RE: [atlarge-discuss] 003 WG-ID membership criteria

[espresso@e-scape.net]

I agree completely with Joanna. 

I've seen no signs that anyone is trying to disenfranchise the corporate sector, and plenty of signs that some people want very much to disenfranchise individual citizens -- whether on the Internet or in meatspace, for that matter.

This organization exists to counter that effort and demonstrate that individuals can and should have meaningful, democratic participation in how the Internet is run. That means membership must be restricted to genuine, identifiable, individual voters or the election process we set up will be completely meaningless.

Sorting this out is likely to be a bit tricky for several reasons:
- online authentication of identity usually requires a multi-step process since we can hardly ask people to present two pieces of photo ID;
- some individuals will have legitimate reasons not to want their names and opinions bandied about on the Internet, whether because their government takes a dim view of foreign contact or because their own opinions may not be identical to their employers' or simply because they do not want to receive a lot of nasty spam or criticism from total strangers;
- a great many people do not have their own personal domain or their own Internet access account, so we can't use the source of a message or an IP number as means of confirming identity.
There may well be other reasons I haven't thought of.

Meanwhile, in practice, it is just about impossible to know for sure whether a given individual is "speaking" freely online or has joined the discussion at the behest of a company or organization seeking to influence its direction. We are unfortunately living in a world where it has suddenly become a "normal" business practice to pay individuals to pretend they are making personal recommendations when they are in fact shilling for the party selling the product. Infiltration of an organization by those with opposite aims, of course, has been pretty common since Biblical times.

We will never be in a position to guarantee that 100% of the members casting their votes are using their true identities and are sincere participants in the organization's mission. Nobody can expect it, though, since "voting irregularities" do occur in even the best-organized of modern democracies -- besides which everyone knows that letting a small group of people make patronage appointments is prone to far more frequent abuse.

Regards,

Judyth

---

At 11:08 -0400 2002/08/18, Joanna Lane wrote:
>This organization is not a DNSO constituency for corporations. It is for >the general public at large to obtain a vote in the process, representation
>through direct participation.
>
>[snip]
>
>So, to recap, the view from here is that at this early stage, only
>individuals who are willing to go through an ID process get votes, and not
>those hiding behind corporations or other organizations, and that WG-ID is
>being set up to help us clarify those issues and develop appropriate
>policies that first and foremost protect the public interest - not the
>corporate paymasters.
>
>That doesn't mean your personal information is going to be published in the
>public domain, but it does mean it has to be known to the current
>administration of this organization, which at this time includes me, hence >I am going to continue flagging those that appear to be corporate or
>organizational votes that have slipped through net. In that way, the
>integrity of the organization's membership roster is best protected.
>
>I'll be posting something shortly on the Name issue, as I sense we can start
>to wrap that up, or at least move forward.
>
>Regards,
>Joanna


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Judyth Mermelstein     "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
Montreal, QC           <espresso@e-scape.net>
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"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once 
they have exhausted all other alternatives." (Abba Eban)
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See the UNESCO OBSERVATORY ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY!
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/observatory  



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