Re: The Empowerment of the new IANA....

[Jim Dixon <jdd@vbc.net>]

On Tue, 25 Aug 1998, Karl Auerbach wrote:

> Considering that the new entity will have oversight of the DNS system,
> IP address allocation, and "protocol standards" and will very likely be
> the front-running candidate for future roles of internet coordination or
> management, we are talking about something rather more than merely the
> current IANA.
> 
> The issues involved are substantial.  And there are many who believe that
> there is considerable money riding on the outcome.

Indeed.  For example, there are certain people arguing that IP address
space is a form of property.  If we assign a nominal value of say,
$100, to each class C, this means that the class As handed out with 
casual abandon long ago are now worth 256*256*$100 or about $6.5 million
each and the whole of the IP address space a cool $1.67 billion.  As the
significance of the numbers sinks in, the value will rise.

By any sensible measure the DNS is worth a lot more.  Network Solutions
take in $100 million a year or so from registrations in .com/net/org,
a tidy little sum rising at a fast exponential rate.
 
> Many of the issues bear directly on the degree to which the new entity is
> liable to be usurped by a small set of self-interested "stakeholders" to
> the detriment of everyone else.

It should be obvious that with billions of dollars at stake, certain
people will be quietly but feverishly manoeuvering for seats on the 
Board.  Under these circumstances it is vital that the powers of the 
Board of the new corporation be carefully circumscribed, that the Board 
be selected by a completely transparent process, and that the Board be 
accountable to some larger body, perferably a large and diverse membership.  

Unfortunately the recent proposals from IANA have moved in exactly the 
opposite direction: there is no suggestion that there will be any
public input into the selection of an Interim Board, the Board is 
self-selecting, there is no membership, and the Board can easily change 
the articles and bylaws.

Everyone involved in the Internet should be concerned about this.

--
Jim Dixon                  VBCnet GB Ltd           http://www.vbc.net
tel +44 117 929 1316                             fax +44 117 927 2015