FWIW, I am not suggestion one on one calls to avoid open discussions, but thought it might allow something more of a 'brain dump' of what I know for those who are newer at this even than I am - though on reflection this process would not be very transparent at all which is important....

Here is my .02 on these subjects. Firstly let me make clear that I do not judge the contrary views which others have; I think it is a big world and the only bad perspective is one that is suppressed or made light of. I hope everyone understands that I do not wish to do either of those things now - or at any other time.

There is several years of history associated with the formation of ICANN and the position of Individual Internet users in that process. There are those who believe that the community should be structured differently, that it should dispose directly of several seats on the board, that it should not be an advisory 'organ' of ICANN but something stronger than that.

These are clearly important subjects and many feel strongly about them. As a member of staff, I do not think it is my place to posit a view on these topics; rather, it is my job to ensure that the community as a whole receives as much positive visibility within ICANN - staff and constituencies - as possible and that the community has as many avenues to make its views felt as possible. Clearly, I have to do this within the framework of the Bylaws of ICANN as they are at any given point in time.

At the present time, At-Large has the structure and the role within ICANN which the Bylaws provide for it. Is that the only structure which is possible? Of course not. If you believe that the current structure needs to be changed, and I know that a number of North Americans (amongst others) do think that is the case, then the question to ask, it seems to me, would be: Is the best way to create a better situation to be found from working within the system to change it, or from being outside the system? Clearly, each person and organisation will have to answer that question for themselves. 

The past cannot be altered of course, though I am sure we all hope to learn from it! If you believe that ICANN should make certain commitments in a policy development context like this, you should of course propose those in the MoU text. The LAC region did this when it asked for, and received, a commitment to multi-lingual document access amongst other things. North America may find other things to be more important which is completely fine of course. 

What I very much hope is that the process of creating a RALO can be the subject of relatively quick agreement - not because I have some hidden agenda of legitimising ICANN by forming RALOs (or, quite frankly, any other hidden agenda) but because it seems to me that people are spending their free time involved with ICANN to talk about policy rather than to negotiate structural documents or create complex processes. Does process and structure matter? Of course! However at the end of the day the process and structure is supposed to actually deliver benefit to someone and for me, personally, I got involved in ICANN to help end users of the Internet help to shape the future of the Internet.


On 2 Feb 2007, at 18:21, Thompson, Darlene wrote:

Oh, thank you, Robert,

Any of your suggestions below would definitely be better from my
standpoint.  I would really like to hear all sides of the story in an
open forum.  I really wish we could get together and talk about this but
I understand the funding constraints involved.

Darlene

Darlene A. Thompson
Community Access Program Administrator
Nunavut Department of Education/N-CAP
P.O. Box 429
Pond Inlet, NU  X0A 0S0
Phone:  (867) 899-7363
Fax:  (867) 899-7334
dthompson@gov.nu.ca

-----Original Message-----
From: na-discuss-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org
[mailto:na-discuss-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org] On Behalf Of Robert
Guerra
Sent: Friday, February 02, 2007 1:04 PM
To: na-discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org
Cc: Paul Levins
Subject: Re: [NA-Discuss] NARALO documents

One on one discussions are a nice touch, but aren't transparent to  
the group as a whole.

A preferable approach would be one that documents the issues, and  
comments in an open and transparent fashion. Keeping the discussion  
on the list, or an open site like a wiki and/or a blog would be , in  
my opinion the way to do it.

The Toronto meeting this past June identified that there is a large  
gap in knowledge about ICANN in Canada . More specifically user  
groups in Canada have "heard" about ICANN, but really don't know much  
about how it operates nor how modalities for engagement and  
involvement are structured.

Further  outreach, engagement and background information is needed   
before organizations can decide if they wish to engage in the  
formation of a NA RALO. Is a NA Ralo being rushed, or now - well,  
that's the question.

What to do ... well, let's hear from both sides , and then let people  
decide on their own if "past issues" in fact still exist - or if we  
are in fact dealing with a better and more open ICANN. My dealings  
with staff seem to indicate the latter is true ..

regards

Robert




On 2-Feb-07, at 10:06 AM, Nick Ashton-Hart wrote:

I second that - I've also offered to spend some time on the  
telephone doing Q&A for her if that's helpful for her - and that  
offer's open to everyone else too



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--
Regards,
 
Nick Ashton-Hart
Director, At-Large
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
PO Box 32160
London N4 2XY
United Kingdom
Main Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011]
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