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Re: [ALAC] ICANN Board, Seat 15.
by Tijani BEN JEMAA Nov. 29, 2010

Nov. 29, 2010

Thank you Cheryl for forwarding the message of Jean Jacques. I would like to second every word you wrote to Jean Jacques, and I can attest that he was the one (with Katim) who pushed strongly to make our AFRALO outreach and capacity building project happen. Even if we didn’t succeed to implement it in Nairobi, Jean Jacques did the necessary work to make it likely implemented in 2011. Thank you very very much Jean Jacques, and I really regret your leaving the ICANN board. You were one of the most supportive of the At-Large views among the Board members. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Tijani BEN JEMAA Directeur exécutif Fédération Méditerranéenne des Associations d'Internet Phone : + 216 70 825 231 Mobile : + 216 98 330 114 Fax : + 216 70 825 231 ------------------------------------------------------------------ -----Message d'origine----- De : alac-bounces(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org [mailto:alac-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org] De la part de Cheryl Langdon-Orr Envoyé : lundi 29 novembre 2010 20:56 À : Jean-Jacques Subrenat Cc : ICANN AtLarge Staff; ALAC Working List; At-Large Worldwide Objet : Re: [ALAC] ICANN Board, Seat 15. It is my pleasure to pass on your message of support and congratulations on this landmark point of ALAC and At-Larges evolution in ICANN; With this reply I am c.c'ing to the Working ALAC, Staff and public At-Large lists, and I trust that during Cartagena (if your Board schedule permits) we can find time to meet and mark the moment with the community present there, as *your ongoing and continual support of our efforts* within the SIC/ Board, and of course in the original *ALAC Review* process have, in my view, been *integral to getting us where we are today*... Also at Cartagena I hope we might find some (all to short I'm sure) time to mark the point of your leaving the ICANN Board which is, from my personal point of view and from the perspective of ALAC Chair, a great loss to our At-Large community; Not only because of your support of the implementation of our Improvements program, of course not limited to the ICANN Board seat #15, but perhaps most importantly because of the way that you take the time to be clear and descriptive to those of us 'outside the Board Room' about why and how you take the decisions you do in your work there; You are one of the most accountable and transparent ICANN Board members, we have seen over the years, and you have set a delightfully high benchmark for others to attain / maintain... *Thank you, Jean-Jacques, Very Much Indeed, for all you have done for ICANN and of course ALAC / At-Large.* Cheryl Langdon-Orr (CLO) ALAC Chair 2007-2010 On 29 November 2010 13:28, Jean-Jacques Subrenat <subrenat(a)icann.org> wrote: > Ms. Chair, > Dear Cheryl, > > now that the At-Large voting procedure has ended, I wish to congratulate > you and all your colleagues who helped carry this out in a transparent, > timely and efficient manner. > > Having had the privilege, during my period of duty on the Board, of working > in favour of an enhanced role for the At-Large community, I am especially > pleased that the candidate you elected will be a voting Director, and that > he will be seated at Cartagena, before the end of 2010. > > I would be grateful if you would convey my personal appreciation to your > At-Large colleagues on their fine work, and my warm congratulations to > Sébastien on being elected. > > As a Board member on the way out, I wish to add my deep appreciation for > your selfless engagement in tasks which forward the public interest, not > least as Chair of ALAC. > > Warmly, > Jean-Jacques.

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Re: [ALAC] [At-Large] ANNOUNCEMENT : Results from Round 2 voting for At-Large selected Board Member for seat #15 of ICANN Board
by Alan Greenberg Nov. 29, 2010

