.
GET
INVOLVED
The power of
interactivity.
.
Once you've
educated yourself enough to form rational opinions about
ICANN and network governance, its time to get active.
Could silence be slavery? What can you do about
ICANN?
Our individual protests might be
the only way to stop ICANN from usurping world power as a
network government. Whether ICANN is democratized or
replaced, the outcome depends on us. Do you want your
fate decided without your say so? Why be afraid of
responsible self rule?
You already have inside all the
power you need to change the world.
And if you think that you are just
one person, that your voice does not matter, please
consider that in any interactive universe, every
interaction changes reality for everyone -- to some
degree. The nature of our subtle yet dynamic
interactivity means that we are never powerless. We truly
are more powerful than we dare to believe. We dread
accountability, so we deny responsibility. Please have
some faith in yourself here. "Do as you do, to thine own
soul be true." Picture the world you want to live within,
then make it real. We move our visions into reality by
changing the ways we interact in daily life.
Interactivity in action. Wake
up and speak up!
Silence now is a mistake
forever.
You can help to organize massive public campaigns,
which have their place in this crisis, but the easiest
and perhaps most effective thing you can do is simply to
talk about ICANN with people. Discuss the issues
raised here about Internet governance and network
democracy. Surface the topic within
your friends and family, or exchange email with media
leaders and DNS players themselves. If you really want to
help, convince the local to global news editors that
ICANN is worth covering because their own press freedoms
are at stake. And contact your elected public officials,
telling them you want a public vote about privatization,
not an imposed U.S. regime.
Above all, educate others. Voice
your concerns. Say what you'd like to see happen. Make
the vision real enough in your mind to alter the way you
behave in the world. That's the magic.
More is at risk here than we can
imagine. To deny the global impact of ICANN governance is
like denying the transforming power of the Internet and
interactivity itself. By producing this analysis of
ICANN, I'm doing my part. Now, please do yours. Stand up
for our rights.
You CAN make wise choices about ICANN.
Friends
>
Discuss
ICANN with Friends & Family
How we govern the
entire global Internet is a macro version of how we
govern our own personal interactions (which, of course,
mirrors the "intra-personal" communication patterns
within the self). Therefore, it makes sense for us to
talk about network governance in terms of personal
governance, including what we choose to discuss with
family, friends and associates. Instead of discussing
cars, sports or clothes, please discuss network democracy
instead. The likelihood is that ICANN is depending on
public ignorance and apathy. The coup may prevail
without our public protest. Alerting our friends and
family makes global sense.
Talking about the network democracy issues raised here
may help clear up your own thinking about ICANN,
clarifying your own vision for our Internet. Wonder to
yourself and others how the decisions we take today might
alter tomorrow. And in the process of thinking out loud,
you inform others about the situation, so they, too, can
get involved in public issues affecting them. That's what
friends do in a democracy. Our interactions weave the
fabric of our cultures.
How to talk about it? Personally, I love to see the
Aha! ignite in other eyes, which lights me up
inside, and heart-to-heart talks with friends can give me
with insights I'd never realize otherwise. But when
face-to-face cannot do, when the distances divide, we can
talk about ICANN and the governance of our Internet
(appropriately) by email, snailmail, fax, and phone.
Either way, as a result of our conversation, they may
turn around and talk to someone else, who then may speak
to others, and so on. Grapevine communications.
Grassroots democracy. Interactivity.
Online
>
Discuss
Network Governance Online
CLICK
HERE for an initial listing of some public
newsgroups.
(http//www.media-visions.com/newdom2b.html)
.
Why
not raise network governance issues on the Internet?
Providing a great vox populi view, usenet
newsgroups
(e.g.
www.deja.com)
are a fun and effective way to share ideas and
learning. Chat rooms also represent a cross
section of people, and the range of people is surprising.
Kindly raise the issue of Internet governance in these
forums. Please don't be pushy about it. Please don't get
your ego tied up a knot if people do not respond as you
wish. A bit of civility goes a long way. Remember
that we're all interactive. Try to practice personal
democracy. We can model the kind of respect for alternate
views that we wish ICANN would show to us. If you're
still learning DNS governance lingo
and ideas, consider auditing the conversation to gauge
the level of discourse. Jump in when you feel
comfortable. Speak up and be heard.
Please beware of publishing your email address where
data miners can claim it. Spam city.
Players
>
Discuss
Governance with DNS Players
CLICK HERE
for links to DNS Players
(http//www.media-visions.com/newdom2b.html)
CLICK HERE for an
initial listing of DNS
Listservs
(http//www.media-visions.com/newdom1ml.html).(Update
pending)
.
The DNS
subscription mailing list services are akin to the
"Committees of Correspondence"
before the American Revolution. A subscriber's posted
message is immediately distributed to other subscribers
by the mailing list computer server. Many major players
are interacting daily on the listservs, or they
have staff monitoring the traffic, perhaps. The action
can get rough and tumble as debate heats up. I've
received from 50 to 200 emails per day per list from the
players blasting each other's ideas, positions,
strategies, tactics, and personalities. There's a sad
habit of distracting the opposition with nit-picking
comments, so substantive debate is all too rare.
Some listservs are private; some are public.
The public listservs are free, generally open to
anyone with a valid email address. Please do not be
scared away by the few prolific neurotics and apparent
frauds. Filter their email into the trash. Simply be as
civil as you can be.
