ICANN is now just another concession stand that makes money by keeping the users of the Information Highway stuck in line at its toll booths.
I’ve become philosophical about XXX et al and view the domain names as accidental strings. I wanted a short name so I leased (of course, not owned) rmf.vc <http://rmf.vc/> . I recommended eComm use eComm.ec <http://ecomm.ec/> . If someone wants to pay a lot for .XXX so be it but it might not be as important as when domains were new and exciting and were mostly “.COM”. The real problem is not with .XXX but the fact that we have a fatally flawed Procrustean system in the heart of the Internet. It guarantees our links must unravel as the leases expire thus undermining the long term stability of the Internet. It’s as if we had the library of Alexandria but let it smolder turning all our knowledge to ash over time. The tragedy is that the DNS displaces alternative mechanisms which would give us stable identifiers we can coin ourselves without depending on a central authority. The DNS should be just another application outside the plumbing of the network – just like Skype names or Google searches. So the XXX domain matters little even if naïve legislators might try to establish a red light district on the Internet. We should be more concerned about the DNS itself. We should be very concerned that reforms such as decentralizing addressing and naming would threaten ICANN’s very profitable sinecure. From: Dave Farber [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 20:25 To: ip Subject: [IP] re ICANN Likely to Approve "Dot-Ex-Ex-Ex" Domain for Chumps! Begin forwarded message: From: "Synthesis:Law and Technology Law and Technology" <[email protected]> Date: June 24, 2010 8:04:14 PM EDT To: [email protected] Cc: ip <[email protected]>, Lauren Weinstein <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [IP] ICANN Likely to Approve "Dot-Ex-Ex-Ex" Domain for Chumps! Dave, FWIW this debate has gone since before ICANN was created. It was dumb in 1996 and everyone could articulate all the reasons back then even before "I know it when I see it". It boggles the mind that ICANN, with access to all the commentary over the years, still manages to get it 'wrong' absent even a compelling 'hint' (let alone reason) that anything has changed? At least make the pretence of "well this has changed so we revisit"? Dan Steinberg SYNTHESIS:Law & Technology 35, du Ravin phone: (613) 794-5356 Chelsea, Quebec J9B 1N1 On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 6:44 PM, Dave Farber <[email protected]> wrote: Begin forwarded message: From: Lauren Weinstein <[email protected]> Date: June 24, 2010 5:29:58 PM EDT To: [email protected] Subject: ICANN Likely to Approve "Dot-Ex-Ex-Ex" Domain for Chumps! ICANN Likely to Approve "Dot-Ex-Ex-Ex" Domain for Chumps! http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000723.html Greetings. Word is that tomorrow ICANN is likely to reverse itself yet again, and (under continuing lawsuit threats from the would-be TLD-operator who desperately wants to cash-in on this fiasco) unwisely approve a "dot-ex-ex-ex" top-level domain ( http://bit.ly/aXdX4k [IBTimes] ). Every word that I wrote back in 2005 about this topic, in "Open Letter: Why 'Dot-Ex-Ex-Ex' is for Chumps" still holds true, perhaps even more now half a decade later ( http://bit.ly/bRtaFj [Lauren's Blog] ). If ICANN moves as reported on this, it is bad news for everyone concerned about free speech and civil liberties on and off the Internet, regardless of how you feel about the sorts of enterprises being targeted by this new TLD. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein [email protected] Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 http://www.pfir.org/lauren Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now> Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/> -- <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/> Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/>
