[CPWG] RFC: The Debate on Policy and Mechanism Again

[Carlton Samuels]

Gopal wrote *"For the internet governance, it is always a tussle between
keeping Policy and Mechanism "together and separate". The coming
togeher (sp) can happen only if one includes the design.."*

By gum you've got it sah!  This is what ICANN org and the GNSO finally
realized...and the initiation of what they call "operational design" as a
distinct phase in policy development and implementation! Same thing applies
for policy advice from the ALAC.

*Big +1.*

Carlton

==============================
*Carlton A Samuels*

*Mobile: 876-818-1799Strategy, Process, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround*
=============================


On Mon, 10 Apr 2023 at 22:40, gopal via CPWG <cpwg at icann.org> wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> Last week, during the CPWG meeting, the sharp discrimination between
> policy and mechanism was mooted again.
>
> To the best of my knowledge, the separation of policy and mechanism stems
> from design principle in computer science.  I subscribe to this principle.
>
> Please consider these working definitions.
>
>
> *Policy: a set of ideas or a plan of what to do. *
>
> *Mechanism: a process, technique, or system for achieving a result.*
>
> I agree that policy is being made by those who had a through grounding in
> the related mechanism and so it should work most of the times. However,
> getting to the policy from the mechanism (s) is becoming arbitrarily
> difficult. The very nature of computation as an idea is the primary cause
> for this.
>
> Bringing policy and mechanism together has the following concerns:
>
> #1. It makes policy rigid and harder to change in response to user
> requirements.
>
> #2. Trying to change policy has a strong tendency to destabilize the
> mechanisms.
>
> If we do not bring them together, the exercise will always be fragmented
> with the policy becoming a veneer to indicate a sort of binding of several
> mechanism.
>
> For the internet governance, it is always a tussle between keeping Policy
> and Mechanism "together and separate". The coming togeher can happen only
> if one includes the design.
>
> Hence, I suggest that "Technology" and "Managerial" concenrs may be
> separated and we work on interoprable interfaces.
>
> We may then have the "One World One Internet" with more tangible outcomes
> for all the stakeholders.
>
> Your comments are most welcome.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
>
> Gopal T V
> 0 9840121302
> https://vidwan.inflibnet.ac.in/profile/57545
> https://www.facebook.com/gopal.tadepalli
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Dr. T V Gopal
> Professor
> Department of Computer Science and Engineering
> College of Engineering
> Anna University
> Chennai - 600 025, INDIA
> Ph : (Off) 22351723 Extn. 3340
>        (Res) 24454753
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> _______________________________________________
> CPWG mailing list
> CPWG at icann.org
> https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/cpwg
>
> _______________________________________________
> By submitting your personal data, you consent to the processing of your
> personal data for purposes of subscribing to this mailing list accordance
> with the ICANN Privacy Policy (https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy) and
> the website Terms of Service (https://www.icann.org/privacy/tos). You can
> visit the Mailman link above to change your membership status or
> configuration, including unsubscribing, setting digest-style delivery or
> disabling delivery altogether (e.g., for a vacation), and so on.
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/cpwg/attachments/20230411/b753f437/attachment.html>