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-----Forwarded message from Ellen Rony <erony@marin.k12.ca.us>-----
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- 9:30 AM, Thursday, September 24, 1998
CONTACTS: Alex Fowler, +1 415 436 9333, afowler@eff.org
Barry Steinhardt, +1 212 549 2508, barrys@eff.org
John Gilmore, +1 415 221 6524, gnu@toad.com
Internet Administration Plan Undermines Free Speech and Effective
Governance
Electronic Frontier Foundation Proposes Revised IANA Bylaws Emphasizing
Need to Protect Free Expression, Openness, and Effectiveness
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- A proposed plan to revamp the Internet domain
naming system would threaten both the democratic governance of the
Internet, and basic human rights of free expression and due process on
the Internet, said the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today.
EFF's proposed substantial changes in the scheme in an open letter and
set of proposed bylaw changes sent to the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA) and Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI). Together, IANA and
NSI have drafted a "New IANA" plan to revamp Internet administration.
A June Clinton Administration White Paper called for changes reflecting the
global nature of the Net, and addressing policy deadlocks,
over-centralization, and several other current problems. The New
IANA plan is considered the main contender in satisfying these
requirements. EFF argues that the most recent New IANA plan fundamentally
fails to meet these requirements.
EFF Board member John Gilmore said, "We believe that the latest
IANA/NSI proposal does not follow the requirements set forth by the
White Paper for protecting openness and free expression."
"EFF and many other organizations have quietly sent issues and
suggestions to the architects of the New IANA over many months," he
continued. "We are publicizing this set of proposals because the
deficiencies are so serious and time is so short."
What's at stake is the administrative responsibility for technical
details of the Internet. A new nonprofit organization will oversee
the management of domain name registration, Internet address
allocation, and publication of technical standards and protocol
agreements. The New IANA, a nonprofit being formed to take on this
responsibility, would determine future policy around these jobs. NSI's
five-year government contract to exclusively administer the COM, NET,
and ORG domains is expiring after a six-month extension at the end of
this month. NSI has attempted to position itself to keep this job
permanently, while many other parties would prefer competition in
domain services.
Shari Steele, Staff Counsel at EFF, said, "Internet administration has
always guaranteed free speech and due process, since it has been done
by U.S. Government contractors who are required to follow the U.S.
Constitution. If the New IANA moves Internet administration out from
under the U.S. Government, as there is general agreement to do, the
public will lose these guarantees unless they are explicitly written
into the charter of the New IANA."
EFF believes that the proposed New IANA Bylaws do not protect the public
in the following four areas:
* The lack of transparency and openness in the Bylaws prevents the
public from participating in the governance of the DNS;
* The Bylaws are silent on the importance of protecting free
expression, which leaves the public vulnerable to arbitrary decisions
that violate the basic right to speak and publish freely;
* The transition arrangements written into the Bylaws undermine the
authority of the newly formed IANA board, rendering their articulated
powers irrelevant; and
* The lack of public disclosure of key contracts, and certain other
clauses assist in the perpetuation of existing monopoly structures.
EFF has crafted a set of enhanced and revised Bylaws that address
these four areas, which are vital to protect the public interest.
"As a basic principle, any foundation for governance of a
communications system, such as the Internet, should stand on the
fundamental human right of free expression," said EFF President Barry
Steinhardt. "The strongest guarantees of free speech and publication,
due process, and nondiscriminatory administration should be written
into the charter of any organization empowered with Internet
oversight."
"Thousands of people have put years of effort into this next step in
Internet governance. We owe it to ourselves and to the rest of the
Internet community to build a structure that will effectively grapple
with the divisive and commercially lucrative issues at stake. If we
create an ineffective organization, or lose protection for fundamental
human rights, it will take years of further work to clean up the
resulting problems," added Gilmore.
EFF has been tracking the DNS governance issue for the past several
years. One of EFF's Board members is on the IANA Transition Advisory
Group; another has agreed to join the Initial Board; a third was
instrumental in the CORE effort to provide a capable competitor in
global domain registration. In addition, EFF's legal staff has
tracked and commented on numerous proposed policies and drafts, while
our activists have closely followed the controversies online and in
the press.
EFF's Letter and Revised Bylaws sent to IANA and NSI are on the Web
at: http://www.eff.org/pub/GII_NII/DNS_control/
Version 4 of the Proposed Bylaws for the New IANA, agreed to by
IANA/NSI, are on the Web at: http://www.iana.org/bylaws-coop.html
**********
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is one of the leading civil
liberties organizations devoted to ensuring that the Internet remains
the world's first truly global vehicle for free speech, and that the
privacy and security of all on-line communication is preserved.
Founded in 1990 as a nonprofit, public interest organization, EFF is
based in San Francisco, California. EFF maintains an extensive
archive at http://www.eff.org of information on electronic privacy,
online free speech, and encryption policy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alexander Fowler
Director of Public Affairs
Electronic Frontier Foundation
E-mail: afowler@eff.org
Tel: 415 436 9333; Fax 415 436 9993
You can find EFF on the Web at <http://www.eff.org>
EFF supports the Global Internet Liberty Campaign
<http://www.gilc.org>
___END____________________________________________
-----End of forwarded message-----
-- Kent Crispin, PAB Chair "No reason to get excited", kent@songbird.com the thief he kindly spoke... PGP fingerprint: B1 8B 72 ED 55 21 5E 44 61 F4 58 0F 72 10 65 55 http://songbird.com/kent/pgp_key.html
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