[governance] ICANN/USG Affirmation of Commitments

Roland Perry roland at internetpolicyagency.com
Thu Oct 1 16:12:10 EDT 2009


In message 
<76f819dd0910011242u2d26722eg4cac8f606ece0282 at mail.gmail.com>, at 
12:42:19 on Thu, 1 Oct 2009, Paul Lehto <lehto.paul at gmail.com> writes
>It doesn't matter how diverse the "stakeholders" are in their country
>of origin, race, creed, sex, or what have you, if the stakeholders and
>the public as a whole do not have a CONTROL mechanism.  The
>elimination of all remaining control mechanisms (elections, as an
>indirect control) is precisely what's being accomplished with the
>agreement between the US Commerce Department and ICANN to make them
>essentially independent, subject only to an advisory board.

I'm not sure what this has to do with the GAC members.

Are you suggesting that the ultimate control be given over to ALAC, 
rather than GAC?

Just curious, I don't have a "position" of my own regarding this.

>With politicians, every communication to them is utterly toothless if
>it idoes not carry (as it always does) an implied threat that one will
>vote the poltician out of office if they don't do the right thing.
>With the new ICANN structure, even this vestigial remedy (attenuated
>as it was by the insulation of the commerce department from the
>electorate) is eliminated in every meaningful sense.
>
>I'd be the first to welcome true and real global governance regarding
>the internet.  The fact that they've put in the semblance of "global"
>but zero "governance" means that the shift is an abdication of all
>public, democratic control, even if that control was improperly
>limited to a single country, the USA.  Even more importantly, there's
>no mechanism with which to fight to CREATE true control on the global
>level in favor of the public interest.
>
>Thus, we can't fight, lobby or progress from the new posture of an
>independent ICANN to a situation of true global control/governance
>without (1) a nearly unprecedented act (in the history of Power) to
>voluntarily create genuine and real accountability on a global scale,
>OR (2) a revolution or revolt.  And just how does one have a
>revolution or revolt against a corporation at all, much less a
>corporation that has a monopoly on what it does, and which we all need
>to exist or have a "domain" on the internet?

So you don't think you can work inside the existing (and as-modified) 
ICANN framework to achieve any of this? [Same disclaimer as above].

>Paul Lehto, Juris Doctor
>
>On 10/1/09, Roland Perry <roland at internetpolicyagency.com> wrote:
>> In message <1254397157.3941.611.camel at anriette-laptop>, at 13:39:17 on
>> Thu, 1 Oct 2009, Anriette Esterhuysen <anriette at apc.org> writes
>>>One question I have about the GAC, does it not become very important to
>>>have input from different stakeholders at country level in the
>>>identification/nomination of GAC members
>>
>> As a matter of simple fact, the GAC members are usually the most obvious
>> career employee of the ministry charged with overseeing "International
>> Telecoms issues", and are therefore likely to also turn up at ITU
>> meetings, EU telecoms/Internet meetings, IGF consultations, UN-ECOSOC
>> etc.
>>
>> Plus there are a few who might alternatively be their country's
>> "Internet Czar".
>> --
>> Roland Perry
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>

-- 
Roland Perry
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