[governance] ICANN/USG Affirmation of Commitments

[Paul Lehto]

Charities can attempt to, sometimes even succeed in acting in the
public interest.  However, the true public, the only legitimate source
of political authority, has NO RECOURSE if the charity mistakenly
feels that, for example, a private internet will trickle down public
benefits and a public internet with rights is undesirable.

The bottom line is the shift, of tectonic importance here, where the
admittedly too narrow and attenuated accountability of the Commerce
Department/ICANN to the US public purports to be eliminated in favor
of what ICANN calls "independence."  In turn, "independence" means
there's ZERO RECOURSE.

I hope you understand this crucial point, it's the difference between
begging or asking politely or lobbying or seeking the king's good
favor, and sovereign rule in democracy where if the public servants
don't follow the public interest in the opinion of a majority, they
get voted out and new policies are implemented.

Regardless of how non-global US control of ICANN is, and that is a
problem, the situation is now much worse because there's no
accountability to anyone anywhere and no mechanism to manufacture
accountability to the global community. (unless this giveaway and
abdication of authority is challenged)

Paul Lehto, Juris Doctor
On 10/2/09, Roland Perry <roland at internetpolicyagency.com> wrote:
> In message
> <76f819dd0910021037o36cd6b7aj9c8d7454ca116cc2 at mail.gmail.com>, at
> 13:37:38 on Fri, 2 Oct 2009, Paul Lehto <lehto.paul at gmail.com> writes
>>Although nonprofits are definitely much more public-interest minded, at
>>the end of the day no nonprofit can legitimately claim to represent the
>>PUBLIC INTEREST -- only democratically elected politicians can do that,
>>and only if they are behaving correctly as well.
>
> So you don't think any charities can possibly act in the public
> interest?
> --
> Roland Perry
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-- 
Paul R Lehto, J.D.
P.O. Box #1
Ishpeming, MI  49849
lehto.paul at gmail.com
906-204-4026
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