The prodigal son of California Corporations, ICANN, is having its first meeting in its home jurisdiction since November 2001.
It's good that ICANN recognizes its ties to California.
I left Santa Cruz around noon. The weather was nice so I headed down the Big Sur coast.
Near Hearst Castle I came across something I had never seen before - several hundred elephant seals were on the beach next to the road. Apparently they have taken up residence there.
So, I arrived in LA - wow, I am so glad that I moved away - I don't have the stomach for the congestion, noise, and (perhaps from the fires) the pollution.
Tomorrow (Sunday) I'll head over to the ICANN meeting itself.
Let's see what's on the agenda...
Wow, somewhere between one quarter and one third of all of the meetings are closed to the public! Well, we have long known that ICANN takes its responsibility to be open and transparent with more than a few grains of salt. But this seems far more secrecy than is normal, even for ICANN.
But look at this this: The meeting of the At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) is closed to the public! The meeting of the ICANN's company union is closed to its own membership. One would hope that this is a misprint. (Not that it matters much - I consider the ALAC to be a fraud upon the public and merely a means for ICANN to have a story, plausible to those who don't dig deeper, that ICANN has a means for the public to have a say in what ICANN does.)
I see that ICANN's board is meeting with the governments - the GAC. The junior high school/middle school that both Vint Cerf and I attended also had a GAC - the Girls Athletic Club.
Thinking of the GAC, I wonder whether ICANN is even aware of Sections 35000-35007 of the California Corporations Code - the Subversive Organization Registration Law - particularly section 35003(b). And given that ICANN is neither a "labor union or religious, fraternal, or patriotic organization, society, or association" section 35004 may not provide immunity.
Sure that statute is a hangover from an era when the US was highly xenophobic and suspicious of foreign.. wait a minute, that seems to describe the US today, not merely the US of 1953.
Perhaps that's the reason ICANN has shied away from holding meetings in its chosen home for nearly 3/4 of its entire existance.
Posted by karl at October 27, 2007 11:27 PM