Fred Upton and his friends (who have oversight for ICANN and the power to pull out
the plugs) have sent a joint letter to Congress, expressing their concerns about
Stuart Lynn's planned changes. To report direct from ICANNWATCH:"It could be the
most important thing to happen to ICANN this year: a bi-partisan letter to the U.S.
Department of Commerce from the ranking members of the House Committee with oversight
jurisdiction over the Commerce's relationship with ICANN. These Congressmen are not
happy with what they see.
In addition to demanding that Commerce ensure a representative
Board, accountability, adherence to ICANN's original mandate, and due process protections,
the writers squash the idea which forms the cornerstone of the Lynn Plan -- that
ICANN should be given full control of the root:
Finally, we want to strongly reiterate
our support for continued Department of Commerce control over the so-called "A-root"
server. We believe that any assumption of control over that asset by any outside
entity would be contrary to the economic and national security interests of the United
States. We hope you concur with our desire to see the Internet policy of the United
States further promote the democratization of access to the processes and tools of
Internet commerce and communications. Decisions made in the next few weeks must not
put these important policy objectives at risk."
While I do not regard the control
of the DNS as a US autonomy, I agree with the need for further democratization of
those processes that administer what is, in truth, a whole-world resource.
ICANN's
high-handed lack of transparency, and its readiness to ignore ordinary internet users
(for example, many times on this forum) means that there is a greater need than ever
for accountability. The Internet belongs to the whole world, and must not be administered
by an oligarchy.