[council] RE: NDNHC and ITU-T

[tony.ar.holmes@bt.com]

Richard
I never said that contributions can only come from Member States, of course
they can come from any ITU members, but in general the Non Commercial Domain
Name Holders won't be ITU members as membership isn't normally taken out on
an individual basis, (don't even know if it can be???), its normally on a
company, society or  similar basis. 

OK,  the NCDNH could decide to join as a group, but even if they were to
qualify as full members they still only have one voice and at the end of the
day its Member States (governments) who vote on Recommendations, not all
members.

Regarding stakeholder interest, in this time of convergence any move which
broadens participation has to be a move in the right direction.

Tony

-----Original Message-----
From: Hill, Richard [mailto:richard.hill@itu.int]
Sent: 24 April 2002 17:43
To: 'roessler@does-not-exist.org'
Cc: 'tony.ar.holmes@bt.com'; 'hfeld@mediaacess.org'; 'council@dnso.org'
Subject: NDNHC and ITU-T


I noticed an exchange of E-Mails at:

  http://www.icann-ncc.org/pipermail/discuss/2002-April/002001.html

And would appreciate it if the following comments could be posted.

> Tony Holmes wrote:
>You say those arguing these positions say ITU intergovernmental groups
generally are
> more responsive to NGO and Civil Society concerns than ICANN. The reality
is that in ICANN
> these groups at least have the opportunity to represent their views in the
debates first hand, its
>not necessarily the case in the ITU. The ITU TSB cannot dictate policy on
their own, it has to come
>through the Member State mechanisms, however the work is actually done in
the ITU Study Groups.

It is correct that work is done in the ITU Study Groups, and that TSB does
not create policy (much less dictate it!).  It is not correct that proposals
(which in ITU-T are called "contributions") can come only from Member
States.  Any ITU-T member can send a contribution, and all are discussed.
ITU-T Sector Members can be commercial companies, or NGO's.  NGO's can ask
for a waiver from payment of membership fees.  Many (like the Red Cross)
have received the waiver of fees.

>Its worth pointing out that within SG2 there are only a handful who
understand, or even have
> first hand experience of, Internet matters. Would your members really be
happy in handing
> them greater responsibility???

I'm not sure that fewer than 5 people within SG2 have understanding of, or
experience in, Internet matters, I think the number is larger.  But this is
beside the point.  If SG2 were to start working more intensively on Internet
matters, its active, participating, membership would increase to include
more people with the relevant experience.

Obviously it makes no sense to have technical matters be discussed by people
who don't know the subject matter, and it was never proposed that this be
the case.

The idea is to expand membership as required so that the right stakeholders
and the right experts participate in the work.

ITU's membership rules are, we believe, open enough to allow participation
by the right people.

>If any supports is going to be expressed for the ITU to become more
> involved its really important that all these dimensions are fully
understood,
>otherwise the results may well be quite different from what was perceived.

I fully agree with this statement and would urge all interested parties to
consult the ITU web site for more information on ITU, or to ask me specific
questions which I will be pleased to answer.

Richard Hill

-----------------------------------------
Richard Hill
Counsellor, SG2
International Telecommunication Union
Place des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
tel: +41 22 730 5887
FAX: +41 22 730 5853
Email: richard.hill@itu.int
Study Group 2 email: tsbsg2@itu.int