[wg-review] Review WG Membership
Dear Members, Thank you for allowing me to post to this
group. I will begin by restating
the mandate that first engaged my interest: The Names Council of ICANN's Domain Name
Supporting Organization (DNSO) in order to improve the decision-making process
by more effective outreach, and in order to improve the quality and quantity of
input, seeks a review of it’s own consensus-building procedures so that it may
better advise the ICANN Board with respect to policy issues relating to the
Domain Name System; to that end the Council has established a Review Working
Group charged with actively seeking input from the widest possible set of
Internet stakeholders. I wish to address the issue of how this
group may obtain input from the widest possible set of Internet stakeholders in
order to obtain true consensus. As the thread of the discussion thus far
in these postings has been focused on defining that which constitutes a
“stakeholder” and a “constituency”, I would argue (on behalf of all those
individuals that like myself are new to the internet), that any domain name
registrant who has tendered currency in order to participate in the dream of
the Internet is a legitimate stakeholder, and that ICANN and the Names Council
(by way of the Registries), have at their disposal the technological means by
which a valid registrant consensus may readily be obtained. The particular means to this given end is
already the subject of a controversy that ICANN has been charged to resolve in
light of the recent "Petition for
Termination of Registrar Accreditation Agreement with Register.com." At issue is that which
constitutes legitimate use of the WHOIS database, a tool capable of potentially
allowing for all registrants to be contacted. While as a consumer, I have no desire whatsoever to be
the ongoing object of relentlessly annoying and undesired marketing efforts, as
a netizen I can appreciate and will certainly value having my WHOIS data used
by the Internet’s governing body so that I may be contacted and asked to
participate (by way of a poll or by voting), in a process which may ultimately
lead to the democratization of the Internet. As some
continue to levy charges that ICANN has engaged in monopolistic practices and
has chosen to evince “inappropriate proximity” with powerful officials of both
the U.S. government and U.S. corporations, a conscientious effort to redress
such grievances by reaching out to the world-wide base of registrants might be
a judicious and pragmatic course of action. I contend that if the current board-recognized
constituencies and the General Assembly can agree upon which issues are to be
posed to the Internet community (so that ICANN may thereby consider appropriate
policy), the community will be amenable to voting or being polled on those
issues. In
short, you have in your WHOIS databases our email addresses. Registrants are the widest possible set
of Internet stakeholders. Ask us
your questions. You will receive
our answers. Tally the
results. You will have a
consensus. A brief biography: I, Danny Younger, am a 46 year old
American with an Asian wife, two young children and a small e-commerce site
that was launched one year ago. I
am currently enrolled as a freshman in a full-time curriculum of studies at a
leading computer Institute, and through that University’s co-operative program
obtained employment as a customer support representative at register.com three
months ago. I work the
overnight shift answering phone calls and emails that cover both
domain-specific questions and general queries regarding industry policies on
matters such as the availability of expired domain names, trademark issues,
concerns regarding the pre-registration of the new gTLDs, the functionality of
international character set registrations, etc. The opinions I express here are wholly my own and not
necessarily those of my Management. |