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There are some interesting points, see my comments below.<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 06.07.14 14:59, Guru गुरु wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
I thought this posting on another list may be useful to the
discussion on the IGC thread "Some more legal tangles for ICANN"<br>
regards,<br>
Guru<br>
<br>
-------- Original Message --------
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Subject:
</th>
<td>[Members] US District Court for DC - IRAN/SYRIA - ICANN</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Date: </th>
<td>Mon, 30 Jun 2014 13:14:12 +0200</td>
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<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">From: </th>
<td>Jean-Christophe NOTHIAS I The Global Journal <a
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:jc.nothias@theglobaljournal.net"><jc.nothias@theglobaljournal.net></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Reply-To:
</th>
<td><a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:members@justnetcoalition.org">members@justnetcoalition.org</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">To: </th>
<td>Member Just_Net_Coalition <a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:members@justnetcoalition.org"><members@justnetcoalition.org></a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
<br>
Dear JNC members,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I thought I would wrap-up some facts and appreciation of a
new case where Plaintiffs have requested the US District Court
for the district of Columbia to turn to ICANN in order to seize
whatever money, property, credit IRAN and Syria have at ICANN.
This is a 'first', and worth to be looked at. Even though we are
not legal expert for US law, it is a very interesting issue to
look at in an Internet Governance perspective. Like anything
related to US law and jurisdiction, this might take years before
a conclusion can be reached - right now these judgements have
been made by default as Iran and Syria did not show up to the
Court to defend themselves. Still the case is showing that the
asymmetric role of the US in terms of Internet Governance is
under critical challenge. It also shows that much of what is
related to the management of the root zone (address book for the
dot_something (.XYZ) is still missing international definition
and agreements. This is part of the fact that IG has been into
US hands, at least under the current form since 1998 when ICANN
was incorporated and when Jon Postel's job at the root zone
level was doing until then through IANA was also transfer to
ICANN under the same acronym. The new IANA became part of the
ICANN that same year Being an 'authority' and a 'department' of
ICANN, IANA has no bylaws but is under strict supervision of the
US Department of Commerce, through NTIA. Nothing can be change
at the root zone level for TLDs (gTLDs or ccTLDs) without the
consent of the US DoC. This helps to understand by the same
token the role of IANA, as a department of ICANN under a double
US oversight, ICANN being itself under contract with the US DoC.</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
The primary issue in this case, is the decision by the USG to play
political games, when they devised this "If you don't threat your
citizens the way we want you to, we will let them sue you in the US
under our own laws and will 'lawfuly' steal your property in the US.
So, do as we say!".<br>
More powerful countries, such as Russia and Brasil (and to a lesser
degree the "western democracy" countries) clearly told the US they
do not care and they would subject US property in their respective
area of control to about the same process (or worse).<br>
<br>
By creating this procedure, the US has prepared a lot of Pandora
Boxes or Cans of Worms, waiting to be opened..<br>
<br>
As such, it is unfortunate, but quite understandable that some
lawyer decided to drag ICANN into this mess. Understandable, because
ICANN demonstrates it has lots of money to spend, is a public
"shared irresponsibility" entity etc. Typical target for the typical
US lawyer.<br>
<br>
For many reasons, the ICANN processes are a mess. This too is heaven
for lawyers. The good news is the community is slowly clearing up
the mess. The bad news is this is a very slow process (and ICANN is
thus vulnerable for longer period). The other bad news is there are
new incentives at ICANN that create even more weak points (even if
attempts are made to design them properly).<br>
<br>
Out of everything else, IANA is the most interesting ... non-entity
:)<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Some debate took place into the IGC list, and I would start
from there.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#fe2617">1_</font></div>
<div>It started here</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-us-terror-victims-now-own-irans-internet/">http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-us-terror-victims-now-own-irans-internet/</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#fe2617">2_</font></div>
<div>A subscriber to the Civil Society Governance Caucus- IGC
elist (Joly McFie) wrote on June 25:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2098fc">"ICANN
licenses the TLDs to different world governments who then
are permitted to appoint agents who sell the domain names
and their country specific internet suffixes to individuals,
businesses and organizations."<br>
<br>
1/ Is this strictly true? </font></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2098fc">2/ Does
ICANN have a licence over ccTLDs?</font></div>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Some honorable subscribers of the IGC list reacted, among
others:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div>From Daniel Kalchev</div>
<div><i><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2098fc"><span
class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>- most
ccTLDs were delegated before ICANN was even an idea and
