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The following should be of more than passing interest:

"The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) was set up in 1998 to oversee several important
functions that keep the Internet running. Ever since, it has been
 criticized for lack of accountability and openness.  In February,
 its current President, M Stuart Lynn, issued a manifesto
claiming that ICANN was seriously broken and proposing a
complete reform.  Although many concede that ICANN has
failed, few agree with Lynn's specific proposals, which
essentially call for a rebuilt organization with three to five
times the budget, more than 50 percent additional staff
and greater power.  Critics argue that this plan will create
a single point of failure, the very thing the Internet's design
sought to avoid.

The upshot has been to reopen the intense debates that
preceded ICANN's formation. Even former pacifists,
including Peter G. Neumann, who moderates the online
bulletin board RISKS Forum, and Lauren Weinstein of
People for Internet Responsibility, are taking sides.  They
say that an immediate handover to a less political, more
strictly technical organization, such as the Internet
Architecture Board, is necessary to avoid a meltdown."

"Need to Know: ICANN CAN'T," Scientific American,
June 2002, p. 21.

Bill Lovell


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