Nov. 29, 2010

Congratulations and good luck Sébastien. It was a good and interesting race. Alan At 28/11/2010 07:15 PM, Cheryl Langdon-Orr wrote: >The voting for Round 2 of the election of the ICANN Board Director selected >by the At-Large community has now been completed and the poll closed. > >The vote is quorate and the results show at Poll close at Sunday 28 November >2010 23:59 UTC: > >[image: logo] > >Poll Result >At-Large Board Director Election 2010 - Round 2*Report date:* Monday 29 >November 2010 00:12 UTC > >At-Large Board Director Election 2010 - Round 2 >*Who should be selected as the At-Large Board Director?* > >*PLEASE SELECT one (1) preferred candidate.* > >Detailed information about the candidates is available under: >https://community.icann.org/display/DirCan/At-Large+Director+Candidate-Comm… > > >As at Poll close: Sunday 28 November 2010 23:59 UTC >Number of voters: 19 · Group size: 19 · Percentage voted: 100.00 >*Candidate**Votes**%*Sébastien Bachollet1052.63Alan Greenberg947.37 > >Therefore it is my pleasure to announce that Mr. Sébastien Bachollet, has >secured the required support from the electorate to be declared the winner, >and will occupy seat #15 beginning at the end of the 2010 Annual General >Meeting to be held in Cartagena, Colombia. > >Following this announcement of the results I will be formally writing to the >ICANN Board Secretary Mr. John Jeffrey and informing him of the communities >selection. >* >* > >On behalf of ALAC and the At-Large (RALOs and ALSes) who have been >so effectively involved and contributory to this process I would also like >to congratulate all the original SoI applicants and the final slate of >candidates involved in this landmark process for At-Large and the ALAC, >and sincerely thank all of them for their willingness to serve ICANN and our >community as well as to offer our most sincere commiserations to Alan and >our congratulations to Sébastien. > > >Cheryl Langdon-Orr (CLO) >ALAC Chair 2007-2010 >_______________________________________________ >At-Large mailing list >At-Large(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org >https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/at-large > >At-Large Official Site: http://atlarge.icann.org

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Re: [ALAC] ALAC Officer Nominations
by Alan Greenberg Nov. 29, 2010

Nov. 29, 2010

Thanks Wolf. Alan At 25/11/2010 07:34 PM, Wolf Ludwig wrote: >I am aware that I have no say in this, Alan, but I strongly support >your ALAC Officer nominations based on your rationale. > >Kind regards, >Wolf > > >Alan Greenberg wrote Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:27: > >In the absence of any other nominations to date, and given that > >nominations close tomorrow, I would like to take this opportunity to > >make the following officer nominations. > > > >Chair: Olivier Crepin-Leblond > >Vice-Chair: Cheryl Langdon-Orr > >Vice-Chair: Evan Leibovitch > >Rapporteur: Carlton Samuels > > > >My rationale is as follows: > > > >Chair: It is Cheryl's last year on the ALAC and she has indicated > >that she plans to step down as Chair, but would be happy to stay on > >in an executive position to provide for a smooth transition. For > >Chair, we need someone who has a long track record, good contacts and > >the ability to command the respect of the community and the ALAC. I > >think that Olivier has all of these characteristics. Although > >relatively new to ICANN and At-Large, he has a long history in the > >overall Internet area. Note that although Olivier has not yet been > >appointed to the ALAC, it is expected that he will replace Patrick > >after the Cartagena meeting, and our rules explicitly allow him to be > >nominated in such a situation. > > > >Vice-Chair: As Vice-Chair, Cheryl will be able to work closely with > >the Chair, and due to the relationships that she has established over > >the last three years as ALAC Chair and prior to that, she will be in > >a good position to ease Olivier into similar positions. This is > >particularly important with the emerging and growing SO/AC relationships. > > > >Vice-Chair: Although I have not checked the records in detail, I > >think that Evan has the longest record of involvement with > >ALAC/At-Large other than me, Sebastien and Cheryl. Moreover, he has > >proved to be a tireless worker who has been involved in both > >administrative issues as well as policy issues. Although some other > >names come to mind for this position (and Tijani is one in > >particular), I think that Evan is the right person this year. > > > >Rapporteur: We are finally starting to get some level of control over > >responding to ICANN comment periods and other policy issues in a > >timely manner, and I think it important to continue this. The work > >that Carlton has done, with the support of Dev, has been key to this > >happening, and I think it would be good for him to continue in this > >role for another year. > > > >Nominations do not need to be seconded, but it is an ALAC tradition > >to second them to show support for the nominees. Nominations must be > >accepted via a post to this list no later than December 3rd. > > > >Alan > > > >_______________________________________________ > >ALAC mailing list > >ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org > >https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac > > > >At-Large Online: http://www.atlarge.icann.org > >ALAC Working Wiki: http://st.icann.org/alac > > > >comunica-ch >phone +41 79 204 83 87 >Skype: Wolf-Ludwig >www.comunica-ch.net > >Digitale Allmend >http://blog.allmend.ch - > >EURALO - ICANN's Regional At-Large Organisation >http://euralo.org

