Re: Trade war (was: News briefs)

[Jay@Iperdome.com]

At 06:28 PM 10/4/97 +0100, Jim Dixon wrote:
>On the other hand, if Jon Postel notified that operators of the root
>name servers that they should regard another root name server as
>primary, most or all would comply.  That is, Jon Postel has real
>authority over the domain name system.


There is no question that many of the old-guard *would* follow 
Jon Postel.  I also believe that many of the new, *large* 
commercial firms would likely follow U.S. policy and funding.  
They both could even co-exist at the same time!

AND, this is *not* in everyone's best interests --
AND it is indeed a very serious possibility.

Unfortunately, it pales in comparison to a major point of 
Andy's testimony that has yet to be contested:
   That the gTLD-MoU could overrule U.S. law and policy
   [and British, Canadian, Australian, German, etc. . .]

If this is indeed true, then Government as we know it might
be profoundly affected by the decision that are being made 
today about Global Internet Governance.  Congress got this 
message on Tuesday.

With members of the European Commission in D.C. this week, 
I will once again restate my suggestions regarding Global 
Internet Governance:
     The Internet's world wide appeal requires that any decisions
     made on a global basis be made from a perspective consistent
     with all major stakeholders likely to be affected by said
     decisions.  This includes more than just the IANA, ISOC,
     ITU, and WIPO.  Other stakeholders include:

        * Sovereign Governments
        * ISPs and other Providers
        * Businesses and Vendors
        * Academia
        * Operators
        * Users

     While this list may or may not be inclusive, it does
     indicate the breadth of representation that must be
     accommodated.  This will require time, coordination, and
     some maturing of existing Internet policies and procedures. 
     
     Now is the time to start planning for this eventuality.

I agree with Robert Shearing's posting about the need for 
compromise.  Any "trade war" as implied by this header would
not be good for the Internet!


Regards,

Jay Fenello
President, Iperdome, Inc.  
404-250-3242  http://www.iperdome.com