[governance] goodbye!

[Dan Krimm]

At 1:00 AM -0800 1/11/08, e-cpsr wrote:
>On Jan 10, 2008 11:31 AM, Veni Markovski <veni at veni.com> wrote:
>> I am leaving this mailing list as of today.
>>
>> It has become a place where people come with opinions, which often
>> are not constructive, but critical for the sake of criticism.
>> I feel I would be more productive and will contribute at other
>> relevant mailing lists and places, where people discuss ideas in a
>> friendly, constructive, and positive way.
>>
>> I wish you all (yes, all) good time in 2008, and beyond.
>
>   Oh dear. And i just joined this list a few weeks ago. I hope that
>it will be useful as well as civil.
>
>   But, before you go, might i ask what other "relevant mailing lists
>and places" there are? If you don't want to start a flame war here,
>please reply personally. I am asking publicly because this is usually
>a sign that a list's usefulness is questionable, at least. I think we
>should have alternatives to compare to.


This list is a little on the ornery side compared to others in general, but
I find it to be about typical of lists with participants from a relatively
wide range of views on matters of some real importance.

"Civil Society" is a fairly broad category, and Internet Governance is an
area that has potential to affect literally every person on the planet,
moving forward.  More easy-going lists tend to be composed of more
homogeneous communities, either because the topic is narrow or because the
participants share most important values.  This list is more diverse than
average, and adds an intrinsic and ineliminable political component that
stirs the waters.

There are several major points of contention:

 - Who should be involved in IG at this time?  (Only "technical experts" or
a broader constituency?)

 - Where should the venues of IG be located and how should they be
politically structured?  (ICANN?  ITU?  WGIG/WSIS/IGF?  WIPO?  etc.?)

 - ICANN looms large here because of its direct technical mandate over IP
addressing and DNS, and because its governance structure is still new and
still somewhat in flux (it has a tendency to spread out to policy that is
not strictly technical in nature, and defining the boundaries of its
political domain seems to have been contested from the get-go -- it certain
remains contested today, big-time).  There are still arguments about
legitimacy of representation, process and oversight with regard to ICANN,
and those tend to generate the most disputes, frustrations, and sparks.  My
guess is that Veni was mainly referring to criticisms of ICANN in
particular.  However, his characterization of "critical for the sake of
criticism" is highly subjective and many here would disagree.

Take it for what it's worth that Veni has been involved in a relatively
large proportion of whatever flaming about ICANN occurs on-list, at least
in the year or so that I've been on the list myself.


My own take on the list is that it can require a thick skin from time to
time, but there is nowhere else that brings together exactly this mix of CS
folks interested and importantly involved in IG (especially the IGC does a
lot of work here, but others may join as well, AIUI), and the utility of
the information and discourse that flows through here is well worth the
occasional volatility.  These are contentious issues, and ultimately there
is no getting around that.

Bottom line:  I've seen worse, with much less upside utility.  For myself,
it's a clear net benefit to stay around, if one is truly engaged in the
issues discussed here.  For IGC members, I would expect it is simply a
requirement, in order to stay abreast of important communications of a
logistical and organizing nature.

Dan

PS -- Veni may have thought he was "taking his ball and going home" but
while he may go home, the ball stays here.
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