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Re: [ALAC] ICANN Board, Seat 15.
by Cheryl Langdon-Orr Nov. 29, 2010

Nov. 29, 2010

It is my pleasure to pass on your message of support and congratulations on this landmark point of ALAC and At-Larges evolution in ICANN; With this reply I am c.c'ing to the Working ALAC, Staff and public At-Large lists, and I trust that during Cartagena (if your Board schedule permits) we can find time to meet and mark the moment with the community present there, as *your ongoing and continual support of our efforts* within the SIC/ Board, and of course in the original *ALAC Review* process have, in my view, been *integral to getting us where we are today*... Also at Cartagena I hope we might find some (all to short I'm sure) time to mark the point of your leaving the ICANN Board which is, from my personal point of view and from the perspective of ALAC Chair, a great loss to our At-Large community; Not only because of your support of the implementation of our Improvements program, of course not limited to the ICANN Board seat #15, but perhaps most importantly because of the way that you take the time to be clear and descriptive to those of us 'outside the Board Room' about why and how you take the decisions you do in your work there; You are one of the most accountable and transparent ICANN Board members, we have seen over the years, and you have set a delightfully high benchmark for others to attain / maintain... *Thank you, Jean-Jacques, Very Much Indeed, for all you have done for ICANN and of course ALAC / At-Large.* Cheryl Langdon-Orr (CLO) ALAC Chair 2007-2010 On 29 November 2010 13:28, Jean-Jacques Subrenat <subrenat(a)icann.org> wrote: > Ms. Chair, > Dear Cheryl, > > now that the At-Large voting procedure has ended, I wish to congratulate > you and all your colleagues who helped carry this out in a transparent, > timely and efficient manner. > > Having had the privilege, during my period of duty on the Board, of working > in favour of an enhanced role for the At-Large community, I am especially > pleased that the candidate you elected will be a voting Director, and that > he will be seated at Cartagena, before the end of 2010. > > I would be grateful if you would convey my personal appreciation to your > At-Large colleagues on their fine work, and my warm congratulations to > Sébastien on being elected. > > As a Board member on the way out, I wish to add my deep appreciation for > your selfless engagement in tasks which forward the public interest, not > least as Chair of ALAC. > > Warmly, > Jean-Jacques. > > Envoyé depuis mon HTC > >

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ANNOUNCEMENT : Results from Round 2 voting for At-Large selected Board Member for seat #15 of ICANN Board
by Cheryl Langdon-Orr Nov. 29, 2010