most ccTLDs managers are in fact not been appointed by any
government.</font></i></div>
<div><i><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2098fc"><span
class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>- After
all, Internet was, is and will be an worldwide private
network.</font></i></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>From Wolfgang Kleinwächter:</div>
<div><i><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2098fc"><span
class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>- This
is nonsense. The author of this piece does not understand,
how the DNS works. </font></i></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>From McTim:</div>
<div><i><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2098fc"><span
class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>- This
won't go anywhere... Just a lawyer trying to get attention
for his case.</font></i></div>
<div><i><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#2098fc"><span
class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>-
The fees paid to ICANN from Iran are exactly zero</font>.</i></div>
</div>
<div><i><br>
</i></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#fe2617">3_</font></div>
<div><i>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">Then I posted On June 28 to
the same IGC list the following information:</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">Here are the 6 "<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_dOI5puxRA9M3hweE9Eel9mVTQ/edit?pli=1">Writs
of Attachment</a>" (5 vs IRAN; 1 vs Syria) as of June
24, 2014, notified to ICANN/IANA by the US District Court
for the District of Columbia.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><img apple-width="yes"
apple-height="yes"
id="c95a05a7-43a8-4389-9d95-db039b236810"
src="cid:part6.07090705.00000304@digsys.bg" height="52"
width="612"></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">So no "if" and no
"apparently" as some doubted on the list.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><font
class="Apple-style-span" color="#fe2617">4_</font></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">There would be postings
with opposing views, ones saying that there was nothing to
worry about - ICANN would simply answer 'no'- and others
saying that this was critical issue for the first-level
domain for countries (ccTLD: country-code for Top Level
Domain).</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
This is good, as if we were all of the same opinion, sometimes we
would be all totally wrong and there would be no balance to help in
cases of disaster.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><font
class="Apple-style-span" color="#fe2617">5_</font></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><i>
<div style="font-style: normal; display: inline
!important; ">
<div style="display: inline !important; ">
<div style="display: inline !important; ">
<div style="display: inline !important; ">First,
to be frank, I would say that I was a bit
disappointed with the comments on the IGC list.
Some participants were supposedly able to
provide a better perspective on the case. For
example, <i>
<div style="font-style: normal; display:
inline !important; ">
<div style="display: inline !important; ">
<div style="display: inline !important; ">
<div style="display: inline !important;
">I believe that Wolfgang
Kleinwächter, specially since he is
working at ICANN, should have provided
a better answer to Joly's question.
"Non sense" means little if nothing.
Sharing and distributing understanding
is always worth the effort.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Daniel is quite right in his first assumption (Jon
Postel did most of the delegation work prior to the
NewCo ICANN/IANA, established in 1998). I would not be
overly certain that the majority of ccTLDs mangers are
not being appointed by governments. That could be
investigated. A ccTLD being considered by governments
as part of their "national sovereignty" I would
challenge this assertion. National realities are often
more subtile. More of a concern in my view is Daniel's
idea of a "<b>worldwide private network</b>". This has
little if no reality. Networks belong to Telecom
Operators for the largest part, some being <b>public</b>,
some <b>private</b> (under governmental regulations).
Autonomous Systems do also belong to <b>public</b> or <b>private</b> entities.
What can be seen as <b>worldwide</b> is "<b>interconnectivity</b>"
- one can say that nobody owns the Interconnectivity,
something essentially untrue when we speak of
'Internet'. A "<b>private</b>" thing? I do not see
anything else than a <b>public space</b> here, where <b>private</b> <b>interests</b> might
indeed be <b>dominant</b>.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
I fully understand Wolfgang's position here. The Can of Worms,
Pandora Box etc issues cannot be ignored and sometimes it's better
to not dwell unnecessarily into details.. publicly.<br>
<br>
However, it is a myth that Jon Postel himself made these
delegations. The pre-ICANN delegation history is very complex and
interesting to study -- for some reason the people in the know
prefer to remain silent. Whatever the procedure was, when ICANN was
(hastily) implemented, no proper process was followed to sort all
this stuff out -- despite the community at that time held a lot of
debates and a lot of good proposals were made.<br>
<br>
I am also amused, that we still discuss who controls ccTLDs. It is
easy to check who appointed each and every ccTLD. Even if this
requires arranging in person meetings and asking each of them
individually (first hand information, that is). The ccTLDs are not
that many and the people who run them are usually communicative.<br>
<br>
There are almost no exceptions, that at some point in time, national
governments decided they should take over the respective ccTLD, for
many different excuses, the most prevalent being "my cousin's son
wants to play with this".<br>
<br>
The Internet is different from other public communication networks.
