[NA-Discuss] Who Are Internet Users?

[Bret Fausett]

On Nov 3, 2008, at 9:52 AM, Dharma Dailey wrote:
> If we can get some clarity on "who is in the room"  before we start  
> fighting about what is the "right" meaning of "internet user" is,  
> that would help us move forward.

I've been thinking about this from a different direction, in light of  
the Verisign/.COM agreement a couple of years ago. You may recall that  
the comment boards then were flooded with comments, many were  
duplicates of standard form emails, many were from first time ICANN  
commenters, spurred on by lobbyists and such, and it made parsing the  
support for the relative positions difficult. It made me wonder about  
asking people commenting on the ICANN Boards to register. Registration  
would ask for basic contact information, like name and address, and  
also ask people to disclose their financial interests in the outcomes.  
Registration could be voluntary, and registration, or failure to  
register, could go to the weight the comments should be given. It's  
important to know who is in the room, but equally important to know  
why they are in the room.

       -- Bret