Nov. 29, 2010

The voting for Round 2 of the election of the ICANN Board Director selected by the At-Large community has now been completed and the poll closed. The vote is quorate and the results show at Poll close at Sunday 28 November 2010 23:59 UTC: [image: logo] Poll Result At-Large Board Director Election 2010 - Round 2*Report date:* Monday 29 November 2010 00:12 UTC At-Large Board Director Election 2010 - Round 2 *Who should be selected as the At-Large Board Director?* *PLEASE SELECT one (1) preferred candidate.* Detailed information about the candidates is available under: https://community.icann.org/display/DirCan/At-Large+Director+Candidate-Comm… As at Poll close: Sunday 28 November 2010 23:59 UTC Number of voters: 19 · Group size: 19 · Percentage voted: 100.00 *Candidate**Votes**%*Sébastien Bachollet1052.63Alan Greenberg947.37 Therefore it is my pleasure to announce that Mr. Sébastien Bachollet, has secured the required support from the electorate to be declared the winner, and will occupy seat #15 beginning at the end of the 2010 Annual General Meeting to be held in Cartagena, Colombia. Following this announcement of the results I will be formally writing to the ICANN Board Secretary Mr. John Jeffrey and informing him of the communities selection. * * On behalf of ALAC and the At-Large (RALOs and ALSes) who have been so effectively involved and contributory to this process I would also like to congratulate all the original SoI applicants and the final slate of candidates involved in this landmark process for At-Large and the ALAC, and sincerely thank all of them for their willingness to serve ICANN and our community as well as to offer our most sincere commiserations to Alan and our congratulations to Sébastien. Cheryl Langdon-Orr (CLO) ALAC Chair 2007-2010

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Re: [ALAC] [ABSdt] ANNOUNCEMENT : Results from Round 2 voting for At-Large selected Board Member for seat #15 of ICANN Board
by Tijani BEN JEMAA Nov. 29, 2010

Nov. 29, 2010

Congratulation Sebastien and good luck for your new position. I hope that At-Large will be more heard and better listened to during your term in the Board. Tank you very much Alan for every thing you did to make At-Large present in the Board, and thank you particularly for walking through this selection process till the end. Your contribution was essential from the white paper preparation till the candidacy. I hope you will remain an active At-Large contributor. Thank you Pierre for willing to serve the At-Large Community: you were one of the very first elements that founded AFRALO, and all our African structure and visibility comes from there. Thank you again Pierre. Thank you all the applicants who hasn’t been selected by the BCEC. I hope you will continue to be willing to serve the At-Large Community in the future At the end, we have only one seat on the Board, and that’s why only Sebastien was elected. All of you were very good candidates Thank you again. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Tijani BEN JEMAA Executive Director Mediterranean Federation of Internet Associations Phone : + 216 70 825 231 Mobile : + 216 98 330 114 Fax : + 216 70 825 231 ------------------------------------------------------------------ ________________________________________ De : absdt-bounces(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org [mailto:absdt-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org] De la part de Cheryl Langdon-Orr Envoyé : lundi 29 novembre 2010 01:16 À : At-Large Worldwide; ALAC Working List; absdt Cc : Heidi Ullrich; Ray Plzak; John Jeffrey Objet : [ABSdt] ANNOUNCEMENT : Results from Round 2 voting for At-Large selected Board Member for seat #15 of ICANN Board The voting for Round 2 of the election of the ICANN Board Director selected by the At-Large community has now been completed and the poll closed. The vote is quorate and the results show at Poll close at Sunday 28 November 2010 23:59 UTC: Poll Result At-Large Board Director Election 2010 - Round 2 Report date: Monday 29 November 2010 00:12 UTC At-Large Board Director Election 2010 - Round 2 Who should be selected as the At-Large Board Director? PLEASE SELECT one (1) preferred candidate. Detailed information about the candidates is available under: https://community.icann.org/display/DirCan/At-Large+Director+Candidate-Comm… As at Poll close: Sunday 28 November 2010 23:59 UTC Number of voters: 19 • Group size: 19 • Percentage voted: 100.00 Candidate Votes % Sébastien Bachollet 10 52.63 Alan Greenberg 9 47.37 Therefore it is my pleasure to announce that Mr. Sébastien Bachollet, has secured the required support from the electorate to be declared the winner, and will occupy seat #15 beginning at the end of the 2010 Annual General Meeting to be held in Cartagena, Colombia. Following this announcement of the results I will be formally writing to the ICANN Board Secretary Mr. John Jeffrey and informing him of the communities selection. On behalf of ALAC and the At-Large (RALOs and ALSes) who have been so effectively involved and contributory to this process I would also like to congratulate all the original SoI applicants and the final slate of candidates involved in this landmark process for At-Large and the ALAC, and sincerely thank all of them for their willingness to serve ICANN and our community as well as to offer our most sincere commiserations to Alan and our congratulations to Sébastien. Cheryl Langdon-Orr (CLO) ALAC Chair 2007-2010

