see notes below
On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Hans Klein wrote:
>
>
> REFLECTIONS ON THE ICANN MEETING IN YOKOHAMA
>
>
> *******************************************************
> CYBER-FEDERALIST No. 2 July 17, 2000
> Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)
> http://www.cpsr.org/internetdemocracy
> Internet Democracy Project
> http://www.internetdemocracyproject.org/
> *******************************************************
>
>
> ICANN's board meeting in Yokohama Japan wrapped up yesterday after an
> eventful four days. What follows here is a report of the major events:
> 1. Government Officials Question Privatization
> 2. User Representation Not Killed, Only Weakened
> 3. New TLDs -- $50,000 to Apply
> 4. Launch of the Civil Society Internet Forum
>
>
> 1. Government Officials Question Privatization
> ==============================================
> ICANN received some remarkable public criticism in Yokohama from two high
> government officials. Paul Twomey (head of the Governmental Advisory
> Committee) and Christopher Wilkinson (the European Union's lead official on
> ICANN) made comments relating to a proposed bylaws revision to reduce and
> possibly eliminate elected (At Large) user representatives on the Board.
> The officials warned that an unbalanced Board could invite government
> oversight of ICANN -- which could, in effect, end the ICANN experiment in
> privatization.
There's a reason for Twomey change of pace. He has been fired from his
position in the AUS government - and now his future and reputation makes
it or breaks it with ICANN. Paul now has a direct interest in keeping it
honest (ICANN) and preventing it from failure.
> In separate public comments, these two officials presented a vision of the
> ICANN board as consisting of two parts: an Internet supply industry
> association (the 9 Supporting Organization directors) and a consumer
> association (the 9 At Large members). In this vision the two associations
> balance each other, with industrial interests matched by consumer interests.
>
> To date, however, only the industry association part has been implemented,
> leaving industry interests unopposed by consumer interests. With only one
> interest represented, ICANN risks becoming a supply industry association.
> (To use language only slightly more direct than that of the officials,
> ICANN risks becoming a cartel -- a combination of independent business
> organizations formed to regulate supply of goods by the members. Cartels
> are often illegal or regulated.)
>
> Twomey noted that if ICANN would continue to develop as a one-sided
> industry association, then it might be necessary for governments to
> regulate it to protect consumer interests.
translation - don't screw up or we'll take you over. in fact this is a
baseless threat. anyone can run the root and i think twomey has finally
begun to realize that.
> In other words, the fundamental principle underlying ICANN -- that the
> Internet should be managed by the private sector -- was publicly questioned
> by two officials.
>
>
> 2. User Representation Not Killed, Only Weakened
> ================================================
> Policies about elections were the hottest issues in Yokohama. In addition
> to government officials, numerous participants also spoke out against the
> proposal to reduce At Large directors. Alan Davidson of the Center for
> Democracy and Technology, who sounded the initial alarm about this proposal
> just a few days before the Yokohama meeting, was among those who spoke
> cogently at the public comment period.
>
> Nonetheless, the final bylaws revision adopted by the Board still weakens
> user representation. While five directors will be elected this fall, the
> remaining four seats will remain closed for another two years (until the
> Annual Meeting of 2002). Thus, user representation will be constrained at
> 5 of 19 seats, rather than 9 of 19 as envisioned in the bylaws.
>
> The near-unanimity of Board members in their support for measures to weaken
> At Large representation was striking. Of nineteen directors only one, Vint
> Cerf, questioned the reduction. All other directors were either silent or
> spoke in favor of the proposal to reduce elected representatives.
>
> Rules for electing At Large directors also changed. The Board lowered the
> threshold for candidate nominations from 10% to 2%. In light of the
> possibility that a very large number of individuals might receive
> nominations, the Board capped the number of nominees at not more than seven
> per region.
>
> 3. New TLDs -- $50,000 to Apply
> ===============================
> The Board's decision on new top-level domain names (TLDs) was mixed.
> Before the meeting, many people predicted that a very small number of TLDs
> would be authorized, perhaps as few as two. Yet in discussions, Board
> members talked more of a range of six to ten. Ultimately they left the
> number undetermined.
