Introduction:
The ALAC Improvements Review WG Final Report included a recommendation that "the ALAC should develop strategic and operational planning processes (including performance criteria and cost information) as part of ICANN’s planning process." (Recommendation 5).
As part of the implementation of this recommendation, the At-Large Improvements Implementation Work Team C created an action item to "articulate ALAC’s and At-Large’s vision and mission."
The At-Large Improvements Taskforce developed a proposed At-Large Vision Statement during their meeting at the 43rd ICANN Meeting in Costa Rica.
Next Steps:
4-17 May 2012 - This proposed At-Large Vision statement is open for comments between 4-17 May 2012. Please use the comments function on this wiki page to add any suggestions.
21 May 2012 - The At-Large Improvements Taskforce will review and incorporate comments received during their 21 May meeting.
22 May 2012 - The ALAC will review the proposed At-Large Vision Statement during their 22 May ALAC meeting and vote whether to ratify it.
FINAL Revised ALAC/At-Large Vision Statement:
This revised version was prepared by the ALAC/At-Large Improvements Taskforce during their 21 May 2012 teleconference. The draft document will be discussed and voted on by the ALAC during their 22 May 2012 teleconference.
The ALAC, building upon the experience and views of the At-Large community, catalyzes and facilitates inclusive, meaningful participation of general Internet users world-wide, aggregates their input and brings their voice to bear in all ICANN matters.
http://www.bigpulse.com/pollresults?code=2479iejYb3y95kZ4dIXDYPKm
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21 Comments
Eduardo Diaz
My suggestion:
The ALAC and At-Large drives and facilitates inclusive, meaningful participation of all Internet end-users world-wide, aggregates their voices and brings them to bear in all ICANN matters.
Reasoning: the word "catalyzes" is hard to understand, at least for me. I had to look it in the dictionary to check the context. The first time that I read it, I immediately associated this word with the catalytic converter in my car so I suggest we change it to "drives". In addition, I changed the word "input" to "voices" which I think makes it more personal and hence more powerful.
-ed
Anonymous
These are positive changes.
Tom Lowenhaupt
Cintra Sooknanan
Hi everyone,
Thanks for circulating this draft Vision Statement. I would have liked to see a clear plain language and easily translatable Vision. Phrases like "brings their voice to bear in all ICANN matters" are just vague in my opinion. Vision Statements must have a mechanism of measurement as to whether they are being met or not and therefore must be precise.
Also I find it is inapt for the ALAC to be the first structure mentioned in an At Large Vision statement. Perhaps the intention is the mix the two? But I would advise against this route, and instead suggest providing a Vision Statement of ALAC separately.
My amended proposed At-Large Vision Statement is:
* The At-Large community catalyzes and facilitates inclusive, tangible and meaningful participation of Internet end-users worldwide in ICANN matters, particularly through its work in strengthening the RALOs, its representation by the ALAC and its selection of the ICANN At-Large Board Member.
Kind regards
Cintra Sooknanan
Cintra Sooknanan
PS I strongly agree with Eduardo catalyses does not seem to fit.
I mean exactly what does At Large do to CATALYSE (Speed up) participation?
Further there is no recognition that the At Large Represents end users, so please replace "catalyzes" with "represents".
Best
C
Gordon Chillcott
Firstly, I, too, agree with Eduardo's discomfort with the term “catalyzes”.
Cintra's latest suggestion, though, has raised another concern. Eduardo's recommendation suggests that we “drive” active participation by end-users. Cintra suggests the use of the word “represents”. These are different approaches to the challenge of bringing the voices of the end-users to the table.
While some might argue that “representing” the end-user is the more attainable goal, encouraging them to come, actively, to the table should not be left out. I suggest, then that both approaches be somehow included in the vision.
And finally, this plea: In this formal statement of our vision – the reason At-Large exists – could we please drop the acronyms and spell the terms out?
Gordon Chillcott
Heidi Ullrich
This comment is being posted on behalf of Glenn McKnight:
As per the VISION statement
The ALAC and At-Large community catalyzes and facilitates inclusive,
meaningful participation of Internet end-users world-wide, aggregates
their input and brings their voice to bear in all ICANN matters.
Alternative version
The AlAC and the At-Large Community bridges ICANN and the worldwide Internet
end-user community encouraging open and receptive dialogue.
Glenn
16 May 2012
Silvia Vivanco
This comment is being posted on behalf of Johnny Laureano of AUI PERU.
