[governance] Notice to the IGC (Norbert's Resignation)

Fri Nov 29 12:52:37 EST 2013

Dear All,

I apologize for the delayed response as I had been in the air and amidst catching some much needed rest and checking my emails, I saw the resignation. This of course allows me the opportunity to address you on a few issues. Every former coordinator of the IGC knows that this is not your average community and the challenges that come with facilitating discussions, moderating dialogue and organizing functional advocacy can be strained given the many polarization's and dynamic voices who sometimes compete to be heard. 

There are many complex issues at stake. When the Pioneering members of the IGC got together to establish the IGC and create the Charter, they in no way envisioned the challenges that IGC would go through in years to come. There are many things that we as coordinators would love to do but the Charter is silent on a number of key administrative issues.

However, I personally feel that diversity is a strength and we must learn to converse with those who have different ideas to us but at the same time we should not be badgering, domineering etc. The role of coordinators is challenging at best.

I am sad at the timing particularly when we have tonnes to do and it's nearing Christmas and Brazil but I understand. If anything, I am exhausted too :( But we must plod on.

It has been a pleasure working alongside you Norbert and carrying the load with you. You have made some very significant and substantial contribution not only to the IGC but to the wider global internet governance discussions. 

The session which you organised regarding MS Selection Processes on increasing accountability and transparency was somewhat futuristic and extremely relevant now. Your advocacy and leadership in the HTML5 is much appreciated. Your constant attempts to be inclusive is also the signature of authentic spirit of engagement and collaboration. Your unseen administration of technical matters in the IGC is also appreciated. Again, many thanks for your hard work! 

