Re: [ga] Teleconference

["Richard Henderson" <richardhenderson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The issue is *not* whether or not individuals are able to participate in an occasional conference call... that can be mere window-dressing - it affords no power shift... the issue is:

whether or not individuals will be allowed to determine for themselves (by the creation of a voting structure) the representatives of their At Large, the shape of the At Large, the policies of the At Large as presented to the ICANN and wider communities; and:

whether or not individual users selected by individual users (not selected by ICANN or anyone else) will be granted their rightful place on the ICANN Board and at the heart of executive decision-making.

Obviously I believe that ICANN structures should be open and accessible (and fully archived), but they remain just ICANN structures which - in the case of the At Large - are structurally wrong and damaging to the proper representation of Individual Users (who are locked out of ALAC at the Committee/representative level).

The issue is the restoration of the elected At Large representatives to the ICANN Board with full voting / executive powers. 78,000 registered to take part in the last elections. That was far more than any participation in all the other constituencies put together. Then the ICANN Board expelled their elected representatives.

ALAC is simply not representative, and diminishes participation. Its very existence helps to legitimise this wholly unacceptable 'status quo'.

Therefore ALAC teleconferences should be seen in this much more serious context.

Any such teleconferences are not the start of a sea-change in ICANN policy higher up the power structure. They are just good publicity and fine-tuning of the present arrangements. They just make the wrong structure and the ICANN coup work more efficiently and look a bit better.

Yrs,

Richard H
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Danny Younger 
  To: ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Cc: forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, March 04, 2005 4:40 PM
  Subject: [ga] Teleconference


  I would like to comment on Roberto Gaetano's remarks.  Roberto states:  http://forum.icann.org/mail-archive/alac/msg00951.html

  ... [and the rest of the thread where the ICANN-selected Committee discuss allowing "ordinary people" to listen in on their meetings] ...