On 19 December 2011 15:16, Avri Doria <avri@ella.com> wrote:
Much of the world is watching and is not friendly to the idea of the US pulling the strings. The second that ICANN starts allowing itself to be jerked around by US agencies whose strings are controlled by big US money, is the beginning of the end.
That is what I think.
I don't disagree. Where we part company is in identifying which "agencies", controlled by US (and some foreign) money, are pulling the strings. The jerking around is well and truly underway... just not IMO by governments. It's no accident that there does not exist a trade association for registries and registrars to represent their interests because, arguably, ICANN already serves that role quite well. These new stakeholders have been represented by the GAC for a long time. "Represented" ... as in, observer status in a body that itself has only advisory and no policy-making role? One might be excused for thinking such status keeps them very far from the action. What is becoming clearer and clearer is that not all MSM stakeholders are equal. Claims of a broadly-inclusive process, that has some stakeholders deeply embedded while others need to yell really loud just to join the distant periphery, aren't fooling anyone outside ICANN's bubble. - Evan