[governance] International DOI Foundation

[Laina Raveendran Greene]

Just curious what people think about Robert Kahn's presentation at WSIS.
Interesting to see how he feels this will lessen the importance or
bottleneck of ICANN itself. This could be worth exploring hand in hand to
improving ICANN itself = from a CS and developing country perspective. 

To quote him:

Robert Kahn,

Along the way, many detailed technical choices were made to simplify
matters. For example, the choice of the DNS, while not intrinsic to the
Internet design, helped to identify computers by eliminating the need for
users to remember IP addresses. Yet the DNS is only one way to do this. It
is critical that we avoid focusing attention on older technologies, such as
the DNS, to the exclusion of newer and potentially more effective solutions.
The life-blood of the Internet lies in innovation and we should not ignore
the powerful force of human ingenuity for the future. There is more than
enough room in the Internet to accommodate new and innovative technologies.

Although serious discussions have been underway for several years about
Internet Governance, technical progress now provides alternatives that may
obviate the need to embrace such constraints. One alternative that I have
been exploring for some time, which operates within the Inter9net
environment, involves managing information rather than just moving packets.
A realization of this effort exists in the form of what we call the "Digital
Object Architecture", which is an open architecture that links together
different information systems rather than just different networks and their
computers. I believe this new conceptual framework to be widely applicable
to the information management needs of organizations, individuals and
governments.

One component of this architecture, the Handle System, is a general purpose
resolution system that is now in widespread use on the Internet. The Handle
System can support the DNS, in addition to other identifier systems, and was
recently made available for use in connection with Grid computing around the
world. Among the early adopters is the International DOI Foundation, which
is an ICANN-like organization formed within the publishing industry to
identify their books and journals on the Internet.

Many of the most serious issues that have arisen with respect to the DNS and
ICANN may not arise in the context of the Digital Object Architecture; and
there is a potential role for the United Nations in providing assistance to
developing countries in making use of this technology.


-----Original Message-----
From: governance-bounces at lists.cpsr.org
[mailto:governance-bounces at lists.cpsr.org] On Behalf Of Milton Mueller
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 6:57 PM
To: governance at lists.cpsr.org; dannyyounger at yahoo.com
Subject: Re: [governance] IG Caucus meeting in Vancouver..?

While Danny's "head in the clouds" comment might inspire some rancor, I
would like to also encourage WSIS-CS and IG caucus members to take part in
the real activities affecting IG that are going on within ICANN.


The Verisign deal, Whois privacy, .xxx are all issues touching on human
rights and economic regulation of the Internet. You can get involved via
Noncommercial users, www.ncdnhc.org or ALAC (sort of). 

Obviously WSIS-exhaustion may be preventing crossover, but I am
becoming concerned that the very broad normative discussions that take
place around WSIS consume so much time and energy that CS activists pass
up very obvious and direct opportunities to shape policy where it is
actually made. 

>>> Danny Younger <dannyyounger at yahoo.com> 11/24/2005 10:02:45 AM >>>
I have been tracking the responses to the proposed
ICANN-VeriSign Settlement Agreement and have yet to
see a CS comment posted...

My question:  are any of you participating on a
practical down-to-earth basis on current issues faced
within ICANN, or are you mostly a head-in-the-clouds
kind of group that prefers to ruminate rather than
actually tackle major issues head-on with helpful
commentary and recommendations?




	
		
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