Re: EU urges Internet governance revamp

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: May 4, 2009 12:24:14 PM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Re: [IP] EU urges Internet governance revamp


Dave,

Without getting into the specifics of the EU's complaint, I believe
it's very important to note that many of us in the community feel that
a fetish-like concentration on opening up more TLDs is
counterproductive and diverts attention from much more critical
Internet issues.

There is every evidence that as more TLDs appear the main result
is extortion-like attempts to force protective registrations by existing
firms in the new top level domains (whether they really want to or not),
and an *increase* in the value of dot-com since it stands out even more
in the public's mind against the clutter of new TLDs.

Also, to suggest that dot-ex-ex-ex was derailed merely by "right wing
politicians" is totally erroneous.  There were many elements of the
community -- including free speech advocates and even the adult
entertainment industry at large, who were opposed.

My view of this was explained in:

Open Letter: Why "Dot-Ex-Ex-Ex" is for Chumps

http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000152.html

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () vortex com
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
  - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad
  - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition
  for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein

- - -

On 05/04 12:00, David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
> Date: May 4, 2009 8:43:43 AM EDT
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] EU urges Internet governance revamp
>
> EU URGES INTERNET GOVERNANCE REVAMP
>
> The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the
> body in charge of assigning Internet addresses such as .com and .net,
> should be shorn of its US government links and made fully independent,
> the European Union's information society chief said on Monday. ICANN  
> is a
> not-for-profit organization set up in 1998 but operates under the  
> aegis
> of the U.S. Department of Commerce, a set-up that raises concerns for
> some as the Internet is seen as belonging to a wider constituency.
> Pressure in the past on ICANN from right-wing politicians to stop .xxx
> from becoming a domain name for pornography, worried some  
> policymakers.
> ICANN's operating agreement with the U.S. government expires at the  
> end
> of September.
>
> <http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE54322V20090504>
>
> Courtesy of the Benton Foundation <http://www.benton.org>
> RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress>
>
>
>
>
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