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Hello Thomas,<br>
<br>
On 11/04/2010 09:37, Thomas Lowenhaupt wrote :
<blockquote cite="mid:059c01cad949$e55874e0$7800a8c0@powuseren2ihcx"
type="cite">
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<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Roland,</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Here's something I wrote a while ago
that sought to put the Net (and ICANN) into an historic perspective
with regard to cities. </font></div>
<blockquote style="margin-right: 0px;" dir="ltr">
<div style="margin-right: 0px;" dir="ltr"><font face="Arial"
size="2">Imagine that in 1983 Vint Cerf had visited a global city like
New York, climbed the steps to City Hall and said to Mayor Koch that he
and Jon Postel had begun thinking about an Internet enhancement that
would make it easier to find the cities digital resources. That they
were thinking of calling it the Domain Name System (DNS) and using
names such as .com, .org and .edu. <br>
<br>
And imagine Vint explaining his vision about this new technology's
prospect for addressing the multiplicity of city needs; concluding with
a plea that the mayor gather the world's smartest minds in New York
City, help detail a desired DNS's feature-set and in the process
develop a model that other cities might follow.<br>
<br>
But as we all know, no one knocked on that City Hall door and the DNS
was created without considering its impact on cities. And when it
escaped from the lab, the technology spread like a virus and changed
the world for better and for worse. <br>
<br>
Remarkably, the DNS opportunity is again at hand. ICANN will deliver on
its key mission in 2010 and we'll soon see cities sporting new TLDs
such as .nyc, .berlin, and .paris.</font></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="margin-right: 0px;" dir="ltr"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font
face="Arial" size="2">Let me note that this was not written with the
intent of criticizing these Internet pioneers, merely to highlight an
area where, with omnipotent 20/20 hindsight, one might observe Net
imperfections needing attention.</font></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2"> </font></div>
<div style="margin-right: 0px;" dir="ltr"><font face="Arial" size="2">Roland,
with all due respect, I've never heard ICANN dealing with any of the
issues I've proposed for the IGF Workshop. Yes, they have encouraged
the development of "Perfect Sunrise" guidelines that warrant
consideration, and they uncovered that there's a Paris in France as
well as Texas. And to its credit, ICANN has agreed that cities should
have access to TLDs. But city-TLD governance, best practices, and a
primer for city-TLDs - it's just not in their scope. ICANN's concern is
commerce not cities. City-TLDs are (IMHO) perfect for an IGF workshop.</font></div>
<div style="margin-right: 0px;" dir="ltr"><font face="Arial" size="2"> </font></div>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
I agree with you although I wonder whether you wish to open such a can
of worms. Your aim appears to be to have an informational session about
city TLDs - perhaps working with others to write a set of best
practices?<br>
You'll then have to answer questions of the type:<br>
If there is a Paris in France and a Paris in US, why don't they use
paris.fr and paris.tx.us ?<br>
Admittedly, how does .nyc relate to the already existing .nyc.ny.us ?<br>
Roland's questions will also come up.<br>
<br>
Are you ready to have a potentially heated session on this?<br>
<br>
BTW, I'm completely neutral on the matter these days. If some
organisations wish to try their hand at new gTLDs, let them go ahead.
If I was to attend, I'd probably enjoy listening to a good debate.<br>
<br>
Kind regards,<br>
<br>
Olivier<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond, PhD
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.gih.com/ocl.html">http://www.gih.com/ocl.html</a>
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