In response to the Markle funded study by the Center for
Democracy and Technology (CDT) and Common Cause on how voices
from the worldwide Internet community can best be represented
in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN), http://www.commoncause.org/icann/study.htm, the
Domain Name Rights Coalition today issued the following
statement:
PRESS RELEASE
DOMAIN NAME PUBLIC INTEREST GROUP RELEASES STATEMENT ON 3/3/00 REPORT BY
CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY AND COMMON CAUSE ON PROPOSED ICANN
GENERAL ELECTION PROCESS
Date: 3/6/00
The flaws identified in the CDT/Common Cause report do not exist in a
vacuum. ICANN has consistently failed to live up to its commitment to make
decisions through "open, bottoms up process" and failed to institute
mechanisms for public accountability.
If ICANN truly intends to represent the broader Internet community, it cannot
rely on a hasty patchwork of changes. It must adopt uniform principles of
openness and accountability that will guaranty a true public voice in ICANN's
proceedings.
Specifically, ICANN must address the following issues:
1) The existing General Assembly of the Domain Name Supporting
Organization, ICANN's first experiment in democracy, has so far utterly
failed. ICANN has limited the general assembly to a mere public mailing
list, with no power to select officers, no means to propose policy, and
mechanism for the public to address the vital policy issues decided in the
DNSO. ICANN has further muzzled public participation by imposing an
arbitrary censorship scheme, allowing the list moderator to expel a member
from the General Assembly with no right of appeal. ICANN must show that it
trusts democracy by empowering the General Assembly, otherwise its
experiment in "cyber-democracy" in the general membership will continue to
be regarded with skepticism.
2) ICANN should enhance public oversight by supporting its decision with a
reasoned, publicly accessible published opinion.
3) ICANN must cease making policy decisions that effect the entire Internet
community behind closed doors. ICANN should open to the public its
telephone board meetings, as well as its quarterly meetings, and should
re-evaluate the use of ad hoc committees acting outside the established
public working groups and constituencies.
4) ICANN should make its financial information publicly accessible. The
Internet community has received no explanation as to why it takes millions
of dollars per year to perform a function previously managed on a budget of
$500,000/yr by ICANN's predecessor, IANA.
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Since 1996, the Domain Name Rights Coalition (DNRC) has represented the
rights of individuals, entrepreneurs and small businesses on domain name
issues, and defended the public's First Amendment right to use domain names
to enhance public discourse and free expression. For more information, see
http://www.domain-name.org
Contact: Harold Feld, Domain Name Rights Coalition, (202) 454-5684.
Jay Fenello, New Media Relations, (770) 392-9480
Respectfully,
Jay Fenello,
New Media Relations
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http://www.fenello.com 770-392-9480
Aligning with Purpose(sm) ... for a Better World
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"The unexamined life isn't worth living"
-- Socrates
