The Burr proposal: Beginning of the end of unilateral control of the DNS Root? - 18 July 06 http://internetgovernance.org/news.html#burrproposal_071806
The results of the recent NTIA consultation made it clear that there is no real public or industry support for unilateral control of the DNS root by the U.S. government. A global campaign orchestrated by IGP generated comments from 32 countries in seven regions arguing against it. IGP¹s official filing offered a detailed rationale for that position. Several ccTLD operators incorporated similar positions into their comments. Even those not so enthusiastic about internationalization, such as the Washington-based, business-supported public interest group Center for Democracy & Technology, damned US control with faintest of praise. But what was perhaps most noteworthy was the almost complete absence of any strong or extended comments in favor of the current oversight situation. The latest and most interesting sign of the handwriting on the wall is a proposal being circulated by G. Beckwith Burr, the former Commerce Department official who mediated the creation of ICANN in 1998. Entitled, "Steps the U.S. Government Can Take to Promote Responsible, Global, Private Sector Management of the DNS," the four step proposal can be downloaded here. The well-thought out proposal asks the US to begin by "clearly articulating the purpose of residual governmental authority over the root," and asks for a commitment not to use that authority except to "preserve the technical stability and security of the Internet and/or the DNS." It then proposes the immediate creation of an international working group that would monitor changes in the root. The composition of the proposed group and the procedures by which it would organize consultation and intervention are interesting and deserve careful scrutiny, as they are likely to be the controversial elements of the plan. The proposal also asks the US to "lead by example," eschewing intervention in ICANN and demonstrating commitment to the principle of private sector and civil society governance with governments in an advisory role. Finally, it calls for strengthening ICANN's accountability mechanisms. Burr is circulating the proposal and asking for endorsements. So far, she has received at least one endorsement, from telecom industry lobbyist Marilyn Cade. IGP has not endorsed the proposal at this time, but is studying it and will issue an analysis later. However, the first, third and fourth steps of the proposal correspond closely to what IGP has already proposed in its NTIA comments. _______________________________________________ Infowarrior mailing list [email protected] https://attrition.org/mailman/listinfo/infowarrior
