[ncdnhc-discuss] Candidate Statement of Harold Feld

[Harold J. Feld]

My name is Harold Feld.  I have represented noncommercial interests in 
the debate over DNS management since 1997.  I participated in the ICANN 
formation process and have been an active participant in ICANN since.  I 
am associate director of the Media Access Project, a non-profit lawfirm 
dedicated to enriching the market place of ideas by enhancing the access 
of the public to all media of communication so that they may speak and 
hear information from as many sources as possible.

Like many, I have been dismayed at the failure of ICANN to create a 
genuine means in which the interested internet user can exercise any 
form of accountability over ICANN's exercise of its functions.  Those 
avenues that do exist, such as the General Assembly, notice and comment 
on various policy initiatives or publications, are often inaccessible to 
the majority of users.  Worse, ICANN has created an impression that 
results are predetermined by a select group of insiders and that 
contrary input will be ignored or marginalized.

Within the structure of ICANN, only the Noncommercial Domain Name Holder 
Constituency provides an avenue for non-commercial interests to exercise 
a genuine, albeit limited role in the formation of ICANN policy.  The 
NCDNHC therefore plays a critical role within the ICANN structure.  It 
represents a depth and breadth of expertise and viewpoints not found 
elsewhere in ICANN.  Furthermore, the NCDNHC is proof that when the pool 
of available opinion expands to include greater diversity, we all 
benefit from the improved quality of the debate.  NCDNHC has, through 
its meetings and Names Council representation, often served as a voice 
for the common Internet user in ICANN and a restraining influence on 
those who would extend the power of ICANN to enhance their competitive 
advantage in the Internet marketplace or diminish rights of free 
expression that lie at the core of civil society values.

As a representative on the Names Council, I would:

1) Seek to enhance participation in ICANN by non-commercial interests 
and the Internet community at large, and enhance public oversight of 
ICANN's decision making and budget processes.

2) Seek to ensure that any actions undertaken by the Names Council or 
ICANN remain sensitive to core civil society values such as free 
expression and privacy.

3) Advocate against expansion of ICANN authority or "mission creep" that 
results from leveraging ICANN's control of the unique root. 

My thanks to all those who supported my nomination.

Harold Feld
Associate Director
Media Access Project

 




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