[ga] INTERNET RIGHTS COALITION FILES LEGAL BRIEF

["A.M. Rutkowski" <amr@chaos.com>]

The Internet Rights Coalition
i-rights.org
950 Herndon Pkwy #240
Herndon VA 20170
USA
tel: +1 703.925.0282


PRESS RELEASE


INTERNET RIGHTS COALITION FILES LEGAL BRIEF WITH ICANN
ON GOVERNMENT SOVEREIGNTY CLAIMS TO DOMAIN NAMES,
REQUESTS OPEN PROCESS

Herndon VA,  28 October 1999. --  The Internet Rights
Coalition as a new Internet legal advocacy group
focussed on fundamental rights of Internet users, has
filed a legal brief with the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).  The brief opposes
recent declarations made by ICANN's semiautonomous
Government Advisory Committee (GAC), that the entire
"Internet naming and addressing system" is a "public
resource," and that Internet domain names with country
symbols were subject to the sovereignty of national
governments based on international law.

The brief thoroughly examines the GAC assertions and
describes why they are in error - with extensive
citations to authoritative legal references.  The
Coalition also notes that national governments already
have their own established "de jure" domains under the
root system of a U.N. intergovernmental agency -
independent from those devised and used by the private
users that constitute the Internet's networks and
services for naming their computers.  It is violative of
fundamental user rights and unlawful for governments now
summarily to assert sovereign dominion over the name
expressions and systems of private Internet users. GAC
governmental representatives should not be advancing
these kinds of propositions, and they should be
dismissed by ICANN.

The brief also notes that accepting the notion that
Internet domain name expressions can be the subject of
national sovereignty creates unnecessary legal and
political complications in conjunction with Top Level
Domains for entities with uncertain stature such as East
Timor or Palestine.

The Coalition requests that the Coalition brief be made
available as part of an open, public proceeding on these
issues - beginning at the Los Angeles ICANN Public Forum
on 3 November.  It further requests that the ICANN
should comply with its mandate for openness and
transparency by requiring that GAC meetings be open to
the public.  At present, all the GAC's processes and
meetings are closed, without meaningful opportunity for
other affected parties to be heard or to provide
alternative views.  The Coalition states that ".in
allowing the GAC to undertake such initiatives, the
Corporation has an obligation to hear and meaningfully
consider those of all affected parties on these
matters."

The brief and cover letter - pending availability on the
ICANN Website - is accessible at:
http://www.wia.org/icann/irc_cover-letter.htm
http://www.wia.org/icann/irc_gac_brief.htm