I got onto the list but I am still a little concerned. Is the list really
sponsored by the organizers of the conference? Will there be government
participation?
I remember a maneuver I saw someone pull once where they asserted that
organization X had requested all communication go through them as a single
point of contact. Which turned out to be completely false but we believed
it at the time.
At the moment we are being presented with a 'choice' between two models of
Internet governance. There is the current status quo of a managed anarchy
with the US having ultimate management control and there is the alternative
of each sovereign nation carving out control within their own narrow
geographic boundaries. I disagree with that framing, there are other
alternatives.
Nor do I see a need to maintain any of the existing institutions unless
they continue to serve our needs. ICANN keeps making these bids to be free
of US government control which I can understand. What I do not understand
is what parties they propose to be accountable to instead. Or rather I
suspect I understand it too well and it is the empty set.
Rather than debate how ICANN or some other body should exercise regulatory
powers I would rather we consider how to dissolve and diffuse those powers
so that there isn't a single point of control to fight over. But this would
require the process be responsive to the interests of sovereign governments
in protecting their sovereignty while currently they are shut out.
Hence my concern about what the actual role of this mailing list is. I
don't want my messages to be carried to the government parties through
intermediaries and particularly not when my proposals are made without any
concern for protecting anyone's livelihood.