>Wrongaroonie, Einar --
>The goal is a decentralized network of independent democracies,
>just as we need individuals practicing reponsible self rule from a
>common global sense of our deep interactivity. That how genuine
>freedom and democracy can work best. Isn't it time for us humans
>to outgrow our addiction to despots? Or do we still fear adulthood?
>-- ken
>
>Ken Freed, Publisher
>Media Visions Journal
>http://www.media-visions.com
>
>"Deep literacy makes global sense."
>
ken I am sure you mean well but while you are pursuing vour idyllic
VISION the ICANNite mafia is out there building the cage that will
render our wishes irrelevant...... after 3 years ICANN's iron boot
is only getting more and more brazen.
they will laugh at anything we do until someone either invests in
taking them out by lawsuit or until someone replaces DNS and makes
them irrelevant.
these debates about a better governance mechanism are tiresome
because they do not deflect ICANN one nano meter from the path it is
on.
here is an essay co authored by myself and dave hughes
yesterday...send it where you wish
The Real ICANN, by Gordon Cook and Dave Hughes
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Australian Smoking Gun
With .com .org .net and all the other GTLDs under its firm control,
the Real ICANN is now snuffing out independent country code domains
and putting them under the same contractual assurances that GTLDs are.
This has just begun with the Australian country code domain that has
been taken away from Robert Elz, an Australian university professor
who had done the task for free for more than 10 years. It has been
taken without cause, without hearing, and without due process.
ICANN has established a ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement. According to
Michael Froomkins analysis <see the url below> the door is wide open
for any group of people in any nation to form an organization to run
that country's country code domain name. Such a group can then seek
the government's blessing and, by telling ICANN, it will subscribe to
the agreement, it has likely reason to believe that ICANN will
certify it if the government agrees. With this pledge of fealty from
the newly formed ICANN country code compliant entity, ICANN can then
take the domain name away from the current administrator and give it
to the new entity that wants to run it on behalf of ICANN. The
government then is presented with the opportunity to agree to the
ICANN action, which the Australian government has done. The result
is collusion between the ICANN and the government that permits ICANN
to effectively internationalize a formal national resource and by
saying that it is just following ICANN's request, execute an end run
around any existing due process constraints.
With the .us country code domain the Real ICANN has accomplished that
same goal through Karen Rose who has been positioned in NTIA by
ICANN's corporate founders to give US government blessing to do what
the extra legal forces behind ICANN want. Karen has executed a bid
for an administrator of the US country code domain. You can bet the
winner will agree to play by the ICANN rules of the ccTLD Sponsorship
Agreement. From every thing that we can tell by talking to numerous
sources Karen effectively has become an unsupervised agent operating
largely on behalf of the entities she is supposed to regulate. Her
'charges' tell her what they want and generally they get it. The
agreement of the US government to the actions of ICANN has been
reality for three full years.
Bottom line is that in this instance ICANN, in a series of lawless
actions, is about gain the ability to dictate the terms under which
both American citizens and citizens of other countries can hang out a
cyberspace address shingle for a web site.
The REAL ICANN versus the Public ICANN
The public ICANN is being sold as a democratic organization, founded
on the basis of California non profit law, respectful of it broad
consensus of support by Internet users. This public ICANN is a
deception that is presented to distract attention from the real ICANN.
The Real ICANN is acting on its own authority without the backing of
national law or international treat to take control of the Internet's
naming system and thereby gain a strangle hold over the ability of
individual people and small businesses to work, live and express
themselves in cyberspace. Having no legal authority to take away
the property rights inherent in the Australian country code domain it
has nevertheless just done so.
How could this happen? It has happened as the result of three years
of gradual accretion of power by its staff -- Stuart Lynn as
President, Vint Cerf Chairman of the Board, Andrew Mclaughlin as
chief policy officer and by counsel Joe Sims and Louis Touton and ex
president Michael Roberts as on going consultant. ICANN's Board is
there as window dressing and is informed by staff after-the-fact of
decisions that are expected to be rubber stamped.
Let us step back and look at the big picture. That big picture shows
that the Real ICANN is WTO done on Internet time. The innovation
behind the Real ICANN is that it is an international, supra
governmental organization that doesn't have to be based on
international treaty like the Hague Convention or WTO -- which
treaties take too much time to pass.
The real ICANN fools outsiders by clothing itself in a " legal"
structure to which it gives only lip service, a board of directors
which it ignores, and by laws that it ignores or changes when it
pleases.
It gives lip service to expected 'democratic' requirements like
acting on alleged consensus which means nothing more that what ICANN
staff chooses to say it does at any time and can be and is changed on
a whim.
Indeed it is a totally new kind of organization ostensibly wearing
legal clothing but in fact free to ignore or change its dress as
convenience dictates. It is succeeding because its area is arcane
and highly complex and specialized. Media does not have enough time,
understanding and resources to verify whether ICANN is telling the
truth or lying. Since we have never before had an organization that
is founded on and operates on blatant deception, media, not knowing
any better tends to believe ICANN.
The real ICANN is about centralized control of the Internet on behalf
of a handful of global corporations that want uniform global control
of their intellectual property and corporations that also want
uniform national conditions for global e-commerce. Governments that
fear the consequences of the Internet's ability to ignore global
boundaries will be willing to aid and abet ICANN's intentions.
The real ICANN is carrying out its mission via control of the DNS -
the ability of people to have an address that allows them to do
business in cyberspace. ICANN will squeeze out independent voices by
raising the cost of domain name registration and turning names over
to private contractors with the obligation to fund ICANN at a rate of
15% inflation per year.
From Control of Namespace to Control of Content
And control of websites and expression of diverse opinion is what the
game is all about. Witness for example the recent statement by WIPO
that governments ought to force non WIPO compliant websites to put
warnings to that effect up on their home page.
The homogenization of websites into messages safe for governments and
multinational corporations is the end goal because we predict that in
ICANN's eyes control of content will soon become as important as
control of the alleged single root for the stability of the Internet.
We cannot of course prove that we are correct in the prediction, but
observation of the continued concentration of media into fewer and
fewer hands and into the hands of corporate conglomerates benefiting
from the emergence of supra national ICANN like authorities makes it
seem eminently fair to raise this question. The Internet revolution
gives everyone a printing press. This reality makes life more
complicated for those who want only to sell the alleged benefits of
globalism. By the time that we can be proven right or wrong about
ICANN and content, it will be too late. The battle about address
space is a battle about control. Control is worth having because it
gives the possessor a lever to clamp down on content. To those who
say well you can still hang out a web shingle as [EMAIL PROTECTED] or
[EMAIL PROTECTED], we reply under what conditions and at what
expense? AOL is not a staunch defender of free speech.
ICANN is on the verge of getting enough money for itself to be
financially independent of any national base. When Karen Rose either
gives her ICANN sponsors the ROOT or ICANN takes control of the root
on its own, ICANN can be free to move off shore and will no longer be
under the reach of US law. It is imperative to act and to create and
sell to congress a structure to replace it with. The move has almost
succeeded. Given continued complacency it will succeed. It is time
for people more powerful than we and with access to more resources
than we to act in California and federal courts and in the halls of
congress.
The real ICANN is the test mechanism for global economic interests
being able to avoid national legislative processes entirely as well
as accepted processes of treaty agreements.
For those who want to lobby
Important congress critters are Tauzin and Dingell (House communications)
House Sub committee on Telecom and the Internet Fred Upton is chair
subcommittee. Ed Markey is ranking member. (Known to dislike Icann.)
John Shimkus (Illinois rep) Chip Pickering active and important
bellweather. Tom Davis is the representative from Network Solutions
write off as a loss�. On demo side not much clue beside Markey.
Senate Commerce Chair Hollings is critical and in fact has a key
staffer who is knowledgeable on this issue having been an corporate
internet sys admin!
Rockefeller has been active but his key staffer has just gone to FCC
John Kerry (Mass) is knowledgeable
Senator Boxer needs to be educated having had a bad experience with a
cyber squatter
Senator Burns is knowledgeable
Activate commerce committees which are frustrated but understand that
when they get unhappy and they do that the intellectual property
people on the judiciary committees come out in ICANN's favor and
succeed in squelching any rebellion. Therefore judiciary committees
need to be involved as well.
Leahy must be made understand from freedom of speech issues
Barney Franks in the house judiciary committee is sympathetic and
very important
Zoe Lofgren (commerce) Zoe is the silicon valley representative and has clues.
--
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