-Caveat Lector-
The NEW CyberWORLD ORDER
by Madison Payne
Those familiar with the cause and effect view of history know that things
are not always what they seem. Behind every political debate, there is often
the undercurrent of the real fight.
Just recently, for example, Tom Selleck was attacked on the Rosie
O'Donnell show because he had appeared in a National Rifle Association
billboard advertisement. At one point during his interrogation, he said,
"You don't really believe that the Constitution included the 'right to bear
arms' for hunting purposes, do you?"
Sadly, most of America had no idea what he was talking about.
Today, I am writing for those who know exactly what he was talking about.
For while we fight to preserve the U.S. Constitution, and while we fight the
enemies opposed to this purpose, a much more insidious process is underway.
Over the last decade or so, a new, worldwide frontier has emerged. It
started out as an obscure, defense-department-funded communication
network -- now it has evolved into a global village known as the Internet.
For those who do not know, the "Internet" is exactly that. It is a
network of private computers and private networks of computers that are
simply inter-networked together.
Recently, the Internet has exploded, with over 92 million people sharing
this wonderful resource. But as this growth continues, the Internet has
started to impinge upon the real world. In fact, some estimates attribute
over 30% of the growth in GDP directly to the Internet.
As this growth has escalated, and as business has started to flourish on
the Net, conflicts have started to occur. Conflicts over content, conflicts
over use, conflicts over privacy, and conflicts over intellectual property.
So how do we resolve these conflicts?
Who is in charge of the Internet?
When the Net started, it was obviously a U.S. creation. But as the Net
assumed a global user base, the foreign users of the Net had no obligation
to adhere to U.S. decisions. Likewise, U.S. users had no obligation to
adhere to foreign decisions. Total freedom, and to some degree anarchy, was
the result.
In an attempt to fill this power vacuum, a small group of people started
a process to assume authority over the chaos. The first attempt was known as
the gTLD-MoU. It was drafted by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
(IANA), the Internet Society (ISOC), the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO), and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Unfortunately, the plan they developed could have been written by Marx
himself. It featured a small policy board, with unlimited powers, with no
sunshine provisions, established under Swiss law, to administer the entire
global name space.
[There are three main areas under which control over the Internet can be
achieved -- Domain Names, IP Addresses, and Protocol Parameters. The
gTLD-MoU focused on Domain Names. The White Paper focuses on all three.]
Fortunately, there was enough opposition to the gTLD-MoU that the U.S.
Government was forced to intervene. First, a multi-departmental group of the
U.S. Government known as the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) started to hold meetings. Then Congress, through the
House Science and Commerce Committees, held hearings. Finally, the Executive
Branch asked Ira Magaziner, President Clinton's "Technology Czar," to jump
into the fight.
The result of all of these actions was ultimately known as the "White
Paper", Ira Magaziner's consensus document. And while it addressed the most
objectionable features of the gTLD-MoU, it was also written in a vague and
ambiguous style.
This became obvious as the U.S. Commerce Department, under the direction
of Becky Burr, proceeded to implement the White Paper through a most dubious
process. Instead of interpreting the White Paper as an extension to the U.S.
Constitution, she allowed a very small group of people to position
themselves as the new global government for the Internet. They are known as
ICANN.
ICANN, from its inception, has been fraught with controversy and claims
of capture. First, the initial incorporators of ICANN used by-laws that were
hotly contested as lacking in process, sunshine, and accountability clauses.
Second, the initial Board members were presented as a fait accompli, without
any justification for their selection or their appointment.
Who exactly comprises this board:
Esther Dyson, Interim Chairman
Chairman of EDventure Holdings
Geraldine Capdeboscq
Executive Vice President for Strategy, Technology and Partnerships, BULL
(France).
George Conrades
Venture Partner with Polaris Venture Partners
Greg Crew
Chairman of the Australian Communications Industry Forum Ltd.
Frank Fitzsimmons
Senior Vice President, Global Marketing for Dun & Bradstreet
Hans Kraaijenbrink
Executive Board of the European Telecommunications
Network Operators association
Jun Murai Professor, Faculty of Environmental Information, Keio University
(Japan)
Michael Roberts
Interim President and CEO of ICANN
Eugenio Triana
Past Deputy Director General in DG XIII (1994-98), European Commission
Linda S. Wilson
President of Radcliffe College
It should be noted that Esther Dyson was admitted to the Council on
Foreign Relations in 1997, just before she became interested in the Internet
governance debate. Coincidence?
But actions speak louder than appearances. And this board's actions are
right out of the Communist Manifesto. In the short time that this board has
been in existence, they have:
1) Established a secretive method of decision making, one that features an
open, public meeting the day before a secret and authoritative meeting where
the Board makes all of the binding decisions affecting every Internet user
in the world.
2) Established a Government Advisory Committee (GAC), which is a secret
cabal of low ranking government officials, who meet in secret and make
"recommendations" to the ICANN Board during their secret meeting.
3) Claimed ownership over the entire name space, and have threatened to
force a U.S. based, public, for-profit corporation out of business.
4) Implemented a $1 per domain name tax, to fund their $6,000,000 budget.
This tax was implemented without any community input, and without any
representation offered to those who must now pay the tax. In other words,
taxation without representation.
While this is a very small selection from a very large list, it does
represent the current direction of ICANN. In one fell swoop, the Council on
Foreign Relations will have achieved their New World Order over the very
real frontier we call cyberspace.
Unless we act swiftly, ICANN will soon be entrenched as the de facto,
worldwide government over the cyber-world we call the Internet.
But you can help.
First, Congress is currently looking at the actions of ICANN. Congressman
Bliley, of the House Commerce Committee, recently blasted ICANN for their
current actions, and he will likely hold hearings in July. Write to your
congressman, and support these hearings.
Second, get the word out. Funny how the press will spend months covering
President Clinton's sex life, but will give virtually no coverage to the
establishment of global Internet governance.
Finally, get involved. The best place to participate in the debate is on
the IFWP mailing list. To join, send a "subscribe list" command in the body
of an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In closing, the Internet is where we will work, play, and learn in the
future -- it is where we will live. We must protect this New World from
those who would like to control it.
Freedom and liberty require constant vigilance -- and action.
NOW is the time to act!
Forwarded for info and discussion from the New Paradigms
Discussion List, not necessarily endorsed by:
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