[governance] Does it matter which legal system ICANN operates under?

[Kerry Brown]

The subject line will probably stir some controversy. Because of that I will state my position clearly so people don't misunderstand where I'm coming from. I abhor the Patriot Act. I abhor governments secretly collecting data with no oversight. I abhor how the Patriot Act has affected my country which is Canada. Because of the Patriot Act I am actively supporting the establishment of more IXPs in Canada to help keep Canadian data in Canada. I actively lobby my government to be more open and transparent.

Now to the question I posed. Are we not conflating two issues that are not related? Solving one won't change the other. If ICANN moved to a different jurisdiction tomorrow what would change re the American government's access to private data? Many of the services that Internet users worldwide want to access are provided by American based companies subject to American law. Much of the world's Internet traffic is carried on communications media owned by American companies subject to American law. How would changing the jurisdiction that ICANN operates under change the reality that if the American government wants to spy on anybody they could do so with relative ease?

I am all for investigating what it would take to move ICANN away from US jurisdiction. There are many questions that need to be answered and problems that would need to be solved but in the end I believe it would be a good thing. I fail to see however that it would in any way hinder the US governments' ability to collect data from the Internet. These are two distinct issues that will require different solutions.

Kerry Brown

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