take notice
At Wednesday's meeting of a House science
subcommittee, Commerce Department
administrator Becky Burr predicted that ICANN
will be adopted within two weeks.
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/15482.html
Critics Decry New Net Government
by Niall McKay
10:40 a.m. 8.Oct.98.PDT
While US government officials spent Wednesday
reviewing the guts of the new organization that
will govern the future of the Net, critics spent the
day grousing that it's just exchanging one set of
problems for another.
In their eyes, the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers comes up short in
a number of areas, including addressing
civil-liberties issues and accommodating public
access to its workings. Critics also would like the
scope of powers of ICANN's nine-member board
to be spelled out more clearly.
"There is no accountability," said Karl Auerbach,
a founder of the Boston Group, a grassroots
coalition of netizens concerned that ICANN is not
as democratic as the Net it represents.
"Rather, the ... proposal ends up as a closed
body of self-interested entities who can exclude
others and who perpetuate their hold over Internet
policy."
At Wednesday's meeting of a House science
subcommittee, Commerce Department
administrator Becky Burr predicted that ICANN
will be adopted within two weeks. Legislators,
however, say they'll be entertaining additional
comments on the proposal before signing off on
anything.
"I am holding the record open for supplemental
questions and comments," said Mississippi
Republican Charles Pickering, who chairs the
committee. Presidential technology adviser Ira
Magaziner said this will be an opportunity for
legislators to hear from ICANN's critics.
"We are nearly there, but we still need a
substantial amount of discussion," Magaziner
said. "These hearings are an opportunity for the
committee to hear firsthand the progress made so
far."
Magaziner anticipates objections from groups
such as the Electronic Freedom Foundation,
which claims that ICANN contains no provisions
safeguarding civil liberties on the Net. Legislators
can also expect to hear from the Boston Group,
which will be demanding strict accountability from
the successor to the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority.
Jon Postel, the Internet's current guardian in his
role as head of IANA, submitted the fifth draft for
ICANN to the White House last Friday. It
contained his choices for an interim nine-member
board of directors.
But that didn't sit well with those who say the
whole process has been murky and that it leaves
Postel in the position of anointing his own
successor.
"I do not feel that the Postel proposal should be
considered as a fait accompli," said Ellen Rony,
co-author of the Domain Name Handbook. "There
is a significant number of the IFWP community
that fell that the open process shut down in
August."
If the proposal is adopted in its current form,
Postel's interim directors will chart ICANN's
course, then select their own successors. The
permanent board will then administer ICANN with
input from supporting organizations such as the
Internet Engineering Task Force.
The Boston Group would prefer that ICANN
become a democratic organization whose
members elect all or part of the board. Auerbach
panned the "autocratic" process that created
ICANN.
"The IANA process involved no discussions, no
negotiations, no give and take, no compromises
-- at least not with anyone other than [Network
Solutions]," he said.
Many of the so-called Internet stakeholders who
have been involved in the process share
Auerbach's view. The only obvious way to voice
an opinion is through the practically unknown
New-IANA bulletin board.
"There needs to be a more public dialog about
the creation that will play a key role in the future
of all our lives," said Alexander Fower, public
affairs officer for the Electronic Freedom
Foundation.
The EFF is concerned that ICANN has no built-in
provisions for addressing civil-liberties issues.
The group wants the new government to adopt the
United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
"[The declaration] states that everyone has the
right to freedom of opinion and expression, and
the right to impart information and ideas through
any medium and regardless of frontiers," said
Fowler, quoting directly.
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