[ncdnhc-discuss] Zoe Baird on ICANN

[Norbert Klein]

Thanks a lot for sharing this link.


Norbert Klein
Open Forum of Cambodia

==

> http://www.iht.com/articles/56121.html
> 
>     Who can speak for the Internet? More voices would help
> 
>      Zoë Baird
>      Monday, April 29, 2002
> 
> Alongside the economic boom times for the tech sector in recent years grew
> an increasing recognition of the need for new ways to govern the
> borderless
> new world brought forth by the Internet.
> 
> But just as technology's financial world hit rough times, so too the
> information world's governance structures have now hit a rough patch.
> 
> Some fundamental assumptions are under attack. Organizations involved in
> borderless governance are entering a more mature phase. There is an
> opportunity at hand for the result to be a more inclusive, practical,
> effective approach to international policy-making.
> 
> The dot-com era of experimentation in technology has been closely allied
> with experimentation in Web governance and policy-making, conceived by
> Silicon Valley libertarians and dedicated to the proposition that
> government
> would never "get it" or move fast enough. Self-regulation with bottom-up
> control emerged as the most appropriate power structure. Innovation and
> market creation arrived as paramount values.
> 
> The result: an Internet community's preference for an Internet governance
> model that mirrored the decentralized, private structure of the Internet
> itself. It included the private sector, interested technology experts, and
> almost no notion of how the interests of other Internet users would be
> represented. Technology was moving forward at warp speed, so the deadening
> presence of governments was especially unwelcome.
> 
> A leading forum for experimentation was ICANN, the Internet Corporation
> for
> Assigned Names and Numbers, which plays the central role of coordinating
> the
> Internet's name and address system.
> 
> To many people, this might seem like arcane stuff, but it has powerful
> implications for how the world uses and reaps the benefits of what has
> become one of the most significant global resources of our time.
> 
> Maintaining a functional, accessible Internet is a matter of deep public
> interest because of the Internet's pervasive penetration into virtually
> every aspect of everyday life around the world - including business,
> government, health care, education and social interaction. ICANN's role is
> to manage a set of policies that keep the Internet operating effectively
> and
> fairly and, as such, its success or failure matters to all Internet users.
> 
> ICANN was originally dominated by business and technical interests. But in
> 2000, the Internet community decided to experiment with direct elections,
> theoretically allowing anyone in the world with an e-mail address to vote
> for about half of the members of ICANN's directors. The idea was to
> conduct
> an experiment in creating a direct, public voice to participate in the
> oversight and control of the Internet.
> 
> But last month, members of ICANN found themselves responding to a
> controversial proposal by the organization's president, Stuart Lynn, to
> scrap direct public representation in favor of having the public
> represented
> on ICANN's board by, of all things, governments.
> 
> To critics, this flies in the face of the spirit that created ICANN as an
> alternative to government. On the other side, Lynn insists that experience
> has proven the current system to be unworkably costly, inefficient and
> mired
> in debate. But, at bottom, there are many challenges to maintaining the
> involvement of those who can speak or act for the huge diversity of
> Internet
> users in a sustained way.
> 
> Ultimately, the essentially libertarian ideals of the freewheeling 1990s
> have not resulted in a technology policy-making organization that
> effectively provides for innovation and market creation on the one hand
> and
> democratic transparency, accountability and legitimacy on the other. It is
> time to grapple with the key issues that have emerged from the ICANN
> experiment and gain a clearer understanding of what works and what
> doesn't.
> 
> The complexities fall into a few general areas. For one thing,
> globalization
> and the diffusion of the Internet have dramatically increased our
> interdependence. Both the dot-com bust and Sept. 11 demonstrated starkly
> that this interdependence carries with it profound economic and security
> risks. Finding the right balance between our open, networked system and
> the
> security of a more closed environment demand input from many stakeholders,
> certainly governments among them.
> 
> Second, as the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund
> and
> World Bank have learned the hard way, expanding world trade and
> accelerating
> technological change are fraught with contradictions. The process has
> winners and losers. It empowers some people more than others. In such a
> world of multiple, competing imperatives, inclusive governance is a must.
> Developing nations and noncommercial voices need to be heard, and
> participate with equal dignity, if they are to win their share and accept
> outcomes as legitimate when they lose.
> 
> Third, a number of nontraditional bodies have arisen in recent years that
> engage in regulation and oversight of the Internet and whose
> decision-making
> processes, unlike those of democratic governments, are both inaccessible
> and
> unaccountable to those most affected by the decisions.
> 
> The recent controversy surrounding Truste is a case in point. This
> nonprofit
> entity substitutes for government in providing a stamp of approval for Web
> sites' privacy policies. But when Yahoo abruptly changed its policy
> preferences for consumers without their consent, Truste allowed Yahoo to
> continue to carry its "trustmark." There is no public accountability for
> Truste in making that decision.
> 
> Lynn's call for government representatives is all right as far as it goes,
> but it can only be seen as a first step in a larger process. It is time to
> consider whether circumstances have changed and whether there is a more
> appropriate way for the decisions now vested in ICANN to be addressed in
> another institution. This search will help highlight the criteria for an
> effective ICANN should it earn the right to continue through a set of
> internal reforms.
> 
> ICANN's mission needs to be narrowed radically from the direction it has
> been heading. In addition, the ICANN board needs to invite wide,
> multisector
> participation that includes noncommercial interests along with the private
> sector. Nongovernmental organizations in particular lend legitimacy to
> efforts where they are involved.
> 
> Even with a narrowing of the mission and wider participation, oversight of
> ICANN is still needed and ICANN needs to develop better internal
> accountability mechanisms. No self-regulatory organization I am aware of
> functions without some form of serious public oversight.
> 
> And internally, ICANN needs clear, publicly available procedures for the
> resolution of complaints and the development of due-process principles.
> Additionally, ICANN staff should be kept accountable to a clear set of
> professional norms and standards established by ICANN's board and overseen
> by outsiders.
> 
> Finally, ICANN's processes and decisions need to be made more transparent.
> This would include holding open meetings as well as creating a process for
> systematically documenting decisions in a way that explains the rationale
> behind policy options and ICANN's actions.
> 
> Making fair and effective public policy in our networked society is an
> enormous challenge, and one that won't be overcome just because we have
> begun to recognize the inherent complexities. But we will be heading in
> the
> right direction if we keep the global public interest at the forefront.
> 
> ***********
> 
> Baird is president of the New York-based Markle Foundation, which promotes
> communications industries that address public needs.
> 
> 
> 
> --------------------------------
> James Love mailto:james.love at cptech.org
> http://www.cptech.org +1.202.387.8030 mobile +1.202.361.3040
> 
> 
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-- 
Norbert Klein
Permanent Address: nhklein at gmx.net
Open Forum of Cambodia: www.forum.org.kh