[IDNO:549] Bliley's questions to Esther
Joop Teernstra (terastra@terabytz.co.nz)
Thu, 24 Jun 1999 15:25:52 +1200
> Ms. Esther Dyson
> Interim Chairman
> Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and
> Numbers
> 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
> Marina del Rey, CA 90292
>
> Dear Ms. Dyson:
>
> I am writing to express my concern about
> recent steps taken by the Internet
> Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
> ("ICANN") as part of its role in
> the transition to privatize management of the
> Internet's Domain Name System ("DNS").
>
> The Committee has been following closely the
> evolution of the DNS and has
> supported the efforts to privatize the
> management of this essential element of
> the Internet. I welcomed the call in the
> Department of Commerce's White
> Paper to create a new corporation "governed on
> the basis of a sound and
> transparent decision making-process, which
> protects against capture by a
> self-interested faction." Additionally, since
> the Department of Commerce's
> entry into its Memorandum of Understanding
> ("MOU") with ICANN in
> November 1998, Committee staff has met
> regularly with officers of ICANN and
> other interested parties to discuss the
> ongoing activities associated with the
> transfer of the DNS from the public sector to
> the private sector.
>
> As you may recall, in October of last year I
> wrote Secretary of Commerce
> William M. Daley and Ira Magaziner, then
> Senior Advisor to the President for
> Policy Development, requesting information
> about their knowledge of the
> selection of ICANN's interim board members.
>
> Now, as ICANN's interim board
> begins to undertake formation of policy that
> will have far-reaching
> consequences for Internet users, domain name
> holders and companies
> offering domain name registration services, I
> remain troubled about the
> manner in which the interim board members were
> selected, and have new
> questions about the manner in which the
> interim board is operating.
>
> I also am greatly concerned about the interim
> board's imposition of a $1 per
> domain name registration fee, the funding of a
> rather large ($5.9 million)
> ICANN budget through such a fee, and the
> setting of highly regulatory
> accreditation requirements for those who wish
> to offer domain name
> registration services. Such decisions likely
> exceed the authority that the
> White Paper originally contemplated for the
> private organization whose role
> ICANN now is attempting to fulfill. Rather
> than promote the Internet's
> evolution, your organization's policies
> actually may jeopardize the continued
> stability of the underlying systems that
> permit millions of people to use, enjoy
> and transact business on the Internet.
>
> Moreover, I understand that during the most
> recent ICANN board meeting in
> Berlin last month, the interim board
> reportedly threatened to terminate the
> authority of the incumbent domain name
> registrar - Network Solutions,
> Incorporated ("NSI") - to continue registering
> domain names if NSI fails to
> enter into a registrar accreditation agreement
> with ICANN by June 25, 1999.
>
> What makes this situation more distressing is
> the simple fact that these
> steps are being decided upon and implemented
> by an unelected board that
> conducts portions of its official meetings in
> private. In this light, I do not
> believe the process followed by ICANN's
> interim board during its recent work
> toward the privatization of the DNS has been
> sufficiently transparent.
>
> The governance model being formed for the
> management of the DNS likely
> will set the precedent for future efforts to
> establish a governance structure in
> other critical areas of the Internet.
> Consequently, it is vitally important, not
> only for the future stability of the DNS, but
> for all future Internet governance
> efforts, that the procedures for the
> establishment of governance be fully
> transparent, democratic and open.
>
> Therefore, in order to assist the Committee in
> its review of the present state
> of the transition of the Internet DNS from the
> public sector to the private
> sector, as well as to satisfy unanswered
> questions regarding the selection of
> the interim board's members, I would like to
> learn more about ICANN's origin,
> decisions and operational authority.
> Accordingly, pursuant to Rules X and XI
> of the U.S. House of Representatives, I
> request that ICANN provide the
> following information to the Committee by July
> 6, 1999:
>
> 1. Please answer the following:
>
> a. Before imposing a $1 per domain name
> registration fee, did ICANN
> conduct, or have conducted on its behalf, a
> legal analysis of its authority to
> impose such a fee? If ICANN did conduct such a
> legal analysis, please
> provide all records related to the
> aforementioned legal analysis. If ICANN has
> not conducted such a legal analysis, please
> provide a detailed legal analysis
> of the source and limits of ICANN's authority
> to impose a $1 per domain
> name registration fee.
>
> b. Has ICANN conducted, or had conducted on
> its behalf, a legal analysis of
> its authority to terminate NSI's authority to
> register domain names? If ICANN
> has conducted such a legal analysis, please
> provide all records related to the
> aforementioned legal analysis. If ICANN has
> not conducted such a legal
> analysis, please provide a detailed legal
> analysis of the source and limits of
> ICANN's authority to terminate NSI's authority
> to register domain names.
