[NA-Discuss] Who Are Internet Users?

[Dharma Dailey]

On Nov 3, 2008, at 3:32 PM, Bret Fausett wrote:

> 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.


   I agree with your aim of greater transparency for all ICANN  
participants.   "Who" and "why" are deeply connected questions with  
many other questions nested within them.  In addition to calling out  
the rest of the ICANN world for better transparency,  as NARALO, we  
have the opportunity to define what best practices are regarding  
transparency  - at least within our own little domain- and to model  
their use.   Doing so may also help us to work more effectively  
together.

To take most advantage of the energy and excitement that builds up  
heading into a face to face meeting -- such as we will have in Mexico  
-- I was hoping that others in NARALO may be excited to try to map out  
these two issues -- "who" and "why."   If we can map out what's not  
contentious -- for example -- it's a fact that large telecoms consider  
themselves to be "internet users" vis a vis ICANN-- then we will have  
some clear background for discussing the more contentious material :   
"What is the best way for us to positively influence ICANN on behalf  
of internet users?" The more time that we use to discuss framing in  
Mexico City, the less time we will have to set priorities such as What  
are the most important issues in front of ICANN which affect net  
users?  and What is the best way to influence those issues on behalf  
of net users?  In my experience, it's very hard to get consensus on  
such topics in any other way than in person-- and we aren't going to  
have much time for those discussions when we do get together.

Should doing such mapping not be of interest to NARALO as a whole, I  
suggest that NARALO picks another task as a prelude to the Mexico  
meeting which will capitalize on people's natural inclination to  
participate more prior to a face to face meeting.   Alternative  
suggestions are welcome.

AIf these topics or means aren't of interest to NARALO as a whole, I  
am happy to work with anyone else that is interested in trying to map  
them.  For myself, I see this mapping and framing as a critical step  
in my own understanding of how the users I care about are impacted by  
ICANN.


-Dharma

>
>
>      -- Bret
>
>
>
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