[Chapter-delegates] ChAC-SC Advice notice

Sun Mar 1 17:22:04 PST 2020

Mike,

This is a situation where tensions run high and a lot is on the line.
There has been a general tendency to group people into "camps" -- as "for"
or "against" the transaction.  That loses a lot of nuance, to say the
least.  I think you are mistaken to assume that "many members of this list
oppose the sale."  Even if this were true, it would be a mistake to build
on this Chapters Delegates list and assume that many members of the *Chapters
Advisory Council *oppose the sale.  To be clear, this is not the ChAC email
list -- there are many people on this list who are not on the ChAC, and
reading this list is not a substitute for understanding what transpired on
the ChAC.

These mistaken assumptions seems to be the springboard for your mistaken
perception that efforts were made to suppress dissent, and that multiple
members of the ChAC "participated" in this "suppression."  I'm disappointed
to see you make such a strong accusation.  The last thing we need here is a
spitting match between members of the Board and members of the ChAC.

I would say that the prevailing sense on the ChAC list -- and behind the
ChAC Advice -- is one of deep *concern* about elements of the transaction
and lack of information, concern about the buyer and their plans, and
concern *for* ISOC.    Underlying that is a desire for substantive dialogue
-- about the transaction, about PIR post-transaction, about the way in
which ISOC handled the transaction, and where ISOC goes from here.  The
idea was to stop long enough for the BoT to consider the concerns that the
ChAC had been working since December to put it into Advice.

The word "scrupulous" was being used to mean that ChAC leadership was
adhering to procedural norms, was not being sloppy or off-hand in its
application of the rules, that it was not playing games unscrupulously to
manufacture a result. That is why it was so distressing to see you
(cleverly) seize on the word "scrupulous," elide it with "meticulous" and
twist this into an accusation the ChAC of manipulating the rules to smother
dissent or participation (which would hardly show "scruples.").  As you
noted three days ago, "adherence to procedural norms minimizes the risks of
misinformation and misperception."  I believe that states the goal of ChAC
leadership.

Proving "impressions" wrong can sometimes be difficult, since impressions
are not necessarily evidence-based -- but in this case, it shouldn't be too
difficult.  I will give it a shot in a follow-up email.  I hope you will
see that your impressions are wrong.

Finally, my experience with consensus may be less broad than yours, but in
the ICANN context, the consensus process of decision-making is not used
"primarily with regard to issues around which there is little or no
controversy."  Rather, consensus is used for virtually *every* policy
development decision.  There is no sense in the ChAC charter or rules that
consensus is limited in the fashion you suggest.  Rather, it is the primary
decision making tool.  Interestingly, the ChAC rules offer a "way out" that
ICANN's consensus methods do not -- a single statement of *opposition*
forces a vote, with the decision made by a majority vote, with the quorum
being 19 delegates.  No such statement was received during the one-week
long consensus call.

Best regards,

Greg

--------------------------------------------------------------------
*Greg Shatan | President, ISOC-NY*
greg at isoc-ny.org

*"The Internet is for everyone"*

On Sun, Mar 1, 2020 at 7:13 PM Mike Godwin via Chapter-delegates <
chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> First of all, let me apologize for seeming to be clever, or seeming to
> attempt cleverness.
>
> I take very seriously the fact that many members of this list oppose the
> sale, and I entirely support their right to oppose it.
>
> My concern about what seems to me to be efforts to suppress dissent is
> genuine, but that means that nothing would please me more than to learn
> that my impressions are incorrect.
>
> I would prefer to believe that no dissent is being suppressed,
> procedurally or any other way. I am happy if I can be proved wrong with
> regard to any of the impressions I have expressed prior to now.
>
> Please accept both my sincere apology and my reaffirmation of my sincere
> concerns.
>
> Mike
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 1, 2020 at 7:02 PM John More <morej1 at mac.com> wrote:
>
>> Your aspersions are completely out of bounds.  Your cleverness about due
>> process is only cleverness.
>>
>> I happen to be a supporter of the sale, since I believe the Trustees had
>> a duty to diversify the assets of ISOC by getting out of the .org business.
>> That is not to say, I think the process could not have been different and
>> the the sort of protections now being implemented were not needed.
>>
>> I would have welcomed incorporating reflecting whatever dissent you
>> wanted to make, especially if it were supporting the sale.
>>
>> John More
>>
>> On Mar 1, 2020, at 5:29 PM, Mike Godwin <mnemonic at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Richard writes:
>>
>> 'With due respect, the ChAC process was scrupulously followed, as
>> Eduardo has explained. You apparently think that that process is not
>> appropriate. You are of course entitled to you views, but it is the process
>> that was approved by the Board.'
>>
>> The notion that scrupulous adherence to due process is a defense is a
>> common argument in Hell. See, e.g., this statement by Grant Gilmore:
>>
>>
>> https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/342530-the-ages-of-american-law-the-storrs-lectures-series
>>
>> In relevant sentence: "In hell there will be nothing but law, and due
>> process will be meticulously observed.”
>>
>> Your argument that that due process was "scrupulously" followed is no
>> comfort to the dissenters whom you participated in suppressing.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 1, 2020 at 5:07 PM John More via Chapter-delegates <
>> chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Juan
>>>
>>> I fully recognize how busy most of us are. There is a difference between
>>> the elists which are often loaded with repetitious comments and can be a
>>> waste of time. The ChapterAC process for the advice was clear and
>>> scrupulously followed. Moreover, it involved relatively minimal time
>>> demands except for those of us on the drafting committee. All that was
>>> required was to review the draft and send in an email opposition. If there
>>> had been opposition expressed, a vote would have been required.
>>>
>>> So I agree that silence is not assent, but it is a “consent" that the
>>> proposal go forward without a formal vote, especially since withholding
>>> consent was fairly easy to do.
>>>
>>> I do hope you will be able to be involved if the ChaptersAC has another
>>> issue like this one.
>>>
>>> Yours,
>>>
>>> John More
>>> ISOC-DC
>>>
>>> > On Mar 1, 2020, at 4:04 PM, Juan C. Cigala, Internet Society Canarias
>>> via Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > I agree with Franca and Solomon, silence is not consent.
>>> >
>>> > Many of us haven't the time to take care of this kind of never ending
>>> kind of discussions.
>>> >
>>> > I support the debate, but with the due respect for the time of the
>>> others.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On 2/27/2020 04:49, Solomon Hopewell Kembo via Chapter-delegates wrote:
>>> >> I agree with Franca, silence is not consent.
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
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>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
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