It differs in many aspects, including both technical and governance
-- but all aspects share one common feature: everything on the
Internet is designed to follow the normal human to human interaction
model. In the Internet, everyone provides and consumes services
to/from everyone else. There are sometimes middlemen, who one bright
day discover the thing works without them, too -- no matter what
they do. One could say, that the basic principle on which the
Internet holds up together is the "mutual destruction fear". Like,
for example: "Oh, I don't want those guys, so let's filter their
SMTP server. Great, I won't hear from them ever again! Ugh, it turns
out a friend of mine communicates with some friend of theirs and my
friends says they won't talk to me anymore if I continue to be such
an (insert appropriate cultural expression). So, even if I don't
particularly like that guys, I am going to enable their SMTP server
to talk to mine, because of my friend's needs. (or the service I
provide to someone etc)"<br>
<br>
This "Networks belong to Telecom Operators for the largest part" is
a myth, *they* want you to believe in.<br>
In reality, both your home network and your telecom's 'national
backbone' have the same value for the Internet and for you. If your
home network does not function, you can't access the Internet
resources no matter how "great" the Telecom network is. It may also
turn out, you don't communicate with your neighbor with the
assistance of that Telecom, so their existence might be pretty much
irrelevant to you. And the Internet.<br>
<br>
As such, and because the Internet is defined by the end points, that
are essentially owned/operated by individuals, you could view it as
a network of private entities. The Internet is designed in such a
way, that the intermediate network (and whatever other stuff lurks
there) is irrelevant. If the end nodes can communicate with each
other, you have Internet. If not -- you have nothing.<br>
<br>
Now, Governments, under the guidance of Telecoms and other large
corporations try to regulate this stuff, with the primary goal to
ensure those "large investors" continued control and profits. But as
long as the end nodes continue to not be dumb terminals fully
controlled "by the network", this is pretty much impossible.<br>
<br>
Maybe, I was not precise enough with my statement of the Internet
being a private network. I did not mean to say the Internet is the
private network of someone. Hope this never, ever happens. I meant
to say the Internet is a network of individual entities, usually
private persons. Private interests, those of the private individuals
indeed dominate Internet. it is a public space in the sense that
participation is not restricted.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "> </div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">McTim underestimates the
"where" the Court request is leading. A simple "no" by
ICANN/IANA/NTIA would not be the end for the US District
Court to act. </div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">McTim is right about the
fact that Iran and Syria pay no fees to ICANN, but still
this does not evacuate the idea, as per the Court
appreciation and own view, that a ccTLD has great value.
McTim has acknowledged this fact.</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
In as much as ccTLD may have great value, it is nothing more than a
string of letters. A well known one, yes. But transferring the
responsibility for that string of letters to someone else (what is
being asked) could very obviously destroy whatever value it might
have. It *will* also cause direct damage to the material interests
of those who chose to have a name under that ccTLD. <br>
<br>
This is an even bigger Can of Worms/Pandora Box -- is the US court
prepared to deal with lawsuits and considering compensations for all
those whose domains get wiped by this act?<br>
This is the kind of "don't even think about it" kind of response
ICANN should/have given. <br>
<br>
Unfortunately, by being a political act, this law needs not follow
common sense.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">Back to Joly's "ICANN
Licenses the ccTLDS..." Strictly true? ICANN having a
license over ccTLDs</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">IANA, which is not an
incorporate non profit, is a "<i>department of ICANN</i>".
It is an 'authority' with no legal ground, no bylaws in
the US, nor any International recognition. Still it has
quite many responsibilities. One major constraint for
ICANN/IANA regarding the root zone is that nothing can
be changed in the root zone file without an approval by
DoC (through NTIA).</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">The new IANA (part of
the new ICANN) has taken over the continuity of handling
the <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/delegation-2012-02-25-en">delegation</a> of
the ccTLDs to registries since Jon Postel died in 1998,
days before ICANN was incorporated with Vint Cerf as
first president. By then IANA was funded by the US
Department of Defense. We should all remember that
Postel came to Geneva in 1997 where he intended to
establish a non profit, with an international
recognition from governments, a non profit that would
handle the civilian root zone for the planet. His
project was opposed by US diplomats in Geneva at the
time.</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
IANA is *the* authority in what it does. International law nothing
to do with it. IANA's role is to compile and maintain the list of
DNS TLDs and various Internet protocol databases of numbers. Someone
might have oversight of what IANA does, but the entity (no matter
how it is constitutes) has the ultimate authority "what is which".<br>
<br>
Imagine, I build a collection of post stamps. I am the ultimate
authority over what goes into my collection. Now, imagine my
collection has become very popular worldwide, is being refered to by
many and some even use it as their reference point (precisely, what
has happened with DNS and IANA). Do I cease to be *the* authority of
my post stamp collection?<br>
Yes, things might get more complex, but unless the authority itself
decides to give up and transform somehow, nothing will change.<br>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style:
normal;">So to anwser Joly: </span><b>Yes, IANA, a
department of ICANN delegates (the verb to license
would not be strictly right) each ccTLD to a unique
entity/registry, but only after the US DoC approval.
