Re: [wg-review] Constituencies, 1 governance and legality

[Sotiropoulos <sotiris@hermesnetwork.com>]

1/31/01 6:48:02 PM, Sandy Harris <sandy@storm.ca> wrote:

>Kent Crispin wrote:
>
>> Do you really think that allowing any arbitrary person in the world
>> standing to bring legal action against the corporation would be in the
>> best interests of the corporation?
>
>Obviously not, but the corporation's interests are not the key factor.
>The question is what is best for the net, and indirectly for the users.

This is a primary point.  Many people tend to want to forget this point.  Thanks
for reiterating it Sandy.

>> Do you really think that any lawyer who didn't want to be disbarred would
>> suggest such a stupid thing?
>
>Karl has.
>
>Besides, if lawyers could be disbarred for suggesting dubious legal notions,
>or even for advocating preposterous notions in a court, methinks most of
>them would be out.
>
>> I don't know how to put this any more plainly: from a simple common
>> sense point of view it would be pathologically stupid to create the kind
>> of membership that you are thinking about.
>
>Methinks you are clearly correct. It seems to me that completely open
>membership organisation, without some provision for veto of technically
>idiotic suggestions by those who actually have to run the net, cannot
>work.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my undrestanding that ICANN has not made *any*
technical moves to-date... only policy dictates.

>The question is whether, by incorporating under California law, ICANN has
>already committed this stupidity. If so, what do we do about it, other
>than firing the lawyers involved?

Enfranchise the Members.  

>Of course, I'd call the current constituency structure, and the UDRP
>results to date, "pathologically stupid", but let's leave those debates
>out of this thread.  
>
>> The world is full of crazy people on missions.
>
>.. and the net seems to get more than its share :-)

But there's also a lot of good, well-meaning types too.

>> An open membership within the meaning of the California Code would be
>> corporate suicide for a corporation as emeshed in controversy as ICANN.
>
>Likely. So if Karl's interpretation of the law is correct, ICANN has
>already committed suicide.

Not just yet, but they're playing a very dangerous game of brinksmanship.  They can 
alleviate problems the easy way, or they can choose the hard route... either way,
ICANN will be forced to act (let's hope it's not "re-act").




Sotiris Sotiropoulos
          Hermes Network, Inc. 


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