Hi,
this would be a software/communications project, for which clear requirements would be a good start (not the end.)
Use cases and constraints go first, don't they?
The use cases have to be analyzed and documented, and in our case, discussed and stabilized.
The constraints should include among others: compliance with Internet standards and best current practice; parsimony in the resources required (text better than HTML, push better than having to access a dozen or more Websites), openness, transparency/accountabiilty. Suitability to low-bandwidth, old operating system and browser, limited-capabilities devices for people in island/edge conditions, or for busy travellers, should also be among the desirable properties of any communications system.
Erik and Carlton have already expressed some keystones which favor email or at least some fundamental properties of email. I join in support.
Joly, call me an "old-timer" if doing so is a suitable way of polarizing the list. We see all too many "new-timers" discussing ICANN issues with all-too-scant knowledge and respect for Internet basics. Let's find a cooperative way that works for all.
Let's hope that the now very long-standing Technology WG/TF takes all this into account.
Let's also note that the "flurry of unsubscribes to the list" was about... 4 messages? (and it has been explained away.)
Alejandro Pisanty