Re: [bc-gnso] Vested interests - status quo - market incumbents - anti trust

["Mike O'Connor" <mike@xxxxxxxxxx>]

i'd like to add something to the scope of this discussion -- the question of 
whether the consensus decision-making model is really the best one to use in 
all cases.  the early ICANN documents talk about a "bottom-up process" for 
quite a while.  then, at some point which is hard to pin down, that language 
changed to "bottom-up consensus-based process."  i've had a hard time figuring 
out why that choice was made.  there are all kinds of decision-making processes 
with different strengths and weaknesses.  the primary weaknesses of consensus 
are a) it's not well suited to making decisions quickly or on a schedule and b) 
it can lead to a no-decision outcome (which can be gamed).  

what would be neat, in my view, would be an addition to the chartering process 
which decided what policy-development model AND decision-making approach would 
be used when launching a PDP, with some guidelines to help people decide...

mikey

 
On Aug 11, 2010, at 2:46 AM, Philip Sheppard wrote:

> In the context of the VI debater Mike R has made a telling comment:
>  
> "I do not think it possible to get the support of parties who have a vested 
> economic interest in the status quo"
>  
> This to my mind is one of the key flaws of the WG model of policy 
> development. Incumbents are able to manipulate future markets.
> This has anti-trust implications.
>  
> A User House project could usefully take this up for broader discussion.
> First steps would by CSG agreement to do so.
> Sarah - would you be willing to take this forward?
>  
> Philip

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