IANA is also responsible for re-delegation.</b></div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
There is an RFC document (RFC1591), that documents the process,
criteria etc. There is an Framework of Interpretation Working Group
of the ccNSO to try explain in today's terminology what the intent
of this document is and how it should be interpreted by IANA
(because it became obvious that IANA was confused or pressured
several times to do things that could not be explained by RFC1591).<br>
<br>
This RFC1591 does not talk about the US DoC *at all*. Interesting,
isn't it?<br>
My interpretation on the current situation is as we know it, because
it was USG who originally created IANA and they seek some way to
preserve it, without being too much involved with it, as running
such entity is not their task.<br>
<br>
In the FOI working group we came to the conclusion, that RFC1591
does not provide for such a thing as "re-delegation". Such process
consists of two acts -- the previous manager being removed from
responsibility for the domain (revocation) and a new manager being
tasked with that responsibility (delegation).<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">In the case of IRAN, the
unique registry that has received the delegation to
handle the ".IR" ccTLD is THE INSTITUTE for RESEARCH in
FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCES, based in IRAN, and affiliated with
the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research, and
Technology founded in 1989 under the name of INSTITUTE
for STUDIES in THEORETICAL PHYSICS and MATHEMATICS -
this tends to document the fact that the registry for
.IR is legitimate part of the state of IRAN. What can
the US District Court do about this? Ask for the
plaintiffs to become the unique registry for .IR? The
new registry would then earn money thanks to the Iranian
registrars that would keep using the .IR. Not a bad
deal.</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
More likely, the entity who received the task to manage the .IR
domain was someone who was working at/affiliated with the said
institute. That individual likely decided (for various reasons,
including their own safety) that it is better for them to not be so
visible and the institute would manage the .IR registry. At least
officially. There is no evidence, that the institute has a mandate
(usually documented in their articles for incorporation or another
such/related document) that they have "managing the .IR domain name
registry" as their list of core functions. Unlikely they have such
an assignment etc from the Iranian Government as well. The Iranian
government confirming to ICANN that they wish/agree that the
institute will run the said registry has nothing to do with any
"property rights" or "ownership"... <br>
<br>
What is the proper term for such desires, in the US culture? "Pipe
Dreams"?<br>
<br>
Running a ccTLD registry I can say this: registrars have contracts
with the (whatever form) manager of the registry. Not with "the
registry" in some abstract form. Nothing and nobody can force those
registrars to sign a contract or pay any money to any other party,
to whom the previous manager decided to transfer the "business" --
either forced or willingly.<br>
This is especially true in such an political case -- chances are
most .IR registrars are Iranian entities. Do you truly believe they
will agree to pay money to some US based party that is confiscating
their country's properties at will... <br>
Most likely, those registrars/registrants will swallow the costs
(and some, eventually sue the US big time, *in the US*) then move to
some other TLD.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">What would IANA consider
as a possible reason to terminate the delegation of the
.IR? If we look at what ICANN considers as a possible
reason to terminate a registrar accreditation <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/ra-agreement-2009-05-21-en">agreement</a> (see
5.3 of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, even
though it does not seem to have its equivalent with
registries). But who said that this could not happen
when it comes to a registry issue? Again, in the absence
of an international treaty clarifying many obscure
points in terms of root zone policy, the many vacuums
could be of great amusement to a US District Court.
Again, that brings a very serious challenge to the
global, transnational governance of the Internet. ICANN
is now in a poor situation. Would ICANN give way to the
US District Court request, many countries would take the
opportunity to fully challenge ICANN in its fundaments.
Would ICANN pass the hot potato to someone else (US DoC?
IRFS, the Iranian registry? Nobody?) the Court might not
like that answer, and might threatened ICANN to comply.
