There are more like these in my inbox. The most chatter I've seen on an ICANN issue... Begin forwarded message:
From: DeeDee Halleck <dhalleck@ucsd.edu> Date: July 23, 2009 7:56:46 AM GMT-04:00 To: "MADCoList" <MADCoList@list.media-democracy.net> Cc: Robin Gross <robin@ipjustice.org>, grc@maillist.peak.org, mediaresearchconf07@listserve.ssrc.org Subject: [MADCoList] Open the process for internet governance! Act Today!
Dear friends,
Please read the inclosed letter and take action TODAY-- it is the deadline.
For several years I took part in the deliberations at the World Summit on the Information Society. I wanted to see what other countries were doing in regards to community media and to help negotiate a place for public access within international media regulations and recommendations. As part of this process I learned a bit about internet governance. A civil society group was set up (agreed to by ICANN-- the official international internet organization) to come up with suggestions for democratizing internet governance. We're not talking revolution here, but a few participatory gestures, slight, but important.
To the amazement of the civil society group, these suggestions were completely ignored. ICANN continues to represent only government and commercial interests. The hope that there could be civil society participation has been rudely dashed. However, the group that worked to craft an alternative process is asking ALL THOSE WHO WORK IN NON-PROFIT MEDIA to weigh in and let ICANN know how important it is that civil society gets "a seat at the table".
PLEASE READ THIS AND SEND A STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR A DEMOCRATIC INTERNET. DeeDee Halleck
Dear Dee Dee,
I am writing with an urgent request that you please send a quick email to ICANN to weigh-in regarding the imposition of the ICANN staff drafted charter for a Noncommercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG).
Without any explanation or justification, ICANN discarded the NCSG charter that had been drafted by civil society in a consensus process and submitted to ICANN by NCUC in March - and supported by more than 80 noncommercial organizations and individuals.
Instead, ICANN is attempting to impose precisely the "silo" charter model that we said would stranglehold us and render us ineffective in policy development at ICANN.
It is crucial that noncommercial organizations and individuals weigh- in right now and let ICANN know that the world is watching and expecting it to live up to its promises of bottom-up processes, accountability, and democracy.
The governance structures contained within the NCSG charter will be extremely important for determining how effective noncommercial users can be in influencing policy decisions at ICANN for years to come. So if there was ever an issue to weigh-in on, this is the issue - because it will impact every issue noncommercial users face in the future.
The ICANN Public Comment Period on the charters is open until 23 July - Thursday (end-of-business in California).
Comments on the draft charters are submitted via email to gnso-stakeholder-charters@icann.org .
Thank you for considering this urgent request. If you can find the time to send a quick email to ICANN before Thursday EOB, it could make a significant difference for noncommercial users for years to come and I would greatly appreciate it.
Please let me know if you'd like to discuss this request further. Thanks again!!
All best,
Robin
Background on Issue with links to docs, see my article: "Is ICANN Accountable to the Global Public Interest?": http://ipjustice.org/ICANN/NCSG/NCUC-ICANN-Injustices.html
IP Justice Statement on Stakeholder Group Charter Injustices: http://forum.icann.org/lists/gnso-stakeholder-charters/msg00012.html
Comment from Dr. Milton Mueller (Internet Governance Project): http://forum.icann.org/lists/gnso-stakeholder-charters/msg00001.html
Public Comments: http://forum.icann.org/lists/gnso-stakeholder-charters/
ICANN Info on submitting comments on stakeholder group charters: http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/#stakeholder
IP JUSTICE Robin Gross, Executive Director 1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA p: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451 w: http://www.ipjustice.org e: robin@ipjustice.org
SAMPLE LETTER FROM KENYA:
Dear all,
My name is Alex Gakuru, a member of the Non-Commercial Users Constituency whom endorsed the NCSG charter that had been drafted by civil society in a "bottom-up" consensus process and submitted to ICANN by NCUC in March, 2009.
Concerned by the manner in which ICANN staff have discarded our civil society draft, once again, negating sacred the bottom-up consensus principle from within ICANN. Internet users fund ICANN's operational existence to work for us. You are the duty bearers here to us - the rights holders. You owe us the obligation to listen to us and publicly reflect it on all your operations, activities and reports. Otherwise, I fear if the sacred “bottom-up” principle was discarded and i was never aware.
It is my considered view that this is a very serious governance issue that concerns my constituency members and I hope that ICANN will address it with the importance, seriousness, and the urgency that it deserves.
Sincerely,
Alex Gakuru NCUC member, Nairobi, Kenya
If you wish to unsubscribe, please send a blank message with the subject "unsubscribe" to info@media-democracy.net MADCoList | Archives | Modify Your Subscription