Re: [ICANN-EU] ICANN MEMBERS' FORUM: Los Angeles, Nov. 12

[Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com>]

Alan and all,

  I think you are exactly right here Alan.  Nicely stated as well.  Well
done!

  We [INEGroup] are very concerned as to where the present form
of ICANN has gone and is seemingly wanting to go.  For over a year
now, almost two years, we have been gathering together fragments
of groups, individuals, and interest groups of various sorts all over
the globe to educate them and then they go out and educate others
as to what is happening in ICANN now.

  Many of our EU members have made great inroads.  I hope this
continues.  ML's such as this one do help, but they are not enough.
We need press and PR badly to form the ICANN and the internet
into something that is for everyone.  Presently it is plainly obvious
that the current ICANN board is opposed to open process and
transparency.  This must change. And it is changing, but not fast
enough to be useful.

  More on this co come....

Alan Lenton wrote:

> I too have my doubts, but I feel we have to start somewhere, and I will give
> at least qualified support to any initiatives like this.
>
> It seems to me that we are faced with a number of problems that we are going
> to have to resolve over time. At large members do not even have a common
> language, let alone a common culture. Welding that into some sort of
> 'movement' to acheive things in ICANN is going to be a total nightmare, but
> the only alternative is to shrug and allow the Internet to become the
> preserve of the rich and the powerful.
>
> My experience with Americans is that when they are opposed to something they
> tend to organise a lobbying effort, rather than a 'mass' movement, and I
> think that this cultural tendency shows through in the language being used
> to call this meeting.
>
> This isn't going to be easy, but I think the very existence of this mailing
> list is a start (thank you Thomas!) is a start. The other point is that if
> we are serious then ICANN is only one point on which pressure is going to
> have to be applied. We are also going to have to deal with national
> governments, the EU bureaucracy, and international issues like the
> CyberCrime Treaty and software patents.
>
> Is this too daunting even to make a start on?
>
> No. We are not alone, there are many special interest groups that oppose
> different bits of what is happening, but few can see the overall picture.
> Part of our task, which focusses on what we want the Internet to become, is
> to support those partial efforts and to educate people to see the whole
> picture.
>
> And there is one other thing that we will have to deal with - we don't all
> have the same view of what the Internet should be! This will cause
> difficulties, no two ways about it. But if we retain the view in mind that
> we want an Internet where those different views can flourish, we will over
> come the problems.
>
> Ooops - I didn't mean to pontificate.
>
> Alan Lenton

Regards,

--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman INEGroup (Over 112k members strong!)
CEO/DIR. Internet Network Eng/SR. Java/CORBA Development Eng.
Information Network Eng. Group. INEG. INC.
E-Mail jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com
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