RE: [soac-mapo] Third "draft recommendation" (individual government objections)

[Milton L Mueller <mueller@xxxxxxx>]

From: Bertrand de La Chapelle [mailto:bdelachapelle@xxxxxxxxx]

I am sad to have to repeat that again and again : this procedure is not about 
giving a veto right to any single public authority. I thought this was already 
cleared. This discussion is primarily about procedures guaranteeing fair 
hearing (even to governments) who may have respectable concerns that actually 
are their moral and constitutional responsibility towards their citizens.

Dearest Bertrand
You would not have to repeat this again and again if your arguments were 
consistent, founded in international law, and well thought out. Unfortunately, 
they are not. I am not buying your assertion that this isn't about veto rights. 
If a government doesn't have any specific right to block a TLD based on its 
objection, then why is the objection being made? Objections, in the context of 
the new gTLD process, is all about blocking the existence of new TLDs, about 
not letting them exist.

A government with real authority to take action at the national level has no 
reason to object in the _global_ gTLD application process, unless it believes 
that the TLD string contradicts global laws or norms. At the national level, it 
can simply take action to make use of the string illegal or to block it.

So you tell me: what is the impact and intent of these objections?