[NCUC-DISCUSS] ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy Comment Period

[Shane Kerr]

Ayden,

At 2016-11-11 16:22:30 -0500
Ayden Férdeline <icann at ferdeline.com> wrote:

> Thanks for flagging this. I have read the proposed policy and it
> needs serious work. So yes, I think we should submit a public comment
> on this matter as the NCSG (we cannot as the NCUC) if only because I
> believe we should provide input into all requests for public comment.

Agree on both counts. :)

> However, I am not certain we currently have a common position on this
> issue. In the months after Marrakech, my recollection is that our
> GNSO Councillors could not come together and reach a consensus on the
> proposed changes to ICANN's Expected Standards of Behaviour, and
> there were good reasons for that. Sooo... we should submit a comment
> here. But I hope the comment we submit is one which is consistent
> with the positions for which the NCSG has consistently advocated for;
> values of due process, procedural fairness, and so forth.

So... let's start? 

My main concern with the proposed policy is the role of the
ombudsperson (a word which makes me cringe, BTW, surely "public
advocate" is just as easy to say and more self-descriptive). It seems
to grant complete and arbitrary power to a single individual. Even if
previous cases of harassment had been handled perfectly (I don't think
they were), this would be a bad model.

No discussion is made for privacy of any of the participants in the
procedure description. I don't have any recommendations here, but it
seems like it should be explicitly addressed.

I REALLY LIKE the list documenting what harassment it. As I understand
it, that is best practice in codes of conduct these days. It makes it
better for everyone. Clueless individuals actually have some document
they can read to find out what might be a problem, and sleazy
individuals have much less wiggle room to claim that their actions are
harmless. Also, a lot of complaints about a potential harassment policy
have been along the lines of "oh but different cultures blah blah
blah". In this case, we can say, "don't know, don't care... here's how
we behave at ICANN".

I like less the list of Specified Characteristic (which is oddly
capitalized, I guess because we like to capitalize Some Things). I
suppose it is good to give Examples of Things that are commonly Causes
of Disrespectful Behavior, but it could be interpreted as a
comprehensive list. While it is long (and unwieldy), surely this is not
a complete List of Bigotry in the world... and probably such a list is
impossible.

Cheers,

--
Shane
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