IP: ICANN claims to have policy responsibilities

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Charles Brownstein <cbrownst () cnri reston va us>
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 09:07:42 -0500
To: farber () cis upenn edu, USACM () ACM ORG
Subject: Re: ICANN claims to have policy responsibilities

Associating the processes of democratic representation to the
arrangements of the private business involved in the DNS seems to
have driven ICANN costs and processes into the unsustainable range.
That seems to me to be an artifact of an era when the Internet was a
partially subsidized by (the democratic US ) government for its own
reasons. Now the US government is a customer of Internet services,
just like me and lots of others. We all want the DNS to do what it
was designed to do. Some of us want it to do lots of other stuff. But
doing what it was designed to do is necessary for all the rest.

How about immediately setting up a new organization that has the sole
line of business of tending the technical dimensions of binding the
domain names to the ip numbers. That should be done on a cost
recovery basis with costs paid by the immediate "customers" eg, IANA,
and registrars. No broader governance is needed, just small
management.

ALL the rest of what it wants to do to can then be left to ICANN, the
businesses and the governments that use its services and the courts,
to sort out. Policy and practices promoting security, competition,
extending the DNS dealing with standards bodies on associated issues,
spreading the wealth, holding public meetings, seeking members,
claiming authority as sovreigns or elected representatives,
*whatever*  need to be taken out of the core infrastructure function
role of the new organization. These lines of business and social
activity have their own customers, including businesses, governments
and individuals who should pay the associated costs.


At 9:33 PM -0800 3/25/02, Peter G. Neumann wrote:
> I agree.


-- 



Charles N. Brownstein
Executive Director, XIWT
Suite 100, 1895 Preston White Dr,
Reston, VA 20191

email:    brownstein () cnri reston va us
tel:    703 620 8990    desk: 703 262 5346
fax:    703 620 0913
web:     <http://www.xiwt.org>


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