[council] RE: Recent BC Membership Decision

["Antonio Harris" <harris@cabase.org.ar>]

David,

In order to get a better understanding of this situation,
when you post the reply from the BC Secretariat, it
is not clear where their reply ends and your comments
begin.

Thank you.

Tony Harris

----- Mensaje original -----
De: "David Hernand" <david@new.net>
Para: <council@dnso.org>
CC: <ga@dnso.org>
Enviado: Miércoles 17 de Octubre de 2001 11:01
Asunto: Recent BC Membership Decision


> Members of the Names Council:
>
> New.net feels compelled to elevate to the attention of the Names Council
> certain recent actions of the Business Constituency to deny the efforts of
> our company to participate in ICANN processes as a member of the Business
> Constituency.  We bring this matter before the Names Council as a last
> resort after making repeated unsuccessful attempts to resolve it first
with
> leadership of the Business Constituency.
>
> Earlier this year, New.net applied for membership in the Business
> Constituency.  As many of you know, New.net does not fall into the
category
> of an ICANN-accredited registry or registrar, an ISP or any of the other
> constituencies within the DNSO, and yet we do operate a business that
relies
> on the Internet for its existence and counts among the vast majority of
its
> customers small and medium-sized enterprises that also rely on the
Internet.
> Accordingly, we thought it logical for us to join the Business
Constituency.
> We also thought that the Business Constituency would welcome our
> participation given recent statements of its leadership regarding their
> desire to broaden the Business Constituency's membership to include a
larger
> number of small business interests to balance its current domination by
> large corporate interests.
>
> After significant delay, our application was rejected by the Business
> Constituency's "Credentials Committee," which informed us that New.net
does
> not meet the Business Constituency's charter redquirements because New.net
> is a "registry/registrar."  We then asked the BC Secretariat how such
> charter requirements comply with provisions in ICANN's Bylaws that
expressly
> prohibit constituencies from denying membership to a person or entity on
the
> basis that such person or entity also is a member of another ICANN
> constituency.  We received the following explanation:
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BC secretariat [<mailto:secretariat@bizconst.org>]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2001 1:58 AM
>
> The BC charter does not exclude registries and registrars from membership
> merely because of their participation in another constituency. The Charter
> distinguishes providers of network connectivity/ transport, domain name
and
> other services that enable the development of electronic business, from
> their customers. The BC is an independent voice for the customers of such
> providers.  It is the potential divergence of interests, not the mere
> participation in another ICANN constituency, that underlies the membership
> criteria.
>
> By any reasonable interpretation of this definition, a large portion of
the
> Business Constituency's current membership should be excluded: AOL, AT&T,
> British Telecom, Clear Communications, Deutsche Telecom, Korea Telecom,
MCI
> Worldcom, Movicom, SITA (operator of the .aero registry), and Telefonica,
> just to name the obvious.  Indeed, two of the three BC representatives to
> the Names Council represent "providers of network connectivity/transport."
>
> With all due respect to the ability of individual constituencies to devise
> their own rules and operating procedures, we implore the Names Council to
> intervene in what is obviously an egregious abuse of discretionary power.
We
> specifically request that the NC demand that the BC either (a) immediately
> request the resignation of all BC members who meet the above criteria,
> including the resignation from the NC of the representatives from AT&T and
> Clear Communications; or (b) direct the BC to revise its rules within 30
> days to more broadly encompass the business community and reconsider
> New.net's application for membership.
>
> Your timely attention to this matter would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Best regards,
>
> David Hernand
> CEO
> New.net
>
>
>
>
> David M. Hernand
> CEO
> New.net
> 15260 Ventura Blvd., Ste. 2000
> Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 USA
> Phone: 818-385-2004
> Fax:   818-385-2010
> david@new.net
>
>