If you're still learning domain name system
(DNS) acronyms and concepts, sit quietly and audit list
talk for a few weeks or a month or more before entering
the robust dialogue. Of course, if you need to speak up
quickly, go for it. Damn the torpedoes. Are you willing
to grow and evolve in public? How secure is your ego
these days?
Also, when you see some of the bigger fish in the pond
swim by, the surest way to hook them into a conversation
with you is by exhibiting common respect. No matter how
much you might disagree with their ideas or actions, the
big players are serious people with credential up the yin
yang, and if they were not willing to interact, they
would not be on the list. So, be civil.
Would you pay attention to someone who's yelling at
you, making you wrong, and being a nuisance? Who would?
Perhaps your courtesy may get inside to alter their
thinking in beneficial ways.
Press
>
Lobby
for Mass Media Press Coverage
Like the general
public, most members of the popular press have never
heard of ICANN. The industry's trade press has covered
the controversy, most reporting focused on the feud
between ICANN and Network Solutions, that battle being
easy to grasp. Perhaps the stories on ICANN vs. Network
Solutions actually distract us from the essential debate
about Internet governance, network democracy vs. network
technocracy. This issue is not easily addressed in mass
media. From years working as a media trade journalist,
I'd say few of my colleagues would ever think about
writing a story on network democracy, let alone know whom
to interview. Sad but true.
On the principle that we need to talk to people about
things that matter to them, let me suggest a way to get
more press coverage. As a method of interesting editors
in doing stories on ICANN, cite the hazards to press
freedoms. Is ICANN promoting censorship, limits on
public speech? How will this affect their own publishing
ventures on the Internet? See through editors' eyes.
Once you have a good news angle that hooks editors
(serving their audiences), please contact local, national
and international editors at print and electronic news
organizations, starting with your local press. Alert
them to the story. Invite them to do their own
investigative reporting, to scoop their rivals. Ask
editors to break the ignorance barrier, to
commission public opinion polls on network governance
issues. Encourage editors to publish their findings as a
lead story, so the people hear about ICANN. Not until
we perceive a threat do we feel any need for
action.
Lobby
>
Lobby
Government & Industry Leaders
CLICK HERE for
initial links to Government
Leaders.
(http//www.media-visions.com/newdom2b.html)
CLICK
HERE for AIM's links to Industry
Leaders.
(http://www.interactivehq.org/html/netgroups.htm)
.
Smart leaders in
government and industry know that each person speaking
up represents the thousands who agree yet remain
silent. Even if your commentary is only counted
statistically, numbers add up, and tallies count in
decision-making. Your voice is heard amid the uproar.
Because ICANN is sponsored by the United States
Government, the President of the United States and the
U.S. Congress are the only ones, ultimately, with the
power to apply the breaks. Lobbying U.S. leaders is
our best hope in replacing ICANN with network
democracy.
America's elected public officials, in most instances,
reply to business and institutional interests before they
answer to the individual voters electing them. As an
individual, your best strategy is to lobby your elected
official directly as well as those industry leaders who
may, in turn, lobby whatever officials they can
influence. An effective lobbying campaign needs to be
come at the politicians from as many directions as
possible, so they can feal the heat of public
opinion.
U.S. citizens have a vote that gives us clout. If you
live on another portion on our planet, if you elected
your government, your vote gives you clout, too.
Governments for every country around the world generally
have the final have authority over the national access to
the Internet. So even where elections are faked or never
held at all, if you can speak up without your tongue
being cut out (still happens is some lands), a bit of
polite lobbying might be very gently persuasive. If you
can show it's in their national interest to stop
ICANN, your leaders can pressure U.S. leaders.
Government leaders usually are more responsive than
industry leaders, because the officials are
elected or else appointed by someone who is elected. Yet
corporations are increasingly sensitive to the pressure
of public opinion, too, because good press boosts profits
while bad press hurts stock prices, so the execs pay
attention to polls. Democracy translates into
accountability.
If you're a political or business
leader yourself, how much longer can you ignore this
crisis? In our Orwellian world where "all animals are
equal but some are more equal than others," due to your
leadership, you have a duty to "do the right thing" for
your children's children.
In the final analysis, you alone can and do make
all the difference in the world.
One last
note:
When talking about
ICANN, if you happen to mention this analysis and my
recommendations (http://www.media-visions.com/icann.htm),
well, I promise not to object. If you'll post a link
to this analysis at your own website, the act will be
a blessing. The primary thing is that you start
talking with others about Internet governance and
the idea of network democracy. Interactivity
always creates effects. Always. Ask any physicist. We are
light and stardust interacting as life.
Thanks for your kind consideration and attention. Now
go out there and change the world.
Judah Ken Freed
Publisher
Media Visions Journal
9 September 1999
Please send
thoughtful feedback along with
any link additions or corrections. Thank you!
Email:
analyzingICANN@media-visions.com
 .PRIOR
SECTION
|
INDEX
| RETURN
TO START
|
`
|
.
|
|
Silence
now is a
mistake
forever.
|
|
.
LIFE
CHANGES
VISION
AS
VISION
CHANGES
LIFE
..
|
|
Lobbying
leaders is our best plan for replacing ICANN with
something better, a democracy.
|
|
Network
democracy makes global
sense.
|
.
|
