We need to work on several fronts.
(1) I understand that the international community has been preparing
comments. When ready, these should be posted to our lists, and
forwarded by US citizens to Congress and domestic media.
(2) The US community needs to follow up with their political
representatives. Although Congress has already been alerted to the
problem, we need to keep them aware and informed.
The congressional folks that I have met with so far this week (they
are home "in recess" meeting their constituents -- and raising
money) have been very supportive.
Check to see whether your local Reps are on Science or Commerce.
We especially need someone in Connie Morgola's (sp?) MD district
(Science), and someone in John Dingell's MI district (Commerce).
Any known contacts among us?
(3) Meanwhile, I am advised that the best way to get the support of
Congress would be to be operational. That means we need to get the
CORE database actually working, even in a limited capacity.
My suggestion to our beloved PAB Chair has been to specify a single
charter, and begin registration in that TLD. We should choose a
limited scope TLD, that is unlikely to have a large number of
registrants, make sure that it has a clear charter and a clear
chain of authority, and begin registration deployment. This will
give us a better feel for operational issues than the limited
testing thus far.
By March 31, we should be prepared to demonstrate that our
processes work, and that the end of the NSI contract will not cause
the Internet to fail.
(4) Also, we need to push the ITAG group (have they been officially
announced yet?), although that may not be crucial at this stage.
Are folks interested in working together on these steps?
WSimpson@UMich.edu
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