Re: [ga] Appeal to the ALAC

["kidsearch" <kidsearch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Vittorio, well thought out post and much appreciated. Danny, I think you're
right and we should move forward with or without ICANN's blessing.

We've about used up all diplomatic channels and methods of convincing ICANN
to have user representation Now we must consider more drastic and direct
methods of influencing them in my honest opinion.

Starting an organization with the intent of pushing ICANN to be more
transparent and bottom up in their consensus building process is the way to
go. I'm not talking like the former groups like Joop had. Too nice. I'm
talking about one that puts a little more bite into it and a lot less bark.

Chris McElroy
http://www.newsandmediablog.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Danny Younger" <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <vb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:16 AM
Subject: [ga] Appeal to the ALAC


> Dear Vittorio,
>
> Please forward this correspondence to the At-Large
> Advisory Committee.
>
>
> Dear At-Large Advisory Committee members,
>
> Vittorio's recent post to CircleID (cited below)
> reflects the frustration of the At-Large.  We are a
> community convinced that the ICANN Board has not been
> listening to our input.
>
> As end-users of the DNS, policy decisions enacted by
> the Board impact us directly and as such we, ICANN's
> largest stakeholder group, warrant seats at the table
> where such decisions are being made -- this is the
> only manner by which we can ensure that our views will
> be taken into account.
>
> In order to secure representation on the Board we
> members of the At-Large have no choice but to
> establish a Supporting Organization to elect our own
> Board representatives.
>
> It is long past time to pursue this course of action.
> Every other substantial group within ICANN has such
> representation.  Unless you believe that it is
> sufficient for our community to continue being treated
> as a pariah, then I ask you to take action (as did the
> ccTLD community) by laying the groundwork to establish
> our own Supporting Organization.
>
> Consider your own frustration.  Ask yourselves, has an
> advisory body construct well-served the needs of the
> At-Large, or would we better be served by a different
> institutional framework?  The ccTLDs recognized that
> their needs weren't being suitably met by ICANN and
> reorganized accordingly.  We as an impacted community
> must do the same.
>
> I ask you to begin by establishing a mailing list
> wherein these and other at-large considerations may be
> thoroughly discussed/debated by the entirety of our
> community.
>
> I ask you to enter into a discussion with your peers
> in the At-Large.
>
> Best regards,
> Danny Younger
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------
> By Vittorio Bertola | Jan 18, 2006, 02:41 am PST |
>
> (First of all, the nasty one) Did you ever read the
> submissions by the At-Large Advisory Committee on this
> matter? Could we please find a way to discuss the
> matter with you and the Board, other than using the
> press?
>
> Do you really think that it is ICANN's role to decide
> which new TLDs are useful? Shouldn't ICANN just verify
> whether applications meet some basic technical and
> substantial requirements, have an ongoing
> accreditation process, and let the DNS evolve?
>
> Don't you think that high application fees (or, even
> worse, auctions), long and complex accreditation
> processes, and significant lobbying needs, unduly
> favour commercial uses of the DNS over non-commercial
> ones, and established ICT companies from the developed
> world over everyone else?
>
> As an example, a group of volunteers (see
> http://www.eu.org/) has been successfully operating
> and giving away for free domain names for 10 years
> now; but they would never be able to meet all the
> financial and operational burdens that ICANN creates
> to get a gTLD. Isn't this the proof that these burdens
> are unnecessary? Why can't there be a way to establish
> non-profit gTLDs compatible with the classical
> volunteer-based and bottom-up approach of all Internet
> activities?
>
> Thanks,
>
>
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