My comments on three of the names put forward so far: Wilson, Drake, Wong >>> Adam Peake <[log in to unmask]> 8/21/2004 1:31:36 AM >>> >And I have said nothing about Paul Wilson, >(who I think would be a very strong WGIG member), Adam, as you know I put Wilson's name on our list. But I did so knowing that you supported him and that Jeanette Hoffman, the other IGC co-chair, believes very strongly in him. The only possible objection to Paul is that APNIC is an industry association. One might then think that he is not "civil society" in the same sense as we are, and that the private sector (business) interests should be responsible for getting him on if he has support from that sector. However, the counterargument is that ISPs are core to Internet governance, the technical expertise he holds is critical, and his policy positions are not bad. If industry and civil society can agree on a name, it is better, no? However, I have this concern: two other key people of the Regional Internet Address registries have now been nominated. (Pindar Wong was with APNIC, and was elected to the ICANN Board by the RIRs) and Raul Echeberria, CEO of LACNIC. Whatever the merits of these three men, I believe it would be a bit strange for a noncommercial/ civil society process to advance all three of those names. I will give my own comments on Pindar Wong below. >Bill Drake (who has made v. important contributions to WSIS civil >society on ICT governance, understands the ICT for development >aspects I know Bill well. He is part of my world, an academic political scientist with a good knowledge of global governance processes. His strength is in traditional telecom institutions like ITU and trade in telecomm services in the WTO. "ICT for development" has never been one of his research areas and he doesn't spend time in developing countries, so don't oversell him there Adam. He is smart and creative and would be very vocal. He is just as undiplomatic as Karl Auerbach, he is reknowned for his directness. (Might be interesting for Adam to explain the double standard here.) I have two problems with Bill. One is that he has had real trouble grasping and accepting the importance of ICANN as a governance model, and the importance of the ICANN issue in the creation of the WGIG. He has never attended an ICANN meeting, and his technical knowledge of Internet is weak. As late as December 2003 he was insisting that the WSIS Internet Governance Caucus rename itself the "Global ICT Governance" caucus because Internet governance was so "narrow and unimportant." The other is that I think the other two No. American nominees are preferable. I think that Susan Crawford has given much more thought to the broad range of IG issues, and that Pam Samuelson has a much better grasp of the central IPR issues, and so would prefer the other names for North America over him. But I would not consider him unacceptable. Re: Pindar Wong - I am surprised to see him nominated by Norbert. Pindar is a very smart man. He pioneered the ISP industry in Hong Kong (and cleverly sold off the business just before the rush of competition made it unprofitable). He was an ICANN Board member appointed by the ASO. He was a key figure in the formation of the Asia Internet Association, an ISP trade association. Pindar is the consummate insider. He fulfills all the criteria that Adam thinks Karl Auerbach doesn't have: he won't rock the boat, he will be diplomatic, he will make insider deals. The problem is, there is no real nexus with the values and principles of this constituency. I've known him and watched him for years and I don't know what he believes on policy issues; he seems to be a pure pragmatist. He is a businessman. He has personal integrity. But I do not see how he can be expected to represent or give voice to the values and policies favored by civil society in a global process. And I don't think he would be answerable to civil society; I think his identity as a businessman and insider would override other considerations, although I do think he would make an effort to communicate with us. --MM