Jay,
This and similar controversies have actually been
going on fairly intensively over the past 40 years.
It's the Internet and domain names right now, 15 years
ago it was OSI names and addresses, 20 years ago
satellite allocations, 40 years ago shortwave
radio frequencies.
You inevitably end up with two camps of politicians,
reporters, academics,...you name it. They distill
into two diametrically opposed camps:
Common Interests:
o Names are "public resource"
o Limited for political reasons
o Use subject to accreditation license and regulation
o Dislike for-profit business models
o Desires/requires managed competition
o Seeks/accepts control for Internet governance purposes
Common Interests:
o Names are assets/brands developed by business
o Unlimited resource
o Use subject to provider-customer contracts
o Prefer for-profit business models
o Managed by market and antitrust laws
o Opposes control for Internet governance purposes
The first group tends to regard these as religious
issues of principle on which there cannot be any
compromise-only compliance with their orthodoxy.
The second group tends to be more pragmatic and
seeks to accommodate diversity.
In global political forums - which is what ICANN-GAC
has become - the first group has generally won the
initial rhetorical and numerical popularity contests.
The ICANN's GAC has already declared as a principle
of their constituent governments that Internet Names
and Addresses are the equivalent of the radio spectrum.
Because the first group is far more common outside the
US, while the second is more common in the US. This
tends to skew the results in numerical based global
forums - which also is what ICANN-GAC have become.
The first approach is also popular among those who want
to manipulate economic systems for some perceived initial
advantage. In the end, however, the paradigm shifts from
the first to the second group because it is the only one
that really works and maximizes the benefits of the
associated technology.
For the moment, however, the contention will continue,
and the Internet simply experience the same wars long
experienced in other galaxies far, far away....
cheers,
--tony
