Subject: [ALAC-Announce] INVITATION: Community Call on At-Large Director Appointment Process 07 December 0800 UTC
"Appointment Process" We should all know that ICANN, or at least ICANN's law firm, fears the use of the one word that actually characterizes what we want, "election". See http://www.icann.org/en/meetings/santiago/membership-analysis.htm This is done because ICANN's law firm asserted, seemingly without a principled argument to support that assertion, that that one word triggers certain rights under California law while the use of other, euphemistic but similar alternative words will not trigger those rights. Please let us refrain from repeating the Orwellian artificial language that ICANN first used in year 2000 to avoid the word "election". If we mean a process through which the users of the internet community may express their choice of a director in a way that mandates a result, then let us be clear and use the word "election". If we mean a process in which the users of the internet community merely get to express a preference that can be modified or changed in any way then let us use a phrase that indicates this, perhaps using a word such as "advisory". We ought to not be afraid that if there is a binding election that the voters will obtain some quite sensible and reasonable rights. --karl--