[Chapter-delegates] [MemberPubPol] ISOC response to the NTIA's call for comment on the USDoC- ICANN MoU

[Alan Levin]

Hello,

Vittorio, (and others) many thanks for your insightful comments.

Matthew, I agree with Vittorios position, and you can consider ISOC- 
ZA in support of ICANN and a bigger role for users.

One can also mention this in the shadow of WSIS which lends ICANN  
international legitimacy.

warm regards,

Alan


On 04 Jul 2006, at 9:53 AM, Vittorio Bertola wrote:

> Hello,
>
> please find my comments below. I think it is a reasonable text,  
> even if
> it only addresses a few of the open issues, and is silent on  
> others. (I
> would have liked to see ISOC speak in favour of a bigger role for end
> users inside ICANN, in opposite of the present hegemony by the  
> industry
> in all decision-making structures, but I am afraid that ISOC-HQ will
> never want to put forward such a bold position against its own
> fee-paying organizational members...)
> Anyway:
>
> Matthew Shears ha scritto:
>> 1) Building and clarifying relationships
>>
>>
>>
>> ISOC has always supported ICANN and the role ICANN plays in the
>> collaborative Internet model.   ICANN is an essential organization  
>> among
>> those that manage and administer the Internet on a day to day basis.
>>
>>
>>
>> We welcome ICANN's efforts to improve how it interacts with  
>> governments
>> through the Government Advisory Council and to working to be more  
>> responsive
>> to the needs of its various constituencies.
>>
>>
>>
>> Going forward, ISOC feels it is key that the NTIA better define -  
>> and limit
>> - the role it or any government agency (US or other) plays in ICANN
>> oversight.
>
> I think I understand the concept, but I would suggest that you find a
> diplomatic way to rephrase the sentence: it is quite rude to ask a USG
> agency to limit the role that other governments play, it is like
> assuming the USG has the unilateral right to decide what other
> governments can or cannot do - something that will hurt all other
> countries. It might, well, propose or push a certain point of view,
> promote the position in the appropriate venues, etc... but not "limit"
> at the present indicative form of the verb.
>
>> 2) Defining roles and responsibilities
>>
>>
>>
>> In addition to further limiting its own role, the NTIA should  
>> recognize that
>> ICANN's current scope is appropriate and should not be expanded.
>>
>>
>>
>> ICANN should remain focused on those functions that are necessary  
>> to be
>> performed centrally at the global level and that are materially  
>> important to
>> the continued success of the Internet.  ISOC would suggest, for  
>> example,
>> that operational authority over the DNS root name server system  
>> through
>> formal arrangements with the root name server operators is not  
>> desirable. We
>> believe that the current distributed and redundant way of  
>> operating the root
>> name servers by a dozen independent organizations is highly  
>> successful.
>>
>>
>>
>> ISOC also regards the calls for more heavyweight governance inside  
>> of ICANN
>> and for replacing ICANN with international structures misplaced.   
>> Such moves
>> would merely increase end-user costs and creates structures that  
>> will resist
>> the deployment of improved, innovative and evolutionary technologies.
>
> Here I agree with the comments already made by others - you should
> remove the mention of internationalization. By the way, I think that
> ISOC should be in favour of giving ICANN an international form (not
> "replacing it" with something else, of course!).
> -- 
> vb.             [Vittorio Bertola - v.bertola [a] bertola.eu.org] 
> <-----
> http://bertola.eu.org/  <- Prima o poi...
>
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---------------------------------------------
Alan Levin
Tel: +27 21 409-7997