Re: [ga] At-Large

[Thomas Roessler <roessler@does-not-exist.org>]

On 2002-07-07 20:47:57 -0500, Don Brown wrote:

>There could have been legal reasons or other reasons why Karl was  
>a no-show.  He can be his own spokesman.

Of course.  I'm still waiting for his _public_ expanation, though.

>However, even if Karl had been present, it is extremely doubtful 
>to me that the outcome would have been any different.

Probably, yes.  Still, given Karl's analysis that a "fully empowered 
membership is entirely feasible", and that it all happened because 
"people ... kept creeping backwards", I'm wondering very much why he 
should give up.  (In particular, he could at least have remvoed the 
word "unanimous" from the public reports.)

>Incidentally, Thomas, how much debate and energy did the GA's  
>Chair offer in favor of a continued GA voice in ICANN? Did you  
>attend the meeting or make any other effort to participate in it - 
>in support of the GA, of course?

To begin with, the GA's chair and alt.chair don't even get expenses 
to attend meetings, call into meetings, or call into telephone  
conferences.  Directors do.  

Salzburg seminar funding was also not available this time, so  
Alexander went to Bucharest on his own cost.  I didn't, for a  
variety of reasons.

Further, both Alexander and I have been spending countless hours  
(and transatlantic phone calls - no expenses for that, either) on  
trying to convince the Names Council that the GA can indeed  
contribute reasonably - note that the Council will ultimately be the 
institution which decides what the GA will look like in the future - 
the E&R blueprint mostly sets directions for that - by trying to  
demonstrate that the GA can constructively contribute to the DNSO's  
work.  I do think that at least some constituencies begin to  
understand that the DNSO would lose something important by killing  
the GA, or by restricting access to the GA to constituency members.

Note that I don't mention votes: I'm still convinced that it's not  
a good idea to have the GA vote secretly on actual issues.  Use open 
polls instead, and most of the problems go away.

-- 
Thomas Roessler                          http://log.does-not-exist.org/
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