Richy Henderson and for an equitable solution for all legitimate Sunrise and Landrush
applicantsI have learned that each of us, in no matter what we do, have only one
choice - and that is to be either constructive or destructive. I have also
learned that we can never do merely one thing. For whatever we do or decide
- whether it is action or inaction - there will be repercussions - like ripples in
a pond.
Richy Henderson has been touched as have so may of us by the abomination
of the Afilias .info roll out. Richy decided he could not sit by when it became
apparent that the .info rollout was going horribly wrong - for the legitimate Sunrise
and Landrush applicants - apparently because of the way in which the boards of Afilias
and ICANN have become incestuously intertwined and the operation of ICANN appears
to have become something akin to that of a feudal kingdom or empire - with the self
interest of the most powerful having sway in decision making.
Richy's crime is
that he stood up to be counted and assumed the role of an information centre, recording
detail of the results of a process agreed to by Afilias and ICANN - the process we
know is fatally flawed - and that was bound to produce grief for legitimate Sunrise
and Landrush applicants - but was permitted by the Afilias and ICANN boards, despite
fierce opposition by those who could foresee the outcome.
Honest men have now walked
away from Afilias, believing that they could not produce changes for the good from
within the organisation.
Richy decided as many of us have, that he could not sit
by while the interests of the few were apparently being served, to the detriment
of the broad Internet community.
Richy's crime is that he has assisted to expose
the complicity of the Afilias and ICANN boards.
Where there is no accountability,
where there are not appropriate processes or checks and balances, where vested monetary
interests are put before the good of the broader community, where good men depart
- men like Richy have to stand in community action groups to fight from the outside.
The
Afilias and ICANN boards configured a .info rollout strategy that suited their purposes,
without the due care or consideration for those things necessary to be successful
in business - the needs and expectations of the customers. The weakness of
the Afilias .info rollout strategy was seized upon by the gullible and opportunistic
with the result that the Afilias .info registry is now without integrity, compromised
and in tatters due to the institutional cybersquatting permitted by the inadequacy
of the strategy and the lack of will of the strategists to protect the interests
of the broader community.
Richy and the rest of us who entered into preregistration
agreements with accredited and affiliated registrars are still shaking our heads
as to why, when it first became apparent that the .info rollout was going horribly
wrong there was not immediate action by the boards of Afilias and ICANN. The
lame advice we received was that the inequitous challenge process was in place and
fraudulent registrations brought to Afilias's attention would be examined.
Despite
the fact that it is now apparent that some registrars with brains and hearts checked
the bona fides of apparently fraudulent Sunrise applications and rejected those that
could not be supported, and are maintaining lists of Landrush applications for fraudulently
registered Sunrise names - Afilias provides no new information in more than a fortnight
to give hope to the Landrush applicants that they will be dealt with in an equitable
way - and are apparently providing their registrars with no guidance as to whether
Landrush applicant's preregistrations are an asset or a liability - as some registrars
are billing for preregistrations for names fraudulently taken in Sunrise while
others are not - yet.
Afilias and ICANN, your ramparts are high and you deal with
dissent from within very effectively, but you can not put someone in the stocks or
cut out their tongue for speaking out against your destructive actions and inactions.
It
is you the Afilias and ICANN boards who have chosen the lose lose option, when you
could have chosen the win win, and your decision to silence Richy, like the ripples
in the pond will only serve to galvanise the efforts of the rest of us who are going
to continue to fight for a fair deal for the legitimate Sunrise and Landrush applicants,
and to work toward a representative, responsive, accountable, transparent, sustainable,
and equitably operation of ICANN.
Will the current Afilias and ICANN boards please
demonstrate that you are responsive, responsible and equitable by removing the forum
block on Richy Henderson and by announcing that the best interests of the legitimate
Sunrise and Landrush applicants will be acknowledged by way of a Landrush which includes
their preregistration applications for names fraudulently registered in Sunrise.
There
is still time. Please do it in order to start to win back the trust and confidence
of the Internet community.