[atlarge-discuss] Appology and Explanation for Joop

[<bruce@barelyadequate.info>]

With the flurry of accusations, and my responses to same, I feel I may have
left Joop Teernstra thinking that I suspect him of conspiring in some manner
on his own behalf.  So I felt I should pause before jumping back in, and
clear the air in that regard.

First, I have nothing but the deepest respect for Joop, and have never
questioned his motives.  He is also one of the brave few who kept the
conversation alive in the ALSC forum, back when ICANN had written us off and
people were dropping out left and right in dispair.  And more than probably
any one person, Joop, by starting up ICANNATLARGE.COM, was instrumental in
building the early foundations of this organization.  And for that we owe
him a great debt of gratitude.

That said, you may ask how I reconcile the above statement with others I
made regarding Joop's actions vis-a-vis this election?  Easily, actually.
Note that I repeatedly took pains to point out that I didn't question his
motives.  That's because I know that Joop was acting out of the same concern
Jefsy, Eric and myself were: he wants to see this organization succeed and
move forward.  However, this thing we are trying to build is bigger than any
one of us, and our battle is too important to our progeny's future to let
individual feelings get in the way.  This really isn't about me, or Joop, or
Jefsey, or any other one person in this organization.

So, then, why speak so strongly against Joop's actions during the election?
The fact is that for any democracy to work, all the citizens must believe
that no one is above the law.  This is called Rule of Law, as opposed to a
dictator or monarch's Rule by Decree, or the communists' failed Rule of the
Proletariat.

Rule of Law has been very hard to implement in this organization because
technically, as many constantly point out, we still have no real by-laws
governing this group.  But we do have some precedents, such as the 11-person
Panel count, and a number of passed Panel Motions.  In the past, the
membership has treated this combination of precedents and Panel Motions as
having the force of law, and often railed against the Panel when anyone
failed to abide by them.  That the membership treats them as law gives them
at least a color of law.

I also believe that, in absence of a clear rule otherwise (which, again, we
don't have!), a leader doesn't abandon his or her duty to the membership
until relieved by competent authority.  And the only competent authority
this group has ever had were its 11 elected Panel members.  Ergo, when it
was clear that an election needed to be performed, the remaining Panel
members were the only people with any mandate whatsoever, no matter how weak
others may perceive it to be, to conduct an election on the members' behalf.

I won't dwell on this overlong, having done so at length already, but if our
mandate could be considered questionable, Joop's was non-existant.  By
independently e-mailing the membership, and directing them to an alternative
site, he was acting under color of an authority he had no claim to.  And
those acts undermined the official election rules and confused members, many
of whom got *two* messages with conflicting nominating rules!

Let us also examine the ICANNATLARGE.COM site, used to conduct this action.
One of the few other real directives we have from the membership was the
election which designated ICANNATLARGE.ORG as the official name and Web
presence for this organization.  If anything can be considered to have force
of law this fact does, because the members specifically mandated it by
election.  This action was likely anguishing for Joop, who had
understandably politicked for ICANNATLARGE.COM, and had put great effort
into building his site.  But the membership had spoken.  At that point,
Joop's site was no longer the official site, and he no longer had the
*legal* right to use it to speak or e-mail the membership on behalf of this
organization.  But he continues to do so to this day, none the less.

Rule of Law.  Democracies are built on this premise, and either we all agree
to respect the rules of this organization, or we fail.  That is why I've
been pushing hard for two years to get this group to build them.  And that
is why I have a problem with anyone, no matter how well-meaning, setting up
an alternative process that claims to represent this organization without
consultation or any legal basis.  It isn't about Joop, it's about Rule of
Law.


Bruce Young
Portland, Oregon USA
bruce@barelyadequate.info
http://www.barelyadequate.info
--------------------------------------------
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