Question: What in your opinion should be the importance and the role of ICANN@large members upon the questions that have to be taken ?

Nominee Replies

Jeanette Hofmann - posted on 2000-10-04 15:23:16 This is one of the major topics discussed on the icann-europe list. Actually, I don't know where to start... To me, the most important goal is that individual members become one of the driving forces of ICANN. Together with the supporting organizations, the At Large Membership should form one of ICANN's pillars. This would make sure that those affected by ICANN's decisions have a say in it. This concerns, among other things, the creation of new TLDS, policies such as UDRP and organizational matters such as the future structure of the DNSO. A prerequisite for such an important role would be though that the At Large Members manage to build up self-organizing structures. This is the first crucial hurdle that has to be taken yet... Winfried Schueller - posted on 2000-09-26 08:53:17 The idea of the At-Large Membership is to ensure that no decision can be done without the agreement of the At-Large Community. The At-Large Membership has a very strong standing within ICANN with its nine Board Directors and therefore has the possibility to influence the work of ICANN a lot. Olivier Muron - posted on 2000-09-22 08:41:22 This is a very interesting question! We should keep a close tie with a large membership. I would encourage an active participation in the debate of the membership through its self-organization. Some tools could be web site, general or focused lists. The idea of chapters like ISOC is also a very good one; these could be based on language, geography or topic (law, social sciences, technology etc...). To poll the membership on some major issues may also be something to study. Alf Hansen - posted on 2000-09-22 07:11:57 The At Large membership should be organised in a way that it can give the ICANN Board structured advice. I think regional At Large Forums is a good idea. The current icann-europe distribution list can be seen as the first At Large forum for Europe. The advises from the At Large members must be taken seriously by the ICANN Board as a whole, not only by the At Large Directors. I will assume that the At Large Directors will take the responsibility to follow up in the Board the issues raised by the membership and make sure that they receive a fair treatment.