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background-size: auto; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat
repeat;">As usual, Robin, perceptive, correct and to the point. As well as
extremely depressing. We have a lot of work to do and nowhere better to
start than in the public comments.</div>
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background-clip: border-box; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);
background-size: auto; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat
repeat;">For those who have never done a public comment it's pretty
easy, quite painless in fact, and they do have an impact. If anyone would
like to do one but is a bit nervous or unsure as to how to approach it
please send me an e-mail: I'm happy to help, as I'm sure several
others would as well. Getting decent volume on this particular
critical issue is very important. Let's do it!</div>
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background-size: auto; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat
repeat;">Thanks for sharing Robin, </div>
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repeat;">Ed</div>
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<blockquote style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px;
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">-----Original
Message-----<br />
From: Robin Gross <robin@IPJUSTICE.ORG><br />
To: NCSG-DISCUSS@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU<br />
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 21:10:22 -0700<br />
Subject: Do Not Empower Non-Democratic Governments' Control Over the
Internet with this Draconian "GAC Veto" on ICANN Board
Decisions<br />
<br />
Hi all,
<div> </div>
<div>Below are my comments on the extreme proposal to amend ICANN's
bylaws to impose GAC "advice" on the Internet unless 2/3 of the
non-conflicted members of ICANN's board (would there ever be such a
number given the many board conflicts?) are able to oppose the GAC
"advice" (why are we still calling it "advice"?)</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I've also made a blog post to encourage others to post comments to
the <a
href="https://www.icann.org/public-comments/bylaws-amend-gac-advice-2014-08-15-en">
public forum</a> here:</div>
<div> <a href="http://bit.ly/1rBtbKl">http://bit.ly/1rBtbKl</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>I hope you all will consider weighing-in and standing-up for freedom on
the Internet by encouraging the board to reject this proposal that give
non-democratic governments power over the Internet via ICANN's board.
It is a very important issue - perhaps one of the most important that
ICANN has faced since its inception, so it is a major change and worth
paying attention to.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Thank you,</div>
<div>Robin</div>
<div> </div>
<div>PS: You can submit comments by sending an email to <a
href="mailto:comments-bylaws-amend-gac-advice-15aug14@icann.org?subject=Proposed%20Bylaws%20Change%20to%20Give%20Govts%20Dominate%20Decision%20Making%20on%20ICANN%20Board%20Should%20be%20Rejected"
style="color: rgb(100, 100, 128); background-color: transparent;
text-decoration: underline; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; "><span
style="font-size: medium; ">
comments-bylaws-amend-gac-advice-15aug14@icann.org</span></a>
<div>Comment Deadline: 14 Sept. 2014</div>
<div>Reply Deadline: 6 Oct. 2014</div>
<div>
<div>Begin forwarded message:</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;
margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;
color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>From: </b></span><span
style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">Robin Gross <<a
href="mailto:robin@ipjustice.org">robin@ipjustice.org</a>></span></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;
margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;
color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Subject: </b></span><span
style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><b>Do Not Empower
Non-Democratic Governments' Control Over the Internet with this
Draconian "GAC Veto" on ICANN Board Decisions</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;
margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;
color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Date: </b></span><span
style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">August 27, 2014 3:50:13
PM PDT</span></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;
margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;
color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>To: </b></span><span
style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><a
href="mailto:comments-bylaws-amend-gac-advice-15aug14@icann.org">
comments-bylaws-amend-gac-advice-15aug14@icann.org</a></span></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;
margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;
color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Bcc: </b></span><span
style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">Robin Gross <<a
href="mailto:robin@ipjustice.org">robin@ipjustice.org</a>></span></div>
<div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space;
-webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">
<div>Dear ICANN,</div>
<div> </div>
<div>This draconian proposal to change ICANN's bylaws would
fundamentally transform ICANN away from being a "bottom-up" and
"private-sector-led" organization and into a governmental
regulatory agency by changing the GAC's role from "advisory"
into "primary decision maker" by essentially creating a
"governmental veto" on all key organizational decisions.
This would mark a truly significant change in the overall power
structure at ICANN that would dramatically empower national governments
(some democratic, some authoritarian) over the management of critical
Internet resources at the expense of those who participate in the bottom-up
policy development process.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>This extreme proposal undermines any hope of a bottom-up process for
policy development at ICANN and kills the incentive for volunteers to
participate in ICANN since governments will be empowered to veto the
bottom-up policy that was developed by years of hard work and painful
compromises on the part of all stakeholders.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Ironically, it is often ICANN's own board and staff who do the most
to undermine the "multi-stakeholder model for Internet
governance", and this proposal, if passed, would be a prime
illustration of that fact. By making additional concessions to GAC
that give governments more power at ICANN, the board would be relinquishing
its responsibility to provide oversight of the organization's
operations. And since so many non-GAC board members are
"conflicted" on issues that are of greatest significance to the
org's work, in reality it will take far more than 2/3 of the board to
resist the mandatory imposition of GAC "advice" by ICANN.
There is nothing to prevent GAC from becoming a voting body that
imposes its majority will on the entire Internet via the ICANN board; and
this bylaws change would certainly incentivize such a reaction from GAC.
Since ICANN claimed in its recent <a
href="https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/determination-amazon-22aug14-en.pdf">
determination</a> of the BGC Reconsideration Request 14-35 (which
refused to release any information about GAC policy deliberations) that <i>
GAC is not a part of ICANN</i>, it is inexplicable why ICANN would choose to
give what it claimed in its determination is <i>NOT a part of ICANN </i>the
predominate decision making position on the ICANN Board of Directors.
That is quite a quiet transfer<b> </b>of power and resources
<i>"away from ICANN"</i> to a non-accountable, non-transparent,
non-bottom-up, non-private-sector-led organization over the management of
critical Internet resources. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>It should not be forgotten that many of the governments who participate
within the GAC are not democratically elected; meaning citizens in
those countries do not have free and fair elections in which people govern
themselves; meaning those governments are not bottom-up; meaning those
non-democratic governments are illegitimate in their authority and have no
right to demand a decision making role over <i>anyone</i>, let alone the
entire world via the ICANN board. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Why ICANN would voluntarily choose to empower non-democratic
governments with an even greater say over global Internet policies as this
bylaws change would do is anyone's guess. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>One of the most precious aspects of the Internet is the ability of
activists and the disenfranchised to communicate with the world outside from
an authoritarian government'' control by using the Internet.
This bylaws proposal, if passed, will ultimately stifle use of the
Internet for both disenfranchised people and those who live in democracies
but will still be governed by the GAC via this ICANN Board "veto".
Unfortunately many governments view the Internet either as a threat to
their control of their citizens, or as a powerful tool that enables their
control of their citizens - this is true in both democracies and
non-democracies, and that stifling view will be recklessly empowered by the
adoption of this bylaws change.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>This is a truly dangerous proposal that would send the Internet back
towards the dark ages when the Crown controlled access to printing presses
and what information was allowed to spread. For the ICANN Board to
empower non-democratic governments by approving this bylaws change would be
among the worst damage done to the health and growth of the free and open
Internet since it was created. The ICANN Board should recognize its
obligation to promote democracy and protect everyone's use of the
Internet, but especially the disenfranchised by not empowering authoritarian
governments' control of the Internet with the adoption of this draconian
bylaws change.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Thank you,</div>
<div>Robin Gross</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Note: I am a member of the Executive Committee of ICANN's
Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG), but submit this comment solely in
my personal capacity.</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
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