[IP] A battle for the soul of the Internet

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: George Sadowsky <george.sadowsky@attglobal.net>
Date: June 6, 2005 11:13:29 AM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: A battle for the soul of the Internet


Dave - possibly for IP?  The deadline for submissions of interest for  
ICANN leadership positions is currently mid-June, and we are looking  
hard for good candidates.  Elliot Noss is a member of the ICANN  
Nominating Committee that I chair.

George


   [1]http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5730589.html

   A battle for the soul of the Internet

   By Elliot Noss, Special to ZDNet

   Published on ZDNet News: June 3, 2005, 5:19 AM PT

   With little fanfare, there is a battle going on for the soul of the
   Internet. The United Nations and the [2]ITU (International
   Communications Union) are trying to wrest control of domain  
names, the
   DNS and IP addresses from [3]ICANN (Internet Corporation for  
Assigned
   Names and Numbers). This battle manifests itself through the
   U.N.-created [4]World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) and the
   ITU-lead [5]Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG).

   While the Internet is essentially a series of protocols adhered  
to by
   common consent, it relies on a single authoritative root at its  
core.
   This is what assures Internet users who type "zdnet.com" into their
   browsers that they end up where they thought they should.  
Anything but
   uniqueness with this vital resource would result in collision and
   confusion. The same is true for e-mail. Unless senders are certain
   that there is only one unique identifier for a recipient, they  
cannot
   use e-mail with confidence.

   Both the U.N. and the ITU have their reasons for trying to wrest
   control of these vital resources from ICANN. For the U.N., ICANN
   represents a body that transcends the nation-state structure, and
   could become a model for similar efforts covering subject matter  
most
   appropriately dealt with at a global level. For the ITU, gaining
   control of core Internet resources represents an opportunity to put
   the Internet-genie back in the bottle and gain a greater measure of
   relevance in the IP networking world. The ITU doesn't see itself as
   merely an overseer of the old circuit-switched networks, which it
   presides over today, but as the overseer of all networks, including
   the Internet.

   While ICANN has its flaws, it also possesses important, unique
   characteristics. Two are worthy of special note. First, ICANN's form
   of governance explicitly includes policy, technical, business and  
user
   interests under one roof. Each interest group has a formal role and
   voice in both policy-making and governance. Each has a stake in the
   proceedings, and each is an important part of the system. (Yes,  
users'
   voices need be heard more, and as an active participant in the ICANN
   process and member of the 2005 ICANN Nominating Committee I will
   continue to work toward that goal). Having these combined interests
   explicitly inside the process avoids some of the perversions that we
   have seen in other forms of governance, campaign finance being  
perhaps
   the starkest example.

   Second, ICANN is a truly global organization. It is global in the
   sense that individuals involved represent one of the above-mentioned
   interests, but not national governments. This is an important  
concept
   in that the Internet is truly a global resource, but it is this  
unique
   element that creates the greatest challenge. We have no model for
   managing a global resource of this nature. There are numerous models
   for managing international resources, resources being managed  
between
   nations, but that is not what the Internet is. In this regard, ICANN
   mirrors the Internet in that it works by "rough consensus." The  
checks
   and balances are systemic. This is what has allowed the price of
   domain names to drop by 50- to 75 percent over the last five years
   while service levels have increased dramatically. This is what has
   allowed the [6]Uniform Dispute Resolution Process (UDRP) to  
eliminate
   cybersquatting of trademarks.

   The U.N.'s WSIS contains 40 delegates, including members from Cuba,
   China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Pakistan, Syria,  
Russia
   and Egypt. If the U.N. controlled domain names and IP addresses, the
   ability of countries to censor the Internet would be greatly  
enhanced,
   as well as the ability to tax or impose other regulatory burdens on
   these resources in order to fund unrelated projects of any kind.
   In fact, if the U.N. and the ITU were successful, it is not  
difficult
   to envision a Balkanization of the Internet as whole portions of the
   Internet decide they did not want to rely on the U.N. and the ITU  
for
   their single authoritative root. If that Balkanization were to take
   place, the damage to the global economy would be incalculable.
   In addition, these Internet governance positions would not be plum
   U.N. postings. We could expect to see the likes of Internet pioneer
   Vint Cerf replaced by some dictator's wife's third cousin.

   The U.N./ITU put forward two main arguments for replacing ICANN.  
They
   claim that it's necessary to wrest control of the Internet from the
   United States and that ICANN is a private organization that is
   beholden to no one and that represents no one.
   To be clear, ICANN is a not-for-profit California corporation that
   nominally reports to the US Department of Commerce and operates  
under
   a memorandum of understanding with the agency that is reviewed and
   renewed in six-month intervals.

   Despite this, ICANN is not American--it is global. There are three
   Americans on a 15-person board of directors. There are six Americans
   on the 22-person generic names-supporting organization (GNSO)  
council,
   the main policy-making body. Two Americans are on the 10-person
   at-large advisory council (ALAC). There has not been a meeting in  
the
   US since November 2001, and the earliest possibility of a US meeting
   is in June 2007, a 17-meeting gap (the last North American  
meeting was
   in Montreal in June 2003, and the next is in Vancouver in December).

   As for it being representative, ICANN has always had one  
prerequisite
   for involvement--a willingness to take the time and effort to
   participate. There is active representation from Internet  
communities
   from around the world. The level of participation, the quality of
   participation and the output of the process have steadily improved
   over ICANN's history. Neither the U.N. nor the ITU can make any of
   these claims. Participation in their processes require a position in
   or through a national government or a Telco monopoly, neither of  
which
   are known for their deep appreciation and understanding of the
   Internet.

   There is no doubt that both the U.N. and the ITU are much more adept
   at politics than either ICANN staff or the vast majority of
   participants in the ICANN process. That makes the threat here all  
the
   more real.

   It is important to remember that we all rely on the rich ecosystem
   that is the free Internet. We are all beneficiaries of the  
innovation
   it spawns, the information it provides and the interaction it
   supports. We cannot take this for granted.

   Companies that rely on a free Internet--and there are few technology
   companies that don't--need to become active in the ICANN process
   through the [7]Business or ISP Constituencies; other institutions  
and
   not-for-profits through the [8]non-commercial constituency.  
Companies,
   institutions and individuals from around the world who have  
access to
   their governments' decision makers need to let them know that the
   Internet needs to stay free and that supporting ICANN supports that
   principle. Individuals who care about the future of the Internet and
   believe they can contribute to creating a better ICANN and  
preserving
   a freer Internet should think about the ICANN nominating committee's
   call for [9]Statements of Interest, which seeks qualified candidates
   to help the organization move forward.

   The Internet has contributed more to freedom, education and  
innovation
   than any other advance of the last number of decades. It deserves to
   be protected from the people and the institutions that do not  
share an
   appreciation for preserving the values upon which the Internet was
   founded.

   Elliot Noss is president and CEO of [10]Tucows, an Internet services
   company that provides back office solutions and wholesale Internet
   services to a global network of more than 6,000 service providers.
   Tucows is a domain name registrar and both participates in the ICANN
   process and benefits from it. Noss is a member of the 2005 ICANN
   Nominating Committee.


References

   1. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5730589.html
   2. http://www.itu.int/home/
   3. http://www.icann.org/
   4. http://www.itu.int/wsis/
   5. http://www.wgig.org/
   6. http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp.htm
   7. http://gnso.icann.org/commercial-and-business/
   8. http://gnso.icann.org/non-commercial/
   9. http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-29apr05.htm
  10. http://resellers.tucows.com/about/


-------------------------------------
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/