[governance] Re: SDOs and public input (Was: Reconstituting MAG

[Jeremy Malcolm]

On 13/02/2008, at 7:38 PM, Stephane Bortzmeyer wrote:

>> As for the IETF, firstly is is very difficult for non-engineers to
>> gain any status within the organisation.
>
> Well, this is certainly on purpose. It is a technical body. In the
> same way, it is quite difficult for someone who is not a lawyer to
> gain any status in a bar association...

That is a good point, because in fact the International Bar  
Association's International Code of Ethics is a form of private or  
transnational law with public policy ramifications, as are other forms  
of private ordering such as the law-like rules of stock markets and  
financial networks such as Visa.  There are grounds to argue for  
greater democratic accountability in how such private law is developed.

> This is not specifically an IETF issue. Every SDO has the same
> problem. Most are very closed, even in theory (take ISO, for
> instance).

I certainly agree.

>> and does not need to consult outside its membership for input on
>> policy questions.
>
> Again, who should be consulted? ICANN listens only to the US
> governement, to the IP holders and from time to time to the GAC.

Ideally, the IGF is an open forum for the very reason that anyone who  
is impacted and can demonstrate by rational argument that this is so,  
can have a hand in shaping policy on the issues that impact them.

>> One purpose of the IGF (as I see it) is to assess the IETF's deficit
>> of multi- stakeholder legitimacy, and to help to redress it through
>> its own recommendations.
>
> Will the IGF do the same with ITU? It is a much more closed SDO (and
> which heartily embraced the concept of Lawful Interception, meaning
> Big Brother can rely on the ITU to put wiretapping provisions in all
> its standards...)

If by "will" you mean "should", then most assuredly, yes.  If you mean  
"will", then not in my lifetime, probably.

-- 
Jeremy Malcolm LLB (Hons) B Com
Internet and Open Source lawyer, IT consultant, actor
host -t NAPTR 1.0.8.0.3.1.2.9.8.1.6.e164.org|awk -F! '{print $3}'


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