[discuss] Commercial sponsorship of meetings conflict w/Internet stewardship? (was: Re: Comcast undertakes 9 year IETF cosponsorship!?)

Sun Mar 23 00:39:36 UTC 2014

Thanks John, 

Comments inline...

-----Original Message-----
From: John Curran [mailto:jcurran at istaff.org] 
Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2014 5:01 PM
To: michael gurstein
Cc: 1Net List
Subject: Commercial sponsorship of meetings conflict w/Internet stewardship?
(was: Re: [discuss] Comcast undertakes 9 year IETF cosponsorship!?)

On Mar 23, 2014, at 7:18 AM, michael gurstein < <mailto:gurstein at gmail.com>
gurstein at gmail.com> wrote:

> However, as bodies which are being identified as core mechanisms in 

> the global governance of the Internet (and as central to the desired 

> global stampede towards MSism) it matters a very great deal.

Michael,

Thank you for bringing a problem to the 1net discuss list! 

[MG>] my pleasure :)

Please explain the specific problem that you perceive (i.e. with respect to
the IETF, commercial sponsorship of its meetings and its role in the
Internet ecosystem, etc.)  You have indirectly asserted that there is some
issue, but an actual problem statement (such as George Sadowsky supplied for
his issue) is really the first step in building shared understanding and
solution collaboration.

[MG>] The specific problem that I perceive here (and based on information
provided in the thread it appears to apply equally to ISOC and from
elsewhere in these discussions ICANN) is how, in the context of a public
policy role for MSism and MS institutions should/could "conflicts of
interest" be defined, identified and "regulated"?  To rephrase (and to
recontextualize) this, the specific problem would be what measures need to
be put in place to ensure that MS mechanisms/institutions are working in the
public interest and not in the interests of individual
participants/contributors/"stakeholders"?

Is this an actual problem that has been observed or just a potential
problem?  If is an existing problem, then what are its symptoms in the
present system?

[MG>] Frankly I'm not sufficiently familiar with (in this instance the IETF
or ISOC--or for that matter ICANN) to know whether it is an actual problem
or just one that needs to be guarded against given the likelihood of
problems to emerge in these areas.

Are there specific changes that you are suggesting to the institutions (or
system they operate in) in order to mitigate the problem and/or avoid it
altogether?

[MG>] I would need to have much more direct familiarity with the various
institutions to give a useful answer to this question but in the first
instance it would be good if the various institutions were to recognize the
potential of such a problem and indicate what measures they would put in
place to mitigate. I note Stephen (Farrell's) comments re: the specifics of
the IETF processes but would suggest that the problem if it occurs is as
likely to be in the form of implicit processes of influencing as in
overt/explicit interventions by which I mean influencing what matters are
seen as being acceptable to be included or not included on agendas,
influencing the kind of persons who are  nominated for various positions
(and not nominated), and overall helping to shape and influence the "climate
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_climate> " of the discussion in
certain "self-interested" ways e.g. what are the boundaries of acceptable
discourse; who or what positions are identified as being outside of what is
acceptable; determining what are the implicit norms, values frameworks for
problem definition/resolution and so on.

(I've omitted some other lists that you included on your message; if the
folks on them wish to participate in the collaborative efforts towards a
solution, please suggest that they joint 1net discuss...)

[MG>] sure.

M

Thanks!

/John

Disclaimer:  My views alone.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://1net-mail.1net.org/pipermail/discuss/attachments/20140322/2af2c6f6/attachment-0001.html>