Re: [ga] INTERNET GOVERNANCE PROJECT: "What to Do About ICANN"

[Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hans and all former DNSO GA members or other interested stakeholders/users,

  Well 1 and a half out of 3 isn't too bad....

  Having the ITU or any other UN organization to have oversight of ICANN
would be a disaster of long lasting and devastating consequences..  However,
an independent body open to any and all stakeholders/users as equal members
for such an oversight would be more in keeping with the original intent of
ICANN.  The much publicized WGIG, UNSCO, WSIS, CRIS, ect.,
ect., ect have made many declarations of late, including shutting down
the internet and have yet to agree on any significant issues and have
actively been seeking to hide certain less than flattering information
regarding their closed meetings, and several are under investigation
as UN organizations in involvement in fraud..

  Indeed restoring the ICANN's global elections would be advisable..

  Decentralization of the Internet root zone and managed by an independent,
open and transparent body would be a good idea for many obvious reasons
which have been discussed and debated for several years and on many
different fora...

Hans Klein wrote:

>      *********************************************************
>                      The Internet Governance Project
>                      announces a new policy analysis:
>
>                      "WHAT DO TO ABOUT ICANN:
>           A PROPOSAL FOR STRUCTURAL REFORM"
>
>                      www.InternetGovernance.org
>
>      **********************************************************
>
> The authors analyze how ICANN exercises governmental powers
> without possessing corresponding mechanisms for accountability.
> They propose three accountability mechanisms:
> 1. Creation of an international oversight body to replace US
>      oversight of ICANN
> 2. Restoration of ICANN's global elections
> 3. Decentralization of the Internet root zone and coordinated
>      management between ICANN and the ITU.
>
> The paper is available at the Internet Governance Project site:
>       http://www.internetgovernance.org
> The executive summary is below.
>
> This analysis will be discussed in an on-line forum to be held
> on April 22, 2005. Additional details to be announced.
>
> The Internet Governance Project is an interdisciplinary consortium of
> academics comprised of:
> Dr. Milton Mueller, Professor, Syracuse University School of
>        Information Studies
> Dr. Hans Klein, Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology,
>        School of Public Policy
> Dr. John R. Mathiason, Adjunct Professor, Syracuse University
>        Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
> Dr. Lee McKnight, Associate Professor, Syracuse University School
>        of Information Studies
> Dr. Marc Holitscher, Lecturer, Institut für Politikwissenschaft der
>        Universität Zürich
> Dr. Derrick L. Cogburn, Assistant Pofessor, Syracuse University,
>        School of Information Studies
>
> ###
>
>                              Executive Summary
>
>                      "WHAT DO TO ABOUT ICANN:
>           A PROPOSAL FOR STRUCTURAL REFORM"
>
>                     by Hans Klein and Milton Mueller
>
> With the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in
> Tunisia quickly approaching, and with the work of the UN Working
> Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) well underway, it is time to
> identify concrete policy options for Internet governance. Any
> initiatives in this area must address the criticisms that have been
> made of ICANN.  Although the international community has defined
> ?Internet governance? in a way that goes beyond ICANN?s control
> of domain names and addresses, ICANN nonetheless remains
> central to many issues. Here we propose a series of structural
> reforms for it.
>
> The proposals here are designed to address the most important
> criticisms that have been made of ICANN. These criticisms include:
> *  Concerns about unilateralism by the US Government in its control
>     of the DNS root and its supervision of ICANN.
> *  Dissatisfaction with ICANN?s Government Advisory Committee (GAC),
>      where governments have only advisory powers.
> *  The perception that ICANN?s governance model does not properly
>      balance the interests of developed and developing countries and
>      suppliers and users.
> *  Concerns about the relations between ICANN, country code top
>      level domain administrators (ccTLDs), and national governments.
> *  The overall perception that ICANN lacks legitimacy.
>
> To address these issues, this paper proposes the following reforms
> for ICANN:
> 1)  Limits on power and internationalized oversight. A legally-binding
>       international agreement narrowly defining ICANN?s powers and
>       replacing US Government supervision with internationalized
>       supervision .  This would allow abolition of ICANN?s Government
>       Advisory Committee.
> 2)  Democratization. Reinstatement and strengthening of the At Large
>       membership of ICANN, especially a return to election of the At Large
>       Board members and the granting of voting rights on ICANN?s GNSO
>       to At Large representatives.
> 3)  Competition. Coordinated sharing of responsibilities between ICANN
>       and the ITU in a way that would allow ccTLD managers and IP address
>       users a choice of alternative governance arrangements.
>
> See full analysis at:  http://www.internetgovernance.org
>
> ###

Regards,

--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
"Be precise in the use of words and expect precision from others" -
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