FC: U.S. House bill would force ICANN to approve .kids domain

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

ICANN officials may be forgiven if they disagree, but this bill strikes me 
as hilarious. Like strong acid, it strips away the thin veneer of 
independence from the U.S. government that ICANN has carefully laid down. 
Would anyone think that, say, Lithuania's legislature could pass a similar 
law (.we're-not-latvia) and expect it to be followed?

Obviously not. But the U.S. claims it has that power, and it probably does. 
So much for ICANN's governmental advisory bodies, its bureacratic fiefdoms, 
and its penchant for holding meetings in out-of-the-way locations. Might as 
well just meet here in DC from now on -- under the watchful eyes of their 
overlords in Congress.

ICANN, you're becoming just another regulated federal agency. Get used to it.

See also:
http://www.icannwatch.org/article.php?sid=225&mode=thread&order=0

And:
"IETF Internet Draft: Why .xxx domain is a very bad idea"
http://www.politechbot.com/p-01772.html

-Declan

********

BILL WOULD REQUIRE ICANN TO CREATE .KIDS DOMAIN On June 28, Reps. John 
Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) introduced legislation that 
could compel ICANN, via the U.S. Department of Commerce, to add the .kids 
top-level domain. Although the legislation might hamper ICANN's current 
process for selecting new TLDs, the organization has not responded 
sufficiently to user needs, said Markey aide Colin Crowell. "They have been 
so unresponsive to the general public interest that this is where it 
inevitably goes," said Crowell. The legislation would keep the Commerce 
Department from approving any more TLDs until ICANN creates a domain for 
children. The legislation includes rules that the .kids domain operators 
would have to adhere to in order to ensure that content on the domain is 
appropriate for children. (Newsbytes, 29 June 2001)




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