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[wg-review] Review WG Membership


Dear Members,

 

Thank you for allowing me to post to this group.  I will begin by restating the mandate that first engaged my interest:

 

The Names Council of ICANN's Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO) in order to improve the decision-making process by more effective outreach, and in order to improve the quality and quantity of input, seeks a review of it’s own consensus-building procedures so that it may better advise the ICANN Board with respect to policy issues relating to the Domain Name System; to that end the Council has established a Review Working Group charged with actively seeking input from the widest possible set of Internet stakeholders.

 

I wish to address the issue of how this group may obtain input from the widest possible set of Internet stakeholders in order to obtain true consensus. 

 

As the thread of the discussion thus far in these postings has been focused on defining that which constitutes a “stakeholder” and a “constituency”, I would argue (on behalf of all those individuals that like myself are new to the internet), that any domain name registrant who has tendered currency in order to participate in the dream of the Internet is a legitimate stakeholder, and that ICANN and the Names Council (by way of the Registries), have at their disposal the technological means by which a valid registrant consensus may readily be obtained. 

 

The particular means to this given end is already the subject of a controversy that ICANN has been charged to resolve in light of the recent "Petition for Termination of Registrar Accreditation Agreement with Register.com."   At issue is that which constitutes legitimate use of the WHOIS database, a tool capable of potentially allowing for all registrants to be contacted.   While as a consumer, I have no desire whatsoever to be the ongoing object of relentlessly annoying and undesired marketing efforts, as a netizen I can appreciate and will certainly value having my WHOIS data used by the Internet’s governing body so that I may be contacted and asked to participate (by way of a poll or by voting), in a process which may ultimately lead to the democratization of the Internet. 

 

As some continue to levy charges that ICANN has engaged in monopolistic practices and has chosen to evince “inappropriate proximity” with powerful officials of both the U.S. government and U.S. corporations, a conscientious effort to redress such grievances by reaching out to the world-wide base of registrants might be a judicious and pragmatic course of action.  I contend that if the current board-recognized constituencies and the General Assembly can agree upon which issues are to be posed to the Internet community (so that ICANN may thereby consider appropriate policy), the community will be amenable to voting or being polled on those issues. 

 

In short, you have in your WHOIS databases our email addresses.  Registrants are the widest possible set of Internet stakeholders.  Ask us your questions.  You will receive our answers.  Tally the results.  You will have a consensus.

 

 

A brief biography:  I, Danny Younger, am a 46 year old American with an Asian wife, two young children and a small e-commerce site that was launched one year ago.  I am currently enrolled as a freshman in a full-time curriculum of studies at a leading computer Institute, and through that University’s co-operative program obtained employment as a customer support representative at register.com three months ago.   I work the overnight shift answering phone calls and emails that cover both domain-specific questions and general queries regarding industry policies on matters such as the availability of expired domain names, trademark issues, concerns regarding the pre-registration of the new gTLDs, the functionality of international character set registrations, etc.  The opinions I express here are wholly my own and not necessarily those of my Management.

 



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