RE: [ALSC-Forum] Self-regulation and ICANN

[Bruce Young]

Mikael Pawlo wrote:

>Self-regulation - I'm all for it. However, the need for this global effort
>and the need to keep the Internet from governmental interests escapes me.

If ICANN is going to represent all Internet users world-wide, then it cannot
be influenced by any one national government, even ours!

>If we indeed need such a global organization, why not use one already
>created, with participation from governments (or create something similar
>if the ICANN function can not be implemented in for example the UN).

The UN represents the interests of its respective member-nation governments.
We envision ICANN as representing all Internet users directly.  This is a
very different focus.  A separate international governing body relatively
immune from government influence, be it ICANN or another future body, is the
only way to ensure this representation.

>David Goldstone, a lawyer with the US department of justice, gave some
>interesting thoughts on a symposium on Internet regulation and policy with
>the New York University (printed in NYU Journal of Legislation and Public
>Policy, vol 3 no 1). Goldstone compares the Internet to cars and states
>that a technique that was truly a change of paradigms a hundred years ago
>has been regulated in a satisfactory fashion and thus we now have both
>airbags and traffic regulation.

Yes, but although there are many similarities, each nation has separate laws
governing automotive use.  This is fine for asutos, since you can only drive
in one jurisdiction at a time!  But this is where this comparison breaks
down: since we can "drive" our browsers around the world with gay abandon,
the Internet needs a governing infrastructure free of parochial government
influences.

>Goldstone states (p 49): "As they have demonstrated with automotive
>regulation, the American people, through their representatives, are fully
>competent to balance personal liberty against public safety."

True.  But this is not just about the American people.  German, Saudi, Thai,
Brazilian and other current and future Internet users around the world also
have a right to have their needs and asparations considered when decisions
are made aboutmanaging the growth of the Internet.  This limited, US-only
thinking is part of what is hampering attempts to evolve ICANN into what it
needs to be.

Bruce Young
Team Lead, Advanced Desktop Services,  Nike Program
Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications
E-mail:  bruce.young@nike.com