
Issue No 68		25 August 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

News

Making a Difference in ICANN Elections

By Linda Gale (Australian Education Union)

Many people in the labour movement are campaigning for the creation of a 'dot union' domain name. Eric Lee is the principal independent labour candidate pushing this argument around the Web.

Loads of Australian union activists recently joined Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Members at Large in the hope of supporting Eric Lee - the editor of the LabourStart website - as a trade union candidate in the forthcoming ICANN elections. ICANN is the international body which decides key Internet governance issues.

(For more information about Eric Lee and his campaign for a 'dot union' domain name visit the LabourStart website - www.labourstart.org)

Unfortunately many of us, including me, only discovered after enrolling as an ICANN Member at large that geographic location means you are not able to endorse Eric Lee as a candidate. Frustrating. We can only wait and rely on our North American colleagues to give Eric the numbers.

But I suggest that for those of us who have enrolled as ICANN Members at Large there is still something we can do in our region to get better progressive and community representation on the ICANN Board. That is to endorse a progressive candidate in the Asia/Australia/Pacific region.

I have read through the policy statements of the @Large candidates in our region, and I think one stands out clearly as the best candidate.

She is Yukika Matsumoto, an activist in a range of peace, women's and community organisations in Japan.

In order to get on the ballot paper, she will need to receive endorsements from at least 2% of the @Large voters in the region, and have one of the top three numbers of endorsements from the region, which means she will need at least around 500 endorsements. This morning she has 235.

I strongly urge union activists from the Asia/Australia/Pacific region to endorse Ms Matsumoto before September 8.

You can find her statement at: http://members.icann.org/nom/cp/155.htm

Ms Matsumoto does not identify as a trade unionist in her campaign statement, but she clearly would represent the interests of the non-commercial users of the internet, with strong involvement in progressive community organisations.

If we do not work to get Ms Matsumoto onto the ballot paper, in my view it will be much harder to find anyone worth voting for to represent an alternative, progressive perspective in our region.

If you have taken the first step of joining up to ICANN, then please take this extra step NOW.

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Issue 68 contents

Interview: New Unionist
Britain's Trade Union Congress secretary John Monks on life under Blair and why the future of unionism could well rest in Europe.

History: The Victims of Whiggery
George Loveless, the leader of the rural workers who became the Tolpuddle Martyrs, recorded his ideals and experiences in a pamphlet that brings his story to life.

Economics: The Final Station
Corporatisation was first introduced into Australia by the former Greiner Coalition government. What is 'corporatisation' and who should we hold to account under its prescriptions?

International: Massive Union Win in American Telecom
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) announced on Thursday a settlement with Verizon Communications ending a fifteen day strike by 87,000 telephone workers from Maine to Virginia.

Unions: A Vital Community Service
What keeps the engine of the Australian economy running? Manufacturing productivity, the stock market, exports? Try child care.

Satire: Putin copies Clinton: dead seamen stains reputation
MOSCOW, Tuesday: Russian naval authorities today faced staunch criticism, and the anger of a nation gripped by tragedy, as they conceded that all 118 Russian submariners trapped in the nuclear submarine, the Kursk, had died.

Review: Blow Up The Pokies
Whether it arouses public debate about Gambling is best left to the public but Peter Zangarri thinks Tim Freedman is on a winner with the Whitlam's latest CD.

» Public Sector Workers Win $1.50 An Hour Olympic Allowance

» Olympic Vendors Cream Boss

» Child Care Workers Pick Up 10% Pay rise

» Boston Bags Bonus While Teachers Wait on Back-Pay

» Super Saga

» Homecare Workers Hit Streets

» CPSU Logs On Internet Providers

» 1 Million Reasons to Belong to a Union

» City Rail Security Guards Win Olympic Bonus

» Making a Difference in ICANN Elections

» Sydney Hotel Stoppages Throughout Next Week

» Scientists Protest IT Outsourcing

» Dealing With Workplace Deaths