[ih] IANA

[Vint Cerf]

On Aug 29, 2009, at 10:18 AM, Johnny RYAN wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> I'd to make sure I have the chronology and causality right in the
> development of ICANN
>
>> From 1968 onward, Jon Postel volunteered to keep track of the

no, more like 1969 - when the RFCs were started (April). Steve Crocker
would know of course whether Jon volunteered sooner than that.
>>
> addresses of host machines on ARPANET and then Internet.
> In 1983, the same year as Mockapetris developed the DNS, Postel setup
> the IANA to manage the addresses and domain names
> 1992, NSF issues solicitation for bidders to perform network
> information service management
> 1993-1998, Network Solutions contracted to perform domain name
> registration service - working with / under (unclear here) the IANA
> 1995, controversy arises when Network Solutions proposes a fee for
> registering domains - the fee was apparently envisaged by NSF at the
> outset,

no, it think the fee matter arose as the registration rate increased and
NSF concluded that spending research $ on what was evidently a
commercial activity did not make sense. It authorized $50/year with
a two year minimum per domain name at first. This became very  
controversial.

> and the Dec 1994 review of Network Solutions work recommended
> the fee. Controversy however came from the hesitancy on the part of
> some about Network Solutions having a monopoly and the prospect of
> their having no oversight from 1998 onward

you seem to leave out a two year period when the community tried to
self organize. An Ah Hoc committee was formed but did not converge
entirely. As I recall, Jon initiated discussion about 1996 on the matter
of institutionalizing IANA functions in part because USC was unwilling
to provide legal protection for potential controversies over rights to
register particular domain names, etc. The attempt to self-organize
led to a proposed Geneva-based entity but this ignited a firestorm
among some members of Congress (who somehow thought that
the US still "controlled" the Internet) and led to Ira Magaziner's
involvement with the support of (or maybe at the request of?)
then President Bill Clinton.
>
> 1997, prompted by Ira Magaziner, Clinton administration commits to
> privitization in its 'Framework for Global Electronic Commerce'
> 1998, January, US Department of Commerce Green Paper 'A Proposal to
> Improve the Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses'
> proposes a private, not for profit corporation to coordinate DNS
> 1998, US Department of Commerce publishes statement of policy on
> Internet names and addresses and announces the beginning of a
> transition of DNS functions to the new corporation, following a period
> of further study and consultation.
October 1998, Jon Postel dies - he would have served as the CTO of
ICANN.
>
> November 1998, ICANN signs memorandum of understanding with the US
> Department of Commerce to undertake joint study of the future for DNS
> management that would be operated by the private sector.
> December 1998, ICANN signs a transition agreement with the University
> of Southern California in which it assumed the functions previously
> fulfilled by the IANA.
>
> If this chronology is accurate, then the next problem I have is
> understanding where the controversy from 2005 came from...
>
> I hope all of you are well, any input would be much appreciated.
>
> Johnny
>
>
> --
> My Next Book... http://johnnyryan.wordpress.com/books/net- 
> history-2010/
>
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