Question: How can social-oriented groups, such as spontaneous open-source collaborations or spontaneous political groups on the web, that are not non-profits but which are certainly working on non-profit-like activities, help resolve and have accessibility to ICANN and the DNS system?

Nominee Replies

Emerson Tiller, J.D., Ph.D. - posted on 2000-10-08 21:12:09 They should make their presence known both in the supporting organizations and the at large membership. Their participation is needed. Lawrence Lessig - posted on 2000-10-07 06:59:35 Right now as models. We need to figure a way to build an at-large forum. Many of the organizations you refer to have demonstrated valuable models for doing just that. More of that. Barbara Simons - posted on 2000-10-04 12:58:57 It ain't easy. Such groups are unlikely to have the $50K required to submit an application for a new TLD. But, that aside (and it's a big aside), there is an even more fundamental problem. ICANN does not have a good publicly stated set of policies and procedures. I know it sounds really mundane and boring to talk about policies and procedures, but they are the foundation upon which the organization is built. The ACM Internet Governance Project has been involved with some critical ICANN activities. ACM is a not-for-profit scientific and professional society, and we have a very limited budget for ICANN work. Consequently, we had only one (very dedicated) lawyer working with us. She had experiences such as receiving a document of about 50 pages on a Friday with a planned conference call to discuss that document scheduled for the following Monday. Of course she was at a tremendous disadvantage relative to large companies that might have ten or twenty lawyers available to review the document. Not having the time to adequately review a document is really significant, since a key phrase buried somewhere in that document could have a major impact. If I am elected to the Board, one of my first undertakings will be to try to establish some good policies and procedures that allow adequate time for review and comment, and to post these policies in an obvious location on the ICANN web page.