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Re: [ALAC] [At-Large] [ABSdt] ANNOUNCEMENT : Results from Round 2 voting for At-Large selected Board Member for seat #15 of ICANN Board
by Gareth Shearman Nov. 29, 2010

Nov. 29, 2010

Congratulations Sebastien and all good luck with your term as a director. Gareth On 2010-11-28, at 7:52 PM, Carlton Samuels wrote: > Congratulations to Sebastien and every good wish for a successful term. > > The task for the At-Large has now shifted focus. Since we are all yoked > together, we must now seek ways to make our chosen Director the very best > that he can be. > > Carlton > > ============================== > Carlton A Samuels > Mobile: 876-818-1799 > Strategy, Planning, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround > ============================= > > > On Sun, Nov 28, 2010 at 7:15 PM, Cheryl Langdon-Orr <langdonorr(a)gmail.com>wrote: > >> The voting for Round 2 of the election of the ICANN Board Director selected >> by the At-Large community has now been completed and the poll closed. >> >> The vote is quorate and the results show at Poll close at Sunday 28 >> November 2010 23:59 UTC: >> >> [image: logo] >> >> Poll Result >> At-Large Board Director Election 2010 - Round 2*Report date:* Monday 29 >> November 2010 00:12 UTC >> >> At-Large Board Director Election 2010 - Round 2 >> *Who should be selected as the At-Large Board Director?* >> >> *PLEASE SELECT one (1) preferred candidate.* >> >> Detailed information about the candidates is available under: >> https://community.icann.org/display/DirCan/At-Large+Director+Candidate-Comm… >> >> >> As at Poll close: Sunday 28 November 2010 23:59 UTC >> Number of voters: 19 · Group size: 19 · Percentage voted: 100.00 >> *Candidate* *Votes* *%* Sébastien Bachollet 10 52.63 Alan Greenberg 947.37 >> >> Therefore it is my pleasure to announce that Mr. Sébastien Bachollet, has >> secured the required support from the electorate to be declared the winner, >> and will occupy seat #15 beginning at the end of the 2010 Annual General >> Meeting to be held in Cartagena, Colombia. >> >> Following this announcement of the results I will be formally writing to >> the ICANN Board Secretary Mr. John Jeffrey and informing him of the >> communities selection. >> * >> * >> >> On behalf of ALAC and the At-Large (RALOs and ALSes) who have been >> so effectively involved and contributory to this process I would also like >> to congratulate all the original SoI applicants and the final slate of >> candidates involved in this landmark process for At-Large and the ALAC, >> and sincerely thank all of them for their willingness to serve ICANN and our >> community as well as to offer our most sincere commiserations to Alan and >> our congratulations to Sébastien. >> >> >> Cheryl Langdon-Orr (CLO) >> ALAC Chair 2007-2010 >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> ABSdt mailing list >> ABSdt(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org >> https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/absdt >> >> > _______________________________________________ > At-Large mailing list > At-Large(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org > https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/at-large > > At-Large Official Site: http://atlarge.icann.org >

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"Business" users (was Re: [At-Large] FW: Our choice for the ICANN Board)
by Evan Leibovitch Nov. 28, 2010

