@Avri, +1. Unfortunately, Eduardo is quite right that the IANA relationship is central to the idea of U.S. 'ownership of the Internet'. This view has quite a following in political Washington; the political Luddites from the sticks leading the charge. American exceptionalism is but one of the issues that drive the alternative root movement. ANd if allowed to proceed without challenge, makes for an altogether illiberal world; fundamentalist fragmentation and the spread of a coven of Luddite communities around the world. IMHO, this future does violence to the global public interest. I am unanimous in dissent. BTW, most of us at the edge of empire well understand that from the point of view of more thoughtful Americans, the At-Large in ICANN is manifestation of continued engagement with the rest of the world. Mind you, this is not to ignore the fact that a certain set in the ICANN world sees the At-Large merely as a fig leaf to cover the odium and cynicism of their 'first among equals' perspective. - Carlton ============================== Carlton A Samuels Mobile: 876-818-1799 *Strategy, Planning, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround* ============================= Message: 6
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:16:26 -0500 From: Avri Doria <avri@ella.com> Subject: Re: [NA-Discuss] FTC letter on new gTLDs To: NARALO Discussion List <na-discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org> Message-ID: <7E80EDA1-DB32-4984-A3F6-DEDCD375CFDB@ella.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
On 19 Dec 2011, at 15:01, Eduardo Diaz wrote:
As far as I know, US owns IANA therefore they own the Internet. So even though they may not have any authority over the ICANN multistakeholder process in the end it boils down to who owns it. Don't you think?
No I don't. The instant the US tries to control it a suzerain it will inspire several different movements, includoing:
- a departure from the single source on names controlled by IANA - a departure from control by a US incorporated organization.
Much of the world is watching and is not friendly to the idea of the US pulling the strings. The second that ICANN starts allowing itself to be jerked around by US agencies whose strings are controlled by big US money, is the beginning of the end.
avri