[At-Large] - Price caps - was: The Case for Regulatory Capture at ICANN | Review Signal Blog
Karl Auerbach
karl at cavebear.com
Mon Jul 1 20:12:29 UTC 2019
On 7/1/19 12:36 PM, Roberto Gaetano wrote
> So, in short, how can ICANN get rid od the supposedly failing multi-stakeholder model and go back to what Paul R. Letho defines “democracy”?
> Or, in simple words, how would a non-multi-stakeholder model be designed and implemented for ICANN?
That's pretty easy: Resurrect the system of nominations and elections
from year 2000 (but expanded to cover the entire board-of-directors.)
Despite the denials of some, that system worked. Yes, there were
problems with the registration - including several caused by ICANN
itself. But that could have been cured on subsequent rounds.
The claim that in some regions (most particularly Asia/Pacific) that
some large corporations "motivated" their employees probably had some
truth. But absent those elections those corporations in a "stakeholder"
(or lobbyist) system most likely would have simply acted through the
more certain and direct tool of those captive lobbyist/stakeholders than
through the less certain tool of trying to influence individual electors.
Influence by those with size and wealth so that they can engage in any
forum at any time and at any location will always be a problem, no
matter the system.
In addition, to elections themselves, ICANN should put into place the
protections afforded by law to allow the voting members to get the
information they need to make informed choices and to take certain
limited actions in certain extraordinary circumstances. The protections
are not unreasonable; they have been honed on the stone of long practice
and experience with ICANN-like organizations.
This change would a representative system, not a direct one - the real
authority (and responsibility) between elections would remain where it
ought to be (and legally is): vested in the board of directors. At the
next election the voters can replace those directors who fail to meet
the voters' standards or whose pattern of decisions is not in accord
with their desires.
Lobbyists would have to convince voters or convince the board members
(hopefully via open and transparent means.)
By-the-way, in that sense, we are all lobbyists for our own interests.
But as individuals we are all lobbyists of roughly the same size. We
can't say the same about institutional lobbyists/stakeholders who are
paid to advocate for the institutional goals 24x7x365. Better a system
based on rough equality than a system that naively presumes that giants
don't have greater strength.
--karl--
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