Re: War of Internet Governance: 1995 - ????

[Dave Crocker / IMC <dcrocker@imc.org>]

At 12:03 PM 11/11/97 -0800, Duane Little wrote:
>Mark Henderson-Thynne wrote:
>Proceeding from that assertion...  what gives the IANA authority,
>assuming it has any?
>
>Answer:  The US Government.

wrong, of course.

As has been stated many times, IANA derives its authority for more than 10
years of community consent.  That consent continues.

This is one of those situations in which it is important to distinguish
authority (right) versus power.

The US government has a degree of power by virtue of its having legal
jurisdiction over a number of the major participants and their resources.
The US government might choose to exercise that power, but it will then be
interesting to watch the reaction of other governments around the world
which have the view that the Internet is a global resource, not the
plaything of the United States.

d/
--------------------
Dave Crocker                                          dcrocker@imc.org
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