[ncdnhc-discuss] FYI Newsbytes Story on Lynn

[Manon Ress]

Is the NCDNHC going to have a "statement"of some sorts re the Lynn
proposal?

ICANN President: Reforms Not Set In Stone 
  
By David McGuire, Newsbytes
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A.,
04 Mar 2002, 2:11 PM CST
 

The president of the body that manages the Internet's domain name
addressing system late last week said that controversial reforms he has
proposed for the organization are not cast in concrete. 

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) President
Stuart Lynn has received many comments from various constituencies
within ICANN expressing concerns about some of the changes he has
proposed. 
 
"This is still malleable," said ICANN spokeswoman Mary Hewitt of Lynn's
proposed changes, which would gut and replace the ICANN governance
structure. "It can still be fixed and improved." 

Late last week, Lynn posted an open letter to the "ICANN community"
assuring the organization's constituents that the ICANN board of
directors does not plan to take action on the reform proposal when it
meets in Ghana later this month. 

Lynn's proposal, which he unveiled to the public and ICANN leaders last
month, calls for the 19-member ICANN board of directors to be eliminated
and replaced with a 15-member board of trustees. 

Hewitt said most of the "dozens of" responses have been positive, but
many expressed concerns about the timing and details of the proposal. 

Under the proposal, there would be no "at-large" ICANN board elections
in which rank-and-file Internet users vote for directors in their
respective regions. 

Rather, trustees chosen by world governments would hold the primary
responsibility for representing the online public in ICANN debates. 

Critics have complained that the proposal could undermine ICANN's
already shaky democratic processes, by cutting direct representatives of
the Internet public out of the governance structure. 

Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) Policy Analyst Rob Courtney
today said he was glad to see Lynn's reassurance that the reform package
would not be enacted in Ghana. But Courtney said he remains concerned
that debate over the proposal could sideline another important
discussion about ICANN governance. 

In Ghana, the ICANN board was expected to establish a permanent process
by which at-large ICANN directors would be elected to represent the
Internet public on the ICANN board. 

Courtney said he now fears that debate over Lynn's proposal - which
would eliminate the at-large membership as it is currently construed -
will overshadow the at-large discussion and stall a planned vote. 

"His proposal coming out when it came out, and the way it came out, has
really derailed" the discussion over at-large, Courtney said. 

CDT is one of a handful of public interest groups attempting to help
shape the at-large governance structure. 

Since the terms of the sitting at-large members expire in November,
Courtney said that the board must decide on at-large in Ghana. "A
no-decision in Ghana is the same as an active decision to shut down the
at-large," he said. 

Under ICANN's original charter, the board of directors, which has final
say in all ICANN decisions, is supposed to be made up of nine members
selected by the group's internal "supporting organizations" and nine
chosen to represent the Internet public at large. As president, Lynn
serves as the 19th board member. 

Under that structure, governments are relegated to a purely advisory
role in ICANN decision-making. 

While the nine internally selected ICANN board members have been in
place for some time, ICANN has only managed to seat five board members
to represent the worldwide Internet public. The four remaining members
of the board are remnants from the provisional board that helped launch
the organization. 

On the table in Ghana is a proposal that would amend the ICANN bylaws so
at-large representatives would make up only a third, rather than half of
ICANN's directors. 

Lynn's proposal, if enacted, would render that decision moot, by
eliminating direct public representation. 

Instead, ICANN would be controlled by 15 trustees: five chosen by
national governments, five picked by an internally chosen "nominating
committee," and five representing yet-to-be-created ICANN "policy
councils." As president, Lynn would be among the last group of five
trustees. 

Lynn's proposal is at
http://www.icann.org/general/lynn-reform-proposal-24feb02.htm . 

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com .