Para observar lo siguiente:
ALAC, es el comite asesor del At-Large, no me parece pertinente estar dentro de la definicion de la visión de la comunidad At-Large, no son dos comunidades, ALAC nace de la Comunidad At-Large. Asimismo, hay redundancia en el texto.
Por tanto, sugiero la declaracion de la vision quede como sigue:
La comunidad de At Large cataliza y facilita de manera incluyente la
participación significativa de los usuarios finales de Internet en todo el mundo y
aporta su voz de manera significativa en todos los asuntos de la ICANN.
Atentamente,
Johnny Laureano
AUI PERU
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I would like to observe the following:
ALAC is the Advisory Committee of At Large, I do not think that it is appropriate to place it within the definition of the At-Large community, these are not two communities, ALAC is born out of the At-Large Community. The text is redundant.
Therefore, I suggest the declaration to be written as follows:
The At Large community catalyzes and facilitates in an inclusive manner the significant participation of final users of Internet in the world and provides their voice in a significant manner in all the ICANN issues.
Sincerely,
Johnny Laureano
AUI PERU
Heidi Ullrich
This comment is being posted on behalf of RJ Glass:
I agree that it could be a bit more detailed, but I like the simplicity and think that it's fine as stated (so far).
The At-Large community catalyzes and facilitates inclusive,
tangible and meaningful participation of Internet end-users worldwide in ICANN matters,
particularly through its work in strengthening the RALOs, its
representation by the ALAC and its selection of the ICANN At-Large Board
Member.
RJGlass
16 May 2012
Anonymous
(This is Beau Brendler).
Generally, I think this vision statement is very weak. I agree with those who have argued against "catalyzes,"
and would also counsel against "facilitates inclusive, tangible and meaningful participation," which is
meaningless, and makes ALAC's function sound as if its function is to make sure everyone gets a speaking
role in a school play. PC crapola doesn't help anybody. And acronyms should stay out.
The mission statement needs to be about making responsible domain name policy in the public interest. It's
that function alone that brings everyone together in the various structures to do their catalyzing and whatnot.
Something like:
--------------
The at-large community advocates for development of domain name system policy in the worldwide
public interest [or in the interest of Internet end-users worldwide].
Eduardo Diaz
I like Beau's simple and to the point statement. It has my vote for this one.
-ed
Cintra Sooknanan
I agree with this, clear and measurable.
Heidi Ullrich
This comment is being posted on behalf of Jean-Jacques Subrenat:
This may be a bit late, but reading once again the draft, I am struck by two potential problems:
- the ALAC and the At-Large structures are bundled together, which in legal terms would suggest a shared responsibility. In process terms, anything from the At-Large structures destined to the Board are voted upon by the ALAC. This is not reflected in the current wording.
- The term "end-user" may give rise to various (legal) interpretations: a corporation, or an NGO, can also claim that definition.
May I suggest a slight rewording:
The ALAC, building upon the experience and views of the At-Large community, catalyzes and facilitates inclusive, meaningful participation of general Internet users world-wide, aggregates their input and brings their voice to bear in all ICANN matters.
Regards,
Jean-Jacques.
17 May 2012
Heidi Ullrich
This comment is being posted on behalf of Alan Greenberg:
I'm afraid that although I have some problems with the proposed vision statement, I do not think that these changes go in the right direction. Two main reasons:
- To say that the At-Large Community (and not the upper case C as per the ICANN Bylaw definition) is there to strenghten the RALOs is a largely circular definition as the RALOs are a core integral part of the ALC.
- Listing that we exist to select a Board member sends a VERY wrong message in my mind. It is a perk of participating in the ICANN ecosystem, but is certainly not our raison d'être.
The issue of ALAC over At-Large can be addressed by simply reversing their order.
Regarding the original statement, I find "catalyzes" the perfect word here, from a point of view of meaning, but do question whether it will be as good in translation.
Alan
17 May 2012
Cintra Sooknanan
It was just to propose some examples of metrics that can be used to determine how and if the Vision is being achieved.
Heidi Ullrich
This comment is being posted on behalf of Darlene Thompson:
I like Cintra's wording!
D
17 May 2012
Heidi Ullrich
This comment is being posted on behalf of Jacqueline Morris:
I agree with Alan, and think that the details of Board member selection and so on are not particularly suited to a vision statement.
