IP: Report From the Cato Institute

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

I CANNOT vouch for the accuracy of this but... djf


> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.03 [fr] (Win95; I)
> Date:         Fri, 7 May 1999 22:57:53 -0400
> From: Michael Sondow <msondow () ICIIU ORG>
> Subject:      Report From the Cato Institute
> X-To:         Esther Dyson <edyson () edventure com>,
>               Mike Roberts <roberts () icann org>,
>               George Conrades <gconrades () icann org>,
>               George Conrades <gconrades () polarisventures com>,
>               Greg Crew <gregcrew () iaccess com au>,
>               Frank Fitzsimmons <fitzsimmon () dnb com>,
>               Hans Kraaijenbrink <H.Kraaijenbrink () kpn-telecom nl>,
>               Professor Jun Marai <junsec () wide ad jp>,
>               Geraldine Capdeboscq <geraldine.capdeboscq () bull fr>,
>               Eugenio Triana <etrigar () teleline es>,
>               "Linda S. Wilson" <linda_wilson () radcliffe edu>,
>               Joe Sims <Joe_Sims () jonesday com>,
>               Al Gore <vice.president () whitehouse gov>,
>               Chip Pickering <Charles.Pickering () mail house gov>,
>               Connie Morella <Rep.Morella () mail house gov>,
>               Thomas Davis <tom.davis () mail house gov>,
>               Gil Gutknecht <gil.gutknecht () mail house gov>,
>               Eddie Bernice Johnson <rep.e.b.johnson () mail house gov>,
>               Jim Barcia <jim.barcia-pub () mail house gov>,
>               Mark Harrington <Mark.Harrington () mail house gov>,
>               Richard Russell <Richard.Russell () mail house gov>,
>               Paul Scolese <paul.scolese () mail house gov>,
>               James Tierney <james.tierney () usdoj gov>,
>               William Daley <wdaley () doc gov>,
>               Madeleine Albright <malbright () state gov>,
>               Theresa Amato <amato () Essential ORG>,
>               Domain Policy <domain-policy () internic net>,
>               Paris draft list <dnso.discuss () lists association org>,
>               James Love <love () cptech org>, Jay Fenello <Jay () pdnha org>,
>               Ronda Hauben <ronda () panix com>,
>               Karl Auerbach <karl () cavebear com>,
>               Becky Burr <bburr () ntia doc gov>,
>               Larry Irving <lirving () ntia doc gov>,
>               Gordon Cook <cook () cookreport com>,
>               Tony Rutkowski <amr () netmagic com>,
>               Tom Lowenhaupt <toml () communisphere com>, IFWP <list () ifwp org>,
>               Nick Patience <nick () computerwire com>,
>               Jeri Clausing <jeri () nytimes com>,
>               "U.S. Ho. of Reps. Commerce Committee" <commerce () mail house gov>,
>               "U.S. Secretary of State" <secretary () state gov>,
>               Milton Mueller <mueller () syr edu>,
>               Ellen Rony <erony () marin k12 ca us>,
>               Ronald Wyden <senator () wyden senate gov>,
>               Jonathan Zittrain <zittrain () cyber law harvard edu>,
>               Larry Lessig <lessig () POBOX COM>,
>               Courtney Macavinta <courtm () cnet com>,
>               Howard Sartori <howard () sartori com>
> To: DOMAIN-POLICY () LISTS INTERNIC NET
>
> Thursday, May 6, 1999
>
> Cato Institute, Washington D.C.
>
>
>         Milton Mueller, David Post, and Beckwith Burr were the panelists at
> a well-attended forum on Internet governance today at the Cato
> Institute in Washington D.C.
>         Milton Mueller and David Post began the proceedings with
> well-formulated arguments that what was occurring was indeed the
> creation of an Internet government, and that attempts to ignore or
> hide the fact were impeding a serious approach to it. Beckwith Burr
> added her usual time-worn clichés about the process being on
> schedule, et cetera, et cetera, and added that "the Internet should
> be run by the people who use the Internet". Strangely, this remark
> was not met by laughter, although it was followed by a prolonged and
> pregnant silence. The man sitting next to the author of these lines
> seemed to be bursting with the compulsion to inquire if Ms. Burr had
> meant to say "by the people who use the Internet and have over
> $100,000 for lawsuits", or "the people who use the Internet and are
> members of ISOC", or "the people who use the Internet and have
> connections in Washington", but the fellow restrained himself,
> albeit with difficulty, and spent the rest of the conference biting
> his lip and staring at his shoe.
>         Interventions from the audience in the Q&A period included an apt
> reminder by Don Tellage of Network Solutions, Inc., that the people
> presently conducting the ICANN process had not been elected to do so
> and were chosen by a yet-unknown and dubious process. Michael
> Sondow, of the ICIIU, confronted Becky Burr in his usual ungracious
> way with the contradictoriness of her testimony at the House of
> Representatives hearing on DNS in October, when Ms. Burr had said
> both that "We are not creating a United States Government chartered
> corporation or anything of the sort" and that "We will be entering
> into a contract...fully authorized by the powers of the Secretary of
> Commerce..." Mr. Sondow asked Ms. Burr to clarify, in the light of
> such disingenuous testimony, whether or not, in the event that ICANN
> is sued, the U.S.G. will grant it immunity. She answered in the
> inimitable Burr style that maybe yes, maybe no, only time will tell,
> tra-la-la.
>         Interestingly, the conference was attended by some persons not
> habitually seen at these sorts of gatherings. There were present,
> for example, three gentlemen in suits who are identified in the
> roster of attendees only as being from "Washington, D.C.", who never
> spoke, and who had the air of being anxious to leave as soon as
> possible and report back to their superiors, awaiting no doubt in
> some basement office of the CIA. John Hall from the Embassy of
> Australia was there, overseeing his government's hegemony in ICANN's
> Governmental Advisory Committee. Jim Harper from the House Committee
> on the Judiciary was there, possibly to see if these Internet sorts
> were as evil as Mr. Sondow says they are in the posts he incessantly
> copies to the House. Notably present also was C. Lincoln Hoewing (we
> won't hazard a guess as to what the "C" might stand for), identified
> in the roster as pertaining to "Bell Atlantic Government Affairs",
> which we take to mean the telco lobby; Mr. Hoewing, perhaps not
> unexpectedly, did not appear overly in need of liquid refreshment
> when the gathering left the auditorium at 2:00 P.M. to reconvene in
> the foyer, where the Cato had prepared lunch.
>         The pastrami sandwiches were excellent.