With every best wish,
Sala

Sent from my iPad

> On Nov 27, 2013, at 11:43 PM, Norbert Bollow <nb at bollow.ch> wrote:
> 
> Dear all
> 
> Hereby I announce my resignation from the role of IGC co-coordinator,
> in protest of
> 
> 1) The overall lack of supportive attitude among IGC members.
> 
> 2) The specific lack of constructive engagement in relation to recent
>   attempts at using the IGC statement drafting process (for example,
>   in the most recent attempt, the only reaction was an attempt to
>   undermine the stated purpose of the Brazil meeting, and when I tried
>   to have a constructive conversation about that point, the response
>   was in fact a personal attack).
> 
> From this criticism of "lack of supportive attitude" I'd like to
> explicitly exclude the "silent majority" (there's nothing wrong with
> simply lurking) as well as everyone else to whom this criticism does
> not apply, most but not all of them civil society people. Actually a
> lot of people were seeking to be supportive (I'm sure that you know
> who you are! And I hereby thank you!) but faced the same reality as I am
> the there are obvious limits on how much can be done in a generally
> hostile environment where the hostile attitudes are so deeply ingrained
> that the attempt to enforce the posting rules triggers so much
> obnoxiousness that the overall level of hostility increases rather than
> decreases.
> 
> In fact the number of people who were seeking to be supportive may well
> exceed the number of people who together created what I've called "the
> overall lack of supportive attitude among IGC members". The overall
> attitude communicated by a group is not determined by how the majority
> feel, but by what is most of the time being said and done, or not.
> 
> As a point of accountability, I'm perfectly willing to answer any
> questions that people may want to ask about my actions during the time
> that I served as co-coordinator, as well as about the underlying
> reasons, to the extent that such questions can be answered without
> violating reasonable expectations of confidentiality (e.g. I'm still
> not going to answer questions about he "private warnings" process).
> 
> Greetings,
> Norbert 
> 
> 
> 
> Mawaki Chango <kichango at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Strange and confusing, indeed.
>> The last line of the PR Newswire pieces on this panel (as per the URL
>> forwarded initially) reads: "Additional members to be confirmed." And
>> all what we hear next is "hurry up and give your blessing to the list
>> of names that a handful number of us have _informally_ agreed on."
>> One would have hoped that IGC co-cos would provide some feedback of
>> the kind Bill just provided as well as the clarification he asked
>> for. On the other hand, I can't even count how many times now I have
>> read something like "we will set up a proper NomCom process" blah
>> blah. It's not as if we've been busy doing some productive
>> substantive work in IGC. Informal and ad hoc, that's how we roll
>> these days across CS.
>> 
>> For the two names that have been asked for, I'd suggest:
>> 1) Milton Mueller
>> 2) Your choice
>> 
>> Mawaki
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 9:10 PM, William Drake <william.drake at uzh.ch>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi
>>> 
>>> When Fadi was told last weekend in BA that there had been
>>> expressions of discontent on various IG lists about the lack of CS
>>> representation, he said ok, send me a name from the community.  I
>>> didn’t understand this as an ironclad commitment that they’d
>>> automatically appoint any name we provided, but rather as an
>>> invitation to suggest someone we think would be good (on a panel of
>>> CEOs and politicians).  Now it’s been decided to demand that two
>>> people be empaneled, and a widening search for names is underway.
>>> Has anyone been in touch with Fadi or President Ilves to let them
>>> know what we’re doing and get their reaction?  As the first meeting
>>> of the HLP is in two weeks, one imagines the planning is well
>>> underway, so it would be good for them to know what to expect,
>>> when….
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> 
>>> Bill
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Nov 26, 2013, at 6:59 PM, Norbert Bollow <nb at bollow.ch> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Dear all
>>> 
>>> Here's a quick update...
>>> 
>>> So far, in addition the following have been suggested, some in
>>> public postings, some privately:
>>> 
>>> Anju Mangal, Grace Githaiga, Judy Okite, Nnenna Nwakanma, Michael
>>> Gurstein, Thomas Lowenhaupt.
>>> 
>>> I have written to each of them to enquire about their willingness to
>>> serve on this "Panel". So far, Grace Githaiga, Michael Gurstein,
>>> and Thomas Lowenhaupt have replied positively.
>>> 
>>> Please note that the deadline for any additional suggestions is
>>> rather soon.
>>> 
>>> In regard to the question that has been raised about process: This
>>> is right now an ad hoc process aimed at making --in a way that is
>>> coordinated across civil society networks as well as we can in a
>>> very tight timeframe-- a demand for increased civil society
>>> representation on the "Panel on the Future of Global Internet
>>> Cooperation"; this is not directly related to 1net nor to any of
>>> the various committees that will need to be formed in view of the
>>> Global Meeting in Brazil. I certainly hope that it will be possible
>>> to set up a proper NomCom process for those selection tasks, and
>>> that we'll find a way to do that in a way that is again coordinated
>>> across civil society networks.
>>> 
>>> Greetings,
>>> Norbert
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Am Mon, 25 Nov 2013 23:56:57 +0100
>>> schrieb Norbert Bollow <nb at bollow.ch>:
>>> 
>>> Dear all,
>>> 
>>> there is now an informal coordination group of some kind
>>> (tentatively called "steering committee", although I expect that
>>> that name will probably be changed) consisting of Anriette
>>> Esterhuysen for APC, Jeremy Malcolm for BestBits, Robin Gross for
>>> NCSG, Virginia Paque for DIPLO, myself for IGC, and Ian Peter as
>>> facilitator.
>>> 
>>> The most urgent issue is to demand better civil society
>>> representation on the Panel on the Future of Global Internet
>>> Cooperation" organized by ICANN [1].
>>> 
>>> [1]
>>> 
>>> http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/high-level-panel-organizes-to-address-future-of-internet-governance-232274461.html
>>> 
>>> The current idea is that we would jointly nominate two additional
>>> civil society people for this panel.
>>> 
>>> The following names have been suggested so far:
>>> 
>>> Anriette Esterhuysen, Eben Moglen, Milton Mueller, Sean O'Siochru,
>>> Valeria Betancourt, Vladimir Radunovik, William Drake.
>>> 
>>> In view of the tight deadline, please provide any input that you
>>> wish to be considered ASAP, at the latest by 23.00 UTC tomorrow
>>> Tuesday which is about 24 hours from now.)
>>> 
>>> Greetings,
>>> Norbert
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ____________________________________________________________
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>>> 
>>> 
>>> **********************************************************
>>> William J. Drake
>>> International Fellow & Lecturer
>>>  Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ
>>>  University of Zurich, Switzerland
>>> Chair, Noncommercial Users Constituency,
>>>  ICANN, www.ncuc.org
>>> william.drake at uzh.ch (w), wjdrake at gmail.com (h),
>>>  www.williamdrake.org
>>> ***********************************************************
>>> 
>>> 
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> 
> 
> ____________________________________________________________
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> 
> For all other list information and functions, see:
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