[governance] JPA - final draft for comments

[Garth Graham]

On 1-Jun-09, at 4:19 AM, Milton L Mueller wrote:

> Do not put faith in a centralized oversight body that can  
> whimsically overrule, dictate or change what ICANN does. That would  
> just serve as a magnet for all the unhealthy politics that already  
> converge on ICANN's Board. It is the legal framework that is the  
> missing link. It is not policy direction that is missing, but  
> lawful constraint.

Because of the time constraints, this is a comment for the future,  
and not specifically for the draft.

In the event that the legal framework remains illusive, there is  
another route to advance the cause of an appropriate "accountability  
mechanism."  In the absence of "lawful constraint," and even of an  
effective "global" peg to hang that hat on, there is nothing to stop  
a consortium of citizen-based organizations concerned about Internet  
Governance from developing an "Equity Statement" to use in  
challenging  ICANN"s and the US Government's future intentions.   The  
purpose of such an equity statement would be to propose what, in our  
view, would be the substance of any missing answering standards.  It  
could and should state:
   - who would benefit, and why
   - how they would benefit, immediately and in the future
   - who would bear the costs and risks, and why
   - what the costs and risks would be, immediately and in the future
   - who would answer publicly, for what, and when

  For a fuller explanation of what an Equity Statement entails see:  
http://www.accountabilitycircle.org/equitystatement.html

GG


> On 27-May-09, at 8:48 AM, Garth Graham wrote:
>>
>> On 27-May-09, at 7:08 AM, Milton L Mueller wrote:
>>> Jeanette, it may just be your phrasing, but I fear that you make  
>>> the same mistake that WSIS and so many others dealing with the  
>>> accountability problem have made. You think of accountability as  
>>> residing in an external "body" i.e. an organization, rather than  
>>> in rules or laws. This approach has two inherent problems:
>>>   1) once it is put in place, everyone ignores ICANN and reaches  
>>> directly for influence within that "body" (further undermining  
>>> ICANN's already tenuous bottom up)
>>>   2) the creation of the body just reproduces all the existing  
>>> politics within ICANN, with no guarantees that the result will be  
>>> any better. (infinite recursion).
>>
>>
>> True, accountability is a function of the organization that acts -  
>> not some oversight body.  But it also begins before the fact of  
>> acting - with clear statements of intentions.  Thus the standard  
>> of evaluation can and should evolve dynamically from its operating  
>> environment and not just statically as in "rules or laws."
>>
>> "For every important responsibility there is accountability.  
>> Public accountability is the obligation to answer publicly, fully  
>> and fairly, for the discharge of responsibilities that affect the  
>> public in important ways. Responsibility is the obligation to act,  
>> which is obviously related to accountability, but it is  
>> conceptually different from accountability, the obligation to  
>> answer. While the answering obligation attaches to all significant  
>> responsibilities, the key is getting the answering. The answering  
>> is for intentions as well as results. When responsibilities affect  
>> the public in important ways, the decision-makers' answering must  
>> be public. And it is the governing bodies of organizations, not  
>> employee CEOs and managers, who have the obligation to account to  
>> the public. ...  Holding to account also includes validating the  
>> answering whenever this is prudent under the precautionary  
>> principle. Validation of the answering means independent  
>> assessment (audit) of its fairness and completeness by people who  
>> can competently assess it."  Henry McCandless. A Citizen's Guide  
>> to Public Accountability. http://www.accountabilitycircle.org/ 
>> index.html

____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.cpsr.org
To be removed from the list, send any message to:
     governance-unsubscribe at lists.cpsr.org

For all list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance