"Richard J. Sexton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> The third option is to leave everybopdy alone and wait till
> they figure it out. It's the slowest, but the "cleanest".
Do you think the Internet community will ever figure it out?
In the past, there has never been an issue faced by the technical
community concerning critical Internet infrastructure that divided it
so deeply. Also, the arena has changed; the nature of the user base
is such that maintaining stability is important; the Internet has
become much easier to use, thus users are much less likely to tolerate
systemic failures.
This is a critical question that needs to be asked and answered, in my
opinion. There have been numerous statements by ICANN critics that it
has no legal standing, and is an affront to the people who keep the
Internet running. But there has been no outcry from the Internet
community at large for ICANN to go away. And some very big players
(e.g. AOL), who serve a large segment of the Internet user population,
have consented to be ICANN registrars. Finally, the USG is determined
to carry out privatization of IANA functions, and they recognize ICANN
as the new organization to do that job.
Ellen Rony points out corrected that ICANN's supporters are well
organized and financially endowed. I believe this is a key point.
History tells us that organized movements, such as the 1930's radio
broadcast networks desire to commercialize the radio airwaves, were
able to succeed. They were able to demonstrate to Congress that they
could serve the public interest. The opponents of the commercial
broadcasters failed because they were too divided and unable to
organize themselves sufficiently to sway Congress.
--gregbo
