RE: [atlarge-discuss] Challenge from Ross Rader

["Bruce Young" <Bruce@barelyadequate.info>]

Todd Glassey wrote:

>Ross - this is more simple that that. Domain Owner/Operators are entitled
to
>a seat because they pay for the system.

This smacks of the same logic the ALSC used in its Final Report to equate
domain name holders as users.  It is a fallacious equation.  If we were
talking about a purely commercial enterprise, it would probably apply.  But
we're not.

Whether the Internet industry likes it or not, companies big and small, and
local, regional and national government agencies worldwide are increasingly
moving their information, customer service and retailing processes to the
Internet.  This wholesale movement of consumer services to online systems is
quickly turning the Internet into a very essential public resource, wholly
as critical to citizens' day-to-day lives as the telephone, and likely to be
even more critical as time goes on.  And like any public resource, the
Internet can no longer be operated solely for the profit of Internet
companies' employees and stockholders, and must be managed in the best
interest of the public it serves.

Any organization taking on responsibility for Internet governance (used in
Jefsey Morfin's context of the word!), be it ICANN or another, must weigh
equally the need of the Internet industry to make a fair profit against the
need to run a system that fairly and equitably serves the needs of all the
Earth's citizens.  ICANN, by concentrating solely on the former at the
expense of the latter, has failed in its duties to fairly manage the public
resource placed in its charge.

Put in the simplest possible context: the needs of the many (millions and
potential billions of Internet users) outweigh the needs of the few
(Internet industry professionals & stockholders)!  (Kudos to Start Trek for
popularizing such an often-used but fundamental truth!).

Bruce Young
Portland, Oregon USA
bruce@barelyadequate.info
http://www.barelyadequate.info
--------------------------------------------
Support democratic control of the Internet!
Go to http://www.icannatlarge.com and Join ICANN At Large!



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