Comments

[Nell Minow <nminow@xxxxxxxxx>]

I begin by endorsing the comments of Jan Aart Scholte, which express my 
concerns with more eloquence and depth.  To reiterate my comments on our 
conference call: ·     I share Jan Aart Scholte's concerns about the  
accountability of the groups and how they’re selected.  If we are not more 
specific, we can find ourselves in an infinite regression of groups that 
oversee the groups that oversee the groups that oversee the groups. It is 
important that we be more specific that in order to participate, the groups 
have to be able to demonstrate that their own mechanisms for internal 
governance and for keeping their membership fresh and independent are 
sufficient.  If we do not set minimum requirements for what qualifies as a 
"community" with oversight authority, this will not have any meaning.
·     With regard to our frequent mentions of the importance of transparency, 
we also need to be more specific. We’re talking about organization that is core 
to the most transparency-friendly entity in the history of the world, and yet 
we don’t have any specifics about what the organization needs to do when there 
are say, for example, proposed bylaw changes, to make sure that they are widely 
disseminated.We need to have some specifics about making sure that they take 
specific steps to make sure that everything they do and everything that the 
advisory groups do is as widely disseminated as possible, even to the extent of 
outlining the minimums for social media reach and unique visitors to make sure 
that transparency is not just offered but is actually implemented.
·    We provide for changes in the by-laws, but it may be that we would be 
better off making clear that core principles are not subject to change.  The 
ultimate goal of the organization is to act in the interest of the public as a 
whole, without special treatment of any business, private entity, individual, 
or government. The inherent founding principle that this entity exists for the 
overall public good and not for the commercial benefits of any individual or 
group should be a core principle that cannot be changed, no matter how many 
people go for it.