Re: [wg-c] Choosing the intial testbed

[Milton Mueller <mueller@syr.edu>]

I agree strongly with Bret Fausett's post about why TLD proposals need to be
linked to specific registry proposals. I would think it self-evident, for
example, why labor unions should have real control over who runs .union. If
that means "ownership," (and it does) so be it.

Mark C. Langston wrote:

> The registry MUST NOT own the TLD, and must not be allowed to even
> infer that some ownership exists, or we'll just be creating problems
> for everyone, and perpetual fiefdoms for a select few.

There is no escape from ownership. Responsibility must be lodged somewhere. So
when you say the registry does not "own" the TLD, you are simply saying that
ICANN owns it. Is it better to have ICANN own the TLD and create a single,
international, monopolistic, and relatively inacessible fiefdom, or would you
prefer to have a diverse, heterogenous, and competing set of ownership
relations, all of which act to constrain the power of ICANN? And please do not
tell me that ICANN is "us," the embodiment of thte "Internet community,"
because both of us know better than that.