Re: [ICANN-EU] Measuring Election Success

[Jefsey Morfin <jefsey@wanadoo.fr>]

Dear Rob Courtney,
your document is of real interest. We have started the Study (will it keep 
the world buzy for months while the ICANN will change the world, nobody 
noticing ?). I would like to comment one point.

>6. FREEDOM FROM CAPTURE--It is important that no single interest or group 
>of interests be able to unfairly dominate the elections. There has been 
>evidence of national domination of regional elections. Measuring other 
>forms of capture  by particular corporate interests, for example  will be 
>much harder. Capture remains a difficult and unanswered question.

I feel interesting to note that the Business Constituency of the DNSO 
supported Mrs. Cattaui (none heard from on ML or on the phone?) , Mr. Muron 
and Mr. Schüller.  This is like in a banana republic the Army supporting a 
presidential candidate. The BC/DNSO is a body of the ICANN and should have 
understood they cannot by part to the @large designation process.

The reason why is a fear of an unbalance in favor of @large Members. This 
will push BC to enlarge their Membership looking for new large Members 
(profesionnal associations). This will be good in term of "Democracy" 
(whatever it may mean when 75000 people vote on behalf of the planet and 
the aim is to obtain a good Telco service). But it adds to the complexity 
as one of their Members may be 10.000 corporations large, a big group (ATT, 
Disney, AOL), or a small individual business.

IMHO the problem is not to be democratic but to be fair/acceptable to each 
and every of the involved parties (end users, corporations, governments, 
trade mark owners, etc...). Democracy is only one of the solutions to reach 
that goal and I am not sure it is appropriate. Others are competence, 
money, power, consensus, etc... Real life is a mix of all of that, why 
ICANN woud be different from others?

Actually the constituent unit (the voters) of the ICANN are 'expressed 
interest' based: you have registered yourself, your company, your 
professional association or your country. This is good and probably 
adequate as long as there is no false interest creating unbalance as for 
Japan, China and Germany this time.
Jefsey