IP: net regulation and dns -- from edupage

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

AGREEMENT ON INTERNET REGISTRATION ISN'T UNANIMOUS
Fifty-seven companies and organizations, including Digital Equipment and
MCI, have signed the proposal put forth by the International Ad Hoc
Committee to create seven new top-level Internet domain names and appoint 28
new name registrars.  An additional 23 have indicated their willingness to
sign, but a number of other companies, including AT&T, IBM and PSINet, are
either still considering the proposal or have voiced their opposition to the
plan.  The U.S. government and the European Commission also have expressed
their reservations.  Unless there's unanimous agreement by all major
Internet providers on how the registration should proceed, some e-mail could
be rendered undeliverable and some addresses could be assigned more than
once.  (Wall Street Journal 2 May 97)


ADMINISTRATION FAVORS HANDS-OFF APPROACH TOWARD INTERNET
The Clinton administration is working on a White Paper outlining its
position on electronic encryption and Internet commerce issues, says Ira
Magaziner, senior advisor to the president for policy development.  A number
of principles will be articulated in the White Paper, including:  The
Internet should be a tax- and duty-free zone;  governments of the world
should agree to avoid regulating electronic payments systems;  private
sector consortia, rather than governments, should set technical standards;
a uniform commercial code should be developed;  protection of intellectual
property on the Internet is important;  voluntary ratings and filtering
systems should be used rather than government-imposed censorship of indecent
material on the Internet;  and a market-oriented approach to privacy is
preferable to government regulation.  (BNA Daily Report for Executives 30
Apr 97)