We'll see.</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
There is a very big difference between the gTLDs ICANN created, the
Registrar business ICANN created and the ccTLDs relationship with
ICANN.<br>
Many ccTLDs were created before ICANN existed. Many ccTLDs were
created before RFC1591 was ever published.<br>
All those ccTLD run perfectly well and serve the public Internet
(see my comment on the Internet being 'private' above). Nobody wants
this to change.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">Still we have a pending
question: what difference should be made between "to
license" and "to delegate" a ccTLD? <br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
I am not a lawyer, but could imagine it's night a day.<br>
<br>
From my "technical" point of view, the delegation process is the act
of recording who is responsible for the TLD. IANA, as such has no
procedure to "chose" who the registry will be -- their task is to
properly maintain record who the party is.<br>
<br>
Licensing, is something that requires (pre-existing) regulation.
Possibly, government-style.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">Nobody really owns a
domain name, and there are many indications that it
could considered in the same way for TLDs. A TLD or
domain name 'holder'/'tenant' pays a 'lease' for a
domain. If the .COM is the property of ICANN or DoC,
then .IR would then be the property of its current
tenant. As with any lease, it can end if not renewed or
be terminated by the delegating authority (if nobody is
ultimate owner). So we definitely have a situation that
isnot clear, as a domain name is still not a property
but holds intellectual property rights, turning it into
a very valuable asset. You do not own the domain, you
own the right to use it. This still means that any TLD
has a commercial value, including ccTLDs, and is
therefore an asset and subject to a Court sequestration
warrant or redelegation request. And in this case, the
judge is not asking for the moon, I would say.</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
As always, it is even more complex than this. :)<br>
Consider for a moment, that there can exist an unlimited number of
.IR ccTLDs. Or, in some of these parallel realities, .IRC could be a
gTLD, or what they call it there.<br>
We all try very hard to stick to this one reality we have chosen to
inhabit, making compromises as neccesary, because of the "guaranteed
mutual destruction" thing. Being a network of individuals, the
Internet is impossible to be fully regulated, just as it is
impossible to fully regulate individuals.<br>
<br>
To further complicate things, to this day there are still ccTLDs
that do not charge any fee for their registration services. Further
to this, most ccTLDs do not pay ICANN any fees for the IANA service.
This is perhaps because, the ICANN does the IANA service to the USG,
not the ccTLDs. Any money transfers between ccTLD managers and ICANN
are based on "we agree to fund you" principle.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">Here is an excellent
work funded by the US National Science Foundation and
ITU related to "Policy, Business, Technical and
Operational Considerations for the Management of a
country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) drafted in 2008.
It is an <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/ip/docs/itu-draft-cctld-guide.pdf">interesting
document</a>.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">Regarding a possible
redelegation, read <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.iana.org/reports/2005/iq-report-05aug2005.pdf">what</a> happened
to the .IQ (IRAK) in 2005. It's a IANA report worth to
read. See again the role played by the US DoC and NTIA.
Without putting in a US District Court.</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
One of the reason swhy the FOI working group was created...<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">All of that is not
limited to the respective unique registries for IRAN and
SYRIA (both countries are concerned with the US District
Court of Columbia writs). The Writ has no limitation,
quite to the contrary. Who said that the link between
Iranian registrars and ICANN did not exist. There are
much more than the first-level domain (ccTLD) to be
considered such as the second-level domain registration
by registrars. What's about IPs? All of that enters into
IANA, a department of ICANN, duties and performance.</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
Like I said, a Pandora Box. So the Iranian Government has done
something, that the USG did not approve. They then go on an penalize
(supposedly) Iranian individuals and commercial entities, claiming
they penalize the Iranian Government. Further, because many
international entities, including without doubt many US
corporations/nonprofits hold .IR names too, they get penalized too.<br>
<br>
Does this create any pressure to the Iranian Government (the
original idea behind this little political game). Very likely not.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">So apart from trying to
predict with little to no chance the outcomes for this
case, we see that in this situation the current state of
Internet Governance is far from comfortable. So a lot of
work to be done. Again we see that without clear
definition, and international agreements, it will be
difficult to find trust, clarity and democratic values.</div>
</div>
</div>
</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
Democracy dies centuries ago in ancient Greece and Rome. Remember? <br>
<br>
If you understand that the Internet is a network of private
entities, with their own interests -- everything falls in place.
Then the "Internet Governance" task becomes one of disseminating
knowledge and dealing with inter-personal conflicts. Even most wars
are based on inter-personal conflicts... <br>
<br>
Daniel<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:53B93A3B.6090707@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
<div><i>
<div>
<div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">Comments are very welcome.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; ">Thanks</div>
</i></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Mercury;
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class="Apple-style-span" face="Mercury"><i>Contents
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