[governance] Are Internet users powerless or empowered, and how?

[George Sadowsky]

Karl,

I understand and appreciate your points.

However, I do think that the way you phrase it, i.e. "the body that 
extracts over half a billion dollars (US$ out of the pockets of 
domain name buyers every year," goes in the wrong direction.  It's 
correct that ICANN is involved in price setting, but per domain name 
the cost is closer to $6.  One might as well say that The newspaper 
industry extracts billions of dollars from the reading public every 
year.

And I'll take your future point that you don't have to buy 
newspapers; you can get your news elsewhere.  However, note that the 
same is true with respect to the Internet; the great majority of 
Internet users don't have domain names, and in fact don't need domain 
names to extract very substantial value from the Internet.  Having a 
domain name is like having a license to set up shop on the net, to 
hang out a sing saying in effect, "open for business."  That does 
cost something, because the DNS collectively then has the 
responsibility of defining the specific path between you and every 
one of your correspondents.  Somehow $6 per year seems like a very 
trivial amount for that service provided on a worldwide basis.

I agree with you that WHOIS continues to be a problem, complicated by 
competing interests but also by non-interoperable national legal 
codes, over which we have relatively no control (at least in the 
short run).  I'd like to see that sorted out also, but I don't see 
any voting scheme able to solve that problem without creating other 
problems of equal or greater magnitude.

I understand that you have a severe dislike of the current UDRP.  Is 
there a comprehensive alternative you would like to suggest that is 
significantly better?  If you have already suggested it, what has 
been its reception and why?

What do you think of my suggestion to concentrate on the great 
majority of Internet users, mostly those without domain names, and do 
two things.  First, define their real needs to the best of our 
ability.  Second, and only after we've done the first, discuss what 
forms of structure, conduct and governance would best meet those 
needs, nows and in the future?

Regards,

George

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


At 11:20 AM -0800 11/30/07, Karl Auerbach wrote:
>George Sadowsky wrote:
>
>>At the risk of starting yet another questionably productive thread 
>>on this list, I have to comment on your comment below.  I found it 
>>an amazing comment, and perhaps symptomatic of why this list is not 
>>as productive as it could be.
>>
>>99.999% of Internet users are not drowning in powerlessness! 
>>Instead, if they are drowning in anything, they are drowning in a 
>>sea of extraordinarily rich information service offerings that they 
>>couldn't have dreamed of having access to 10 years ago.
>
>The context in which I use the world "powerless" is in the context 
>of existing and future bodies of internet governance.
>
>For example, yes, we users have great power in the marketplace to 
>select ISP's and the like.
>
>But we users have virtually no voice in the body that extracts over 
>half a billion dollars (US$) out of the pockets of domain name 
>buyers every year and, at the same, time subjects us to the kangaroo 
>court system of the UDRP and the privacy-busting Whois.
>
>The fear and concern that I am expressing is that in bodies of 
>internet governance - and remember a body of governance is a body 
>that exercises a near plenary form of power - that in these bodies, 
>current and present, internet users are denied the means to hold 
>that body, and the decision makers within it, accountable for its 
>actions.
>
>In other words, my intent is the word "powerless" is interpreted in 
>the context of bodies of governance.
>
>		--karl--
>____________________________________________________________
>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

____________________________________________________________
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