[ncdnhc-discuss] three issues regarding proposals for reorganization

[James Love]

Alejandro and members of the NCC,

   For purposes of thinking about reorganizations, three themes we think
about are:

1.  How much could the decision making at ICANN be decentralized?

It would seem to us that few decisions have to be centralized.  Why is the
centralized model the main or only thing that the ICANN board is
considering?   And has the board really considered other models for
coordination?

How important is it to have all three main functional areas together?  Could
ICANN focus only on the names issues, and leave the numbering and protocol
coordination to others?

2.  What are the consequences of registrar and registry interests seeking to
control ICANN?

Some of the proposals from the registrar/registry community seem to crowd
out (even more than now ) influence by consumer interests.   If ICANN is
able to control entry into the registry/registrar business, and is
controlled by registries and registrars, then it begins to look like a
cartel.   Is ICANN a regulator of registrar/registries?  Is ICANN protecting
consumers from bad registries/registrars?  If so, can it do this while
having employees or representatives from registrars and registries on the
ICANN board and the DNSO?  As you know, even the NCC is full of persons who
work for registrars or registries.

What would ICANN look like (and do) if it was controlled entirely by domain
holder interests?

3.   Does the current ICANN board believe in broad based popular democracy?
If not, can it find a legal mechanism that would prevent it from doing
things that would be truly unpopular and unwise?

The Lynn proposal seems to seek much broader powers to act, unencumbered by
consensus rules or the need to obtain non-coercive contracts for services.
This seems the opposite of what is needed.   If the board rejects popular
control, it must come up with structural changes that truly restrict ICANN's
powers.

  Jamie

--------------------
James Love, mailto:james.love at cptech.org, http://www.cptech.org
voice +1.202.387.8030, mobile +1.202.361.3040, fax +1.202.234.5176