Internal Accountability

[Danny Younger <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>]

This document cites as an "Internal Accountability"
factor the "Representative Composition of the ICANN
Board".  As we all know, the users have no
representatives on this Board -- they were eliminated
when ICANN purged all at-large directors from the
board several years ago -- as such, there is no
true internal accountability.

Had there been user representatives on half of the
board, do you think that we would have gone for the
last five years without registrant data escrow?

Had there been user representatives on half of the
board, do you think that we would have waited for a
calamity like RegisterFly before acting to update the
RAA?

Had there been user representatives on half of the
board, do you think that we would still be
paying the outrageous Redemption Grace Period fees
that are being assessed?

Had there been user representatives on half of the
board, do you think that we would have tolerated the
VeriSign price increase?

There was a reason why the White Paper called for a
balanced board, because you cannot allow special
interest communities to dominate an organizational
agenda at the expense of the public interest.

At the moment we have a Nominating Committee that
selects almost half of the Board, yet the vast bulk of
these Nominating Committee members hail from the
special interest communities -- the end result:  board
appointments that reflect special-interest
community concerns while the needs of the public
continue to get scant attention.  

Accountability demands that we honor the principle of
a balanced board.  

We have gone from the promise of at-large directors on
half of the board to having no at-large directors
whatsoever.  This is totally irresponsible and an
insult to the broader Internet community.  The
pendulum must swing back in the other direction for
the sake of true accountability -- anything less will
continue to be a sham.



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