The Pull for Pull: ICANN's grab for total unaccountability
ICANN is a case study on the formation of a "black hole bureaucracy" (my term): where money is sucked in and never seen again because the bureacracy 1) doesn't DO anything and 2) is accountable to no other body, person, givernment, etc. This agency was bizarre from the beginning and is rapidly heading for psychosis.
This is an interesting article about ICANN president M. Stuart Lynn’s "reorganization" plan (from Entrepreneur) where he's plotting to be Emperor of the Internet.
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“ICANN only listens to those who pay it money,” charges Auerbach, who has had to sue to see the books of the organization he supposedly supervises. “Even its board meetings are paid for by the people it is supposed to regulate.”
But without that support, counters Lynn, a cash-strapped ICANN wouldn’t be able to afford its current level of operations. Lynn wants additional staff and an immediate “300 to 500 percent” hike in ICANN’s $5 million budget. Additional funds are to come from whichever governments get board seats, and from unspecified use fees.
Critics worry about loss of accountability and “mission creep” in what is widely acknowledged—even by Lynn—to be a failed experiment at Internet management so far.
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