[CWG-Stewardship] [CCWG-ACCT] TR: [bylaws-coord] For Review - Summary and Analysis of Public Comment and proposed revised ICANN Bylaws

[Andrew Sullivan]

Dear colleagues,

On Fri, May 27, 2016 at 11:36:04PM +1000, Chris Disspain wrote:

> This has been a long, arduous and at times emotional
> process. Through all of the debate, discussion, disagreement,
> compromise and journey to consensus there have been many ups and
> downs but I have never failed to be anything other than impressed
> and sometimes overwhelmed by the commitment of those who chose to be
> involved and who have gave their time and effort selflessly to this
> process.

I of course want to express my joy that we have crossed this milestone
and my congratulations and thanks to everyone involved.  But also, I
want to emphasise something in what Chris says above.

Doing things in the sort of open ways that the various Internet
operational communities do is hard work.  Feelings run high, and
because we work on the Internet and in full view of everyone it takes
a great deal of personal discipline and good will for people to come
to compromises.  And yet, over and over again, the community delivers.
"Awesome" is a much-overused word, but if ever I have felt awe it is
in response to the ability of people from many different backgrounds
and points of view, and with divergent needs, to come together in the
best interests of the Internet.

When I was in Washington earlier this week, there were a couple times
when I thought the line of questioning contained an underlying
implication: that you can't _really_ trust this sort of important
responsibility to an amorphous bunch of people on the Internet.  But
the Internet works because of the way we work things out.  We forge
proposals and build the future in the furnace of public discussion.
The Internet functions for everybody partly because everybody is
invited to help make it function.

We do, together, what none separately could do.  The doubters will
continue to deride our ways as naïve and amateur, but our ways -- of
coming to consensus and constantly respecting the value of that
consensus -- give our results both effectiveness and the greatest
legitimacy.  I am enormously grateful to be part of what can only
properly be called a global community.

Best regards,

A

-- 
Andrew Sullivan
ajs at anvilwalrusden.com