[IDNO:414] Re: [discuss] Re: a democracy can defend itself

Karl Auerbach (karl@CaveBear.com)
Wed, 16 Jun 1999 17:44:01 -0700 (PDT)


> > ... And one of the criteria very well may be that you
> > support the concept and goals of an individual domain name holders
> > constituency within the DNSO.
>
> That won't work.

I agree with Kent on this one -- we really need to embrace diverse views,
not reject them. If ICANN were to require that people strongly adhere to
its concepts and goals I could foresee that some of us might find
ourselves being shown the door.

> Personally, I don't think that owning a domain should be a
> requirement for membership.

That's a tough one and I'm in sympathy with the notion of opening it up to
anybody and everybody who could ever have a domain name, in other words
everbody.

I get the impression however, that we have to draw some lines somewhere.
And having actual ownership, or the effective equivalent, seems to be a
workable line. And, as others have mentioned, one can always obtain an
undisputed name on which to base membership for not too many dollars.
(Yes, I know that that would really feel like a rotten thing when somebody
has taken the name that I had and really want to use.)

> "Any real individual with an interest in Domain Names may
> participate. Proof of existence may be required."

I'd like that. But I'm not sure we could squeeze that past the ICANN
board, since they seem to want to have some boundaries.

> One of the problems I see with any form of IDNO is that it is a
> *intrinsically* in conflict with the notion of a General Assembly.

I think what we will get to here is a revival of our now age-old dispute
about the relative powers of the ICANN board versus the powers of the SOs.

The NC has certain powers and the GA has certain powers. One thing that I
hope we can agree on is that those powers only partially overlap. It's in
those areas of non-overlap that make membership in both the NC and the GA
each important, and different.

So it is important for the IDNO to be a constituency.

> It is intrinsically in conflict, because the characteristic of
> "individual domain name holder" is covers an extremely broad range of
> interests

Right. I have trademarks of my own and by some very long stretches of
imagination I could be considered an ISP. Since the constituency
boundaries are not drawn using consistent criteria it is impossible to
prevent overlap.

>From what I've seen the current thinking on membership is to let the IDNO
be a place where individuals can go *unless* they opt to be in another
constituency. .

--karl--

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