[chapter-delegates] Surprise statement by U.S. government on ICANN and DNS

[Erkki I. Kolehmainen]

Since I wasn't at WGIG, Gene's question was not addressed to me. Nevertheless, this doesn't really surprise me for a number of reasons, including the apparent thirst for power shown by many parties who are likely to be more eager than capable.

Sincerely,
Erkki I. Kolehmainen
Tilkankatu 12 A 3, 00300 Helsinki, Finland
(09) 4368 2643, 0400 825 943; Int'l: +358 - 9 4368 2643 / 400 825 943

----- Alkuperäinen viesti ----- 
Lähettäjä: "Gene Gaines" <gene.gaines at gainesgroup.com>
Vastaanottaja: <memberpubpol at elists.isoc.org>; <chapter-delegates at lists.isoc.org>
Lähetetty: 1. heinäkuuta 2005 6:41
Aihe: [chapter-delegates] Surprise statement by U.S. government on ICANN and DNS


Thursday afternoon the U.S. Commerce Department issued a
bombshell statement, saying that the U.S. government intends to
keep control of the DNS and the authoritative root zone file.

Below is the U.S. government statement, an anlysis by Michael
Froomkin who closely follows these issues and ICANN, and the
news item released by the Associated Press.

The text of U.S. Department of Commerce statement is posted at:
www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/USDNSprinciples_06302005.htm
on a page titled "U.S. Statement of Principles 06-30-2005".

Question. Is this a surprise to the people who were at WGIG?

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>From Michael Froomkin - U.Miami School of Law:

The US Department of Commerce has announced an unexpected new policy
regarding the Domain Name System (DNS) and the Internet Corporation  
for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

In previous pronouncements, the US had indicated that the US would  
someday release its ultimate control over the 'root' - the file that  
contains the master list of authorized registries and thus determines  
which TLDs show up on the consensus Internet and who shall have the  
valuable right to sell names in them. That day would come if and when  
ICANN fulfilled a number of conditions spelled out in a Memorandum of  
Understanding (MOU).

Today's announcement says the opposite: the US plans to keep control  
of the root indefinitely, thus freezing the status quo. Nothing will  
change immediately as a result. But the timing is weird, coming as it  
does only a short time before the forthcoming meeting of the UN- 
sponsored World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

 --  end Froomkin statement --

There is extensive discussion of this action on Froomkin's blog:
www.discourse.net/archives/2005/06/us_drops_icanndns_bombshell_on_wsis.html 

 - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The U.S. Associated Press story:

Associated Press
U.S. Won't Cede Control of Net Computers
06.30.2005, 04:01 PM

The U.S. government said Thursday it would indefinitely retain
oversight of the Internet's main traffic-controlling computers,
ignoring calls by some countries to turn the function over to an
international body.

The announcement marked a departure from previously stated U.S.
policy.

Michael D. Gallagher, assistant secretary for communications and
information at the U.S. Commerce Department, shied away from
terming the declaration a reversal, calling it instead "the
foundation of U.S. policy going forward."

"The signals and words and intentions and policies need to be
clear so all of us benefiting in the world from the Internet and
in the U.S. economy can have confidence there will be continued
stewardship," Gallagher said in an interview with The Associated
Press.

Government officials had in the past indicated they would one
day hand control of the 13 "root" computer servers used to
direct e-mail and Web traffic to a private organization with
international board members, the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers.

"It's completely an about-face if you consider the original
commitment made when ICANN was created" in 1998, said Milton
Mueller, a Syracuse University professor who has written about
policies surrounding the Internet's root servers.

ICANN officials had no immediate comment.

The announcement comes just weeks before a U.N. panel was to
release a report on Internet governance, addressing oversight of
the root servers, among other things.

Some countries have sought to move oversight to an international
body, such as the U.N. International Telecommunication Union,
although the U.S. government has historically had that role
because it funded much of the Internet's early development.

Ambassador David Gross, the U.S. coordinator for international
communications and information policy at the State Department,
insisted the announcement was unrelated to those discussions.

But he said other countries should see the move as positive
because "uncertainty is not something that we think is in the
United States' interest or the world's interest."
 

(Private note. The U.S. Government appears to be thinking that
such issues as freedom, liberty, democratic process, indecency,
the Internet are far too important to share with any "foreign"
governments. I disagree. Bullies usually are not tolerated for
long. I expect this reversal is going to anger a number of
people. -Gene Gaines)