Nov. 28, 2010

Hi again, On 27 November 2010 12:37, Sivasubramanian M <isolatedn(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > *As more and more at Large leadership positions are filled by people from > > > > the business constituency, It is becoming very important for ALAC and > at > > > > Large to preserve at Large as a user's constituency to TRULY balance > the > > > > business stakeholder group. Any leadership position within ALAC and > at > > > > Large should be occupied by persons with ample concern for the end > user.* > > > I must say that I'm perplexed by the nature of this question, and I take > it > > personally even though I am not a candidate for Director. > > Please don't. > I've changed the subject because my response no longer has anything to do with the election of Director. I explain this in the hope of changing some attitudes -- not about Director, but on larger issues surrounding the very nature of At-Large. Here is why I take this statement very personally. I work for a University, but I also own my own consulting firm and I am a partner in a startup venture. On travel visa applications my occupation is just listed as "businessman" or "consultant". My name has also been put forward to become one of the coming year's ALAC Officers, which certainly qualifies as an "At-Large leadership position". So I ask... Am I one of these "people from the Business Constituency" who needs to be balanced by others from a "user's constituency"? What views have I expressed in any policy work that would lead anyone to believe that I don't advocate from a user's perspective by virtue of my being a businessman? To what extent do my views need to be balanced ... and by what? I am simply making the point here is that drawing such lines in At-Large between "business" and "non-business" is needlessly divisive and impedes our ability to make progress. While Chair of NARALO I made sure that there were Conflict of Interest guidelines and that all individual users have to submit Statements of Interest. Employees, owners and agents of contracted parties may not serve any NARALO leadership position. I don't know what other regions did but that was our approach. As far as I am concerned, a business association (not primarily involved with Internet infrastructure business) has as much right to be an ALS as a non-governmental agency or ISOC chapter, and deserves as much respect for its views. That is what At-Large is all about. End-users take many forms and it it dangerous to spend too much effort segmenting them. The only business users that concerns At-Large are those that have contractual relationships with ICANN, those who want to have such relationships, and their resellers and agents. IMO we need to acknowledge that At-Large means essentially everyone who is *not* a contracted party. We're all end-users and our voices all count.The president of Citibank has to use his computer just like you or me, and is affected by spam and phishing as much as us. IMO segmenting end-users, and going as far as saying the views of some users must be "balanced" by others, is what I find bothersome. Please reconsider this approach ... not just with regard to the Board member, but towards At-Large in general. - Evan

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Reply to Siva [Was: Our choice for the ICANN Board]
by Alan Greenberg Nov. 27, 2010

Nov. 27, 2010

Siva, I am pleased to note that all of the candidates, potential candidates and the rest of the community have refrained from personal attacks. Since you have chosen this very public forum to again make statements about me which are not based in fact, I have no choice but to reply. I will be brief. On Vertical Integration I did support the proposal that was originally crafted by "Affilias, GoDaddy and others". I felt that in the short term, it was the safest way to proceed until we had fully explored the possible harms that could come from integration. I note that it was also supported by Sébastien Bacholet and Cheryl Langdon-Orr. So I guess that makes us all against users and pro-business. On Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery (PEDNR) There is an analysis of a work group survey that shows the positions of all workgroup participants who completed a survey on possible outcomes. My position and yours were quite similar and generally EXACTLY opposite to all of the registrars on the group. In the places where you and I differed, you are the one agreeing with the registrars. You can find the analysis at https://st.icann.org/data/workspaces/post-expiration-dn-recovery-wg/attachm…. (short version: http://tinyurl.com/PEDNR-WG-Survey) On my ties to business I have none. I have spent virtually all of my career in the public sector involved in education and research, education and research networking and more recently the Internet Society and ICANN and the support of ICT in developing countries. Alan

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Re: [ALAC] [At-Large] FW: Our choice for the ICANN Board
by Evan Leibovitch Nov. 27, 2010

