[At-Large] Fwd: Advice to the Board?

Satish Babu sbabu at ieee.org
Sun May 1 04:52:27 UTC 2022


Dear all

On behalf of APRALO, I support the statement.

With kind regards




satish

On Sat, Apr 30, 2022 at 7:39 PM Seun Ojedeji via At-Large <
at-large at atlarge-lists.icann.org> wrote:

> Hello Maureen, all
>
> After checking with the AFRALO leadership, I'd like to note the support of
> the leadership for the statement.
>
> Regards
> Chair AFRALO
> Sent from my mobile
> Kindly excuse brevity and typos
> Every word has consequences.
> Every silence does too!
>
> On Sat, 30 Apr 2022, 00:29 Maureen Hilyard via At-Large, <
> at-large at atlarge-lists.icann.org> wrote:
>
>> Dear At-Large Community
>>
>> If you have been following the At-Large community discussion list, you
>> will have noted the concern that has been raised about a waiver that ICANN
>> is imposing on the volunteer community to provide their signature to the
>> document, as a prerequisite to being granted travel sponsorship to attend
>> F2F ICANN Meetings.
>>
>> The waiver absolves ICANN of any responsibility for an ICANN
>> participant'sgetting ill or is harmed in any way, even if it is ICANN's
>> fault.  This is the core concern for us as volunteers. It is seen as an
>> unreasonable ask of volunteers who have always known that they have to take
>> responsibility for themselves not only when attending ICANN meetings, but
>> also when they participate in other F2F meetings and working group
>> activities that occur in between ICANN meetings.  We can appreciate that
>> ICANN needs to protect itself, but while doing so they should not abdicate
>> their duty of care to all those members of the ICANN community who have
>> dedicated many years to providing personal inputs into ICANN's important
>> work - to produce policy that will help to protect the DNS. It is taken for
>> granted that "years" is the normal measurement in time which is required to
>> produce  formal outputs from ICANN.
>>
>> During the At-Large community discussions, a raft of reasons developed
>> which related to how this waiver that has been imposed as a pre-requisite
>> to any travel support, impacts volunteer communities throughout ICANN.
>> These reasons were noted and transformed into a list of 10 reasons why the
>> waiver is not one of the best decisions that has come out of ICANN - more
>> especially because it did not adhere to one of its core principles "the
>> bottom-up, multistakeholder model".
>>
>> I have called the ALAC members together to make a decision about the
>> waiver (the invitations for them to do so is below) to seek their support
>> for "*the waiver and the expectation that it is signed before any
>> travel sponsorship is provided, to be withdrawn*"  Although we have to
>> consider that this course of action may not be actionable before ICANN74,
>> we would ultimately like to return to what was the practice of the past
>> when the community was trusted. We have always known that we were attending
>> ICANN meetings at our own risk and would not have earlier contemplated
>> taking action against ICANN for any illness or harm that might befall us if
>> it was the fault of the individual during an ICANN meeting. There was also
>> some need to address the section that had been identified as a key sticking
>> point "*I knowingly and freely assume all risks related to illness and
>> infectious diseases, including but not limited to COVID-19, even if arising
>> from the negligence or fault of ICANN "*
>>
>> I already have a majority of the ALAC members who have immediately added
>> their support to my request to submit Marita's 10 reasons why the waivers
>> should be removed, *as the basis of our Advice to the Board that the
>> waiver be withdrawn*. In case they are otherwise engaged, other ALAC
>> members still have a bit of time to respond (by Sunday 1 May 23.59utc)
>> before the request is formally submitted as ALAC advice to the Board.
>>
>> *Although many of our community already participated earlier, I would
>> hope that others in our At-Large community will also support this request.
>> Please let me know if you would like to add your name to our letter of
>> Advice to the Board.*
>>
>> Maureen
>>
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
>> From: Maureen Hilyard <maureen.hilyard at gmail.com>
>> Date: Fri, Apr 29, 2022 at 11:14 PM
>> Subject: Advice to the Board?
>> To: ALAC Members <ALAC-members at icann.org>
>>
>>
>> Dear ALAC members
>>
>> It has been suggested that we propose Marita's email to the community as
>> ADVICE to the Board of the community's feelings about the waiver, so that
>> the Board has to officially respond.
>>
>> Earlier messages of concern about other issues about volunteer support
>> have only been noted because they were not formal advice, even though they
>> reflected many discussions by the At-Large community, particularly during
>> the pandemic.
>>
>> If you have any concerns about this summary list, please let me know
>> before Sunday 23.59UTC.  I think it is an important issue and that we need
>> to make sure that it is given the consideration that it deserves. I realise
>> that any change may not happen for ICANN74 but if can address these issues
>> for future meetings we will have achieved something at least.
>>
>> I look forward to a yay or nay from members about sending this as advice.
>> Regards
>> Maureen
>>
>>
>> Marita Moll via At-Large
>> 2:32 AM (20 hours ago)
>> to At
>>
>> With apologies to former late show host David Letterman and thanks to all
>> those who provided input, here are my top 10 reasons why this waiver is a
>> bad idea for ICANN and for the community:
>>
>> 10. It is insensitive to the global community as it can be interpreted as
>> an exportation of U.S.-based litigious culture
>>
>> 9. It disregards the fact that participants at ICANN meetings have always
>> willingly and knowingly accepted personal responsibility for health issues
>> that arise during meetings
>>
>> 8. It is a disincentive to attending ICANN meetings in person, thereby
>> damaging the ability of the community to work together
>>
>> 7. Concerns which have arisen throughout the community about the broad
>> scope of the waiver are not being addressed – including legal opinions
>> warning potential participants against signing.
>>
>> 6. No one is taking ownership of this waiver. The Board position on it is
>> unclear
>>
>> 5. There has been no general explanation to the community or any attempt
>> seek buy-in for this waiver
>>
>> 4. This kind of blanket waiver could be unenforceable and in that case,
>> serves only as intimidation
>>
>> 3. The waiver infringes on individual rights
>>
>> 2. ICANN appears to be abandoning its duty of care to the participating
>> community who are voluntarily contributing their time and energy to
>> fulfilling ICANN's mandate to operate as a bottom-up multistakeholder
>> organization
>>
>> *Top reason why this waiver is a really bad idea:*
>>
>> *1. It leaves a lasting unpleasant taste in the mouths of participants
>> contributing to ICANN's multistakeholder model -- which is presented as a
>> source of pride and accomplishment to the internet governance community.*
>>
>> Marita (now signing off on this topic -- thanks for bearing with me)
>>
>>
>>
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