IP: "a secret, open and transparent, telephone board meeting." : Good Morning Silicon Valley Mon Apr 02 12:00:29 EDT 2001

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> ICANN approves VeriSign deal in secret, open and transparent, board 
> meeting: After implementing a number of 
> <http://www.icann.org/nsi/proposed-com-agreement-tech-corrections-31mar01.htm>11th 
> hour changes to a proposed deal that would give domain registrar behemoth 
> VeriSign 
> <http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/opinion/gmsv/archive01/morn03152001.htm>near 
> monopoly control over the valuable .com registry, the Internet Corporation 
> for Assigned Names and Numbers 
> <http://www.icann.org/minutes/prelim-report-02apr01.htm>approved that deal 
> in what ICANN Watch describes as 
> <http://www.icannwatch.com/article.php?sid=79&mode=thread&order=0>"a 
> secret, open and transparent, telephone board meeting." [ see url at end 
> of this message djf] This in spite of <http://forum.icann.org/nsi2001/>the 
> vast public outcry against it. On Friday some members of Congress 
> <http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/080674.htm>asked the Commerce 
> Department to review the "deal." In a letter to Commerce Secretary Donald 
> Evans, the heads of the House Commerce Committee and the Commerce 
> Committee's Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee urged the 
> Commerce Department to invoke its power to review the controversial 
> arrangement. "Without taking a position on the propriety of the revised 
> agreement, we want to ensure that any actions by ICANN support and 
> encourage strong, vibrant competition," 
> <http://www.icannwatch.com/article.php?sid=72&mode=thread&order=0>the 
> lawmakers wrote. "Accordingly, we respectfully request that the Department 
> fully analyze the competitive issues that arise as a result of this 
> agreement. Further, as Mr. Cerf, Chairman of ICANN, said during our 
> February hearing, ICANN is a consensus development body which requires 
> that major decisions affecting the future of the Internet be done in an 
> open and transparent manner. Therefore, we urge you to exercise your 
> oversight authority to ensure that ICANN's final decision in this matter 
> is made and implemented in a transparent fashion."

http://www.icann.org/minutes/prelim-report-02apr01.htm



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