[governance] Where are we going?

[Michael Gurstein]

Okay, thanks Milton...

But what about the second part of my question...

"Would/could/should ICANN or whoever is the supreme authority here
maintain jurisdiction over the naming patterns of the sub-tld's (or the
organizations managing the existing tld's)... My understanding is that
they are in turn self-regulated but what if that doesn't work for some
reason or is it the case that any principles of governance in this area
established by ICANN will automatically filter down/out to the other
domain name governing bodies?"

The implication of Bertrand's very insightful comments linking Domain
names to physical processes of identification is I think a very
significant one, especially in light of (for example) the burgeoning
industry concerned with positioning sites so that they may be more
highly ranked by Google.  The implication I think here is that "in
cyberspace (without a "name") nobody knows you (and whether or not you
are a dog or a massage parlour or an opposition political party doesn't
make much difference)..."

Imagine a scenario where all of the domain names say under the country
.tld are vetted from the perspective of a one party state which controls
the tld--it would be a good way of (at least electronically)
"disappearing" one's opposition.

So these issues aren't simply matters of free speech or dare I say human
rights, they seem to me to be quite fundamental issues of how, at least
potentially, political power may be used (or misused) in an "Information
Society".

Hmmmm...

Mike Gurstein


Michael Gurstein, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Centre for Community Informatics Research, Development and Training 
Ste. 2101-989 Nelson St. 
Vancouver, BC CANADA v6z 2s1
tel: +1-604-602-0624
http://www.communityinformatics.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Milton Mueller [mailto:mueller at syr.edu] 
Sent: April 7, 2007 9:37 AM
To: gurstein at gmail.com; governance at lists.cpsr.org
Subject: RE: [governance] Where are we going?


>>> gurstein at gmail.com 4/6/2007 11:31:04 AM >>>
>A simple (and probably naïve) question here... What is to stop a domain

>name such as .xxx.tv (or .f**kfest.cat for that matter) being 
>established or would it matter?

It's a good question, MG. And a very important one. 

Currently there is nothing to stop such names, because we basically
adhere to the decentralized distribution of authority that was part of
the original design of DNS. So the .CAT registry gets to decide whether
someone can register f**kfest.cat, and the .TV registry gets to decide
whether someone can register .xxx.tv. This delegation of authority is
critical to the Internet's freedom.

Now when ICANN and GAC decide that the top level can't publish ".xxx"
because some people would be offended by it, they are setting a
dangerous precedent. Because, as you imply, there is not a lot of
difference between xxx.tv and tv.xxx. Indeed, many of my opponents in
this debate have insisted that all is well because you can still publish
xxx.tld even if ICANN won't approve "sld.xxx".

But this argument proves too much. If there is no semantic, technical or
behavioral difference between xxx.tld and sld.xxx, then the governments
and regulators who don't like xxx anywhere will probably attempt to use
ICANN's technical leverage to extend control to the second level. If you
can't register TLDs that people object to, what's to stop ICANN From
starting to assert authority over second or third-level names that
offend? 





!DSPAM:2676,4617c8d274223004115098!

____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.cpsr.org
To be removed from the list, send any message to:
     governance-unsubscribe at lists.cpsr.org

For all list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance