Ronda Hauben wrote: >>I came across a description of the Office of Telecommunications >>Policy set up in the White House during Nixon's Presidency. >> >>The office was to centralize power over telecommunications in >>the hands of the President. The counsel was from a lawfirm >>Jones, Day, Cockley and Reavis. >> >>(Now the Jones Day lawfirm has a different is called Jones >>Day Reavis and Pogue so the relation isn't exactly clear, but >>it seems like they are probably related.) Same firm. It is interesting to see that they've been involved in this for so long. Maybe Jones Day is really the U. S. Governments private branch. >>A little booklet that I found about the Office of Telecommunications >>Policy (OTP) put out by the Network Project at Columbia U in 1973 >>said that this office would become "the most powerful voice in the >>formulation of national commuications policy." (pg 3) >> >>The booklet mentions a White House report prepared by Peter >>Flanigan, the laison to the corporate community and his >>assistant Clay T. Whitehead. And it described the duties >>of the office to include national telecommunications policies >>and "U.S. participation in international telecommunications >>activities." >> >>It was also to develop executive branch policy on telecommunications, >>including regulatory policies. >> >>I wonder if anyone knows if the NTIA has now taken on these >>powers? There is no doubt a line connecting the two projects. Perhaps Gordon Cook can connect the dots. >> >>I remember at Geneva last year listening to the lawyer from >>Jones and Day saying that all power of ICANN, according >>to the bylaws, would reside in the board, and that the councils >>would be under the board. >> >>The point of all this is that it seems that it is somehow U.S. >>government policy to create this so-called private corporation >>to have centralized in it all the power that result from >>the ownership and control of the essential functions of the Internet. Yes. It is evidently their plan. >>It seems it is more likely a situation where it is executive branch >>policy (U.S. govt policy) to be setting up ICANN and not to allow >>the anti-trust division to investigate. Precisely. >>The U.S. Code prohibited agencies established by Executive order >>from spending governmental monies without explicit congressional >>authorization. The U. S. Constitution prohibits the executive branch from regulating commerce without legislation. ======================== Michael Sondow ICIIU [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.iciiu.org ========================
