user a reality.

[Note: the author currently serves as "Acting Chair" of ICANNatlarge.org. 
However, the views expressed here are solely his own.]

ICANNatlarge.org can also be accessed via http://www.icannatlarge.com/


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CYBER-FEDERALIST is a series of analyses and commentaries
on Internet governance and ICANN produced by the
Civil Society Democracy Project (CivSoc) of
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR).
See:
     http://www.cyber-federalist.org (archive)
     http://www.civsoc.org
     http://www.cpsr.org

The author of the CYBER-FEDERALIST is Hans Klein.

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