I think ICANN, I think ICANN

posted by The Vidiot @ 10:59 PM Permalink

US to continue its control over ICANN

Over the past couple of years, the issue of Internet governance has become a hot topic. Currently, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is responsible for parceling out IP addresses and domain names. In turn, ICANN operates under the auspices of the US Commerce Department, an arrangement that doesn't sit too well with parts of Europe, the UN, and many developing nations.

Contrary to some reports, things are not about to change. After a meeting at the Commerce Department, Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, John M.R. Kneuer, said that the existing arrangement was likely to continue, at least for another year. "There certainly are still strong arguments that there's more work to be done," said Kneuer.

When ICANN was created in 1998, the US government intended for it to be fully privatized by 2000. However, that has failed to happen for a couple of reasons, namely a reluctance on the part of the US to let go control and ICANN's inability to meet some performance benchmarks.
[...]
Kneuer did reiterate the US government's commitment to ultimately relinquishing control over ICANN, saying that "that we're all gathered here today and we've undertaken this process is a clear indication that we are committed to this transition." That's a big change from last summer, when the Commerce Department declared that it would "retain its historic role in authorizing changes or modifications to the authoritative root zone file" while reiterating its stance against interfering in how other countries handle their own top-level domains.

A few questions immediately occur to me. What happened in 2000 that derailed the plan? Oh, yeah, right (cough, Bush, cough.) And who the hell is John M.R. Kneuer? Well, as you might expect he is a Bush political appointee who used to work for the Industrial Telecommunications Association, a lobbying group for ISPs, and private wireless licensees such as airlines and oil companies. Somehow, like all Bush political appointees, I doubt his veracity ... especially when he says that "we are committed to this transition", which still hasn't taken place 6 years after it was scheduled to.

In all the talk about 'net neutrality' we may be missing the forest for the trees. Bushco has already overruled ICANN's decisions because their religious base objected to certain provisions.

Bushco is already illegally tapping the internets' tubes, how long before they shut down parts of it they don't want us to see?