NTIA on Internet's DNS

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Karl Auerbach <karl () cavebear com>
Date: July 1, 2005 6:15:15 AM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Re: [IP] NTIA on Internet's DNS
Reply-To: Karl Auerbach <karl () cavebear com>



On Thu, 30 Jun 2005, David Farber wrote:


> > "U.S. Principles on the Internet's Domain Name and Addressing System

I was wondering when this shoe was going to drop.  For years NTIA has  
emitted official sounding noises about relinquishing its oversight.  
However, what up-and-comming head of NTIA would really like to be  
known as "the man who lost the internet"?


> > ...  As such, the United States ... will therefore maintain its  
> > historic role in authorizing changes or modifications to the  
> > authoritative root zone file.

In other words, somebody in the US Government will have to accept the  
responsibility for approving .xxx.  That could easily put a big dent  
in some aspiring bureaucrat's career prospects.  Will NTIA drop the  
another shoe and overturn ICANN's decision with regard to .xxx?


> > Governments have legitimate interest in the management of their   
> > country code top level domains (ccTLD).  The United   
> > Statesrecognizes that governments have legitimate public policy  
> > and  sovereignty concerns with respect to the management of their   
> > ccTLD.

In which case one has to wonder about the role of the US Dept of  
Commerce rather than the US Dept of State with regard to the  
previously noted "changes or modifications to the authoritative root  
zone file" with respect to ccTLD entries.

Which raises a point - the only reason that the NTIA root zone is  
"authoritative" is because a lot of people adhere to it voluntarily.   
But things that are voluntary are things that can change.  Imagine if  
Coca Cola were to claim that it is the authoritive beverage - those  
who chose otherwise might find the claim amusing.


> > ICANN is the appropriate technical manager of the Internet DNS.

As we have seen over the years, the set of *technical* functions that  
ICANN actually performs for DNS is a reasonable facsimile of "nil".

ICANN does lots and lots of non-technical management of DNS - like  
ensuring that our privacy is violated 24x7x365 - but as for  
*technical* management: None.

One of the sounds the one hears in the back-channels of the WSIS/WGIG  
effort is the deep concern, by governments, that nobody is really  
taking steps to ensure that at a technical level, the upper tiers of  
the DNS run reliably, accurately, efficiently, without discrimination  
- today and tomorrow, even if natural or human disasters occur.  That  
is a job that ICANN was to have performed.  But it is a job that  
ICANN has never even attempted to perform.  The internet, and all of  
its users, are left at risk.

So this announcement seems to say two things:

1. Somebody at NTIA finally realized the political cost that will  
ensue if they relinquish final control over the internet.

2. That NTIA still has its head in the sand and still does not  
recognize that ICANN does nothing to ensure the technical stability  
of the net.

        --karl--




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