[Only] Four ICANN Board members dissent in vote on NCSG charter. Milton Mueller tries to find a silver lining in this cloud — four dissents! out of fourteen votes! — but it's pretty small.
By choosing to gut public participation — for that is the result that the ICANN staff has lead the Board into — ICANN makes a high-stakes bet about its future.
Will the Obama administration see this as proof that ICANN lacks the maturity to be trusted with increased independence? (One hopes.) Or will ICANN be able to sail under the radar and walk away with the Root while the staff keeps the ability to pay itself millions per year.
We'll see.
I vote for sail under the radar and continue to enrich themselves. In fact I expect a increase in the amount of private benefit for what should be a public good. Look next for a mechanism for Board members to be compensated. I wouldn’t be surprised if 20 years from now, ICANN is privatized with arcane conversion rules that greatly benefit insiders and a trust to administer the proceeds of the conversion. This is how it has worked for a variety of non-profit private and quasi-governmental entities (credit unions, mutual insurance companies, health care organizations).