[wildcard-comments] ICANN Must Stop Verisign Wildcard Deployment Service

["Ronald D. Edge" <edge@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This letter is in response to request for comment posted on the web site 
of ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers 
  http://www.icann.org/general/wildcard-history.htm This letter is being
submitted as email to wildcard-comments@xxxxxxxxx per request on that
site. It is being send as postal mail to Senators Richard Lugar and Evan
Bayh, and Representative Baron Hill, all of Indiana, USA.

ICANN must act immediately and decisively, or once and for all lose all 
credibility in its role as a neutral governing body charged with 
maintaining standards and stability for the Internet.

In its actions in adding wild cards that subvert root DNS, Verisign in one
malicious act has violated the most basic tenets on which the Internet is
founded, i.e. adherence to the principles of interoperability and
cooperation implicit and embodied in the RFCs that are the reference
documents for connecting services on the Internet.

Verisign has damaged DNS, they have damaged the ability to fight spam
email abuse... the list goes on, but anyone reading this has already been
told in explicit detail why this action by Verisign is unacceptable.

Verisign has violated the trust placed in them as maintainers of root DNS
servers and the .com and .net top level domain name registration service.  
They have done this in a fashion intended to divert erros in web and email
and other DNS related services to their sites, in order to leverage their
role for their own financial gain. This can only be seen as a monopolistic
and anti-trust action by Verisign. Two major law suits have already been
filed on this basis, one by one of the major alternative domain name
registrars, godaddy.com. More lawsuits will and should follow. All should
result in Verisign being forced to stop this 'service'. All should result 
in severe financial penalties against Verisign.

Administrators world wide have already been forced to scramble and waste 
precious hours reconfiguring services to tray and patch the damage done by 
this act. Even Paul Vixie and ISC have already issued to patches to BIND 
to allow DNS administrators to try and repair the damage.

But the Internet community should not be scrambling to rewrite 
applications and services broken by the heedless and selfish act of one 
player who has violated a shared trust. That player should simply be 
removed from the equation and punished for their actions. Immediately.

ICANN, by not already FORCING, not just requesting Verisign to stop this
malicious and disruptive action, brings into question its ability and its
right to administer this aspect of the Internet. 

Since ICANN exists under provisions of United States law under § 501
(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, I will be sharing these
thoughts in writing with my Senators and Representative in the United
States Congress as well, asking that they review not only Verisign's
actions, but the legislation that enabled all aspects of Internet
governance for which ICANN is responsible, and whether ICANN deserves this 
continued trust as it is presently structured and populated.

Ronald D. Edge

http://edgeinfotech.com
edge@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bloomington, IN USA 47404-1849