Question: I've reviewed much of the material at hand - including every Q&A. I'm not looking for reasons to reject candidates; therefore, I still need clarification - i.e., I get the basic wisdom of small footprint... what are practical(desireable) committments for *future* ICANN leadership to an @Large body?

Nominee Replies

Emerson Tiller, J.D., Ph.D. - posted on 2000-10-08 21:03:10 Practical and desireable committments: Allowing at large member participation in policy formation (whether through petitions or deliberative models of decisionmaking); Election of majority of directors by at large membership; Full information to at large membership about ICANN activities and meetings. Lawrence Lessig - posted on 2000-10-07 06:40:55 The most important commitment is to build an at-large forum, where the membership has ongoing input into the process. I want to experiment with deliberative polling structures, that would bring members into groups that would deliberate about ICANN issues, and then report the deliberations back. That technique, as well as others, could allow the at-large membership to keep a regular and powerful check on the board's actions. Barbara Simons - posted on 2000-10-05 14:20:14 The global issue is that there is the danger that the Internet will go the way of radio. In the early days of radio, people were talking about how radio would allow everyone to communicate and to exchange ideas via this new and exciting medium. (See the History of Radio link on my web page http://barbara.simons.org/). The at large membership must play a key role and must acquire political power within ICANN if we are going to prevent the Internet from being tamed and turned into a vehicle that is used almost exclusively for commercial interests. The stakes are very high, and there is a great deal of money and power in play. So this will be a very difficult task indeed. If I am elected to the Board, my first priority will be to try to introduce more democracy into ICANN. In order to do this, people need to be able to participate. Therefore, my first undertaking will be to call for well defined policies and procedures, so that there is adequate time for individuals and public interest groups to read and comment on documents and proposals. This is a very mundane topic after talking about something so grand as the fate of the Internet, but it is directly related. The alternative is that we will continue with the current methodology for doing business, which means that there can be important documents released for public comment only days prior to a vote by the Board. Large organizations with a stable of lawyers can deal with such short notice, but the rest of us are effectively cut out of the process. I shall also use every opportunity that I have to push for an increased voice for the at large membership. If I am not elected to the Board, I intend to work with the other progressive candidates to use the visibility that we have received from the election to attempt to better organize the at large membership. It's not clear to me how this can be done, since ICANN does not provide any mechanism for us to communicate among ourselves. If you or any other reader of this response has a suggestion, please let me know.