>
> c. Has ICANN conducted, or had conducted on
> its behalf, a legal analysis of
> its authority to retain intellectual property
> rights over registrar data? If ICANN
> has conducted such a legal analysis, please
> provide all records related to the
> aforementioned legal analysis. If ICANN has
> not conducted such a legal
> analysis, please provide a detailed legal
> analysis of the source and limits of
> ICANN's authority to retain intellectual
> property rights over registrar data.
>
> d. Are any ICANN interim board members
> compensated by ICANN? For every
> interim board member who is compensated,
> please identify the interim board
> member in question and indicate the amount of
> compensation.
>
> e. Regarding ICANN's "Transition Budget for
> Fiscal Year 1999-2000":
>
> i. Who drafted this budget?
>
> ii. How did ICANN arrive at funding levels in
> this budget? Please provide an
> explanation of the underlying rationales that
> served as the basis for the
> budget's funding levels.
>
> f. What are the circumstances under which
> ICANN's interim board will be
> replaced by an elected board? Please provide a
> reasonable estimate of when
> it is anticipated that this event will take
> place.
>
> 2. A detailed explanation of ICANN's decision
> to deny the general public
> access to portions of its meetings and the
> meetings of its supporting
> organizations.
>
> 3. A detailed explanation of ICANN's decision
> to seek authority solely over
> generic Top Level Domains ("TLDs"), and not
> over country code TLDs, many
> of which are commercial in nature and accept
> registration by all individuals.
>
> 4. A detailed summary from each ICANN interim
> board member recounting
> the sequence of events that preceded the
> person's acceptance of
> membership on ICANN's interim board. This
> summary should include, but is
> not limited to, answers to the following
> questions:
>
> a. Who contacted the interim board member
> regarding the possibility of
> serving on ICANN's interim board?
>
> b. Who extended the invitation for membership
> on the interim board to the
> interim board member in question?
>
> c. To whom did the interim board member report
> his or her acceptance of the
> aforementioned invitation?
>
> d. Please provide all records related to the
> consideration and selection of
> each interim board member.
>
> 5. All executed registrar accreditation
> agreements and related records.
>
> 6. Records of all communications (whether
> written, electronic or oral)
> between ICANN (or its agents or
> representatives) and the Executive branch of
> the Federal government (or its agents or
> representatives, including but not
> limited to the Executive Office of the
> President), including but not limited to
> all records relating to such communications,
> regarding:
>
> a. Negotiations or other discussions regarding
> the transfer of control of the
> root system to ICANN or an ICANN-affiliated
> entity;
>
> b. Negotiations or other discussions regarding
> future agreements relating to
> the DNS between ICANN and the Department of
> Commerce (excluding
> records of communications provided in response
> to request 6.a. above);
>
> c. The terms of ICANN's registrar
> accreditation agreement, including but not
> limited to the imposition of the $1 per domain
> name registration fee;
>
> d. Termination or alteration of the Department
> of Commerce's cooperative
> agreement with NSI; and
>
> e. Attempts to persuade or force NSI into
> entering a registrar accreditation
> agreement with ICANN, or NSI's refusal to
> enter into the aforementioned
> agreement.
>
> 7. All records relating to funding ICANN has
> solicited or received from:
>
> a. For-profit entities;
>
> b. Not-for-profit entities; and
>
> c. Individuals.
>
> 8. All records relating to the proceedings of
> any meeting of ICANN's interim
> board, or any of ICANN's supporting
> organizations, to which the general
> public has been denied access.
>
> In addition to the information requested
> above, I also ask that you timely
> submit to the Committee all records relating
> to the proceedings of any future
> meeting of ICANN's interim board, or any of
> ICANN's supporting
> organizations, to which the general public
> will be denied access, until such
> time as the Committee withdraws this request.
>
> For the purposes of responding to the above
> requests, the terms "records,"
> "related," "relating" and "regarding" should
> be interpreted in accordance with
> the Attachment to this letter. Should you have
> any questions regarding this
> request, please have your staff contact Eric
> Link, Counsel, or Paul Scolese,
> Professional Staff Member, at (202) 225-2927.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
> Tom Bliley
> Chairman
>
> cc: The Honorable John D. Dingell
> Ranking Minority Member
> The Honorable William M. Daley
> Secretary, Department of Commerce
>
>
>
>
>
--Joop Teernstra LL.M.-- , bootstrap of
the Cyberspace Association,
the constituency for Individual Domain Name Owners
http://www.idno.org
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