[ih] IANA

[kent]

On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 12:12:36PM -0700, Dave CROCKER wrote:
[...]
> A point that is typically confused, including in Craig Simon's generally  
> diligent and detailed thesis, is that the IAHC's scope was strictly 
> limited to new gTLDs and never, ever had anything to do with the larger 
> matters of the root or IANA continuity or authority.  The IAHC model was 
> simple: Authority rested with IANA. (Don Heath at ISOC was the only 
> member of the IAHC who remained confused about this.

And this is where I think the IAHC failed, to tell you the truth.  In the 
final analysis, everything was founded on the larger matters of the root and 
IANA's authority, and without those questions being resolved, the IAHC 
report was resting on sand that quickly washed away.

> That some of us contemporaneously commented on that larger matter is a 
> different matter, mostly having to do with clarifying the authority 
> /under which/ the IAHC was operating.

I recall that the basic argument was that IAHC was operating under IANA's
authority.  But under close inspection IANA's authority always seemed rather
vague.

> (Small side note:  Folks should look at the specific recommendations in 
> the IAHC proposal and consider how many of them eventually were 
> implemented...)

Interesting thing to think about.

>>> 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.
>
> From an historical standpoint, although this was perhaps a side-effect 
> rather than a goal, I believe that the Green Paper officially terminated 
> IANA's long-standing authority to do it's job (on its own.)

Perhaps.  I'm not sure how well founded that authority was, though -- well
founded in the sense of being robust in the face of lawsuits and other legal
problems.  Jon was very concerned about how IANA could be shielded from
liability and anti-trust issues; the IAHC didn't address these concerns. 

Kent