[chapter-delegates] RE: [MemberPubPol] ISOC and WGIG report

[Ian Peter]

Patrick, I agree with what you are trying to achieve. An ISOC position on
WGIG would benefit in both substance and credibility if it were to reflect
the results of widespread consultation with members.

However I am concerned about merely polling the members. There is a great
deal of misinformation about WGIG and UN at present (witness the recent news
release widely promoted by Internet insiders that suggested that if the
United Nations were to become involved Vint Cerf would be replaced by "some
dictators wife's third cousin"). In this sort of climate it's too easy for
polls on simple questions to miss the point, be swayed by emotive fears
rather than careful consideration of the facts, or manipulated depending on
the questions asked and the way they are phrased (I could give a number of
real examples from politics in my country but I guess the same sorts of
things have happened elsewhere as well).

As well, more useful positions are often best arrived at by discussion
rather than simple majority yes/no divisions. 

In short, I am more interested in an exchange of views from which a
consensus position (or at least consensus on some issues) might arise. If,
at the end, there really is no common position, I think it reasonable for
ISOC to say that's its membership holds a variety of views. If WGIG the UN
or all sorts of other bodies can debate differing perspectives and in the
end come up with a common statement, I'm sure ISOC can as well (and I
believe it must consult its members if it wants to be a credible voice in
the upcoming debates).

Ian Peter

 



---Original Message-----
From: memberpubpol-bounces at elists.isoc.org
[mailto:memberpubpol-bounces at elists.isoc.org] On Behalf Of Patrick Vande
Walle
Sent: 29 June 2005 17:16
To: chapter-delegates at lists.isoc.org; memberpubpol at elists.isoc.org
Subject: [MemberPubPol] ISOC and WGIG report

Dearl all,

This is a proposal I have made to the board and I willing to test it 
with the ISOC membership to see if this effort might be worth it, as  I 
keep hearing that "ISOC does not have a position" or "we cannot find a 
consensus", etc regarding public policy. 

My  starting point is that ISOC is a *membership* organization. At the 
end of the day, the membership should have the last word. You elected 
the board members but that does not mean you gave us a blank cheque to 
do whatever we want during our 3 year mandate.  The board may not have 
the replies to all the issues and it should regularly go back to those 
who have elected them for advice, especially if we are not sure what our 
members think.

WGIG will publish its report at the beginning of July. This report will 
suggest different approaches and ISOC should determine which of them it 
is agreeing on and which do no fit our vision of the future of the 
Internet. ISOC should poll is membership on the document and ask it to 
evaluate the WGIG proposals. Staff would compile statistics and 
comments. The results would then become an official
ISOC position. 

Ideally, this would allow ISOC to have clear, unambiguous, and 
forward-looking positions in time for the next PrepCom and the Summit in 
Tunisia at the end of the year. I am well aware that the end results of 
this poll  may not please everyone, but this is the rule of the game. As 
Churchill once stated: " democracy is the worst form of government 
except for all the others".

Best regards,

Patrick Vande Walle

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