[governance] New dot com agreement changes USG-ICANN relationship

[Jeanette Hofmann]

> I think Jeanette's suggestion below reflects my own point of view. The 
> onus is on self-governing bodies responsible for critical infrastructure 
> to demonstrate inclusiveness and effectiveness to the level that 
> intergovernmental mechanisms can demonstrate. By this I mean the bodies 
> really need to gain at least the level of trust and legitimacy in the 
> eyes of all, not just in the eyes of those currently doing well out of 
> the status quo (including Euro-US dominated civil society). Until this 
> can be shown in practice (not in theory), I cant see how ICANN is better 
> than say the ITU.

On further reflection, we should not glorify intergovernmental processes 
and institutions. Even if the ITU is more inclusive as far as 
participation of governments is concerned, we don't know much about 
balances of powers between governments. And even if there are formal 
mechanisms of accountability, we don't know whether they are effective.

ICANN is much more transparent than any intergovernmental organization. 
This is why we can observe its shortcomings on a regular basis. I 
wouldn't be able to say if closed intergovernmental organizations such 
as the ITU violate or stretch their own rules more or less than ICANN. 
What seems safe to say is trust in an organization requires better 
performance.

jeanette
> 
> (Please don't talk meetings being "open for anyone to attend" - we all 
> want these intergovernmental bodies to be more open and accountable. But 
> I think we need to start that critique with a recognition of the global 
> legitimacy that intergovernmental bodies have been able to achieve much 
> more effectively than ICANN or any of the other IG self-governing 
> bodies. And realise that you can't get four billion people onto a 
> discussion list or meeting room, so direct democracy won't get you there.)
> 
> Best
> 
> Danny
> 
> On 05/12/2006, at 7:59 AM, Jeanette Hofmann wrote:
> 
>> I believe that any self governance mechanism must prove that it is 
>> able to produce at least equally good results as an 
>> (inter-)governmental regime. A crucial part of this "equally good" 
>> would be reliable rules and appeals mechanisms. In order to gain the 
>> trust and the legitimacy they need, private governance mechanisms need 
>> to develop an equivalent to the rule of law. I am not sure ICANN takes 
>> its own rules seriously enough to deserve the responsibility it has.
> 
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