[ga] The Real World
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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