Re: [ga] ALAC comments on proposed Bylaws modifications

["Richard Henderson" <richardhenderson@ntlworld.com>]

OK, Esther, but mind you...

ICANN's track record is to *say* and *encourage* all kinds of things, but at
any stage, the Board just moves the goalposts!

We polled our own "bottom up" At Large group (as you know)... 69% said they
didn't trust ICANN's At Large proposals, as opposed to 19% who said they
did; and you yourself (as you no doubt know with wry amusement) came 293rd
out of 295, in a poll of who people trusted to promote the At Large, which
was only a little worse than Denise who came 290th!

And by a margin of more than 3 to 1, the members voted in favour of creating
the At Large regional organisations independently and outside of ICANN. Only
1 in 5 wanted the ICANN RALOs.

The implications here are pretty clear.

Our majority view (a) publicly refutes the RALOs
(b) is likely to refuse to participate in them

Why? Because they suspect the Esther 'n' Denise initiative of being a
facade, which will only legitimise the Board's coup and its expulsion of the
At Large's elected representatives.

People aren't *that* stupid, Esther!

Regards

Richard H

----- Original Message -----
From: Esther Dyson <edyson@edventure.com>
To: Richard Henderson <richardhenderson@ntlworld.com>
Cc: Joanna Lane <jo-uk@rcn.com>; Vittorio Bertola <vb@bertola.eu.org>;
<ga@dnso.org>
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 3:56 PM
Subject: Re: [ga] ALAC comments on proposed Bylaws modifications


> Richard -
>
> Your own words create a challenge:  Build a bottom-up, democratic,
> *effective* organization, and I am sure it will be recognized by ICANN and
> welcomed into a RALO where, yes, we (the ALAC) want the RALOs to define
> their own rules.  (I wanted to say "I assure you" but I cannot, because I
> don't speak for ICANN and neither does Denise. Nor do we presume to speak
> for millions of users.)  The RALO structures and their rules are not yet
> formed, and the ALAC is collecting feedback.
>
> The world (a small part of it, anyway!) is waiting.
>
> Esther
>
>
> At 08:49 AM 2/24/2003, Richard Henderson wrote:
> >You're exactly right, Joanna.
> >
> >ICANN could have written in one-person-one-vote to their RALOs as a
> >fundamental democratic condition, but they have chosen not to.
> >
> >Tell me (I address Denise) : if the first act of the RALOs is to demand
(a)
> >one-person-one-vote (b) the right of the RALOs to choose their own
leaders
> >and spokesperson and policies and ways of working... will ICANN accede?
> >
> >Who is actually running the RALOs: individual internet users or the ICANN
> >establishment?
> >
> >If ICANN genuinely wants internet users represented, then clearly each
> >internet user should be equally represented, through their own vote and
> >their own right to participate. If ICANN genuinely wants a "bottom up"
> >process, why do they construct a process which is dependent on
nominations,
> >unelected delegates, and rules which they (ICANN) impose?
> >
> >This is not to me the "At Large".
> >
> >This is to me, ICANN creating another process which it can control.
> >
> >Surely, elected representatives of the At Large on the Board with voting
> >rights was a far more effective way of giving Internet Users power to
> >influence the way the DNS is administered. One person one vote is far
more
> >credible.
> >
> >Why wasn't this fundamental democratic principle written into the ICANN
> >structure?
> >
> >Why does the constituency representing hundreds of millions of users get
> >about the same weighting (but very much less influence) as about 150
> >registrars who are basically exploiting a supply conduit for their own
> >profit (which I don't blame them for - everyone tries to make a living -
but
> >why do they get so much disproportionate influence over a commodity which
> >belongs to hundreds of millions of people all over the world.
> >
> >The bottom line is that, ultimately, democracy and one member one vote,
> >implemented right up to Board level, would sweep away the power clique
that
> >seeks to exploit its position for narrow vested interest.
> >
> >That is why the ICANN establishment had to EXPEL the elected Board
members
> >who represented the huge majority. That's why the ALAC was initiated, to
> >minimise and contain the influence of the vast user constituency.
> >
> >What doesn't the ICANN Board understand about the word:
> >
> >DEMOCRACY ?
> >
> >yrs,
> >
> >Richard Henderson
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: Joanna Lane <jo-uk@rcn.com>
> >To: Vittorio Bertola <vb@bertola.eu.org>
> >Cc: <ga@dnso.org>
> >Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 10:51 AM
> >Subject: RE: [ga] ALAC comments on proposed Bylaws modifications
> >
> >
> > > > From: Vittorio Bertola [mailto:vb@bertola.eu.org]
> > > > On Sun, 23 Feb 2003 16:44:54 -0500, you wrote:
> > > >
> > > > >"Any RALO must through its at-large
> > > > >          structures or through direct membership, be open for
> > > > >          participation of all individual Internet users who are
> > > > >          citizens or residents of countries within the RALO's
> > > > >          Geographic Region (as defined in Section 5 of Article
VI)."
> > > > >
> > > > >Oh that's good. I get to join two RALO's and have a vote in both
> > > > regions.
> > > >
> > > > Better than having a vote in no region (the original language was
> > > > "citizens *and* residents").
> > > > --
> > > > vb.
> > >
> > > Vittorio,
> > > It gets better. As a member of ISOC, I would get another vote to add
to my
> > > other two. Are there any other organizations I can join? (I'd like to
have
> > > as many votes as possible). Whatever happened to the principle of one
> >person
> > > one vote, or is that just too much to ask?
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Joanna
> > >
> > > --
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> > >
> > >
> >
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>
>
> Esther Dyson                    Always make new mistakes!
> chairman, EDventure Holdings
> writer, Release 3.0 (on Website below)
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