I was just reading through Esther's interview at OpenDemocracy and it occurred to me that over the last four years I've not heard (or perhaps more precisely, I don't remember hearing) any arguments concerning why user participation in ICANN is appropriate. I mean, it seems perfectly logical and healthy for providers, producers, customers and caretakers of the DNS and domain names to be involved - but actually users? If "user" means "those that use the resources of the Internet and in doing so take advantage of the resolution services of the DNS" then I need some significant education as to what the fuss is about. I'm not saying that user participation on some level is or isn't desirable, I'm just saying I don't think that I "get it" enough to actually buy either side of the argument. If on the other hand "user" means "an individual who has registered a domain name", then the picture is quite clear to me - they need representation and they need it now. I think I have some reading to do this weekend ;)
