Re: [ALSC-Forum] Re: a proposed action statement

[Joop Teernstra]

At 20:59 26/10/01 -0700, Mike Roberts wrote:

>With apologies to the non-US members of this list, I'd like to make some 
>comments that are inevitably US-centric.
>
>Today marked a watershed day in the history of the Internet.  In some 
>sense, the real date was September 11, when the leadership role of the 
>United States in world peace, in economic development, and in technology 
>innovation was challenged by a group of determined religious fanatics 
>using our own technology on us to cause the death of thousands of innocent 
>people.
>
>But the legal date between the "old" Internet and the "new Internet was 
>today, October 26, 2001,when President George Bush signed the 
>anti-terrorism bill that was passed by the upper house of Congress 
>yesterday with one dissenting vote.

Mike,

I understand where you are coming from and agree with you that it is now 
the men with the guns that speak to the world and that it is prudent to listen.

However, they are not right just because of their might. More than any 
previous war, this war is a propaganda war. A war to win individual hearts 
and minds.
The internet will play a hugely important role.
ICANN too, with its global constituency, will have to make its choices.

The net effect of your speech and Freedman quotations may well  be that it 
will drive Individuals who are passionate about defending Democracy, 
Justice, checks and balances in (Internet) governance and other important 
elements of a livable future world  to unify on a course of action that 
will make them abandon ICANN.

This is a time for the ALSC  to make its choices and consider changing its 
draft proposals at least on the point where it returns the required balance 
to the Board seats.

In this way it will get the required consensus support, and ICANN may even 
become meaningful in the coming battles.



--Joop