Re: [ALSC-Forum] Evaluation of NAIS and ALSC Reports

[L Gallegos]

 Joe:
Many of us use text only cients.  This email, as you can  see, was cut off and had to be stripped of html code.  I (and  others) would appreciate text email as I do not read html  messages.

Leah


On 7 Sep 2001, at 8:54, Joe Sims wrote:  

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN ICANN - THE AT LARGE DEBATE   Joe Sims*  * What follows is a personal evaluation of these  documents. It does not necessarily represent the views of any  member of the ICANN Board or staff, and is obviously a single  perspective on a complex set of issues. I hope it will contribute to  the ongoing dialog.  INTRODUCTION  One of the important  remaining issues relating to ICANN's organization is how to  achieve an appropriate level of public participation in ICANN without  impairing its ability to effectively carry out its principal mission - to  preserve the operational stability of the Domain Name System.  While there is little disagreement on the concept of public  participation, the type and approach have been vigorously debated  since before ICANN's creation. In 2000, ICANN failed to find a  consensus position after considerable effort, and fell back to a  temporary compromise - the direct election of an ICANN Board  member from each of five geographic regions, and the  establishment of a blue ribbon At Large Study Committee (ALSC),  headed by the former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, to seek  a final resolution that could achieve consensus support throughout  the ICANN community.  The ALSC has now released what it  describes as a draft final report. It will take further input during  ICANN's meeting in Montevideo (now underway) and will produce a  final report to the ICANN Board prior to the 2001 Annual Meeting  scheduled for Los Angeles in November of this year.  As part of  this debate, the Markle Foundation, an organization interested in  global communications policy, funded an effort by a group of public  interest groups and academics to examine the 2000 elections, and  to make recommendations to the ALSC and the ICANN Board on  the subject. This group has now produced the NGO and Academic  ICANN Study (NAIS), a lengthy report containing both evaluations  by region of last year's elections and the authors'   views on the  proper approach for ICANN moving f