Dear Claire:
Back in 2012 a polyglot group of us in At-Large spent a little time in reflective conversation looking at how
we were representing the Internet end user perspective inside in a time when the dynamics of Internet end user growth was in the East and South. Access and cost of access plus use cases were priority concerns for these users. We struggled to fit these into
the ICANN policy remit.
Everyone of us felt that ICANN's technical coordination role of the Internet identifiers was going pretty well and truly enhancing the stability,
reliability and security of the Internet. The high priority interest was to find ways to embrace these new entrants and make them feel welcome enough to find cause to commit to the ICANN agenda and join the community.
We thought co-opting them more meaningfully into the governance mechanisms and finding more ways to engage them in their own language and giving them more opportunities to participate
in the business of the domain system would be good ways to bind them to the ICANN agenda.
We felt that a more holistic view of the Internet governance imperative could be built on a more inclusive and collaborative multi stakeholder model. Those perspectives were positioned
as a 'over the horizon' view and outlined in a white paper "Making ICANN Relevant, Responsive and Respected"; labeled the "R3" paper. My
survey of the 2023 landscape suggests those challenges are still with us.
As a participant on several review teams, GNSO WGs, a few CCWGs and pen holder for several ALAC policy advice
to the Board on the high interest matters, my positions come with a long and well documented record of advocacy in the At-Large in general and on the ALAC in particular. I will not abandon nor repudiate those positions.
The principal premise of the gTLD round of 2012 was that it was a demand response and required to bring new competition to the domain name marketplace. Then as now, there is scant evidence
of that demand. And were we to use the usual economic indicators that frame a competitive market, at least one or more of those deterministic indicators - I like to look at price movement for domain names - are not supporting the stated objective. The task
now is to identify the drivers of greater relevance for this next gTLD round to the global community. Here is where the history of the last round suggests some recalibration may be necessary.
We still believe that when internet end users see their language groups embedded in the domain name infrastructure, having more skin in the game inures to more respect for the MSM and
increased relevance to them of the ICANN remit. This is the gravamen of the At-Large support for IDNs, driven largely by keen engagement of our At-Large colleagues from the East. It is the At-Large's business to be gungho for IDNs in every way it avances
that mission.
The SubPro WG offered scores of recommendations that would mediate and address some of the ills of the last round as the evidence showed. They were expected to be in place before the
next round. Some are adopted but there is still a bit of an argy bargy between contending stakeholders. Continued At-Large engagement must be felt here.
Numbers matter. The At-Large and the ALAC championed Applicant Support because we believed more direct investment in the domain name business and system will insure improved engagement
and responsiveness of ICANN to those making up the great majority of Internet end users. Notwithstanding significant opposition, we managed to craft a common cause in collaborating with the NCUC. Here I publicly acknowledge the seminal role of my friend Evan
Leibovitch in this effort. The evidence was maybe the intervention was too small, too unknown where it mattered most and a little late for the full impact of that policy. Furthermore, it is my view the criteria and process developed for assessment of neediness
stifled enthusiasm of would-be beneficiaries. Even as we ensure the fitness of this [anticipated] round's version of the Applicant Guidebook, the At-Large must advocate for a more applicant-friendly criteria and transparent eligibility process.
The centrality of the definition of "community" to the community application process must not be underestimated. Similarly with community applications, it is in the At-Large's interest
to show and be heard in all efforts to fully embrace those deemed community applications in the anticipated round.
If you think about it at a philosophical level and consider how a value bestowed by ICANN on a string delegated to an entity results in satisfied end user interests, alchemy comes to
mind. I can see a case for a closed generic gTLD instantiating improved DNS security and downstream business benefits to end users even as I'm ambivalent on what closed generics could mean to the other stakeholders in the DNS business overall.
I have been watching with some interest the "Facilitated Dialogue" between the parties - ALAC, GNSO, GAC - on the subject. Although the caveat is presented that the views are individual
and not to be relegated to the originating stakeholder grouping, I would encourage the ALAC to take a benign view and not offer any resistance to closed generics, protocols observed. For even if it is only the prospect of an altruistic business model, closed
generics should be allowed on principle. The use case horse for strings has already bolted. A denial could conceivably lead to a claim for equal protection.
The premise of a more competitive market for domain names with a new round is fraught. But my view is that giving all of them room to breathe and letting them bloom - or
not! - is the best posture for the At-Large.
The case for domain name expansion as an existential threat to the stability and security of the internet or degrading to end user interests is not made.
Carlton Samuels
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Carlton A Samuels
Mobile: 876-818-1799
Strategy, Process, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround
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