overview
studies
advocacy
participation
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participation
This page looks at participation
in ICANN.
Initially appointed for two years, the 18 Director ICANN
Board is now elected. Nine Directors are elected by
private, self-regulatory bodies such as domain name
supporting organisations (DNSO), address supporting
organisations (ASO), and protocol supporting organizations
(PSO). The other Directors are elected by internet users -
the 'at large' members.
the election
In 2000 ICANN sought membership from the community - principals
of Caslon Analytics are members - as the basis for elections
to its board.
Community involvement was also described as a basis for
communication and decision-making.
The election process has been criticised as undemocratic,
susceptible to board capture and unlikely to safeguard
ICANN's narrow mission. Other critics, such as Damien
Cave in a 26
September 2000 New Republic article
on Freaked Geeks: Why Netizens Can't
Learn To Stop Worrying & Love ICANN, characterised
it as an example of the paranoia of the new "cosmocrats".
The
ICANN At-Large Election,
a
study
by US public interest groups the Center for Democracy
& Technology (CDT)
and Common Cause notes that
In a basic
sense, ICANN faces an age-old question that people face
when trying to build a governing process for everything
from a nation to a small organization: How can the
benefits and energies of democracy be balanced with the
need for reasoned and deliberative decision-making? ICANN
carries a narrow technical mandate to ensure the
reliable and efficient functioning of the DNS, and there
is general consensus in the ICANN community that the
At-Large elections should produce board directors who
are technically knowledgeable and dedicated to
preventing ICANN from moving beyond its technical
mission into wider regulatory matters (e.g. imposing
content restrictions or taxes on domain name holders).
At the same time, ICANN's legitimacy as an international
Internet oversight body rests on providing those
affected by its policies with a fair opportunity to
participate ....
Many in the ICANN community, however,
are concerned that opening up the prospect of
representation to the great masses of Internet users
worldwide could be more dangerous than beneficial.
Participation
in the election varied considerably. At a global level
several thousand people registered but far fewer voted. US
critics noted that a few hundred people in the African
region elected as many directors as those from the home of
the net. And there were more votes from Japan and Germany.
A report from the CPSR's
Civil Society Project highlighted potential problems
with institutional 'capture', with queries whether our region
was affected by a "top-down mobilization by the business
constituency". There have been similar suggestions
about voting in Germany.
Critics such as CPSR have questioned whether
the At
Large Study (ALS)
will result in a significant winding-back of past
commitments to user participation in ICANN, characterising
ICANN's emphasis on "consensus" and on a
"narrow" interpretation of its charter as
selective.
We'll be providing more information shortly.
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