[NA-Discuss] If ICANN is not the answer, what was not the question?

[Vittorio Bertola]

Evan Leibovitch ha scritto:
> My own theory is that At-Large is seen within ICANN -- at least at this
> point in time -- as a kind of charity case. By that I mean that ICANN
> spends money to create a grassroots community -- or, at least, as close
> as it can get to one -- in an genuine attempt to "do good", by getting
> the feel of the public (that is, the portion of the public that cares
> about its issues). The people who created it probably have had good
> intentions, but appear to be hunting in the dark for the right way to do
> things (why would ALAC be subject to a complete review so soon after its
> very inception?)

Just a technical note - all ICANN structures are subject to review every 
three years (for example, the GNSO was reviewed last year, and this 
year, in parallel to the ALAC review, the Nomcom is being reviewed, and 
the Board will be up for review soon). This was foreseen in the Bylaws 
as a way to facilitate continue evolution of the structures, and prevent 
ossification.

> constituency. I'm certain that we're a controversial experiment, as
> there are many vested interests who see ICANN spending its/their money
> to develop a constituency that, if successful, will aggressively
> challenge their lobbying.

Bingo :)

> The theory of At-Large-as-charitable-experiment helps explain the
> paternalistic attitude of ICANN towards us -- in the decision-making
> process (advisory only, no votes at the Board or NSO level),

Well, this was a consequence of your point above. And I'm quite sure 
that we wouldn't even have got the significant increase in funding, 
attention and importance that we've had in the last two or three years, 
if the hard work and credibility of the people in the ALAC hadn't been 
complemented by a some external factors, and particularly by the 
attempted "competition" by the ITU and by other United Nations processes 
that challenged the role of ICANN, forcing ICANN to increase its 
commitment to the public interest and to broader accountability, to rank 
better on the international scene.
-- 
vb.                   Vittorio Bertola - vb [a] bertola.eu   <--------
-------->  finally with a new website at http://bertola.eu/  <--------