IP: Moving Beyond ICANN's Failures

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 09:41:04 -0700 (PDT)
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () pfir org
Subject: Moving Beyond ICANN's Failures



Dave,

The rather dire predictions that you, Peter, and I made last March in our
open letter ( "Overcoming ICANN: Forging Better Paths for the Internet" --
http://www.pfir.org/statements/icann ) seem to be rapidly coming to pass.
ICANN's continuing failures are leading us down what may well be the worst
of all possible roads, with ultimate control of the Internet likely to end
up exactly where it least appropriately belongs, unless we start forging
some new paths *now*.

The Dept. of Commerce view is grounded in a common governmental
predilection: "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."
Ms. Victory's suggestion that a "new company" with "a new bunch of people"
would face the same problems, ergo, there's no need for significant change
amongst the players, is only partially correct.  Yes, new companies
(or whatever forms new organizations might take) would face the same
challenges, but people are not bananas.  The global loss of faith in
ICANN's abilities to fulfill its mission, after continuing and erratic
missteps, indicates most strongly that it's time to move onward to
new approaches.

By the Commerce line of reasoning, there's no reason to ever hold elections
for any public offices -- after all, the new folks will face the same
problems as the old, so why go through all the messy hassles of voting and
transitions?  While there are some persons who feel that changes in
government don't lead to real changes in policy and outcomes, I strongly
disagree with that assessment.  Individuals -- people -- do matter, and do
create change.  As we suggested in our letter, there is no guarantee that
new bodies can solve all of the Internet-related problems.  There is risk
involved in any change.  But there is widespread acknowledgment that ICANN
as an organization has failed, and that this has created a vacuum into which
darkness can easily flow.

ICANN's globe-hopping sojourns aren't solving the problems.  ICANN's counsel
Mr. Sims points out that the various players in the Internet infrastructure
"must be persuaded to come to the ICANN table."  He suggests that making
ICANN less stable and predictable won't help in that process.  But looking
over the history of ICANN, it's hard to imagine a more unstable and less
predictable platform for these important matters.  It's time to stop
wrapping duct tape and bent coat-hangers around the rickety legs of ICANN
and
instead to build some new "tables" -- new organizations that can solve
problems rather than exacerbate existing ones.

This task will be challenging and indeed not without risk.  But the
potential benefits could be enormous.  The Internet is rapidly becoming
integral to most aspects of our societies around the world -- from security
to privacy, from finance to health, from peace to war.  Humanity must not
screw this one up.  Building new organizations to help deal appropriately
with Internet issues could be one of the most important construction
projects of our time, and for the future.  Let's get to work.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () privacyforum org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org
Co-Founder, URIICA - Union for Representative International Internet
                     Cooperation and Analysis - http://www.uriica.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy



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