Nov. 27, 2010

hi Sivas, On 27 November 2010 09:44, Sivasubramanian M <isolatedn(a)gmail.com> wrote: *As more and more at Large leadership positions are filled by people from > > the business constituency, It is becoming very important for ALAC and at > > Large to preserve at Large as a user's constituency to TRULY balance the > > business stakeholder group. Any leadership position within ALAC and at > Large > > should be occupied by persons with ample concern for the end user.* > I must say that I'm perplexed by the nature of this question, and I take it personally even though I am not a candidate for Director. My own record within At-Large is now fairly well known. I don't think that I have ever promoted an agenda that goes against user interests. Yet I am also a 50% partner in "Webwrote", a startup company making ebooks and related services. That is a business and I am most certainly intending to operate it on a for-profit basis. And since 1985 I have owned and operated my own IT consultancy. Do these activities make me a "business interest"? How has my involvement in multiple for-profit companies adversely affected my approach to ICANN policy, such as my extensive involvement in the Morality and Public Order issue, the WG creating policy on support for applicants in developing economies, etc.? I must strongly object to the inference that "business", in and of itself, is a dirty word and I take offense that merely being in business taints one's approach to ICANN's effect on end-users of the Internet. The fact is that far more adult Internet end-users run and/or work for businesses than non-profits. If At-Large did not have participants actively involved in businesses we would not reflect the reality of the end-user public for whom we claim to speak. The core business interest within ICANN that we need to confront and address is that of companies that have (and want to have) contractual relationships with ICANN who use that relationship as their business -- Registrars, registries and their resellers. Part of my own personal agenda in ALAC is to stop having ICANN operate as a trade association for these vested interests. It is an abomination that such vested interests control -- by design -- half of GNSO, ICANN's primary policy-creation vehicle. On one hand, they are in contractual arrangements with ICANN, on the other, they have substantial control over ICANN policy, therefore affecting the way the contracts with them are done. This is a core injustice that needs addressing. To me VI stands for "vested interests", and is an internal issue between them. I'm less concerned about cross-ownership than I am about the effect on end-users. which can (and should) be regulated regardless of who owns who. To that extent I supported the free-trade model, that has ICANN meddling as little as possible in that aspect so it can focus its oversight on the end-result to users. *My impression of your participation in the Post Expiry Domain Name working > > group and the Vertical Integration working group is that you [Alan] are > soft on the > > Domain Industry and muted and weak on the real issues of concerns to > users. > I disagree strongly. Both Alan and Sébastien have solid credentials in advancing user interests. One could easily argue that the entire movement within ICANN to stop "domain tasting" was in large part thanks to Alan's personal initiative and his understanding of how to move that initiative through the ICANN processes. Indeed that constituted the first time ever that an At-Large initiated policy initiative was adopted by ICANN. And now PEDNR, another of Alan's policy initiatives, is following the same path. > > If elected to represent at Large to take the only available seat for at > > Large representation in the Board, wouldn't you be equally soft on > broader > > issues of greater importance? You have a rich experience and an > impressive > > background, but wouldn't it be apt for you seek to be elected to the > ICANN > > Board as a Business nominee rather than as a user's nominee? * > "Soft" is in the eye of the beholder. IMO that approach indicates a wisdom that that we won't get everything that we want immediately in huge chunks, and will need to advance our agenda within ICANN in measured, incremental stages. The Voltaire quote, *"Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien" -- *the perfect being the enemy of the good -- would seem to apply here. Whoever is in the Director will at times have to be more diplomat than advocate. Remember, it's just one seat in 15, and our goal is to affect policy rather than just "take stands" that are ignored. > The Business of Business is to do business. A representative from Business > is fully entitled to argue for policies favorable to the survival and growth > of business. But a balance will prevail only if the users have their own > representative whose interests are fully aligned to the users. See above. "Business" is how I feed and shelter my family so I can do all this fun ICANN volunteerism -- and I am as much an end-user as anyone here. My business, like that of most of the world's business, has nothing to do with the creation or selling of Internet domains. The business interests that matter in an ICANN context are those that deal with ICANN vested interests -- registrars, registries, resellers and those who are waiting in line to join those constituencies. To that extent, I would happily argue that, within the ICANN context, Internet end-user interests are more aligned with those of Coca Cola than with the smallest registrar's agent. How many relationships does Alan have with existing registries, registrars, or TLD applicants? None that I'm aware of. *THAT* is perhaps more reasonable yardstick than simply referring to "business" as something bad -- or against user interests -- in and of itself. - Evan

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