Question: Written about eight years ago, Tom Atlee wrote a simple statement on democratic community.

What conditions would be needed for ICANN to represent deep democracy and community wisdom?

By the rules, this is my final question.

Thank you.

Nominee Replies

Harris Miller - posted on 2000-10-02 10:39:24 ICANN can surely make strides towards greater participation by the overall user community, and to make its processes more transparent. ICANN can look to some past examples of some successes and build upon them for the future. As I've mentioned, the notice and comment process for the UDRP demonstrates that ICANN can document consensus within its community (again emphasizing that consensus does not mean the absence of some disagreement). What this means in practical terms is that ICANN's initiatives should be provided to the community with sufficient time for discussion and debate in the search for a consensus position. ICANN can do a better job here to build legitimacy with the users and affected communities. Donald Langenberg - posted on 2000-10-01 19:46:26 Yes, of course it could, and it should strive to do so. The architecture it has, or should have, is a subject deserving a lengthy discussion beyond the space available here. Barbara Simons - posted on 2000-10-01 14:21:39 Introducing deep democracy and community wisdom into the ICANN process is a major challenge, since it's not clear what notions like democracy and community wisdom mean on the Internet, which is itself not representative. Still, these are goals that we should be striving for. To begin with, I'd like to see the following changes: - a commitment by ICANN to put all nine at-large seats up for election at the next election; - the establishment of well defined procedures that will allow sufficient time for people to read and comment on issues, proposals, and initiatives; - a guarantee that policy decisions are initiated and made by the Board, not by the staff; - a meaningful voice for individual domain name holders. If I am elected to the Board, I shall be continuously seeking input from the members. I shall especially welcome specific suggestions for how to make ICANN a more democratic institution. Emerson Tiller, J.D., Ph.D. - posted on 2000-09-30 12:38:19 Thank you for all of your thought provoking questions. Democracy could be accomplished through the use of structures that encourage process and participation in early stage policy formation. The conditions required for deep democracy and community wisdom are (1) broad dissemination of information, (2) forum for discussion, (3) processes for turning discussion into policy proposals, and (4) confidence that policy proposals will be considered in fair manner. We currently lack these at ICANN. The at large membership process has potential to play a role in acheiving deep democracy. But currently, the at large membership is most likely captured by the same interests who control ICANN's supporting organizations. Lawrence Lessig - posted on 2000-09-30 11:43:13 If ICANN could facilitate a meaningful process for input into its decisions -- not experts or flash polls, but a deliberative and sustained jury-like process -- then its decisions could reflect something useful. I do not believe ICANN can claim any kind of democratic legitimacy at the moment, but I do believe it might be structured to do something interesting and different.