Secret Board Briefings a Method of ICANN Capture

[Robin Gross]

Important new blog post from Avri about how ICANN policy staff  
continues to spread lies to Board about non-commercial users.   
Disappointing, although not surprising.....

http://avri.doria.org/post/438544387/secret-board-briefings-a-method- 
of-icann-capture

Secret Board Briefings a Method of ICANN Capture

While in a meeting with Board members, a member of my Stakeholder  
group had an opportunity to read part of one page of the Policy  
Staff’s briefing report to the Board from across the table (some of  
us read documents upside down better the we read right side up.)

In this case it was all they could do to refrain themself from  
standing up and yelling “the staff lies.”   The lies in this case  
were repeated lies first invented by the Commercial Stakeholder Group  
(CSG) about the Non Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG) - that the  
most diverse Stakeholder group in the GNSO was not diverse enough.  
The same group that seem to stand against all types of diversity  
requirement in every discussion.

That this absurd accusation was made by a group that needs an  
exception from the geographical diversity clause for council member  
elections was not enough to show its absurdity and motivated the  
Board’s unjust behavior toward the NCSG in last years Council member  
appointments (though we dearly love our Board appointed council  
members and fully accepted them as part of ‘us’, the method of their  
section was wrong and is a slow wound to heal).

That the non commercial constituency was singled out in the LSE  
report on the GNSO as the most diverse of constituencies was also not  
sufficient to put lie to the statement. And now the Staff makes the  
great lie even greater by including it in the Policy Staff’s briefing  
papers.

The Board often talks about avoiding capture.  Capture has already  
occurred and it is the Policy Staff with its power to whisper lies  
into the ears of the Board that this capture is maintained and  
cemented.  Decisions are being made based on false information.

How many lies about how many things would we find in a proper review  
of the Policy Briefings to the Board?

How many decisions have been made based upon false information fed to  
the Board by the Policy Staff?

This has to stop now!

All Board briefing except those on truly confidential matters, must  
be made public immediately.
All recent Board briefings on which the Board has based its decisions  
must be released immediately.
All future Board briefings must be released to the public at the same  
time they are distributed to the Board.
Additionally, in its review of transparency I hope the AOC Review  
Panel takes this pernicious practice to task.

I understand that the ICANN Policy Staff has a new leader, and in my  
first brief meeting with David Olive, I have hope that things may  
change.  Then again, when Rod Beckstrom first became CEO, I had hope  
that things would change.

And my hope is still waiting.

I have admitted my great affection/addiction for ICANN on numerous  
occasions, but I really do fear that ICANN’s soul has been captured  
by the Policy Staff and I worry that it may never recover unless some  
major changes happen real soon now.




IP JUSTICE
Robin Gross, Executive Director
1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA  94117  USA
p: +1-415-553-6261    f: +1-415-462-6451
w: http://www.ipjustice.org     e: robin at ipjustice.org



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