geert on Tue, 16 Nov 2004 14:11:58 +0100 (CET) |
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Re: <nettime> ITU Proposal to Change IP Address Distribution meet |
(O la la. Now it's getting serious. ICANN warns the UN! Also read Michael Froomkin's comments below. /Geert) No role for UN in ICANN Simon Hayes The Australian IT Section NOVEMBER 16, 2004 http://australianit.news.com.au/common/print/0,7208,11393890%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html THE global domain name governing body has warned off the UN, saying it will operate as a private organisation when its agreement with the US Department of Commerce expires in 2006. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is responsible for managing the domain name and internet protocol address system, and operates under an agreement with the US Commerce Department. ICANN chief executive Paul Twomey, an Australian, said the organisation would cut its ties with the department when the agreement expired in 2006, and ICANN would not be under the authority of any international organisation. "The internet is 200,000 private networks linked by private agreement," Dr Twomey said. "At the heart of the way the internet works is that itgrows quickly through the private-sector model. It's not formulated by international treaty." In a 63-page strategic plan to be issued today, the US-based body plots its future, including a fund to encourage participation of developing countries and more regional meetings. The document projects a marginally increased budget for additional activities, rising from $US15.8 million ($19.5 million) in the 2004-05 financial year to $US19.5 million in 2005-06. The budget could be increased by increasing charges on registrars and country code administrators. Some of that money will be spent on increased security, and although ICANN is not setting itself up as a major funding source, it is planning to develop a special fund for research into network security. "We don't see ourselves as a major funder of international research, but as an enthusiastic endorser of international initiatives," Dr Twomey said. ICANN wants to increase interest from the developing world, which missed out on the first wave of internet commercialisation in the early to mid-1990s. The organisation wants more representation from developing countries, and supports moves to bring more domain name country codes back under the control of those countries. These countries have been using UN mechanisms such as the World Summit on the Information Society in an attempt to influence the development of the internet. Dr Twomey said there was no chance the UN could control ICANN. "The Americans are explicit that they see their role in due diligence, and once that has happened they don't think it's the role of government to run the internet," he said. ICANN is on track to complete the 35 milestones set in the agreement with the US by 2006. It has already reached 10 of these goals. [Michael Froomkin's comment: I wonder what Twomey means by 'private'. It could mean 'not government', which is a mixed blessing, and needs discussion. We don't want any of the USA, the PRC, or the 220-nation UN running the Internet; but we also don't want national governments to have *no* role in governance. But 'private' could also mean 'not public'. Is Twomey saying that individual users can only have a voice in Internet governance if they can stump up enough money to be one of the "200,000 private networks linked by private agreement"? My 4-workstation local IP network is hidden behind a router running Network Address Translation (i.e. with only one IP-address, and without the 4 workstations being visible to the net). Is mine one of those 200,000, or are there two tiers of private networks? I doubt if I can afford the entry fee to the big league (any more than I can afford to be a participant in W3C); and I'm wealthier than the average SOHO operator.] # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net