FC: ICANN has voted to eliminate public elections --Karl Auerbach

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

The folks at icannwatch have written a far more accurate summary of
what actually happened in Ghana than the confusing, incomprehensible
press release (http://www.politechbot.com/p-03264.html) would have you
believe.

http://www.icannwatch.org/article.php?sid=607&mode=thread&order=0
> The Board thus rejected the key recommendation of its blue-ribbon At
> Large Study Committee.  It indicated that while it "appreciated" the
> committee's work, the committee's minimalist call for a limited,
> scaled-back version of elections was still, well, uacceptable.

This is important stuff, folks. Karl sent us the following too.

-Declan

---

Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2002 09:18:06 -0800 (PST)
From: Karl Auerbach <karl () CaveBear com>

What kind of NewSpeak Orwellian world was the attached written in?

This morning ICANN killed the concept of public participation in ICANN and
established in its stead a paternalistic oligarchy.  The Internet will now
be run by a body that adheres to principles that otherwise died with the
era of Queeen Victoria and King Leopold.

My board seat, and those of the other four elected board members will
simply vaporize this fall, with no replacements, no elections ... no
nothing.  ICANN will be reduced a body run by those who have today
proclaimed themselves to be our self-designated "betters", who know better
than we do what is best for you and me.

The Board's action eliminates the at-large, it does not establish it.  
The faux at-large that the board resolution calls for are nothing but
external clubs that have no role in ICANN and play no role in the chosing
of the Board of Directors or play any role in the development of Internet
policy.  The use of the name "at-large" is purely a fig leaf to cover a
policy that is naked of even the slightest hint of democracy.

For the ICANN's At-Large Study Committee (ALSC) to say that the
eviceration of their work amounts to an endorsement of their work is
truely an exercise in advanced self deception.

                --karl--


> ------ Forwarded Message
> From: Esther Dyson <edyson () edventure com>
>
> hard-fought.... FYI from Esther
>
>
> > ^ÓGO FORTH AND MULTIPLY!^Ô
> >
> > ICANN BOARD APPROVES INDIVIDUAL INTERNET USER PARTICIPATION, CALLS FOR
> > ORGANIZATION OF AT-LARGE MEMEBERSHIP
> >
> > March 14, Accra, Ghana -- The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
> > Numbers (ICANN) Board of Directors approved a resolution during its
> > meeting today that called for the creation of an At-Large mechanism for
> > ^Ómeaningful, informed participation by Internet users,^Ô as recommended by
> > the At-Large Study Committee (ALSC).  Taking a critical step towards
> > structuring participation and representation of individuals from
> > throughout the diverse global Internet user communities ("At-Large
> > constituency") within ICANN, the Board called upon the ICANN community to
> > create an At-Large membership based on ^Óbottom-up, self-organized, local
> > Internet community^Ô groups.
> >
> > "The ALSC is pleased the Board committed to a strong role for individual
> > Internet users in ICANN and acknowledged the merits of our report," said
> > Carl Bildt, ALSC Chair. "We worked to find a solution that ensures
> > Internet users have a sustained role in the technical coordination of the
> > Internet, and are gratified the Board has now recognized the Internet
> > community^Òs bottom-up organizing activities.^Ô
> >
> > In the resolution, the Board stated that it ^Ówishes to move forward with
> > energy and enthusiasm to build a meaningful structure for informed
> > participation by the full range of Internet users, and seeks avenues to
> > achieve these objectives that are bottom-up, self-organized, and
> > self-sustaining.^Ô
> >
> > ICANN is in the process of considering wholesale restructuring, and the
> > resolution instructs the Board Committee on Restructuring to ensure that
> > their ongoing efforts at crafting a blueprint for ICANN reform include
> > ^Óworkable mechanisms and procedures that enable meaningful opportunities
> > for participation by the full range of Internet users,^Ô and ^Óan
> > appropriate role for those interests in ICANN's coordinating and
> > management structures.^Ô
> >
> > In its annual meeting in November, 2001, the Board formally accepted the
> > ALSC^Òs final report as a basis for discussion and received in Accra the
> > Committee^Òs ^ÓImplementation Report,^Ô which provided details on the
> > processes needed to implement the ALSC^Òs final report. The final report
> > proposes a regionally based global framework for all interested
> > individuals' structured participation in ICANN, focuses At-Large
> > membership (an electorate) on an identifiable and vested community,
> > provides a reasonable, initial mechanism for registration and
> > self-funding, and grants At-Large members a proportionate responsibility
> > for selecting ICANN's Board.  While the Board, today, made clear that
> > there would be no direct elections to fill At-Large Board seats at this
> > time, it left open the possibility of future At-Large elections.
> >
> > ^ÓWe are still moving forward from where we were, although we have not yet
> > reached our goal of regularly elected At-Large directors,^Ô said Esther
> > Dyson, an ALSC member and former chairman of ICANN. ^ÓNow the At-Large
> > Membership has the challenge ­ and responsibility ­ of meeting the Board^Òs
> > call for informed, active participation^Å which we hope will lead to
> > issue-oriented, transparent elections.^Ô
> >
> > The ALSC's reports are available on the Internet (at www.atlargestudy.org)
> > and the Board^Òs resolution is available at www.icann.org.
> > .
> > ABOUT THE ALSC
> > The ALSC is an independent Committee created by ICANN earlier this year to
> > provide recommendations to ICANN's Board on how to structure the diverse
> > global Internet community's participation within ICANN. The ALSC is
> > conducting an aggressive outreach, discussion, research, and
> > consensus-building campaign that will culminate with the submission of a
> > final report to the Board in November. In addition to Carl Bildt, the ALSC
> > includes Charles Costello, Pierre Dandjinou, Esther Dyson, Olivier Iteanu,
> > Ching-Yi Liu, Thomas Niles, Oscar Robles, and Pindar Wong. Biographies of
> > these individuals, and Information on the ALSC, can be found at
> > www.atlargestudy.org.
> >
> > ABOUT ICANN
> > ICANN is a technical coordination body for the Internet. Created in
> > October 1998 by a broad coalition of the Internet's business, technical,
> > academic, and user communities, ICANN is assuming responsibility for a set
> > of technical functions previously performed under U.S. government contract
> > by IANA and other groups. Specifically, ICANN coordinates the assignment
> > of identifiers that must be globally unique for the Internet to function:
> > Internet domain names, IP address numbers, and protocol parameter and port
> > numbers. In addition, ICANN coordinates the stable operation of the
> > Internet's root server system. As a non-profit, private-sector
> > corporation, ICANN is dedicated to preserving the operational stability of
> > the Internet; to promoting competition; to achieving broad representation
> > of global Internet communities; and to developing policy through
> > private-sector, bottom-up, consensus-based means. ICANN welcomes the
> > participation of any interested Internet user, business, or organization.
> >
> > CONTACT
> > Denise Michel
> > +1 310 823 9358
> > dmichel () atlargestudy org


---

Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2002 17:35:20 +0100
From: Thomas Roessler <roessler () does-not-exist org>
To: declan () well com

Unofficial minutes taken by Alexander Svensson during the ICANN Board
Meeting in Accra are available at
<http://does-not-exist.org/icann-log.html#resolutions>.

(He sent his minutes to an IRC channel in real time, which was then logged to that web site.)
-- 
Thomas Roessler                        <roessler () does-not-exist org>

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