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[bc-gnso] NetChoice post on ICANN hearing in US Congress

  • To: <bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx>
  • Subject: [bc-gnso] NetChoice post on ICANN hearing in US Congress
  • From: Steve DelBianco <sdelbianco@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:59:45 -0400
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://blog.netchoice.org/2009/06/if-the-icann-jpa-doesnt-matter-why-are-so-many-people-trying-to-kill-it.html";>http://blog.netchoice.org/2009/06/if-the-icann-jpa-doesnt-matter-why-are-so-many-people-trying-to-kill-it.html</a>
</span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>&nbsp;</span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal 
style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;text-autospace:
none'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:16.0pt;font-family:
Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333'>June 04, 2009</span></b></p>

<p class=MsoNormal 
style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;text-autospace:
none'><b><span 
style='mso-bidi-font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial'>If the ICANN JPA Doesn't Matter, Why Are So Many People Trying to Kill
It?</span></b></p>

<p class=MsoNormal 
style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;text-autospace:
none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333'>ICANN's President Paul Twomey was up
before Congress </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/o6e3l8";><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:#103362'>today</span></a><span 
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
13.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333'>, making his
case for why the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between the US Commerce
Department and ICANN should be allowed to expire in September. Among his
reasons: the JPA doesn't matter and if it goes away, &quot;nothing will
change&quot; in the relationship between the U.S. Government and 
ICANN.</span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal 
style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;text-autospace:
none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333'>If that's really true, Mr. Twomey
should probably tell the governments of Russia and Brazil, the European Union,
the International Telecommunications Union and the slew of other foreign and
intergovernmental entities that have mounted a concerted campaign to terminate
the agreement.</span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal 
style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;text-autospace:
none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333'>The JPA is the U.S. Government's main
tool for communicating concerns and guidance to ICANN (which was created by US
government to transition management of the Internet to the private sector)
Twomey is correct when he says that the agreement is short (just two pages) and
contains little in the way of binding language, but the JPA also sets goals for
ICANN to work toward, and provides ways to review and assess that 
progress.</span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal 
style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;text-autospace:
none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333'>For those that seek to impose greater
governmental control over ICANN, the JPA is seen as a major obstacle. They've
devoted significant resources to making sure it goes away in September of this
year.</span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal 
style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;text-autospace:
none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333'>The United Nations wants the JPA gone
so it can exert more muscle over Internet governance. &nbsp;And the European
Commission just proposed a new “</span><a
href="http://www.netchoice.org/press/eu-plan-to-increase-government-control-is-not-the-answer-for-icann.html";><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:#103362'>G-12 for the Internet</span></a><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;
color:#333333'>” to replace US government oversight when the JPA expires.
&nbsp;</span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal 
style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;text-autospace:
none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333'>Seems to me that&nbsp;the JPA is a
kind of Star Trek shield that protects ICANN from capture by governments.
&nbsp;Captain Kirk wouldn’t shut down his shields just when the enemy draws
near, and neither should ICANN.</span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal 
style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;text-autospace:
none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333'>Mr.&nbsp;Twomey can't have it both
ways. If the JPA doesn't actually matter, neither he nor the global Internet
community should care whether it is extended. And if it does matter, he needs
to come clean with Congress and the Internet community about risks we face when
the JPA goes away.&nbsp;</span></p>

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