This is why we need more commitments and dedication to participate. Sonigitu Ekpe Mobile +234 805 0232 469 Office + 234 802 751 0179 "LIFE is all about love and thanksgiving" On Thu, Jul 10, 2014 at 5:31 PM, "Kleinwächter, Wolfgang" < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > 1++ to Milton > > w > > > > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: NCSG-Discuss im Auftrag von Milton L Mueller > Gesendet: Do 10.07.2014 17:48 > An: [log in to unmask] > Betreff: Re: [NCSG-Discuss] [council] FW: Letter from Cherine Chalaby > > > -----Original Message----- > > Part of the problem is that over 15 years we have not managed to get more > > NFP's involved and consequently not enough hands on deck. > > Addressing both Sam and Klaus: people in ICANN keep making the same > mistake, again and again. The mistake is to assume that domain name policy > is at the center of the universe and that if NGOs devoted to water rights, > child welfare, religion, peace, housing, boat clubs, etc., etc., don't drop > everything and devote most of their limited resources to ICANN then there > is something wrong with the noncommercial stakeholder group within ICANN. > It's an obvious fallacy to me. > > The simple fact is that domain name policy is a small and specialized (yet > important) area of global policy, and most people in the nonprofit world, > not to mention the for-profit world, are not that interested in it, and do > not know enough about it to make a participatory contribution (unless they > devote a year or so to coming up to speed). And it's not cost free. For > most organizations, it makes no sense for them to invest the time and money > to learn about it and participate in it because it is not central to their > concerns. This is just a fact everyone needs to recognize and accept. > > Before you can have "hands on deck" you have to have sailors who "know the > ropes" i.e. understand what the policy issues are, how they relate to > ICANN's functions, what our position on those issues would be, what the > consequences of various policy choices would me - not to mention how GNSO > processes work. > > Indeed, it is often the case that the people who speak most loudly about > adding participants rarely offer substantive contributions to actual domain > name policy. I hear talk about increasing participation a lot, but not much > about, say, the No-IP domain takedowns, the finer points of the EWG report, > the merits or demerits of two-letter domains, the revision of the > inter-registrar transfer policy, deeper thinking and creative proposals for > ICANN accountability, etc. > > > been done by a few with very little, it's a miracle, but we should > expect and > > put into place what my old teachers wrote beneath many of my exam > > papers: "could and should do better!". > > Always true. A truism. I suggest that "doing better" primarily means > cultivating and locating expertise about DNS-related policy issues among > that small segment of civil society groups who see themselves as being > directly affected by those policy issues. > > MM >