[ALSC-Forum] Point of no return?

[Cecily & Ralph Wood]

It is now time to determine whether ICANN is a failed experiment, or
whether it can be made to function.  Right now its problems go WAY
beyond whether it has a functioning At Large constituency, legally
required or not.

Has it any basis in reality?

Its lack of forthcoming to even elected board members on its finances,
including the information that it has not even filed those records
required by law, and suspicions of irregularities - this, in itself, is
perhaps enough to bring it down in flames, especially given the post
Enron atmosphere.

Has it actually performed what it was supposed to?  Only minimally, I
think, and there are many indications that it is simply being ignored.

Is it worth saving, or should we abandon it and let it crash and burn?
It's time to make a decision.  Mr. Morfin has suggested some concrete
steps to creating a new entity that would avoid the problems besetting
the present ICANN.  It requires a lot of support from the other
bottom-up constituencies, and might not be workable.  Still, we can
learn from our old mistakes, which might lessen the number of new
mistakes we make.

We have several people willing to donate significant money and resources
for the creation of an At Large.  I think we must do something, do it
now, and my preference is to do it outside of ICANN, so we can either
pressure and fix the present ICANN, or we can work toward a new and
better method of managing the necessary internet functions.

We've all maintained that to be efficient in gathering together a core
of At Large members, we need access to the "member" lists and voting
lists from the first At Large election, but we've never been able to pry
them out of ICANN.  It is often pointed out information is far less
secure and far more available than we expect.  Is there no other source
of this information?  What about the foundation that underwrote the
funding for the election and that monitored it?  If they were convinced
we were legitimately creating our own At Large, would they be persuaded
to share such information, assuming they might have it (in an off-site
backup somewhere, or in some staffer's archives)?

I cannot offer you money.  I can offer interest, common sense, and
reasonable intelligence.  And, in July I will be retired, so I might be
able to offer you time, although I hope to be starting my own business.
Cecily