Philip Sheppard wrote:
Ross, Council members
The question ---------------- I make no apology for changing the question.
Philip - this is unhelpful and disruptive. You have floated an unworkable proposition which makes absolutely no sense. It is not rooted in any sort of task force process, nor is it a compromise of any sort. We cannot, as you propose, deal with the question of "purpose of Whois" by dealing with the question that you seek to divert our attention to. I'm not going to wade into the rhetorical mire that you've laid out as justification of this counter-productive exercise. Some facts might be helpful though: 1. Formulation #1 is not* an* affirmation of historic truths. We wrote this with a clean-sheet approach, and did so cognizant that the policy recommendations of the GNSO Council must be consistent with ICANN's scope and mission. Formulation #1 proposes a well-considered balance between the privacy requirements of individual and corporate users and the legitimate needs of other users, such as the law enforcement, intellectual property and big business interests like those you represent. Maintaining this balance will be critical as we scale our policy development efforts into areas like IDN and those challenges created by the digital divide. Tipping the scales in the favor of your constituents as you propose is dangerous and short-sighted. 2. In a recent council meeting, only one member of council made an unqualified endorsement of Formulation #2. The rest of those representatives making an unqualified endorsement did so in favor of Formulation #1. Those doing so represented a majority of the Council votes. This mirrors the level of support at a task force level where a majority of the participants also supported Formulation #1. My view is that you haven't presented us with a compromise, you've presented us with a distraction. My hope is that this is not yet another attempt to prolong a debate on what is otherwise and extremely straightforward consideration and a pair of well-crafted propositions. I urge my fellow councilors to remain focused on evaluating the merits of Formulation #1 v. Formulation #2 lest we throw our task force into disarray. -- -rr "Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." - Ralph Waldo Emerson Contact Info: Ross Rader Director, Research & Innovation Tucows Inc. c. 416.828.8783 Get Started? http://start.tucows.com My Blogware: http://www.byte.org