Re: The iCommons Lab Report I had to laugh when I read the question of the Governance of an 'open and transparent' global community (page 1)- I presume they mean iCommons. Who should iCommons ask for advice about setting up this open structure of governance? Sociologists? Political theorists? Political scientists? Us? Nope. --- They ask Hackers who release a distribution of the Linux operating system called Ubuntu. What?!? And they seem to be taking this advice seriously. I mean like, seriously. Which bring us to... How was the iCommons Code of Conduct passed (page 2)? I didn't see a vote, debate (beyond the wiki) or any of the so called 'open and transparent governance and processes' that are listed as a core value and principle... is this an example of 'consensus and running code'? I really wonder why certain things are missing (fairtrade/human rights anyone?) and who decided what was in and what was out... and how do we change it if we don't like it? What is even weirder is the iCommons community council (iCCC) which is open for nominations (good), but then selected by iCommons Board which will make the final decision of the 9-13 iCCC members (not so good - why the shifting number? what power will it have?). This doesn't sound particularly open or transparent - how will we know the criteria for selection? Will the decision be made in public (i.e. we can attend the meeting as observers?)? Why can't the iCommons nodes who nominate vote? After all to quote from the iCommons Code of Conduct it is important that we 'avoid conflicts of interest' which requires clear procedures and processes to guide the election (if that is what it is). Where are they? Who decides? A shame that 'open' and 'democratic' are traveling in different directions. iCommons, the world is watching... and you are creating a corporate machine rather than a democratic one... is that what all the iCommoners, free culture and assorted supporters want? Success for Creative Commons/free culture is one thing, but lets not lose sight that the Means are just as important as the Ends. David ------ iCommons Code of Conduct: The Text iCommons and the iCommons nodes adhere to these core values and principles: · iCommoners are respectful of the diversity of creativity and of intellectual thought. We are a diverse group of people - from civil society, business and governments; from the North and the South; from politically diverse backgrounds and cultures. We know that this kind of diversity is found in very few places, that it requires a very special kind of respect - and that we are especially mindful of this because it is our greatest strength. · iCommoners collaborate and help one another. Because we are a global commons movement, we recognise that not every community has the same level of connectivity/support etc, and as such, we recognise how important it is to collaborate with those from diverse cultural/political/economic contexts. We recognise that developing true partnerships between communities in the North and South is as important as developing cutting edge products and services. · iCommoners are committed to ensuring the freedom of societies to create, build upon and share the world's knowledge, culture and science. iCommoners believe that, because this freedom is essential to the freedom of _expression_, that we will promote the highest levels of open access to intellectual products for organisations and individuals - especially those with a public mandate. · iCommoners employ open and transparent governance and processes. Transparency is important because it encourages communal ownership of the iCommons network, allows us to learn from one another, helps and helps to avoid conflicts of interest. iCommoners will adopt transparent governance procedures without disrespecting individual privacy rights. |
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