Hi Chris,
Learning about Rod’s quite concerning statements remotely from
Johannesburg is interesting. I don’t undermine the possibility that his
intention might have been a noble one of getting government’s attention on the
sensitive security matters, but I agree his approach ended up as an unwarranted
outburst.
If you haven’t submitted the letter, I suggest that somewhere in
the last paragraph of our letter we address his statement (in paragraph 4 of
his verbatim) that he is planning to write to governments enquiring “...what is
happening in the DNS in your countries...”. I would definitely find such a
measure as dangerous because as ccTLD managers, we operate either free or
substantially free from government’s oversight. To write to government of South
Africa asking about .za would appear to me to outrageous, even though .ZADNA
has a very positive relationship with the SA government.
I suggest therefore that in the last paragraph of our letter we
add something along the lines:
“As the ccNSO, we would like
to bring to the ICANN Board’s attention that Mr. Beckstrom’s intention to write
to governments about their DNS asking whether or not such DNS is able to
withstand the perceived new levels of attacks, has a potential of compromising
the manner in which ccTLD managers in those countries operate. It also has a
potential of undermining ongoing ccTLD managers’ efforts of making their DNS
more robust and resilient against attacks. We urge that if such measure is to
be taken, it first be dealt with through the ccNSO.”
As a by-the-way, in my capacity as AfTLD Chairman, I’m concerned
that Rod’s efforts are likely to cause ICANN to play in the hands of those who
believe the ITU (and not ICANN) should be managing the DNS. It seems to me that
most African governments are fonder to the ITU than to ICANN, and some governments
might interpret Rod’s statements as an admission that ICANN is not really
capable of managing the DNS.
My 50 cents....
Regards,
Vika Mpisane
ZADNA
+27 11 275 0082
From: owner-ccnso-council@icann.org
[mailto:owner-ccnso-council@icann.org] On Behalf Of Chris Disspain
Sent: 10 March 2010 02:54 PM
To: Council ccNSO
Subject: [ccnso-council] Fwd: ccNSO to ICANN Board letter
For comment and discussion.
Cheers,
Chris Disspain
CEO - auDA
Sent from my phone
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Paul Szyndler" <paul.szyndler@auda.org.au>
Date: 10 March 2010 23:50:27 AEDT
To: "'Chris Disspain'" <ceo@auda.org.au>
Subject: ccNSO to ICANN Board letter
I may have gotten a little carried away.
As an aside, Rod’s comments about contributions and vulnerability of the DNS have already been picked up by tech media.
http://www.computerworld.co.ke/articles/2010/03/08/africa-must-bring-its-voice-icann - 90% of ICANN contributions come from Nth America
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9168238/Trademark_issues_could_derail_new_gTLDs_at_ICANN_meeting?taxonomyId=11 "The DNS is under attack today more than ever before, the number and complexity of attacks have risen and ICANN relies on governments and other stakeholders to preserve the DNS" – in an article on trademarks and new gTLDs.
Paul Szyndler | Public Affairs Officer
.au Domain Administration Limited
T: +61 (2) 6292 5034 | F: +61 3 8341 4112 | M: +61 402 250 389
E: paul.szyndler@auda.org.au | W: www.auda.org.auauDA - Australia's Domain Name Administrator
Important Notice
This email may contain information which is confidential and/or subject to legal privilege, and is intended for the use of the named addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not use, disclose or copy any part of this email. If you have received this email by mistake, please notify the sender and delete this message immediately.
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4931 (20100310) __________
The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
http://www.eset.com
No virus
found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2730 - Release Date: 03/09/10
21:33:00