Discussion of ICANN strategic plan

[Milton Mueller]

Harold, Hakikur and Eung Hwi

Your comments were great, how about something like this as an agreed
position:

Regarding the "Restricted Fund for Developing Country Internet
Communities."

We support the concept but would prefer to see it re-labelled a
"Restricted Fund for Technical Forums in Developing Countries."
Encouraging and facilitating knowledge-sharing on technical matters
related to DNS and IP protocols falls within ICANN's general purview and
fosters coordination rather than top-down management. We would encourage
ICANN to avoid taking responsibility for building "Internet communities"
in developing countries; local Internet communities should develop
autonomously from the bottom up. We encourage ICANN to define clear and
transparent procedures for organizations to apply for these funds and to
avoid making grants at the discretion of central staff. ICANN should
have objective, neutral and participatory mechanisms to determine who
gets these funds. Any evaluation committee should include
representatives from each of the Supporting Organizations.


--MM