As usual, Robin, perceptive, correct and to the point. As well as extremely
depressing. We have a lot of work to do and nowhere better to start than in
the public comments.
For those who have never done a public comment it's pretty easy, quite
painless in fact, and they do have an impact. If anyone would like to do one
but is a bit nervous or unsure as to how to approach it please send me an
e-mail: I'm happy to help, as I'm sure several others would as well.
Getting decent volume on this particular critical issue is very important.
Let's do it!
Thanks for sharing Robin,
Ed
-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Gross <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 21:10:22 -0700
Subject: Do Not Empower Non-Democratic Governments' Control Over the
Internet with this Draconian "GAC Veto" on ICANN Board Decisions
Hi all,
Below are my comments on the extreme proposal to amend ICANN's bylaws to
impose GAC "advice" on the Internet unless 2/3 of the non-conflicted members
of ICANN's board (would there ever be such a number given the many board
conflicts?) are able to oppose the GAC "advice" (why are we still calling it
"advice"?)
I've also made a blog post to encourage others to post comments to the
public forum here:
http://bit.ly/1rBtbKl
I hope you all will consider weighing-in and standing-up for freedom on the
Internet by encouraging the board to reject this proposal that give
non-democratic governments power over the Internet via ICANN's board. It is
a very important issue - perhaps one of the most important that ICANN has
faced since its inception, so it is a major change and worth paying
attention to.
Thank you,
Robin
PS: You can submit comments by sending an email to
[log in to unmask]
Comment Deadline: 14 Sept. 2014
Reply Deadline: 6 Oct. 2014
Begin forwarded message:
From: Robin Gross <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Do Not Empower Non-Democratic Governments' Control Over the
Internet with this Draconian "GAC Veto" on ICANN Board Decisions
Date: August 27, 2014 3:50:13 PM PDT
To: [log in to unmask]
Bcc: Robin Gross <[log in to unmask]>
Dear ICANN,
This draconian proposal to change ICANN's bylaws would fundamentally
transform ICANN away from being a "bottom-up" and "private-sector-led"
organization and into a governmental regulatory agency by changing the GAC's
role from "advisory" into "primary decision maker" by essentially creating a
"governmental veto" on all key organizational decisions. This would mark a
truly significant change in the overall power structure at ICANN that would
dramatically empower national governments (some democratic, some
authoritarian) over the management of critical Internet resources at the
expense of those who participate in the bottom-up policy development
process.
This extreme proposal undermines any hope of a bottom-up process for policy
development at ICANN and kills the incentive for volunteers to participate
in ICANN since governments will be empowered to veto the bottom-up policy
that was developed by years of hard work and painful compromises on the part
of all stakeholders.
Ironically, it is often ICANN's own board and staff who do the most to
undermine the "multi-stakeholder model for Internet governance", and this
proposal, if passed, would be a prime illustration of that fact. By making
additional concessions to GAC that give governments more power at ICANN, the
board would be relinquishing its responsibility to provide oversight of the
organization's operations. And since so many non-GAC board members are
"conflicted" on issues that are of greatest significance to the org's work,
in reality it will take far more than 2/3 of the board to resist the
mandatory imposition of GAC "advice" by ICANN. There is nothing to prevent
GAC from becoming a voting body that imposes its majority will on the entire
Internet via the ICANN board; and this bylaws change would certainly
incentivize such a reaction from GAC. Since ICANN claimed in its recent
determination of the BGC Reconsideration Request 14-35 (which refused to
release any information about GAC policy deliberations) that GAC is not a
part of ICANN, it is inexplicable why ICANN would choose to give what it
claimed in its determination is NOT a part of ICANN the predominate decision
making position on the ICANN Board of Directors. That is quite a quiet
transfer of power and resources "away from ICANN" to a non-accountable,
non-transparent, non-bottom-up, non-private-sector-led organization over the
management of critical Internet resources.
It should not be forgotten that many of the governments who participate
within the GAC are not democratically elected; meaning citizens in those
countries do not have free and fair elections in which people govern
themselves; meaning those governments are not bottom-up; meaning those
non-democratic governments are illegitimate in their authority and have no
right to demand a decision making role over anyone, let alone the entire
world via the ICANN board.
Why ICANN would voluntarily choose to empower non-democratic governments
with an even greater say over global Internet policies as this bylaws change
would do is anyone's guess.
One of the most precious aspects of the Internet is the ability of activists
and the disenfranchised to communicate with the world outside from an
authoritarian government'' control by using the Internet. This bylaws
proposal, if passed, will ultimately stifle use of the Internet for both
disenfranchised people and those who live in democracies but will still be
governed by the GAC via this ICANN Board "veto". Unfortunately many
governments view the Internet either as a threat to their control of their
citizens, or as a powerful tool that enables their control of their citizens
- this is true in both democracies and non-democracies, and that stifling
view will be recklessly empowered by the adoption of this bylaws change.
This is a truly dangerous proposal that would send the Internet back towards
the dark ages when the Crown controlled access to printing presses and what
information was allowed to spread. For the ICANN Board to empower
non-democratic governments by approving this bylaws change would be among
the worst damage done to the health and growth of the free and open Internet
since it was created. The ICANN Board should recognize its obligation to
promote democracy and protect everyone's use of the Internet, but especially
the disenfranchised by not empowering authoritarian governments' control of
the Internet with the adoption of this draconian bylaws change.
Thank you,
Robin Gross
Note: I am a member of the Executive Committee of ICANN's Non-Commercial
Stakeholder Group (NCSG), but submit this comment solely in my personal
capacity.
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