Re: [atlarge-discuss] To RALO or not to RALO (was: SomeSimple Facts...)

[espresso@e-scape.net]

David et al.,

I guess I should clarify what I said about this since evidently
I didn't express it particularly well.

Obviously every one of us who can and wants to should indeed
participate in one of ICANN's RALOs so as to express their
opinions inside ICANN's structure.

However, I believe this organization of ours cannot hope to
define itself in terms of operating within ICANN's strictures
and still function as an independent constituency organization
for Internet users. Given the ability of the ICANN Board to
unilaterally discard any committee or structure which doesn't
fit itself into the "blueprint" philosophy, defining ourselves
in terms of one such structure would be too risky. It would be
difficult, if not downright impossible, to mobilize enough
Internet users to be considered valid by ICANN; if by some
chance we succeeded and kept pressing hard for changes to
the ICANN rules, the rules would most likely be changed to
further restrict input from the RALOs or to replace them
with an even-less-democratic acronym which would render our
charter obsolete.

Therefore, in my opinion, what is needed (if we want to ensure
that ICANN or anyone else really listens to what Internet users
want to say) is an organization which defines an independent
identity and mission for itself. This would not preclude making
representations to ICANN or the Department of Commerce, and
it wouldn't preclude our members from belonging to the RALOs.
It would give us the freedom to choose our own strategies
and pick our battles, as well as to adapt the organization
over time to encompassing larger numbers of members, raising
funds for particular initiatives they want pursued, and
pressing for more and better representation of the "public
good" aspect of the Internet within ICANN or other bodies.

Meanwhile, ICANN's approach to democratic input rather reminds
me of the little Sufi story about Mullah Nasruddin:

Nasruddin was visited by a friend from another village who
brought him a duck as a gift. They had the duck for dinner and
the friend went home.
A day or two later, a stranger appeared at Nasruddin's
door saying "I'm a friend of So-and-so who brought you the
duck" and of course Nasruddin had to invite him in. For
dinner they had a soup made of the carcase and scraps of the
duck.
Days passed and then there was another knock on the door.
"I'm the friend of the friend of So-and-so who brought you
the duck" said the stranger, who looked forward to Nasruddin's
good hospitality. Naturally, Nasruddin couldn't turn the man
away and invited him in.
Eventually, it was time for a meal and Nasruddin brought them
each a steaming soup-bowl.
The visitor tasted his and found it had no flavour at all.
"What kind of soup is this?" he asked.
Nasruddin explained: "Why, it's the soup of the soup of the
duck So-and-so brought me!"

As Abel pointed out, we're now being offered the "soup of the
soup of democracy" and I just can't appreciate the extreme
subtlety of its flavour. I'm confident we can make a more
sustaining soup if we start from scratch.

Regards,

Judyth

--

At 07:27 +1300 2003/01/17, DPF wrote (in response to me):
>>In short, I don't think letting ourselves be co-opted as a
>>"company union" would be either effective or fair to the
>>constituency we claim we want to serve.
>
>Sigh - a company union is controlled by the organisation.  Joining a
>RALO does no such thing.  As far as I can tell all that happens is we
>gain access to dialog with other at large groups and we gain some
>votes to try and get people on the nominating committee who will vote
>for board members who share our beliefs.
>
>Again I ask if anyone can point to a singl;e provision that means
>joining a RALO prevents from us continuing to be as critical as ICANN
>as we want to be?


##########################################################
Judyth Mermelstein     "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
Montreal, QC           <espresso@e-scape.net>
##########################################################
"A word to the wise is sufficient. For others, use more."
"Un mot suffit aux sages; pour les autres, il en faut plus."
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