[Chapter-delegates] Internet Society Appointments to theNTIA/IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group

[Keith Davidson]

The Nominating Committee of ICANN selects up to 8 members of the 20 
members of the ICANN board. The majority of ICANN Board members are 
selected by the individual "Support Organisations" (for example, the 
ccNSO appoints two ICANN board members) and individual "Advisory 
Councils" (for examples the At Large Advisory Council appoints one 
seat). The Nominations Committee is required under ICANN bylaws to
"seek to ensure that the ICANN Board is composed of members who in the 
aggregate display diversity in geography, culture, skills, experience, 
and perspective".

Cheers

Keith


On 4/07/2014 8:39 a.m., Evan Leibovitch wrote:
> On 3 July 2014 12:09, Richard Hill <rhill at hill-a.ch
> <mailto:rhill at hill-a.ch>> wrote:
>
>     __
>     In democracies, the ultimate authority (parliament) is elected by
>     all those affected, it is not chosen by a NomCom.
>
>
> That's because the ICANN "Nominating Committee" is misnamed.
>
> What ICANN has is a selection committee. A true *NOMINATING* Committee
> would create a ballot of eligible candidates from which an electorate
> would choose representatives. It's that last little step -- having an
> electorate -- that ICANN has consciously dispensed with. It's why ICANN
> has worked so hard to evade the traditional structure of nonprofits
> (such as our Chapter's) whose Boards are accountable to a membership.
>
> Once upon a time there were direct elections to ICANN, which were gamed.
> The response to gaming was to eliminate elections, rather than address
> the gaming issue. Perhaps that over-reaction needs to be revisited,
> especially now that e-voting tech has advanced so much lately.
>
>     My suggestion is that the ultimate oversigh for ICANN's economic
>     regulatory function should be the end-users, that is the registrants
>     of domain names (people/organizations that hold domain name
>     registrations).
>
>
> End users != registrants.
>
> This error occurs frequently within ICANN, and is a constant source of
> required vigilance.
>
> End users are the people sitting at screens or on their mobiles, who
> access the Internet without any need for a domain name or intention to
> possess one. I reject the assertion by many in the domain industry that
> everyone needs to own a domain, that each person on earth is just a
> potential registrant who hasn't yet been adequately marketed to.
>
> Among the current family of registrants -- owning a substantial chunk of
> the total domain name pool -- are name speculators and squatters.
> ICANN's tolerance of their presence creates artificial scarcity, raises
> the cost of Internet entry to startup businesses, and causes legitimate
> site and brand owners to needlessly register defensive names. (They also
> dramatically inflate the total number of extant domains, which is now
> arguably a source of ICANN's own financial dependence. But that's a
> different thread.)
>
> In this family are also those who create domain names with intent to
> defraud. This is why the Red Cross request for domain name protection
> came in for special attention at the ICANN Board recently (supported by
> the GAC and ALAC), why the lack of enforced WHOIS accuracy has become a
> source of controversy, and why the ALAC continues to challenge the
> utility of gTLD "Public Interest Committments" over the protests of the
> domain industry.
>
> So, Richard, I must take issue with your definition. While the interests
> of registrants often have much in common with those of end users, they
> are most certainly not 100% in sync and occasionally in direct opposition.
>
> Registrants have their own constituencies within the "Non-Contracted
> House" half of ICANN's GNSO, from which they protect their interests.
> That's not At-Large, which, like ISOC, exists to assert the perspective
> of end-users -- the billions outside ICANN's direct revenue stream who
> are nonetheless impacted by its actions.
>
> - Evan
>
>
>
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