[ga] interesting

["watchdog" <watch-dog@inreach.com>]

Wish we would have thought of that. LOL

 

Internet Groups Urge Public Participation

By SUSAN STELLIN

n an effort to increase public participation in policy decisions regarding the Internet's address system, two groups released reports this week with recommendations on how best to involve individuals in policy matters.

The first report, released on Monday, was drafted by a committee appointed by the organization that oversees the address system, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, known as Icann. The goal of the committee was to make recommendations to Icann on how to involve global Internet users in its activities, a task stipulated in its charter when Icann was created by the Commerce Department to take over management of the address system.

Since its inception, Icann has been criticized for a lack of public participation, particularly as the organization has moved into what is perceived as more of a policy-making role on issues like adding new extensions to the Internet's pool of addresses. Recently, criticism has centered on the introduction of the .biz and .info extensions to relieve crowding in .com.

To address these criticisms, the committee appointed to study the issue, known as the At-Large Study Committee, issued a proposal outlining how Icann should establish a group within the organization representing individual users, which would in turn elect six directors to Icann's board.

Recognizing the challenges inherent in setting up a system of representation for the Internet's vast and growing number of global users, the committee recommended identifying those who have registered domain names as the constituency eligible for membership and voting rights in the at-large organization.

But limiting eligibility to domain name holders is a proposal criticized by the second report, which was released yesterday by a consortium composed of representatives from the Center for Democracy and Technology and 10 other research organizations. That report, known as the NGO and Academic Icann Study, or NAIS, alternately recommends allowing anyone who completes an online registration process, with confirmation sent via the postal system, to participate in whatever membership or voting structure is established.

"The population of domain name holders is dominated by commercial interests," said Alan Davidson, associate director of the Center for Democracy and Technology. "This was going to be the place where individual and noncommercial interests could have a voice."

But members of Icann defended their proposal.

"It's a tough issue," said Esther Dyson, former chairwoman of the Icann board and a member of the At- Large Study Committee. "It's not a perfect solution, but this is the one that seemed to work the best. It may require a mid-course correction."

Zöe Baird, president of the Markle Foundation, which provided funds for the NAIS report, said she hoped the debate over the two proposals would focus on "the extent to which they achieve adequate representation of the interests of public Internet users."

"There is certainly a question of whether domain name holders can adequately represent a broad range of Internet users," Ms. Baird said. "Can the administrator of att.com adequately represent the public interest?"

The Icann board is expected to address the committee's final report at its annual meeting on Nov. 14.

Chris McElroy aka NameCritic