Re: [ga] watchdog

["kidsearch" <kidsearch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Another note on the voting aspect. Understand this is not a constituency I'm talking about. It's not an org that answers the need for individual representation within ICANN.

The org I'm talking about would simply exist to push ICANN to do what they are supposed to do and create a constituency for individuals and give them a way to vote on issues.

So it would not claim to be a democratic organization. Just a nonprofit organization whose mission is to be a watchdog and work toward a better ICANN.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: kidsearch 
  To: ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 9:24 AM
  Subject: [ga] watchdog


  I would like to see an org. get built that is a sort of watchdog to ICANN. A group that has an open membership for input and pays strict attention to that input. The individual users wouldn't vote on ALL proposals.

  That is not to say they couldn't vote on some of them though. It would be nice if this organization had an ICANN BoD member to represent them, but not necessary. To be able to have an advisor from this org. at ICANN board meetings would be desirable, but again, not necessary. That would actually be of benefit to the ICANN BoD.

  What this org. would do however, is gain the ear of the media and use that as leverage to keep ICANN on the straight and narrow. The org would also gain the ear of the DoC whenever necessary. 

  Above and beyond that, the org would file legal actions on behalf of individual users against ICANN, WIPO, Verisign, and others that usurp individual rights on the Internet.

  The cost is low. I can find attorneys willing to help where needed. I've done so with the org I run now. The chance to file suits on behalf of people around the world and in many countries is too much for a good lawyer to pass up.

  Lawsuits would be the extreme effort, not the norm. First we would try to advise ICANN when users feel they have been wronged legitimately. If there was no response, we would go to the press to try to increase the pressure. If that didn't work, then we look at litigation.

  This can be done. This is the approach I'm thinking of taking. ICANN has not done what it set out to do. Board Members illegally held onto their seats longer than the one year in the beginning.

  They have not relinquished seats to members who are voted into office as they were supposed to do.

  WIPO has been allowed to usurp people's rights to domain names that were not real trademark infringements.

  They have not operated in an open and transparent manner.

  They do not have a bottom-up consensus.

  The list of infringements goes on and on.

  Board seats to represent businesses AND ones to represent intellectual property are redundant and designed to capture the BoD.

  Plus the fact that ISPs and Registrars are also businesses and also intellectual property owners, again redundancy to ensure that businesses would have all the votes on the BoD and no representation for individual users.

  The nonprofit constituency is a joke. How many real nonprofits are represented there? Not my org., thats for sure.

  The bottom line is that ICANN has become a tool for big business to control the Internet. They will do everything they can to continue that control. The current structure of the BoD ensures that it will continue to do so.

  Participating on a list that they do their best to ignore isn't working. Only an org that uses a bigger hammer can have any effect on them in my opinion. As an activist, I've seen it work.

  Chris McElroy
  KidsearchNetwork.org 
  MissingChildrenBlog.com