[ALAC] ALAC & At-Large involvement in GNSO activities

JJS jjs.global at gmail.com
Tue Feb 12 02:22:06 UTC 2013


*Dear Olivier,*
*
*
*sorry for not responding immediately to your message. I'm traveling just
now, and have access generally in the evening.*
*
*
*You make some interesting and valid points. But as this thread has already
been well nourished, I will not belabour the points already made .*
*
*
*The purpose of my previous e-mails was to point out a few simple things:*
*
*
*- we are fortunate in the ALAC to have had a Chair like Cheryl and to have
a leader like you, each at a critical period in the short life of our
AC **(sorry
for not going further down into history, as my involvement with the ALAC
started when Cheryl was Chair).*
*
*
*- Like any living organism, structures evolve. ICANN and ALAC are no
exception. I distinguished two periods,*
*   - first, the ALAC had to prove its existence, gain respect and
visibility: this was the time of adding value to initiatives or drafts from
other parts of ICANN; *
*   - and now, because ICANN has evolved the way it has, with the business
perspective gradually dominating the debate, it may be time for the ALAC to
assert -more forcefully than in the past- the central importance of the
global public interest.*
*
*
*- If I have expressed anything which you found unfair, please accept my
apologies. I felt that, with experience gained in various areas, it was my
duty to point out some of the larger trends which, whether or not we react,
will shape the future of the Internet, and therefore the way users relate
to it.*
*
*
*Best regards,*
*Jean-Jacques.
*
2013/2/9 Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond <ocl at gih.com>

> Dear Jean-Jacques,
>
> thank you very much for your kind message which I very much agree with.
>
> I wanted to respond to specific points which you have made and have
> therefore cut/pasted the paragraphs in question, with my answers in-line:
>
>
> On 09/02/2013 06:08, JJS wrote:
> > *
> > *- Third, I posit that the period before us is quite unlike the previous
> > one. In the past, gaining acceptance as an AC has sometimes required us
> to
> > relinquish inconvenient principles for the benefit of short-term
> > practicality. But the challenge the ALAC now faces is quite different:
> how
> > to effectively introduce, or better acclimatize, the fundamental notion
> of
> > the global public interest, in an organization where commercial
> interests,
> > the lawyer class, and the satellites gravitating around them, have
> gained a
> > dominant position. This is not to say that the latter are illegitimate;
> but
> > it is a question of setting the balance right.*
>
> I do not think that at any time, the ALAC has relinquished inconvenient
> principles for the benefit of short term practicality.
> The ALAC might have had to adopt shortened procedures in order to keep
> its response on-time and this is possible by the very Rules of Procedure
> which the ALAC runs by. As for the content of the message, I would like
> to be pointed to example of statements where our principles were
> relinquished.
>
> Concerning the introduction of the fundamental notion of the global
> public interest, I note that whilst a while ago this notion was
> completely foreign to many parts of ICANN, recent events point to the
> direction that things are improving and the notion itself is gaining
> acceptance. This is partly due to the change in ICANN leadership, both
> in Staff and on the Board, but also due to the ALAC's insistence on the
> term, sharing its point of view on the matter at every opportunity at
> ICANN meetings, starting with meetings with the GAC and with the Board
> and I must thank you for your work and the work of others on the ALAC
> for putting the point across so eloquently that the Global Public
> Interest is on its way to become part of ICANN's DNA.
>
> With an evolving ICANN, I believe that whilst there was a time when
> commercial interests peaked, the pendulum is currently swinging in the
> other direction. More than just setting the balance right, we need to
> seize that opportunity to make sure the global public interest is firmly
> etched into ICANN's DNA.
>
>
> > *
> > *
> > *- Fourth, if my analysis is not completely wrong, I would suggest that
> the
> > ALAC can now afford to concentrate on wider issues, on fostering
> principles
> > which may have been neglected, while at the same time pursuing its
> valuable
> > work on responding to the Board and neighbours in the ACs and SOs. I
> admit
> > this is an important choice, but I believe now is the right time to
> > formulate the question squarely, and to act accordingly.*
>
> I have always supported this, starting with the creation of the At-Large
> Future Challenges Working Group.
> However, the ALAC's mission is listed in the ICANN bylaws and we
> therefore must not forget performing those duties.
> I'll respond to Rinalia's message next.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Olivier
>



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