RE: [ga] ITU wants to wiggle into Internet domain name space

[richard.hill@itu.int]

The text posted at Yahoo is not quite identical to the article as published
on page A9 of the 21 October 2002 Wall Street Journal  Europe.

Joe's summary of the the Yahoo version contains, in my personal opinion,
some statements that are not quite right.

As I've pointed out before, the ITU's membership is very large and includes
many different types of companies, so I don't think it is correct to state
that the ITU "is dominated by international telecom companies", but that is
just my personal opinion. 

With respect to the statement "and must seek member government approval for
ITU policies", ITU does operate on the basis of consensus, however, ITU does
not set "policies".  The part of ITU that I work for, ITU-T, the former
CCITT, produces non-binding Recommendations, such as for modems, xDSL, etc.

The quote from Milton Muller is, I believe, placed in an incorrect context,
since I understand that Milton makes the point that whoever (whether
governments or not) controls domain names has a point of leverage for
enforcing regulation. In any case, since ITU-T produces non-binding
Recommendations, I don't quite understand how ITU-T would be able to "take
away someone's domain name".

Also, the quote from David Johnson is not quite the same as what Joe shows
below.

The article as published in the Wall Street Journal Europe quotes David as
saying:

"If they [at the ITU] strongly argue governments and only governments can
make policy, we will likely see an increase in government efforts to
regulate the Internet.  If they surprise skeptics by taking the approach of
saying we're committed to private-sector coordination rather than top-down
regulation, they might turn out to be the friend of competition and
decentralized decision-making".

Since the text of the revised Resolution 102 has already been posted to this
distribution list, I would suggest that people can read it and draw their
own conclusions. 

Best,
Richard

-----------------------------------------
Richard Hill
Counsellor, ITU-T SG2
International Telecommunication Union
Place des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
tel: +41 22 730 5887
FAX: +41 22 730 5853
Email: richard.hill@itu.int
Study Group 2 email: tsbsg2@itu.int
 



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joe Baptista [mailto:baptista@dot-god.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, 22 October 2002 8:29
> To: General Assembly of the DNSO
> Subject: [ga] ITU wants to wiggle into Internet domain name space
> 
> 
> 
> http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/021020/72/33wtu.html
> 
> "Global Organization Seeks Voice in Internet Addressing System"
> Wall Street Journal (10/21/02) P. B4; Delaney, Kevin J.
> 
> Last week at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 
> organizational
> conference, ITU member representatives voted for a resolution 
> calling on
> the ITU to take an active role in all "discussions and initiatives"
> involving domain names and the domain-name system (DNS). Some 
> view the ITU
> vote as a move to step into the uncertainly surrounding 
> domain names and
> the DNS, both of which are overseen by ICANN, a group that has been
> criticized even by ICANN allies. The ITU is affiliated with the United
> Nations, is a global organization, is dominated by 
> international telecom
> companies, and must seek member government approval for ITU 
> policies; some
> domain name industry observers believe the massive ITU structure would
> further marginalize domain name industry and public advocate 
> voices. The
> U.S. government as well as the tech community have opposed 
> ITU involvement
> as being too cumbersome. In contrast, ICANN ostensibly is free from
> government involvement in day-to- day decision-making. The domain name
> industry is estimated to be a $2.5 billion industry, and control of a
> domain name, such as amazon.com, is vital to the many 
> businesses that own
> them. Because governments are involved in the ITU, analysts such as
> Syracuse University professor Milton Mueller believe that 
> governments could
> use ITU power over DNS issues as "a convenient point of leverage for
> enforcement regulation." The disarray at ICANN is leading 
> some to conclude
> that private- sector management of the DNS cannot work, while Yale Law
> School instructor David Johnson notes that ITU's foundation 
> in governments
> would provide "enforceable global regulations." Some experts say ICANN
> should be structured to focus on technical issues, while the 
> ITU could be
> responsible for public policy; however, others say such 
> issues often overlap.
> 
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