However, the proposed statement is a little clumsy to my eyes, especially in the use of the singular verb forms to refer to the plural subject "ALAC AND the At-Large Community".
With regard to the fact that it is a vision statement of the At-Large, I don't see the need to expressly include the ALAC or RALOs at all, given that they are both integral parts of the Community.
Jacqueline A. Morris
17 May 2012
Heidi Ullrich
This comment is being posted on behalf of Joly MacFie:
With regard to the fact that it is a vision statement of the At-Large,
I don't see the need to expressly include the ALAC or RALOs at all,
given that they are both integral parts of the Community.
Agree.
Joly MacFie
17 May 2012
Heidi Ullrich
This comment is being posted on behalf of Gordon Chillcott:
I agree - completely - with Jaqueline, and thank her for saying it rather more effectively than I would have been able to.
Gordon
17 May 2012
Anonymous
(Seth Johnson here)
I was asked to present some notions here which I originally posted on the NNSquad list
See this link and continue with my elaboration below: http://www.nnsquad.org/archives/nnsquad/msg06721.html
The At Large community needs a far better stance and relationship to ICANN to do its job well. Think:
1) Concurrent status
2) A "responsibility of representation" (not real representation as this is not really that kind of body)
3) Asserting the claims of the broader communities to their rights effectively
Those are the things that should inform your Vision statement, what the At Large communities should at minimum see as what they do in the overall scheme.
1) You can't be something people really recognize as government, and 2) you can't let a private entity be the model for what to do in terms of overseeing and stewarding something transnational like the Internet, and 3) multi-stakeholderism doesn't do anything but cast the questions being dealt with here in the kind of consultant/facilitator-speak that works in business contexts but not for according appropriate regard to the concerns at stake here. And 4) too much is being done by treaty-makers acting on behalf of the executive functions of local governments (and the private entities that influence them) without proper regard for the people those government are supposed to serve.
And finally, ICANN is already doing things much like those treaty-makers, making decisions about exclusive rights to works and trademarks -- blithely disregarding the relationship those types of policies have with more fundamental concerns of the people at large.
Those seem to me to be the key pieces of the problem of what we might call "governance" for something like the Internet.
What you *can* do is situate the at large community so its function of representing the broader public interests is placed at the right level in relation to the private entity. Then, while not being representative in a real sense, you can nevertheless describe what the role of rights in relation to what the at large community is all about. In doing that, you can incorporate recognition of local sovereignties, though only in the specific way of recognizing that local governments are the sources by which the broader constituencies assure their rights. In so doing you also do not act as if the joint ICANN-broader-communities entity were a government (or encourage it to act like that, making decisions that have real impacts on rights claims that are necessarily implicated in the stewardship of a transnational medium of communication).
Something like the following is more like the vision the At Large communities and ICANN should have of what it the at-large communities are about, including these key pieces: concurrent status, responsibility to represent, rights, and the local sources by which end users secure their rights:
Vision Statement:
"The ALAC and At-Large community assures the stewardship of the Internet by joining the single private entity of ICANN with a concurrent body acting with the responsibility to represent end users whose rights are implicated in the areas of responsibility overseen by ICANN, and who have secured their rights by the local constitutions and political structures to which they have consented worldwide."
That's more like what you want.
However, noting that a Vision Statement process, done right (even from a consultant/facilitator-speak standpoint), should really precede other things, and noting that most of the rest of the At-Large Improvements process listed here (Recommendation 5) is denoted as complete or substantively complete, I don't know that you're exactly ready to engage with these considerations at this point.
Seth Johnson
Anonymous
Judging by the diversity of comments I would suggest that the working group evaluate the valuable feedback and reformulate the vision statement.
Personally, I would like to see a vision statement in a simple language clearly articulating how we intend to achieve our mission. If the mission is not stated elsewhere, then it needs to be clarified as well.
-Ganesh Kumar
titi.akinsanmi
Agree on comments thus far - a word of thanks to the task force as well - not an easy job trying to compress the entirety of an existence into a few word
Adding these comments:
1. Use of general Internet Users would need a definition/clarification - the vision statement should leave no room for either misunderstanding or misinterpretation.How do we define who is not a general Internet user?
2. Aggregates: this I know refers to bringing up the ALS voices but as we are aware these do not in all regions represent 'general internet users - that is if I understand the meaning intended correctly'...
My two cents
TT