In the ~10 years I attended ICANN meetings my impression was that there was a lot of talent and knowledge by participants in governance. Much more than, for example, the technical organizations I've been involved in. Governance is an actual field of knowledge and not just a way to describe results for better or worse. "You cut, I choose, the rest is commentary" to paraphrase Hillel. Yet despite that knowledge there seemed to be a broad resistance to implementing sound governance practices. Those in any position to do so seemed to take an attitude that any such implementation would threaten what they imagined were their own "insider" advantages. Not surprisingly due to lack of sound governance and accountability this tended to backfire on any such plans as the organization grew to the point that the administrative activities trumped policy and overarching principled considerations often only honored in the breach. To use a term recently popular in US government circles ICANN grew a "deep state". There was an edifice of individuals, mostly the same individuals over and over, with titles which would appear to be in a position to implement sound governance yet seemed repelled by it lest it threaten their own interests. And there was a large and ever-growing, and quite necessary, administrative bureaucracy who, again not unlike criticisms of the US government, saw that edifice as short-timers (perhaps not individually but in their shifting titles and roles), part-timers, mostly unpaid volunteers (or paid by external, interested parties), often acting as a mutual admiration society, and with perhaps nothing better to do than try to meddle in that administrative bureaucracy on which many millions of dollars and much detailed implementation responsibility rested. It's not surprising, to me, that we are where we are. Particularly in an organization without any ties to a plebiscite. -- -Barry Shein Software Tool & Die | bzs@TheWorld.com | http://www.TheWorld.com Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: +1 617-STD-WRLD | 800-THE-WRLD The World: Since 1989 | A Public Information Utility | *oo*