>
> The big surprise was the application fee: the mere submission of an
> application to operate a new TLD will cost USD $50,000. The Board felt
> this was necessary to cover evaluation costs. While such a fee might be
> appropriate for businesses, there was concern that it could effectively
> eliminate non-commercial applicants.
>
> The Board also singled out protection for intellectual property rights as a
> consideration in selecting who would be awarded a new TLD. This priority
> given to commercial rights in Internet coordination (as opposed to rights
> of speech, privacy, or consumers) is consistent with previous Board policies.
I'll be recommending to my dot.god users that we just sit back and watch
the show. This is a joke - $50,000 just to give icann a kiss - and no
gurantees. I'm recommending to my users that we just watch the show and
not throw good money into icann's bottomless pot.
> 4. Civil Society Internet Forum
> ===============================
> The Yokohama meeting was the scene of intense activity by civil society
> groups. While organizations like the Association for Computing Machinery,
> the Consumer Project on Technology, and the Center for Democracy and
> Technology have regularly represented the civil society perspective at
> ICANN meetings, the coming At Large elections have stimulated more groups
> from more regions to become active.
>
> This meeting was notable for two new initiatives. First, some thirty NGOs
> from Korea traveled to Japan to attend the meeting. This was the biggest
> civil society participation in an ICANN meeting to date. They were led by
> the Korean Internet Forum, which sponsored an ICANN workshop in Seoul just
> days before the Yokohama event. See: http://www.nic.or.kr/seminar/enindex.html
>
> The second initiative was organized by Computer Professionals for Social
> Responsibility (CPSR, this author's affiliate organization) working with
> the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Privacy
> Information Center (EPIC) in the Internet Democracy Project and also with
> the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and JCA-Net of Japan.
>
> These groups' Yokohama forum was one of the biggest non-commercial meetings
> of the four-day period, with some seventy people in attendance. There they
> discussed the "Civil Society Statement on ICANN Elections," a comprehensive
> list of issues for the upcoming elections. This document won approval "in
> principle" at the forum. The Statement is still in a comment period and can
> be found at:
> http://www.internetdemocracyproject.org/
>
> During the four days in Yokohama these two movements came together to form
> the "Civil Society Internet Forum." The Civil Society Internet Forum will
> define a public space in each of ICANN's five electoral region for
> discussion and debate around elections. The guiding values of the Forum
> include democratic participation, open processes, and a fair balance
> between rights of trademark, consumers, speech, and privacy in ICANN
> policy-making.
>
> Over one hundred participants at the Yokohama conference signed a petition
> supporting the mission of the civil society forum and urging ICANN to work
> with it to promote user participation in ICANN elections. The petition was
> accepted by ICANN Board Chair Esther Dyson.
>
> The Steering Committee of the new Civil Society Internet Forum consists of:
> * Myung Koo Kang (Korean Internet Forum) (Interim Chair)
> * Wolfgang Kleinwaechter (ICANN Studienkreis, Germany)
> * Kimberly Heitman (Electronic Frontiers Australia)
> * Karen Higgs (nominated) (Association for Progressive Communications,
> Ecuador)
> * Pierre Ouedraogo (Institut francophone des nouvelles technologies de
> l'information et de la formation/INTIF, Burkina Faso)
> * Hans Klein (Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, USA)
> (Institutional affiliations given for identification purposes only.)
>
> The web site for the Civil Society Internet Forum is:
> http://www.CivilSocietyInternetForum.org
> http://www.cpsr.org/internetdemocracy/csif/ (temporary)
>
> The Civil Society Internet Forum will serve as a global vehicle for user
> participation in ICANN elections. Although its listserv is not yet
> implemented, interested individuals can stay informed by subscribing to the
> Cyber-Federalist (instructions below).
>
> * * * * *
>
> The author's participation in ICANN Board meeting was made possible by
> support from the Markle Foundation's Salzburg Seminar Fund and from the
> Open Society Institute.
>
>
> =========================================================
>
> CYBER-FEDERALIST is a regularly-published series of analyses and
> commentaries on Internet governance and ICANN elections. It is produced by
> CPSR as part of the Internet Democracy Project. See:
> http://www.cpsr.org/internetdemocracy
> http://www.internetdemocracyproject.org/
>
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