[Comment-Dnso] Reply to Hurtado

[Michael Schneider <sastre@anwalt.de>]

Dear Mr Hurtado,

you wrote:

>ASIMELEC is very sad to see that some ISP organizations, without further
consultation, are trying to capture the ISP Constituency of the DNSO.

After returning from a business trip lasting several days I've just read
your comments with a mixture of astonishment and dismay. Your choice of
words strikes me as unusually (and completely unnecessarily) aggressive.
Although I'll be heading out in a few hours for another business trip
lasting several days, I feel I should respond briefly in view of your
peremptory tone and the scope of our demands.

To avoid misunderstandings, let me begin by summarising the contents of
your each other posting in my own words:

You assume that any application not previously coordinated with your
organisation - in your view the most important representative of the
Spanish ISP industry - must be devoid of any legitimacy. You further
presume that those who signed the application did so with the intention of
staging a coup to take over the ISP constituency and excluding other ISP
representatives from the constituency.

Frankly, I find this statement surprising for a number of reasons.

First, I am familiar with a number of Spanish associations which claim to
represent the ISP industry. I feel this is the wrong time and place to
discuss this question at length, so I would prefer to note diplomatically
that when we embarked on preparations for the European Internet Service
Providers Association just under two years ago, we found that Spain was the
most difficult country of all when it came to analysing the structure of
its associations. I have looked back over the long list of e-mails from
that period, and after reviewing only a few I see half a dozen associations
presented to us as the legitimate Spanish representative, including Sedisi,
Astel, Anprotel, Asimelec and AUI. In addition to these, an "ISPA Spain"
was formed during our discussions with our Spanish colleagues. At the time
we were involved in intensive discussions which led to ANRPOTEL joining
EuroISPA. Subsequently - with the exception of the newly-formed
ISPA-association and a few individuals - we never heard from anybody
claiming that the Spanish ISP industry was not adequately represented. I am
surprised that you have now done so, particularly in this manner.

I find it even more surprising that you have now chosen to go public for
the first time in the context of the formation of ICANN and DNSO, and to
question everything that has been done so far. I certainly do not recall
seeing you at any of the innumerable meetings during the last two years. If
you did attend a conference organised by IANA, IFWP, ICANN or one of the
DNSO meetings in Barcelona (the Catalonians may take it amiss, but for a
foreign this is a part of Spain!), Monterey or Washington, then I must have
missed you. However, I cannot imagine that you could have missed me, as I
was a frequent contributor to the debate.

In these circumstances, there was no reason for me or any of the others I
have spoken to (including the ten European associations which are EuroISPA
members) to contact you. Having said this, we have involved all those who
have made a name for themselves at association level of the past few months
and years, along with the representatives of ISPs and TelCos who have
distinguished themselves by their efforts in the course of the formation of
DNSO. If you look at the list of signatories, you will see (if you are at
all familiar with the scene) that they are not exactly lightweights.

Even if I were to agree - and I would be perfectly prepared to do so - that
you represent the Spanish ISP industry as a whole, and that you are
prepared to play a significant role at the international level now that you
have taken note of the evolution at DNSO, I must ask why you have chosen to
take such an undiplomatic position in your first appearance on the
international stage? Instead of pounding the table unnecessarily, I would
have strongly suggested that you should have read our application through
at leisure before attacking it. Had you done so, you would have seen the
note in the introduction that "in the view of the undersigned, this
document will until its ratification by the ICANN Board remain the basis
for further discussion and revisions".

Under the circumstances, I would ask you to reconsider your general "no"
and submit constructive criticisms with concrete suggestions for future
wording, which we can then discuss - naturally, with your participation.

Best regards,
Michael Schneider

-- 
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 | Michael Schneider Chairman,  eco - Electronic Commerce Forum e.V.  |
 |                   President, European Internet Service Providers   |
 |                              Association                           |
 |                   Chairman,  Complaint Commission of the German    |
 |                              Multimedia-Service-Providers Hotline  |
 | c/o  Schneider & Schollmeyer Law Firm,   Phone: +49 2242 9270-0    |
 | Dickstrasse 35, D-53773 Hennef      Michael.Schneider@Anwalt.DE    |