Is Icann's importance overstated in the media?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Esther Dyson <edyson () edventure com>
Date: July 2, 2005 11:12:50 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net, Ip ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
Subject: Re: [IP] Is Icann's importance overstated in the media?


ICANN really should manage nothing. it should be the organization  
where the members set *policy* for themselves.  All it needs to  
manage is nonconformance with those policies.

That statement is perhaps a *little* too dry for reality, but it's  
the ideal.  ICANN  should be much lighter-weight than it is, and  
should leave most questions - and management - to its member  
organizations.  It should not have a regulatory function, but more of  
a judicial one..... though it does need more than the nuclear option  
of banishment/disbarment/deaccreditation for recourse when its  
policies are  not followed.  As it is, any recourse would be so  
draconian that most bad behavior goes unchallenged.

Even in practice, yes, its importance is overstated. Most governments  
face more pressing problems than who sets policy for the Net.  Most  
businesses should be running their businesses better rather than  
dreaming that a catchy domain name can ensure their success.  Yet...  
good governance does matter -just not as much as some people think.

Esther Dyson, former chairman of ICANN

At 06:58 AM 7/2/2005, David Farber wrote:

> Rhe press has been sloppy on this one djf
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Richard Wiggins <richard.wiggins () gmail com>
> Date: July 2, 2005 5:47:44 AM EDT
> To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: Is Icann's importance overstated in the media?
> Reply-To: Richard Wiggins <richard.wiggins () gmail com>
>
>
> Dave,
>
> Over and over again, media reports say that Icann "manages the traffic
> on the Internet."  Icann does not do this, and never has done so.
> Icann's name literally is "Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
> Numbers." Icann took over the simple, but vital, function provided by
> ISI at U Southern Cal:  map domain names to IP addresses.
>
> If Icann would have merely stuck to this purpose, the world would be a
> better place.  It is silly to claim that Icann manages the traffic of
> the Internet, but that seems to be a mantle that Icann, at times, was
> glad to assume.
>
> If Icann simply managed the now ancient function of mapping names to
> numbers, I doubt the ITU and Europe would have much of a problem with
> it -- assuming that Icann did so efficiently and at a reasonable cost.
>
> It has always seemed to me that Icann has a basic choice: do a simple,
> but vital, function very well, in which case you can succeed in
> performing an important role -- or aspire to rule the Internet, in
> which case the world will take you down.
>
> /rich
>
>
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