At the risk of restating the obvious in simple terms I am taking a whack at the issue of ICANN and the public interest (global or otherwise). There is no agreed upon definitive definition of the public interest. This is not because there are different competing definitions but because of the inherent nature of the notion itself. The public interest is not like an element (iron, copper, helium) in the periodic chart where there is a fine grained molecular test of whether something is in, or not in, the public interest. It is a concern across a broad scope of human existence for the impact of policies and practices carried out by institutions, and in some cases individuals. Does an action support, or counter, the public interest (i.e., can I raise chickens in my urban back yard)?
In ICANN, it is appropriate to have a commitment to policies and actions in the global public interest, without a defined definition of global public interest. That is why there is reference to the multistakeholder community through an inclusive bottom-up multistakeholder community process. Here is where a nuance is important. The task of that process is not to craft an ICANN definitive definition of the global public interest. The task of that process is to stand ready to be invoked whenever it appears that an ICANN policy or practice is not consistent with some element of the global public interest. The purpose of that process is to reach a consensus on the issue at hand, and not to perform a test against some gold standard benchmark of “global public interest”. Of course, with the passage of time, both inside ICANN and elsewhere a body of “case evidence” will build to assist that process.
In the case of society and justice, where there is no definitive definition of justice, a broad set of principles exist and on a case by case basis the objective is that “justice has to be seen to be done”. In the case of ICANN and a commitment to the global public interest, on a policy and practice case by case basis, the global public interest has to be seen to be served. To repeat, the task of the ICANN multistakeholder community is to remain vigilant with respect to policies and practices as they impact on the global public interest and remain as the defenders of those interests within the work of ICANN. In doing so it will benefit from the case evidence build up within ICANN and elsewhere, but its task is not to pursue a quest for a definitive definition of the global public interest.
Sam
Lanfranco, NPOC/CSIH
-- ------------------------------------------------ "It is a disgrace to be rich and honoured in an unjust state" -Confucius 邦有道，贫且贱焉，耻也。邦无道，富且贵焉，耻也 ------------------------------------------------ Dr Sam Lanfranco (Prof Emeritus & Senior Scholar) Econ, York U., Toronto, Ontario, CANADA - M3J 1P3 email: Lanfran@Yorku.ca Skype: slanfranco blog: http://samlanfranco.blogspot.com Phone: +1 613-476-0429 cell: +1 416-816-2852